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Marcina de Almeida was born in 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. Although she started taking dance classes at age 4, her dancing really began years earlier experiencing Brazilian rhythms in her mother’s womb. Already as a young child she had her first stage experiences.

Throughout her childhood and teenage years she practiced dancing with great enthusiasm. She was so involved that she decided to expand her weekly hours of dance practice. She added Tap Dance with Othella Dallas at age 9, Afro/ Jazz and Dunham classes at age 11 and classes at Jasmin Weder’s Hip Hop School at age 14; these in addition to the regular ballet classes that she had been taking. Rhythm, especially, accompanied her in her dance experiences - at the young age of 16 she was already teaching Tap Dance classes for teenagers and adults.

During rehearsals for the first “Youth-Culture Festival” (Jugendkultur Festival) in 1997 she met Andreas Jakopec. After collaborating in the major production they decided to found their own tap dance group “beat the tap”.

“beat the tap” is still a part of Marcina’s life. With their own productions like “beat the tap & friends - benefit show for children with cerebral palsy”, “beat the tap - the show”, “Stubete”, “Trummeli”, “3rd place - Swiss Tap Dance Championship 1998”, “kontraste - improvisiert” and many more special projects they have represented their name well.

She also continued her tap dance education in national and international workshops and intensive programs with following teachers: Barbara Duffy, Max Pollack, Van Porter, Steven Harper, Lane Alexander, Pascal Hulin, David Cox, Mike Minery, Andreas Dänel, Mark Yonally and Ben Read.

Still she pursued her training in other dance styles with great devotion. She spent her summer vacations in New York at the “Summer Intensive Program” held by the Alvin Ailey Dance School. Day for day she practiced classical ballet, Horton, Graham, Dunham, Jazz, Afro and Tap under internationally renowned teachers and dancers.

At age 19 she decided to leave the academic high school she had been attending. Instead she devoted herself to following her dream of dancing.

In the year 2000 she was accepted to the Alvin Ailey Dance School in New York for a professional dance education. Next to being a full time student she was also dancing at the MTV Studios - for Artists like Musiq Soulchild, Master P, Snoop Dog, Monica, Outcast and others.

After her return to Switzerland she was accepted to the “Performance Year” a professional bridge project of the Art & Co AG under the artistic director Malou Fenaroli Leclerc. There, Marcina worked with choreographers like Enrico Musmeci, Jacqueline Beck, Franz Brodmann, Dilxat Tuerxun and Linda Magnifico. With the production “Dance for all” presented by the Art & Co AG she toured throughout Switzerland and Italy.

A year later she was invited to be part of the “Cinevox Junior Dance Company”. During this time she concentrated on classical and modern dance. The follow-up tour with the second production of “Dance for all” was a great success.

To finance her studies and to share her knowledge Marcina started teaching dance classes next to her commitment to dancing in the company. She taught children’s ballet, Hip Hop and Jazz, Tap dance and eventually created her own dance style Souldance – a mix of modern and ethnic dance with her own flair.

Simultaneously a new passion emerged - singing. She started training this skill in addition to her regular dance training, rehearsals and classes. Up to this point it had only been a hobby, but now it had grown to be a part of her professional repertoire. Gabriela Fritschi, Marc B. Lay, Barbara Wäldele and FemaleFunk Project (Iris) accompany her on this path of integrating singing into her work.

After receiving her diploma from the Cinevox Junior Dance Company new engagements followed - “Arethusa Dance Company” under the artistic director Konstantin Tsakalidis, “SiWiC Nr. 7” - Swiss International Coaching Workshop under Carolyn Carlson. These were the doors that opened Marcina’s path to the professional freelance dance world.

Since then she has been teaching Tap dance, Hip Hop and Latino dance in fitness clubs, sports camps, special Hip Hop classes to support young talented dancers in Freiburg and national and international Workshops.

In her classes she draws upon her diverse dance experience and mixes a variety of dance elements from different cultures into the common styles. Healthy class structure and precise work are very important to her in all her classes. With her enthusiasm and open, yet structured way, she knows how to inspire her students and help them fulfill their potential.

She also coaches and choreographs for German Hip Hop championships, Swiss Tap dance championships, the “Tanzwerk and Youth Tap Ensemble Basel”, Student Theaters like “Kiss me Kate” (2005 - Gymnasium Leonhard Basel) or “Ronja, die Räubertochter” (2005 - Hebelschulhaus Riehen).

From 2004-2006 she was a part of the artists group “art No art” under Hildegard Hartmann in which Marcina combined singing with lyrics, language, dance and theater. In April of 2005 she created an own show program with four other young choreographers from Switzerland and Japan. The tour with this first production through Switzerland was very successful. From 2005-2007 they kept working on their new project CAMMA “wähltmichniemand,wählichmichselbst” but the project was not able to be expanded due to a lack of proper sponsorship.

After the summer of 2005 Marcina started teaching regular Hip Hop and Ragga classes under the name “soulDance”. The classes have increased in number and size and have been very successful. With her best students she has created a number of shows for the “SingEasy Festival”, “Gymnasium am Münsterberg”, “Cry Out - Women Matter! Benefit show” and other festivals and show programs.

In February of 2006 she again worked with the group “art No Art” for their second production “dr Tüfel bringt kei Häx in dHöll”. In March of the same year the dance-theater piece “putzt und gstrählt” with the company “dSchwyz tanzt…” choreographed by Sjoukje Benedictus. In April of 2006 she was also on stage as Mrs. Anderson in the new and unique Streetdance Musical “DanceMe!” presented by Andrew Resurreccion and VIVA TV in Zurich.

During this time she was also singing background vocals for “Soulcream” from Crossroad, Basel. Already in 2005 she was a dancer in one of the most successful Hip Hop companies in Switzerland “Identity-8” (former Cultureshock) from Zurich. In 2006 Marcina played a part in the musical cabaret production “Glamour Sisters” from Sean Stephens in Lucerne.

Following this job one of her biggest successes occurred - the unexpected win of the Nike Woman Contest 2007 - she was chosen to be
“Nike Woman’07” by an international Jury. Through this many interesting and new projects have occured. A step further in to the commercial dance world - now she doesn’t only dance but also walks in fashion shows for brands like Nike, Scott, Manor, Mercedes, Ford, Ochsner and Miss Sixty and danced for the newcomer “Fanny Lüscher”. She added another award, winning the runner-up position with “Moods” for “duet adults” in the Swiss Hip Hop Championship.

In May of 2007 she also had her first solo performance in the original production of “where I started & yet not ended” which was on stage during a dance festival in Basel.

During 2007 a second production with Sean Stephens took place with the famous musical “Cabaret” (in which she played the Kit Kat Girl “Lulu”).

“Cabaret” was restaged for a second season in 2008 and after that Marcina came back into the world of dance-theater. She was a part of the first production of the company “Deep Emotions” under Nicole Soltermann and had a role in the newest production of the company “d’Schwyz tanzt…” showing “Salz-Sel-Salina”.

Marcina is constantly active with smaller and larger projects, dancing, singing, being a choreographer, teacher, coach, jury member at competitions, challenging students, training, auditioning and working on deepening her various talents…simply being creative!