MARIBETH
TABANERA
EDUCATOR | DANCER
CHOREOGRAPHER | DJ
"WHAT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TODAY WILL SOON BECOME YOUR WARM-UP"
ABOUT ME
Maribeth Tabanera
"Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." - Marian Wright Edelman
Maribeth "Kilusan" Tabanera (she/her/siya) is a Filipinx multidisciplinary artist, educator and activist born and based in Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg). Kilusan is a Tagalog word that means movement of an individual and/or group. A life-long learner, she has focused her energy in diving deeply into her passions of dance, music, education, social justice and community building. Maribeth holds a Graphic Design Diploma (Tec Voc, 2006), Bachelors of Art (University of Winnipeg, 2010), Industrial Arts/Technology Teacher Education Diploma (Red River College, 2012), and Bachelors of Education (University of Winnipeg, 2013). Maribeth is the full-time Internship Coordinator at Seven Oaks Met School and Maples Met School in the Seven Oaks School Division, and an instructor with Graffiti Art Programming. She is also currently a member of Kultivation Festival, Seven Oaks Filipino Employees Association and Manitoba Association of Dance Educators.
Maribeth has spent over 25+ years training, in a variety of dance styles including b-girling, hip hop, house, vogue, waacking, dancehall and afrobeat. She began her dance training at the age of 8, with Filipino folk dance organization, Magadaragat Inc. From 2006 - 2013 she was a member of Define Movement, one of Winnipeg's premiere Hip Hop dance crews. In 2015, Maribeth was part of Project Dance Company. The crew became one of the first groups to represent Winnipeg at the Canadian Hip Hop Championships in Montreal, and Canada at Hip Hop International in San Diego. Since 2016, Maribeth has been a choreographer and performer with B.O.S.S. Dance Team. Maribeth is also an active member of the street styles dance battle community as a competitor, judge and organizer. She continues to train and battle across North America. Most notably, she made top 8 in the Dancehall category of Ladies of Hip Hop July 2018 in New York and was a finalist at Queens Creation All-Styles Battle in Montreal in August 2019.
In September 2020, she was appointed as Lead Dance Curator with Synonym Art Consultation. To date she has worked as lead choreographer on Begonia’s ‘Fear’ [Official Album Trailer] and “Intramural.e,” A Théâtre Cercle Molière & Synonym Art Consultation Production presented by National Arts Centre English Theatre’s Grand Acts of Theatre.
A graduate from Mama Cutsworth's DJ Academy for All Women and Non-Binary Folks, she has been playing her favourite tracks at events all over Winnipeg since 2017. Her music collection is filled with her favourite funk, soul, jazz, rock, disco, hip hop, house, latin, dancehall, and afro-beat records. Kilusan has DJed with Queer People of Colour Winnipeg, Synonym Art Consultation, Fourth Quarter Records, DJ Bles-sed in Montreal, Bastid’s BBQ 2019 along side Skratch Bastid and DJ Maseo of De La Soul, and with Kay Gee and Vin Rock of Naughty By Nature at the Big Picture Learning Big Summer Fest 2020.
Maribeth “Kilusan” Tabanera strives to create an inclusive atmosphere wherever she is, in hopes of inspiring all people to live life to their fullest potential of light and love.
FULL CV as of October 2020
KEEP IT MOVIN WITH KILUSAN ON
Lessons with Kilusan
I create a welcoming and safe space for all types and level of students. My goal is to challenge each student to learn and improve their movement and DJ skills at their own pace. I have experience teaching all ages and all levels.
As of September 2020
I am only currently offering private lessons.
Please send me a message if you are interested in booking.
Free online dance classes:
Hip Hop https://youtu.be/DfQtLtPfgOQ
House https://youtu.be/ijiQBnHKICU
Private and Small Group Lessons
Are you interested in learning a dance style in a smaller class size or on your own? I offer private and small group classes upon request. Please send me a message through my contact form with what kind of dance classes you are looking for. If I can't accomodate you, I will try my best to refer you to someone who can!
"Maribeth is a creative, passionate and supportive teacher/choreographer, I was so lucky to get to work with her! She helped me create an unforgettable performance and my voguing improved tremendously.
Maribeth was able to create choreography that was challenging, but still within my skill level and it looked fantastic! Maribeth is amazing at what she does and was fantastic to work with!"
- Drag King Lex Contralata (June 2018)
![SR Battle [FINALS] Kilusan Vs Angel](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iqIprU3reLQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![SR Battle [Top 4] Maribeth Vs Manzino](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vKk9IXdEO60/mqdefault.jpg)
![SR Battle [Top 8] Danni Vs Kilusan](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ik9bnZyARy4/mqdefault.jpg)
testimonials
"Maribeth is a passionate dancer and a great resource. She has a plethora of knowledge on all styles of street dance. Through oral and physical teaching, she is able to convey the history of dance styles to youth thus honouring and keeping dance alive in our community. She understand her audience and knows how to interact and inspire her dancers. We had the pleasure of hosting her in our studio for a series of workshops. Dancers left inspired and reenergized from the energy that was shared by an amazing dancer in our community!"
Stephanie O.
December 1, 2017
From House to Hip Hop, Maribeth Tabanera is not only a master of guiding a class through a creative sequence of dance moves but also of articulating the history and origins of the style. With a fun, energizing warm up she breaks down the essence of the moves and reinforces them in her original choreography. We are so fortunate to have Maribeth here in Winnipeg, sharing her innovative talent in the world of dance.
Nancy E.
January 4, 2018
"The girl in the red jacket [Maribeth Tabanera as the Waacking Lady in the Artist Within] seemed to be in a rich private trance of dance expression that involved every area of her being. As a dancer....a more complete integration of body and soul could scarcely be imagined.
She amazed and excited me as a performer. She IS the music while she's dancing. possessed by it, in the best kind of way."
George T.
April 1, 2017
Maribeth Tabanera
EDUCATOR | DANCER | CHOREOGRAPHER | DJ
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada