ZUZI! Dance

Denise Bey is a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn. Her first dance training stems from the Bernice Johnson Dance Studio, who’s foundation was in Dunham , Graham and Horton techniques. She is the daughter of Chief Bey, the principal drummer in Baba Olatunji’s Albums Drums of Passion etc. Although she is trained in all dance forms, Denise's foundational training is in the Afro Haitian Barre technique of Ruth Beckford. Denise started teaching dance at age 14. Years later, she was scouted out while teaching in NY by a scout named Ishmael Ivo, who hired her to do a six month residency in Koln Germany and almost simultaneously was chosen in an audition for Stevie Wonder’ 86 U.S. tour, which is how she discovered Arizona. Denise has also been fortunate to land a few movie gigs in The Believers staring Martin Sheen and Helen Shafer, Boys on the Side starring Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Mary-Louise Parker. She has also been a wardrobe mistress with Alvin Ailey Dance Company and for Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly album. In addition to dancing, Denise enjoys drumming, crafting instruments, jewelry and mask making, and tie dying. Now in her late 60’s, Denise has decided to keep trying to dance as a soloist but is actively seeking folk who like herself still want and need to dance. She believes dance has allowed her to still be able to move fluidly. She has been in Tucson in since 1988, and has worked with Young Audiences of Southern Arizona as an artist in education conducting assemblies in magnet art schools.