Meet the Members

Talent and passion merge to create the representatives of Nusantara Budaya

Co-Founder, Executive Officer, Dancer

Nova

Nova started her passion for dancing with a group of ladies living in the DMV areas in 2015. With her group, Nova has performed over the course of many years, in many different events, including the Fiesta Asia, International World Food & Arts Festival, Passport to the World Event at AIA Washington DC, International Cultural Festival, Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Cultural Diversity in FL, and many others.

Co-Founder, Treasurer, Dancer

Wati

Growing up in a family of traditional Indonesian dancers, Wati started to learn Balinese and Javanese dances at the age of four. She trained in many forms of traditional dance as well as contemporary and modern dance. Wati has performed on Indonesian national television, at the University of Pittsburgh, when working in East and West Africa, and Washington, DC.

Co-Founder, Fundraising Manager, Dancer

Kae

Born in West Java, Indonesia, Kae has had an affinity for dance since childhood. She loves to move and nothing wakes up her senses like music. Having had no formal lessons, Kae relies on her body to connect to the music and surrender to the rhythm. Kae has performed mostly Sundanese dance both in Indonesia and in the Washington, DC area.

Operations Team, Singer, Dancer

Gabriela

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Gabriela began her journey into music and dance at age seven. During her middle and high school years, Gabriela started dancing with the Spotlight Studio Dancers. At 21, she graduated Berklee College of Music as a music business major and during her time at Berklee, Gabriela continued to showcase Indonesian culture through song covers and dances. On TikTok, where Gabriela shares her singing ability, she has a total like count of 377 thousand.

Operations Team, Dancer

Stephanie

Stephanie is a graduate of George Mason University who has been dancing since the age of five. As a dedicated member of the Nusantara Budaya U.S. team, Stephanie has studied ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and modern dance. Stephanie's dance career includes tenures at the Swan Ballet Dance School, the Ashburn Dance Academy, the Northern Virginia Community College Dance Company, the Spotlight Studio Dancers, and the Virginia Mutiny Dancers and Cheerleaders where she became Captain for two seasons.

Dancer

Sarah

Sarah was raised in a family that loves to perform, so she chose to follow that path in dance. At the age of seven, Sarah began learning traditional Javanese dances. Then, while living in Indonesia, she started participating in extracurricular traditional dance classes from middle school through high school. Sarah started dancing at wedding events and giving performances at every school event. Since then, Sarah has decided to take additional steps to study various traditional dances from Indonesia.

Dancer

Wanti

Dancing has always been Wanti's passion since a very young age. She believes that the enormous richness of Indonesian culture adds excitement to her life's journey. Wanti has been a pioneer in spreading awareness about the Indonesian communities in the USA from 1983 until now. She has also danced with other groups in the Washington, D.C. area while being an active member of the Indonesian Kids Performance Arts (IKPA).

Dancer

Julien

Julien has a lifelong love of traditional Indonesian dances. She started her dance journey with traditional Indonesian Dayak dance when she was an elementary school student in Borneo, Indonesia. Julien had performed in many dancing activities in Houston and the DMV area for various events such as the International Cultural Festival, the Asian Pacific Heritage Month Celebration for the U.S. Department of Education, and at many other places during Chinese New Year celebrations.

Dancer

Erlis

Erlis has loved to dance since she was five years old. She started dancing in school and joined a dance studio as her extracurricular activity as a student. Erlis' passion for dance includes love for all different types of dance styles. Her own dynamic dance style changes depending on the music she's listening to. Erlis joined Nusantara Budaya U.S. in 2022.

Our Dance Coaches

Where dance and dedication meet

Deri

Choreographer, Dance Coach

Deri Al Badri holds a Master of Arts from the Indonesian Institute of Art and Culture in Bandung, where he is also a Professor teaching Jaipong dance from West Java, dance composition, and Pencak Silat which is the Indonesian martial arts. As a dancer, he has choreographed many dances infusing traditional and contemporary movements from different provinces in Indonesia. He has performed worldwide to bring cultural awareness to countries such as England, Spain, China, Malaysia, and Madagascar, among others.

Fier

Choreographer, Dance Coach

Nur Fitriyani Padjriah holds a Master of Arts from the Indonesian Institute of Arts and Culture in Bandung, where she is also a dance professor teaching traditional dances and choreographing traditional and contemporary dances. To introduce Indonesia’s culture and arts, she has performed and held workshops in many different countries among them Malaysia, China, UAE, Singapore, Madagascar, Kuwait, and Thailand.

Mourien

Dance Coach

Mourien Amalia comes from a family of musicians and athletes. She has been dancing since she was eight years old and started teaching when she was a teenager. She and her troupe, Wrhatnala USA, have presented numerous performances throughout the extended metro DC. since 2008, including the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Theater. In December 2014, she opened her own studio named Spotlight Studio, now known as Rebola DanceFit.