Karen Sun Ray

Instructor

Hip Expressions

Hip Expressions Co-Founder, Dance Shows Director, Professional Belly Dance, Polynesian, and Fire Performer, Troupe Director Island Flowers & Instructor. Karen has an extensive background in folk dances of Europe, Asia, the Americas and Polynesia and has studied and performed Middle Eastern Dance since 1976. She has eight years of experience as a performance director for folk dance groups. She has performed with Gainesville, Florida's internationally known professional ballet company, DanceAlive!, and has choreographed folk dance pieces for their production of Dracula. Karen is a member of the Sahnobar Dance Ensemble who has performed at Disney's EPCOT, Universal Studios, St. Petersburg's Florida International Museum openings of "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" and "Alexander the Great" to name a few. She has had the privelege of performing interpretive dance with world beat bands such as the Exotic Music Ensemble (Gainesville, Florida) and Loud Zoo (St. Petersburg, Florida). In 1998, she toured the country with a Polynesian performing group based in Orlando. Her teaching career began at an early age along side her mother and continues until today.