Calliope Dance Studio

About Rosana

I have danced all my life; I don't even have memories of not having dance as part of my life. I grew up in my mother's dance Studio, which she had for over 30 years in South America; a big house in a hot tropical city in Colombia, where I spent my childhood years surrounded by many happy children dancing. I went to the state ballet conservatory for 10 years and then moved into the academic world of dance. I have a graduate degree in Dance from the Laban Center - City University in London and have worked as a college professor of dance for the past 10 years. I can't live without the perfect balance I find in moving and thinking; I am both, a mover and a thinker. I have a passion for research and have written several publications and given conferences on dance education. Besides my studies in different movement modalities such as yoga and contemporary dance techniques, I have studied and developed research about the implications of different somatic movement systems such as Body Mind Centering, Bartenieff Fundamentals and Laban Movement Analysis in Dance Education and recently in children's development.

Children have always been an essential part of my career. I have taught them since my mother held my hand one day at age 14 and said: "Come and teach with me!" I have lived in many different places in Europe, Latin America and the United States, and wherever I go I find myself teaching children so no surprisingly I came to live in San Francisco in 2008 to dance with children at Calliope and two years later I get the opportunity to be the owner of the Studio. In the past, I run my family's dance studio in South America and worked as the educational program director for the Latin Ballet of Virginia, a dance non-profit organization my family runs in the East Coast.

As a choreographer, I focus on creating site-specific work and have performed as a dancer as well as my own choreographic work in numerous venues and festivals in Central America, South America, Europe and the United States. I have received various awards and grants for choreography from Latin American Governments and in 2006 obtained the National Dance Research Award given by the Colombian Ministry of Culture.

I currently work as a professor of dance at Saint Mary's College of California and Calliope Dance Studio is my place to be with amazing little people whose bodies are going under magical development and who become my teachers in how to purely enjoy movement and life as we enter the limitless world of imagination.

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About Calliope Dance Studio Calliope Dance Studio focuses on dance and movement classes for children ages 3-10 in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. At Calliope we believe in approaching the body from the specific developmental stage every child is at and what is needed to enhance motor, physical and intellectual skills as well as aspects of the emotional and social being through the art of dancing. Because we believe in the importance of giving individual attention and keeping every child and the group safe, our classes are small, not more than 6 children, grouped together according to their age. During 45 minutes or one hour the children have fun getting to know their bodies while learning ballet, tap, yoga and gymnastics as well as exploring their imaginative bodies and minds through creative movement. The kids come to dance at Calliope to enjoy their bodies - to enjoy themselves and their natural free movement. Self-confidence and self-love evolves naturally as every kid gets to be him/herself and enjoy the magic that lay behind our human body. Calliope was founded by Kellee Blanchard in 2005 and was taken over by Rosana Barragan in 2010. It started as a small dance studio with a couple of children from the neighborhood. It now has over 100 children who love to come every week to have fun while dancing, expressing themselves and sharing with friends.
	About Rosana I have danced all my life; I don't even have memories of not having dance as part of my life. I grew up in my mother's dance Studio, which she had for over 30 years in South America; a big house in a hot tropical city in Colombia, where I spent my childhood years surrounded by many happy children dancing. I went to the state ballet conservatory for 10 years and then moved into the academic world of dance. I have a graduate degree in Dance from the Laban Center - City University in London and have worked as a college professor of dance for the past 10 years. I can't live without the perfect balance I find in moving and thinking; I am both, a mover and a thinker. I have a passion for research and have written several publications and given conferences on dance education. Besides my studies in different movement modalities such as yoga and contemporary dance techniques, I have studied and developed research about the implications of different somatic movement systems such as Body Mind Centering, Bartenieff Fundamentals and Laban Movement Analysis in Dance Education and recently in children's development. Children have always been an essential part of my career. I have taught them since my mother held my hand one day at age 14 and said: "Come and teach with me!" I have lived in many different places in Europe, Latin America and the United States, and wherever I go I find myself teaching children so no surprisingly I came to live in San Francisco in 2008 to dance with children at Calliope and two years later I get the opportunity to be the owner of the Studio. In the past, I run my family's dance studio in South America and worked as the educational program director for the Latin Ballet of Virginia, a dance non-profit organization my family runs in the East Coast. As a choreographer, I focus on creating site-specific work and have performed as a dancer as well as my own choreographic work in numerous venues and festivals in Central America, South America, Europe and the United States. I have received various awards and grants for choreography from Latin American Governments and in 2006 obtained the National Dance Research Award given by the Colombian Ministry of Culture. I currently work as a professor of dance at Saint Mary's College of California and Calliope Dance Studio is my place to be with amazing little people whose bodies are going under magical development and who become my teachers in how to purely enjoy movement and life as we enter the limitless world of imagination.