Tanya Fiske

Tanya came into the world loving movement and music and has been dancing since the age of six Regardless of where she’s traveled and lived, including Asia, Europe, and South America; she’s always been able to find her natural rhythm in various cultures’ music. At eighteen, she traveled to New York City to become a member of a professional hip-hop dance company. Tanya continued to dance hip-hop while pursuing her Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice and Psychology at Rutgers University. In 1996 Tanya discovered Salsa while at Rutgers. After relocating to Baltimore in 2000, she began to take every Salsa class she could, including with Manuel Martinez, Psyniigianni, and Shaka Brown. She eventually apprenticed with Psyniigianni as an assistant teacher and choreographer and has been dancing with him ever since.
Tanya went on to train under a number of acclaimed dancers, including Frankie Martinez, Johnny Matos, Gordon Neil, and Leon Rose. She counts Traditional Rumba, Hip Hop, and the various Lain cultures as major influences/inspirations. In January 2005 Tanya co-directed Mezzlocutis dance company with Psyniigianni, and a year later she founded the all-female dance company, YemaShun. Tanya continues to teach and perform inter/nationally while directing YemaShun and codirecting Mezzlocutis. She is best known for her ability to break down complex movement and quickly intuit underlying problems and solutions to dancers at all levels. Her hallmark style is a combination of Afro-Latin groove punctuated by playful movements, and her choreography often exhibits a lush narrative bent. She currently resides in Washington DC.