A Mother's Day Dedication 💕 | May 2025

"What Mother Means":

 "Mother" is such a simple word,

But to me there’s meaning seldom heard.

For everything I am today,

My mother’s love showed me the way.

I’ll love my mother all my days,

For enriching my life in so many ways.

She set me straight and then set me free,

And that’s what the word "mother" means to me. 

- Karl Fuchs

This day is always a special celebration. This year, we decided to host our annual Mother's Day Free Admission and feature our teachers and what Mother's Day means for them. Join us as we take a moment to highlight a few of our teachers and staff. We asked our team to share a photo of them and their mom, inspired mom figures or kiddos. We also asked them to share a quote to tell us how their mom's or children inspires them as an instructor through dance, movement, wellness, art.

Here's what they shared. Plus a dedicated Mother's Day event, Sunday, May 11th 2025. Scroll below.

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Andrea Sendek & Mom, Mary Kathleen Sendek

Instructor: Andrea Sendek, Belly Dance Instructor

Inspiration Quote: "Dear Mom,

Thank you for being my rock, my teacher, and my best friend. I love you so much!"

Darian Gemora & Mom, Ruth De Leon

Instructor: Darian Gemora, Lyrical Hip Hop Instructor

Inspiration Quote: “To the woman who taught me what strength looks like in motion—your resilience, fire, and grace have shaped every part of who I am. You are the definition of unstoppable.

Note: Love you mom! Appreciate all that you’ve done for me and my sister and wish you all the success in the world."

Jessica Rae & Mom, Elsie

Instructor: Jessica Rae, Barre, Drenched, Pop Jam Instructor

Inspiration Quote: “If at first you don't succeed, try doing it the way mom told you to in the beginning."

Kait Skye & Mom, Dawn Fletcher Collins

Instructor: Kait, Jumps & Turns and Contemporary Instructor

Inspiration Quote: A poem by Kait Skye on Mother’s Day:

“There is a special kind of joy a daughter feels when told she resembles her mother. A burning combination of blessing and accomplishment. As though that voice in the back of her head, now her own, stares back at her with new meaning: less directive, with more mutual respect than before. Maintaining that womb-like connection while allowing for failure and growth.

Transition is natural, as is distance and maturation.

However, of a rare few, do daughters transition from children to halves. In a sense that these young women both by unconscious choice and blessing, develop the ability to share a brain with their mothers. A superpower that, unbeknownst to them, deems them the true winners of parental lottery.

And this is where I argue, we are the luckiest of all.

Blissfully,

a half.”

Olivia Piper & Mom, Hollie Martin

Instructor: Olivia Piper, Hip Hop Instructor

Inspiration Quote: “There is no influence so powerful as that of the mother”

I’m grateful to have been brought into the family I have now. With a complicated relationship with biological family growing up, I was blessed to be brought up in a home where my passions are not only supported but encouraged. In a family that grows together and learns from each other. Unintentionally influencing my vocabulary with made up words or the randomized nicknames that circulate every few weeks. My whole family but specifically my mom, has always encouraged me to be bold in what I wish to achieve, confident in who I am, and curious about what I don’t yet know. Without that support I wouldn’t be where I am today and for that I am forever blessed and thankful. 

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Sunday, May 11th 2025

ALL MOM'S FREE!!! In celebration of Mother's Day, Rae Studios is offering a complimentary class on Sunday, May 11th, 2025 to moms.

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In honor of Mother's Day, we have ALL MOM'S FREE! Sunday, May 11th, 2025

Thank you for your unconditional love and support! Bring your moms for a family-friendly movement class on Sunday, May 11th, 2025. Join us for Pilates, K-Pop, Shuffle, and Belly Dance classes. All levels welcome! Take some time to move and groove with your loved ones.

Tickets: $25 In-Studio, Free for Monthly Unlimited Members, Free for Moms

Contact Rae Studios to get signed up for free!

