About Floreo
Floreo is one of Vancouver's most loved Improvised Tribal Style Bellydance trios. Sometimes serious, sometimes silly, but always entertaining, they have been performing together since 2007.
Floreo is an I.T.S. (Improvised Tribal Style) Bellydance trio from Vancouver B.C. co-founded and co-directed by Audrey Schumacher, Helen Tennant and Allison Thompson in 2007. Floreo's roots are based in the ATS (R) vocabulary of Fat Chance Bellydance but have respectfully adapted the format into something all their own, (often with swords!). Sometimes serious, sometimes lighthearted, but always entertaining, Floreo's dance style involves trust: the leader trusts the cues will make sense to the group, and the group trusts that the leader will cue clearly. Most of the time it works!
Allison, Audrey and Helen each have over ten years of belly dance experience studying on both a local and international level with many well respected and sought out belly dance instructors. In addition to performing, in 2012 Floreo started a series of very popular Sword Workshops and have been teaching around the Lower Mainland. One of Vancouver's most loved Improv Tribal Groups, Floreo have performed at Bellydance Galas, on community stages, car free days, the PNE, pubs and private parties.
Floreo is an I.T.S. (Improvised Tribal Style) Bellydance trio from Vancouver B.C. co-founded and co-directed by Audrey Schumacher, Helen Tennant and Allison Thompson in 2007. Floreo's roots are based in the ATS (R) vocabulary of Fat Chance Bellydance but have respectfully adapted the format into something all their own, (often with swords!). Sometimes serious, sometimes lighthearted, but always entertaining, Floreo's dance style involves trust: the leader trusts the cues will make sense to the group, and the group trusts that the leader will cue clearly. Most of the time it works!
Allison, Audrey and Helen each have over ten years of belly dance experience studying on both a local and international level with many well respected and sought out belly dance instructors. In addition to performing, in 2012 Floreo started a series of very popular Sword Workshops and have been teaching around the Lower Mainland. One of Vancouver's most loved Improv Tribal Groups, Floreo have performed at Bellydance Galas, on community stages, car free days, the PNE, pubs and private parties.
About Allison
Allison grew up in Saskatchewan and starting dancing when she was 5 years old studying ballet and jazz . Her love of performing and dressing up, inspired her to stage a two-girl production of "The Nutcracker" with her best friend when she was 10. Always a multi-tasker, Allison made the costumes, edited the music, played the Nutcracker AND the Sugar Plum fairy.
Shortly after the birth of her first son, in 2002 Allison decided to try middle eastern dance and it was love at first drum beat. Studying with Venus of Venus Bellydance she quickly fell in love with the music, the dance and of course the costumes and performed regularly around the lower mainland, and this is where she met Audrey. Allison took a Tribal Fusion workshop with Lava of the Sisters of Alchemy and was immediately intrigued by the differences between Egyptian and Tribal belly dance. She started taking regular classes with Lava where she eventually met Helen. Brought together by their shared love of the dynamics of group dancing and improv, the three of them formed Floreo in 2007. |
About Helen
Helen has no formal background in dance except for that one tap class when she was seven. Gymnastics was her love as a child and she soon became aware that she had the artistic ability of a gymnast, but not the strength.
In high school, Helen thought it was a good idea to become a cheerleader and found that her favorite part of cheerleading was the choreography performed at half time. Bellydance was not a part of her life until after the birth of her second child when she decided to try a class with her mother-in-law and friend with the goal of losing the baby weight. She had no idea that it would kidnap her from her creatively limited life and throw her headlong into another world that would bring her so much joy and peace. Though Helen’s first foray into the Middle Eastern dance form was in Cabaret style, she was captivated by the more earthy, dark and group mindedness of Tribal styling. |
About Audrey
Audrey can't sit still when she hears music.
A jazz dance teacher asked 8-yr-old Audrey to isolate her ribs from her hips. It made no sense back then but she can do it nowadays from time to time. Her pre-teen square dance partners soon learned that turns and spins made Audrey grin. The Jive and Ballroom Dance Club in university was a welcome reprieve from her Chemistry labs. Egyptian Raqs Sharqi bellydance classes beckoned next, and Polynesian dance was fabulous cross-training. A Tribal Fusion workshop in 2005 knocked her socks off. She learned fusion as well as tribal style group improvisation, and takes workshops several times a year from local and international dancers. She joined with Allison and Helen to form Floreo in 2007 and they have been making silly names for moves and combos ever since. |
