“I want to be someone that girls can look up to not only as a dancer, but as a person. I want everyone to feel like they can express themselves to the fullest.” –Gabby Simon
Gabby Simon, a recent graduate of Rollins College and current coach of the Sirens Dance Team at Rollins, has taken the Orlando dance community by storm with her intermediate/open level hip-hop and “Femme Funk” classes.
These classes serve to facilitate individual growth in various overlapping aspects of dance. Simon’s classes work to interlace integral elements of refined technical training and personal empowerment, curating highly profitable classes to attend.
“My overall goal is to inspire people to want to pursue dance more, [to] enjoy my classes, and, of course, to have people feeling like they gained something from the class,” Simon said. “I want everyone to have fun and feel confident but I also want to give quality training and the push people [need] in my classes.”
Simon is a technically trained dancer and has honed proficiency in multiple styles; a skill which she now wields to merge various styles within her classes. This capability further translates to Simon’s perspective on “feminine” versus “masculine” styles of dancing, particularly under the umbrella of hip-hop, and the methods in which she utilizes both.
“For hip hop, I tend to stay in a more ‘masculine’ pocket and Femme Funk is basically feminine hip hop,” Simon explained. “I am trained in all styles of dance, so I am able to add more of a jazz style into my hip hop (jazz funk), but I am also trying to create the message that women can be [both] masculine and feminine.”
Simon has drawn inspiration from stars such as Beyoncé, Ciara, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera throughout her dance career. Her choreography mirrors the confidence and aura of the artists, fostering a high-energy environment of positivity and a communal effort to increase proficiency as performing artists.
“Dance empowers me in so many ways,” Simon says. “It’s what makes me feel good when I’m feeling any type of emotion… It empowers me to be my full self and [to] also be vulnerable, especially when it comes to creating and sharing choreography.”
Simon works to transmit this energy to her students, as well.
“It feels good when you’re in class and you feel that everyone who is watching you is rooting for you, so I try to deliver and encourage others to do so in my classes.”
When asked for advice on how to stay confident as a dancer, Gabby’s response was to stay true to yourself and to not compare yourself to others.
“Once I was able to do that, that’s where I saw the most growth in myself and my ability to dance, teach, and choreograph,” Simon said. “Letting myself be inspired by others and making genuine connections with people in the community.”
Simon teaches intermediate hip hop at DGBEK Studios on Mondays at 7:30 pm and Femme Funk at The Exchange Dance Academy on Thursdays at 7:00 pm, along with occasional pop-up advanced hip hop classes. Simon will have a videographer in her classes most of the time, and provides students with the opportunity to film the class combo in smaller groups at the end of class.
Follow Gabby on Instagram for class updates and more: @gabbs_simon