Trudie Hegel

Owner, Creative Director of Hoi Polloi Dance Studio and the Hoi Polloi Fusion Dance Ensemble 

Hessa has been a lifelong student of dance and movement. She has been dancing Raqs Sharqi style bellydance for over 10 years. She has learned from Mychelle Crown, Gameela, and Amanda Rose. Hessa is a member of the award winning troupe The Crown Jewels

Pratibha Patel is the disciple of the late Pandit Chitresh Das.  She has taught kathak for over 25 years in a multitude of locations including New Jersey, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area and Grenoble, France. She is excited to return to the Sacramento area and offer traditional kathak-based classes focused on movement and wellness for adults of all ages.  Experience meditation in motion through the artform of Kathak, engaging mind, body and soul with rhythm and melody. Dance experience not required, just a desire to learn and feel joy in a new medium.

Trudie Hegel has over 20 years of study with the best dancers the MENAHT and Fusion Bellydance communities have to offer. Her education has been varied with studies in Turkish and Egyptian dance, Hot Pot Fusion and ITS.  Trudie is a member of the Sacramento Salimpour Collective and proud to have completed both of the globally recognized Suhaila and Jamila Salimpour Level 1 certifications, as well as other Fusion Bellydance programs. In addition to bellydance, Trudie studied Kahiko Hula with the legendary San Francisco-based Halau o' Keikiali’i and has performed at the Pacific Rim Festival, as well as Harlow's Hula supper shows in Sacramento. Trudie is the creative director of the all-inclusive group of amateur dancers known as Hoi Polloi Fusion Dance, established in 2013.

Jessica Barnes

Tuesdays - Beginning Bellydance with Hessa

Rebecca is passionate about dance and has been studying various forms since she was 11 years old. She has taught and performed belly dance for nearly two decades and has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad under Amy Sigil’s internationally renowned Improv Team Sync (ITS) groups UNMATA and Verbatim. Rebecca is an accomplished choreographer and has collaborated and performed with local world fusion dance artists since 2013.

Rebecca is a certified instructor in the ITS format, which blends elements of Belly Dance, the Salimpour Format, Hula, Studio Hip Hop, and the unique style of its founder, Amy Sigil!

Meet our Instructors, Coaches, Facilitators

Jan Lowry has a lifelong interest in dance beginning with ballet and then coming to Belly Dance over 15 years ago.  She has danced with Azar and Dancers of the Mystic Sun where she obtained her Beginning Teacher Certification. She has also danced with Jewels of the North.  Jan has a small troup called The Dancing Goddesses, which is a collaborative troop where all contribute to the dances they perform.  She has also hosted a Halloween Hafla in Placerville. Currently Jan dances with Hoi Polloi Fusion Dance.

Jan teaches traditional Turkish and Egyptian for the foundation but focuses on good posture and proper alignment so the dancer flows without risk of injury.  She teaches multi level dancers so everyone is welcome.  You don't need to know how to dance, but just come and explore movement with us!

Pratibha Patel

Mondays - Kathak Yoga: Movement for Holistic Wellness

Ayre Briar

Thursdays & Saturdays - Bombay Jam

Jan Lowry

Thursdays - Dancing Goddesses

Rebecca Hennigar

Thursdays - ITS Level 1

Ayre Briar has been teaching and performing bellydance for more than 10 years.  She has studied a variety of dance formats and has performed in several dance troupes, including the highly acclaimed Bollywood group, the Mona Khan Dance Company.