Jeannette Senn | Guest Service Coordinator
Matthew Rivera, also known as DJ MaZ-R, was born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico currently residing in Miami, Florida.Currently, Matthew works as an IT network and systems engineer, which is another of his passions. His travels allowed him to experience a plethora of diverse music styles and dances which further increased his love for music and dance which quickly catapulted him into Djing and teaching dance. As a result, he then began organizing regular dance socials and large weekenders for his local community bringing in both local and international dance instructors and DJs. Leaning on over 15 years in the entertainment business, Matthew has also added photography, videography, and audio installation and preparation to his skillset. He is respected for the uniqueness, experience, and creativity that he brings to any event that he is involved in.
When Kelly Miller first learned of the science of positive psychology, a new world opened up. After the loss of her dear father, she set out to help as many families as possible in learning pathways to strength and happiness. She is the author of the children’s book Jane’s Worry Elephant. With her knowledge in the evidence based strategies of applied positive psychology, Kelly has served organizations like Fairfax County Public Schools and the US Air Force. Kelly continues her mission to serve as many as she can in order to help them find their own pathways to lives that are flourishing. Currently, Kelly is working on a new book discovering the power of the complex emotion of awe.
Ebonie Lee is a Denver-based Brazilian Zouk Lambada dancer, performer & instructor. Ebonie has trained extensively in a variety of dance modalities. Ebonie pursued Japanese Classical, African, Latin, contemporary Indian and Modern dance at Williams College and abroad. She interned at Washington, DC arts organizations such as Dance Exchange and the DC Dance Collective, adding Contemporary, Jazz and Blues dance to her repertoire. She studied Salsa, Mambo and Afro-Latin dance under Tanya Kianda Fiske and Psyon D. Scott.
Ebonie was introduced to Brazilian Zouk by Atoro Lopez in 2010, and started training in DC. In 2012 Ebonie returned to NYC and became teaching assistant to Kim Rottier (ZoukNY), Ry’el & Jessica Lamdon (ZenZouk). Ebonie studied Contact Improvisation with Jesse Johnson (Dancing with Gravity). She moved to Atlanta and taught with a variety of instructors, including Atoro and Eddie Bonnell of Zouk Atlanta. She returned again to NYC in 2020, co-founding the Brooklyn-based dance school Zoukphoria, as well as teaching alongside ZenZouk instructor Shane Rasnak. Now she resides in Denver, working full time in tech and partnering with Zouk events nationally. She serves as Welcoming Director of the Dare to Zouk Program at NYC Zouk Festival and is now honored to take on the role of Director of Brazilian Zouk at Interfusion Festival IX 2024.
Ebonie has completed teacher training and professional development courses by Jaime Aroxa & Kiri Chapman, Kim Rottier, Alex & Mathilde, and Brenda & Anderson.
Ebonie is always interested in Brazilian Zouk Lambada history, as well as other dances of the African Diaspora and conscious movement techniques, incorporating a variety of dance styles into her movement. She believes in the power of dance to connect and communicate, and the nourishment that creativity brings to life.
IG: @ebonie_zouk
FB: facebook.com/eboniezouk
Shalon has been involved in the dance community for over 15 years. Her roots began with salsa and bachata which developed into a passion for Kizomba and UrbanKiz. She has always been enamored with the music, the connection, and the technique needed to properly lead and follow in these dances. Utilizing her lead and follow skills, she eventually became a member of Fem-C, North America’s first all-girl taxi dance team. With the intent to grow her community and share passion for the dance, she has successfully organized, hosted, and co-hosted Kizomba and Urban Kiz weekenders, parties, and bootcamp classes taught by well sought-after international and North American artists. Simultaneously, Shalon also taught regular classes in her own community. Being heavily involved in the dance scene has afforded Shalon additional opportunities to assist in the coordination of volunteers and registration areas at multiple Weekenders. She is often praised for her dedication, seamless ability to find resolutions to problems, and ensuring that volunteers and registration are staffed and running smoothly.
Outside of dance, Shalon has studied psychology for 20 years. Understanding the human mind and how it affects everyday behaviors has been a driving force for her research and academic learnings. She holds an undergraduate degree in general psychology and a post graduate degree in crisis and management psychology. She has been teaching at the collegiate level for over 6 years.
Ross Lewin brings 10 years of photography, videography, dance, and entrepreneurial experience to his role as Media Director at interfusion. In his 5th interfusion festival as a photographer, Ross values images that bring the authentic joy and color of interfusion to life. As the owner of Lewin Creative Group, Photographer Matchmaker, and youth meditation company Zen Warriors, Ross uses media and technology to bring innovation to real-world problems.
“Interfusion has been a proving ground for my inner magic. Such a unique place…I can be in my element with my camera, capturing love, growth, and community while simultaneously doing the work; diving deep into my own programming, my own limiting beliefs. Without fail I come out the other side stronger, transformed and guided by pure love.”
As Media Team Director of Interfusion Festival, Ross is responsible for the selection and management of photography staff, establishing team standards, objectives and milestones, and ensuring the highest quality end products for our project and community.
Learn more about Ross and the Lewin Creative Group here.
Creator of WildPetsCreation Graphic Studio, based in Italy. She has assembled a small team of Italian and American illustrators and graphic designers through the years. Their work is focused on custom artwork, book illustrations, and graphic designs. When she is not in her house in Italy, she is seeing the world and working from new places that can inspire her creativity, and offer new opportunities to collaborate.
Mariya is a Creative Soul, Artist, Designer and Photographer, who strives to bring beauty and joy to people’s lives through everything she does. Originally from Bulgaria, where she graduated as Bachelor of International Tourism and Hospitality Management, her passion for travel brought her to USA, where she made her home away from home, and pursued further studies of Wedding & Event Planning and Design. Her biggest inspiration is the simple beauty of nature. Her biggest joy-sharing her light and bringing smiles to people’s faces. Ballroom dancer in the past, she recently reconnected with her passion for dance discovering Zouk and Bachata.
Lorenzo is the Nighttime Director of Interfusion Festival and is one of the nations top Latin music DJs. Aside from salsa, Renzo also mixes Top 40, Hip-Hop, R&B, House, Swing and many other genres as well. What makes him an in-tuned DJ is the fact that he is also an avid dancer. Utilizing this knowledge is what has helped propel him on the scene. He credits knowing what dancers like to hear as a silver lining in his growth as a DJ. Renzo prefers the heavier, percussion driven rhythms of salsa and counts some of his favorite salsa artists as Sonora Poncena, Roberto Roena, Ray Perez, Ray Barretto, Conjunto Universal, La Terrifica and Just Betancourt. Overall, Renzo loves all salsa from the Cuban rhythms, Columbian salsa to modern day salsa romantica. If it has the clave and cowbell he can be seen bopping along to it.
Jermaine Corley has served as the Logistics Director for Interfusion Festival since 2019, where he works with staff to plan, coordinate, and execute the behind-the-scenes operations. He comes to the festival with 20 years of experience leading small and midsize software teams in the development of complex engineering solutions. As Logistics Director, Jermaine brings his authentic and unique self to a role which he finds challenging yet rewarding and demands humility, creativity, flexibility, good humor, determination, and compassion. While his passion is Bachata and Kizomba music/dance, he is hoping that 2021/2022 and beyond will present lots of opportunities for exploring Brazilian Zouk.