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

Meet the instructors:

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

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Class Schedule Sunday, May 11th, 2025

• 10:00am K-Pop [All Levels] with Oche

• 10:00am Hip Hop [Beg/Int] with Taylor

• 11:00am Shuffle [Beginner] with Kylie

• 11:00am Belly Dance [Beginner] with Andrea

• 12:15pm Shuffle [Intermediate] with Kylie

• 12:15pm Belly Dance [Intermediate] with Andrea

Oche Vallejos

10:00am-10:55am K-Pop [All Levels]

Oche (he/they), also known as Jaden, began their dance journey later in life. Growing up, Oche always had an interest in dance, but came from a household that saw it as a “girl thing.” Most of their childhood was spent on soccer fields, and while they were good at it, they knew it wasn’t their true passion. Oche would watch dance videos alone, trying to learn moves on their own. At 15, they joined their high school’s cheer team in secret, and that experience sparked a deeper love for dance. Since then, Oche has been a cheerleader for 6 years and has taught jumps and cheer-style dance at multiple gyms for about 3 years. Though they’ve loved cheer and the opportunities it provided, Oche wanted to broaden their craft, so they began training in Jazz-Funk over a year ago. This journey has led them to substitute K-pop and Jazz-Funk classes, where they found a love for teaching. When Oche isn’t dancing, they’re a full-time student pursuing a Master’s in Design. Fun fact: Oche is hard of hearing, culturally Deaf, and fluent in both sign language and English, with a passion for making dance accessible to the Deaf community. Follow @_oche13 on Instagram for teaching updates and to catch some of their dance videos and covers!

K-Pop [All Levels]

K-pop, short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. ​​It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gospel, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, disco, and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots. Originally known as 'Gayo' in Korea, modern K-pop "idol" culture began in the 1990s. Our K-Pop instructors will either highlight other K-Pop choreographers reteaching combos from various music videos or create their own choreographed influences from various styles of dance.  Students should expect to learn fun combos and increase their performance quality.

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

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Taylor Bazile

10:00am-10:55am Hip Hop [Beg/Int]

Taylor Bazile grew up a student-athlete in the Bay Area with a love for dance. She spent years playing sports, but her passion for dance and community was always present. In high school, she was a member of the dance and track and field teams, and over the years, she has danced recreationally.

Taylor earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Southern California in 2022. There she majored in Communications and incorporated her love for dance into her electives at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. As she furthered her education, she gained classroom experience in ballroom, modern contemporary, African American Dance (Lecture), and Pilates.

She started teaching with TDA in 2021 and is excited to continue her journey with the TDA Family.

Hip Hop [Beg/Int]

In this class, you will learn the rhythms and movements of Hip-Hop, the five elements of Hip-Hop, grooves, fundamentals, history, musicality, and terminology in its relation to the Hip-Hop dance culture. A beginner-friendly Hip-Hop dance combo and education around Hip-Hop. This course is a prerequisite requirement for many of our intermediate/advanced classes. Prepare to take this class for at least 6-8 weeks before advancing to the next class.

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

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Andrea Sendek

11:00am-12:10am Beginner Belly Dance [Beg]

12:15am-1:25pm Intermediate Belly Dance [Int]

With a rich background in the performing arts, Andrea Sendek brings a lifetime of passionate involvement in acting, music, and dance to her role as Teacher, Performer, Choreographer, and Director.

Andrea integrates philosophies into her work learned from training and performing, for over 2 decades, belly dance and other dance genres. Andrea began learning belly dance with Mesmera in Los Angeles from 1996-2004. In 2004 she relocated to the Bay Area and began her studies at The Salimpour School of Dance where for 10 years she trained under and assisted both Jamilla & Suhaila Salimpour. Since 2015 Andrea has been learning Arabic drumming and music with Susu Pampanin and Amina Goodyear. In June of 2021, Andrea began studying extensively with Egyptian master Tommy King. She Has taken countless workshops from Egyptian teachers throughout the years some of which include, Dandesh, Yossry El Hefni, Karim Nagi, Tito, Adia Nour, and Mohammed Shahin. Andrea received certificates for completing Shara Saeeda’s Journey Through Egypt courses 1 & 2, her Suhaila Level 4 Advanced Performer Certificate, and her Jamilla Level 3 Certificate.

