Metropolitan State University of Denver

Lia Ridley

Personal Biography Statement

Lia has been teaching belly dancing for over 30 years. Lia's style is a combination of many cultures. Her inspiration came from the Romany (Gypsies) in her native country of Romania.
Lia has seen many students who have grown in confidence, poise and self-esteem as a result of learning to belly dance. Her emphasis is dancing from the heart and opening to creative expression. Being in the moment is a necessary element of this dance form. It is definitely an aerobic workout!
Lia performs with other dancers in her troupe, Divine Gypsies.
She also teaches in a studio called, Dancing the Soul on 9th& Jersey.

Educational Biography

Lia Ridley also works in a public school setting as an English Language Acquisition Facilitator training teachers and providing staff development for the large staff at Place Bridge Academy in the Denver Public Schools. She has taught English as a Second Language and has been an ELA Curriculum Specialist and an ELA Instructional Specialist both In the Cherry Creek Schools and Denver Public Schools.
She hold a double Masters in Reading and Writing Educations and Linguistically Diverse Education, both from UCD.

Personal

Lia is married to Steven Ridley, a Qigong instructor and a drummer. He drums for the belly dancing classes, which adds a great deal to helping students stay on rhythm.

Courses Taught

HPL-100K