Today we’d like to introduce you to Liliana Barrera.
Liliana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a professional dancer and a certified Pilates instructor. I started dancing and doing Pilates 15 years ago, as part of a therapy to help me recover from severe rheumatism that manifested in my body since I was 12 years old. Dancing not only helped me recover my muscles, it also became my passion, then my job and later on, my business. I first started belly dancing and I fell in love with it, to the point that I left my job and became a professional belly dancer, teaching and performing all over Miami. A bit later, I started Tango dancing as well as Latin rhythms: Salsa, Samba, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha and later on Aerial dance. At the same time, I continued doing Pilates for my own well-being. Since I became a certified teacher, the owner of the studio where I did my certification, pushed me to teach; I then combined both dancing and Pilates. I worked for many hotels such as The Mandarin Oriental & Viceroy Hotels, as well as studios all over Miami. Things were going great until the economy crash of 2008 when many studios and restaurants closed. The idea of having an online dance & fitness studio occurred to me, and that’s how StepFlix was born. I built a video-library of dance & fitness classes, organized by styles and difficulty levels, to teach people how to dance and stay in shape, by providing them sets of exercises.
I sold my apartment and invested all the funds to create the business and website; StepFlix was doing well, but marketing is very expensive, especially online marketing, so the company ran out of capital and it seemed that I had no choice but to close the business. One night, I prayed to God to guide me in what to do and how to do it and the Holy Spirit gave me the idea to start providing dance and circus shows for events. Almost every instructor StepFlix has is also a performer. Our first show, was a mix of belly dance, samba and flamenco for an art walk night in Wynwood. Then, I started reaching out to people I personally know, plus businesses such as galleries, restaurants, shopping centers, hotels, etc … offering our services and little by little we grew to where we are today! StepFlix has a wide variety of entertainment services for private and corporate events.
It has been a great learning experience, an opportunity to discover and cultivate my talents, as well as to have amazing relationships with both people I work with and clients. Our goal is to make our clients’ events ones to remember, providing them with the best service from the booking to the post-event feedback.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I guess all businesses go through ups and downs until they find their path. In my case, the online studio provided me all the experience I needed to have an entertainment company today. I started thinking of having an online business and life made me adapt on the way, so I could survive and find my path. The biggest challenge was and is to maximize our resources to get exposure in the right market. Today, StepFlix has become an entertainment company that provides more than online dance classes; StepFlix is the source of complete entertainment for any corporate or private event.
The key to success has been to be persistent, organized, focused and committed to my dreams!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with StepFlix Entertainment – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
StepFlix provides a wide variety of entertainment services for private and corporate events: dance shows, circus shows, flash mobs, shows for kids, choreographies, dance classes, DJs, live music, video production & animations. We are a very talented and committed group of dancers, choreographers, circus artists, musicians, DJs, videographers and video editors.
We listen to our clients, take their visions and customize our shows to provide them with the best entertainment services for their events!
We offer any dance style show: Capoeira, Belly Dance, Flappers, Flamenco, Salsa, Rumba, Samba, Bachata, Ballroom, Polynesian, Bollywood, Bhangra, Hip Hop, Cha Cha, Tango, Tap, etc … We can mix styles and create a customized show!
For circus acts, we offer: acrobats in aerial silks, lyra, net & trapeze, adagio, hand balancing, head perch balancing, hand-to-hand, contortion, Chinese-pole, mimes, magicians, jugglers, circus characters, stilt walking and stilt jumping.
For music needs, we have specialized DJs who can spin a wide variety of genres from pop, rock, lounge, Latin music, hip hop, top 40s to Bollywood & Bhangra hits. We also offer live music: from solo musicians to complete bands in all music genres.
We have packages of private dance classes & choreography for first dances at weddings, sweet sixteens or any occasion our clients would like to dance a specific routine or take some lessons to learn or improve their dance skills.
And last but not least, we also offer video production, photography services, and video animations. We also have packages to fit your event, preferences, and budget.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We continuously update our shows, costumes, music genres, etc … to be up-to-date with trends, always taking good care of maintaining our quality standards, as well as the classic elegance that has distinguished us from other companies. When it comes to entertainment, there is a fine line between exotic, sexy and vulgar.
Our big dream is to have our own theater production where we can tell a story through dance, circus, and music; we are not there yet, but God willing, perhaps one day, it will become a reality.
We have been invited to be part of some productions and recitals put together by other dance companies and non-profit organizations in the near future. They are: Worldly Treasures at Murray Nelson Cultural Center in Key Largo, on August 26th, 2017 and Arts Launch 2017 at the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht Center, Miami, on September 9th, 2017.
Pricing:
- 30 min Dance Show with 1 Professional Dancer $270
- 1 hour Percussionist, Sax Player or Violinist $330
- 2 sets of Stilt Walking within 1 hour with 1 Professional Performer in full costume $350
- 4 hours of DJ Service, including equipment rental, installation & take down $600
- 1 hour Private Dance Class $80
- 5 hours Private Dance Class $350
- Full Edited Video of a Flash Mob $800
- 10 Dancers Flash Mob, including Dancers, Choreography, Planning, Logistics, Execution & Rehearsals $1,890
- 3.5 – 4 Minutes Choreography $350
Contact Info:
- Address: 2020 N Bayshore Dr., Miami, Fl 33137
- Website: www.stepflix.com
- Phone: (856) 477-3549
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stepflix/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StepFlix/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stepflix
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stepflix-miami
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/stepflix/
Image Credit:
StepFlix
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