As a performer, Andrea has an extensive and rich performance background. Some notable performance venues are The Palace of Fine Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Brava Theatre, and The Shelton Theatre. She has performed and taught across the United States and internationally; some highlights of her itinerary include appearances in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, and Chile.

Belly Dance [Beginner]

In this class you will learn in-depth movement, full body isolation, traditional belly dance technique and fundamentals followed by choreography.  Classes begin with a pilates grounded warm up to activate the core and into belly dance fundamentals, learning body placement, building on muscle memory and intermediate choreographed combinations.  We suggest that you take this class for a minimum of 6-8 weeks to get in the swing of new body movement.

Belly Dance [Intermediate]

 In this class you will learn in-depth movement, full body isolation, traditional belly dance technique and fundamentals followed by choreography.  Classes begin with a pilates grounded warm up to activate the core and into belly dance fundamentals, learning body placement, building on muscle memory and intermediate choreographed combinations.

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

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Kylie Ireland

11:00am-12:10am Shuffle [Beg]

12:15am-1:25pm Shuffle [Int]

Kylie (she/her) is a performing artist from southern California now living in San Francisco. Main disciplines including aerial, flow arts, acrobatics, contortion, and shuffle dance! Her 12+ year background is in circus arts which originated in a youth program she was a part of, she continued to stay in this extra curricular activity throughout the years and took it more seriously as she got older. In high school she started teaching and performing professionally, after graduating studied kinesiology for 2 years, and then moved to Santa Cruz,CA in 2020 to pursue the performing arts. In Santa Cruz is where Kylie discovered shuffling and committed to learning the dance style. Kylie found shuffle dance through videos online, and although she didn’t yet consider herself a dancer was mesmerized. She loved how people would mix multiple dance styles into shuffling and thought she could do the same with her background. As it slowly began to take a big place in her life it surprised her how much passion she had for this dance as she always had been dedicated to circus arts. Kylie has performed at birthday parties, festivals, weddings, community, and corporate events! She feels grateful to be apart of RAE and her goal is to get shuffling into studios as a recognized dance style, give beginners an accessible place to learn, and create more professional opportunities for shuffle dancers. Learning to shuffle has a huge positive impact on her life and she hopes she can share that impact with others. Along with RAE Kylie also teaches at the Hive SF, Acrosports, and SF pole & dance.

Shuffle [Beginner]

Shuffle originated in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1980’s and was danced in the club scene to EDM music.  Over the years shuffling has taken the world by storm from clubs to festivals. Shuffling is known to be inclusive, freedom, spiritual, liberating, free of judgment, true expression. Shuffle Dance connects you with the music you love in a special way.  In this class students will learn basic shuffle skills like the running man, and the T-step, while also learning to incorporate their own stylistic movements.  

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody 

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Event Details:

Featured Instructors: Oche Vallejos, Andrea Sendek, Kylie Ireland

IG: _oche13 | @evolvingwithtay | @andreasendekbellydance | @kyliecircus

Date: Sunday, May 11th, 2025

Class Schedule:

• 10:00am K-Pop [All Levels] with Oche

• 10:00am Hip Hop [Beg/Int] with Taylor

• 11:00am Shuffle [Beginner] with Kylie

• 11:00am Belly Dance [Beginner] with Andrea

• 12:15pm Shuffle [Intermediate] with Kylie

• 12:15pm Belly Dance [Intermediate] with Andrea

Location: In-Studio at Rae Studios 414 Mason St. 705, San Francisco, CA 94102

Tickets: $25 In-Studio, Free for Monthly Unlimited Members, Free for Moms

Contact Rae Studios to redeem free class!

Ticket Reservations: Register on MindBody