"Tika Morgan is a rare gem of a dance teacher - dedicated equally to both her craft and the art of teaching. She has keen eye for detail and a fierce belief in her students to excel, to master technique, yet still find their own personal expression. She is also a gifted explainer and dance ethnographer-simultaneously able to break down movement components as well as impart a sense of the cultural traditions and historical evolution of the dance forms being referenced in her her choreographies.
Above all, Tika has cultivated a loyal following because her work is grounded in the things that matter: rhythm, community, joy, and a sense of connectedness to the past and present.”
- Shenandoah Weiss
Tika Morgan is a choreographer and retreat facilitator specializing in the intersection of contemporary, folkloric, and Latin dance. Her work centers on the profound influence of the African Diaspora on global movement traditions. Her unique teaching style has garnered a diverse following throughout her travels. Tika is currently based in Mexico City, but for the last 23 years, she has divided her time between Northern California, Bahia, Brazil, and Havana, Cuba, where she has had extensive training, taught workshops, and led cultural retreats.
Tika grew up in Southwestern India with her artist mother, Deva Padma. She began dancing at age four and performing professionally as the only child in a touring Shakespeare company at age eleven, which performed throughout India for 2 years in theaters all over the country.
At age 14, she returned to the US to be with her musician father, at which time she enrolled at Dupree Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California.
At 19 she relocated to Bali Indonesia where she worked as a movement coordinator for designers and their fashion shows.
Returning to India at age 22 for 3 years, Tika received mentorship to become a movement and meditation facilitator through the work of dancer and somatic therapist Amiyo Devienne at Osho International in Pune.
This was the beginning of her understanding dance as a somatic experience rather than strictly performative.
Tika is a certified teacher of The Silvestre Dance Technique and incorporates its basic fundamentals in her workshops and retreats.
Tika has worked closely with founder/creator Rosangela Silvestre creating events and workshops and training in Bahia, Brazil
Tika has choreographed for concerts, musical theater, music videos and carnival parades-and adult performance workshops. Her work has been featured in Quién Magazine Mexico, Marie Claire Latin América, Sf Chronicle and most recently her workshops was chosen by The Guardian’s as one top 20 choices
Tika Morgan Dance workshops and retreats are centered around dance as a way of life. Embodying and celebrating the power available within us though focusing on dance as meditation. By working with fundamental technique, traditional, and popular movement, her retreats and workshops offer an opportunity for dance lovers at any level, to delve into discovering our body’s potential as we move. Participants are guided to explore the interplay between form and freedom and the power of moving as one. Both reverent and joyous, dancers will experience historical and symbolic references for even the most basic steps so that we experience what she calls “dancing our human story”.
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Featured Work
Dance Institutions & Commissions
Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco (2012 – Present)
CubaCaribe, San Francisco (2015 – Present)
The Dancer's Workshop, Jackson Hole (2013 – 2023)
ODC Dance, San Francisco (2010 – 2022)
Plaza Cuba, Havana (2015 – 2019)
Lines Ballet, San Francisco (2016 – 2018)
The Power of Resiliency (2020 – 2021)
Arenas Dance Company (2012 – 2016)
Dance Write Project (2015 – 2016)
Wellness, Retreats & Resilience
Tao Wellness, Mexico (2019 – Present)
Hacienda Resorts, Mexico (2015 – 2017)
Capella Resorts, Mexico (2013 – 2014)
UC Berkeley, Women's Wellness Retreats (2010 – 2012)
Hotel El Ganzo, Mexico (2014)
Women's Health Center (2002, 2007)
Corporate & International Festivals
YouTube Headquarters, Global Workshop (2018)
International AIDS Conference, Comhar Festival (2018)
Yemanjá Festival, San Francisco (2011 – 2016)
Festa de Verão, Brazil (2012 – 2014)
Kosmos Music & Dance Camp (2010 – 2014)
Community & Fitness Movement
Jewish Community Center, Workshops (2005 – 2011)
The Bay Club, Workshops (2006 – 2011)
Gold’s Gym (2008 – 2011)
Music & Performance Collaborations
Boca do Rio Band (2005 – 2018)
The Ascension of the Blues (2007 – 2009)
Labareda Trio (2002 – 2007)
Super Bacana Band (2000 – 2003)
Vivendo de Pão (1998, 2000)
Jesus Christ Super Star (1997)