Why Surprise! is So Cool

Katie Desmond (aka Surprise!) is an RYT-200 who started exploring movement 13 years ago as an out of shape student in San Francisco, CA. A kid who always had an excuse for gym, she first fell in love with yoga. At first, even basic poses like downward facing dog were excruciating, but slowly she began to learn how to move with her breath and was hooked. Her passion for the practice has lead her to seek out a number of styles including Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Anusara.

Yoga transformed Katie from a couch potato to a yogini and fueled a passion for movement that lead her to study other flow arts including hoop, staff and poi dancing. Perhaps most known for her hoopdancing, Katie has been spreading her love and joy of hooping for over six years. A California native, she has wowed audiences across the United States with her campy, fun and theatrical style of hoop and fire dance. In 2009, she was nominated for Fire Hooper of the Year by Hooping.org.

Katie is a member of the DC based dance troupe Revolutionary Motion, a collaboration of professional artists including Ben "Drex" Drexler, Maddy Thom, and Erik "E6" deGuzman. Revolutionary Motion offers a unique and unforgettable performance that can be worked into any event. From light atmospherics to driven group choreography, Revolutionary Motion offers a theatrical spectacle of fire and LED lights.  Katie is also involved with professional dance troupe Dance Afire.

Katie's previous performance troupes have included Solar Flare, The Bad Kitties, Los Suenos Del Fuego, and Bomtribe all based out of San Francisco, CA.

For nearly a decade, Katie has investigated movement through object manipulation, yoga and dance. Katie  often credits the inspiration and teaching of several fabulous hoop stars including Baxter and Ann (The HoopPath), Christabel Zamour (HoopGirl), Diana Lopez (Body Hoops), Michele Clark, and Brecken Rivera.  Katie also studied poi dance at the Temple of Poi with "GlitterGirl" Isa Isaacs, and learned to staff dance from Andres Amador (IK) and Noel Yee (Vulcan Crew). Katie has studied yoga with Leslie Howard, Jonathan Reynolds and Chrissy Carter. Katie is a Licensed Level 1 HoopGirl Teacher, and also completed the first ever teacher training from BodyHoops in 2006.

After the economy brought an opportunity for a transition from her career as a corporate lobbyist, Katie sought out a yoga teacher training program in 2009 so that she could deepen her practice and pursue a path more closely in alignment with her personal values and lifestyle. She chose the YogaWorks program because of its blended focus on Iyengar and Ashtanga – two disciplines that she has studied since the beginning of her yoga path. Teaching yoga full-time has only fueled the fire of her desire to deepen her practice and knowledge of this ancient art. She is currently training through an Anusara Immersion Program at Willow Street Yoga in Silver Spring, MD. Katie also studied Thai Massage at the Sunshine Network in Northern Thailand.

In addition to countless performances at clubs and private events, Katie has performed at the following events:

FloydFest, Floyd, Virginia
All Good Music Festival, West Virginia
Taste of DC, Washington, DC
Artomatic!, Washington, DC
Vixen Variety Show, Washington, DC
Tilted Torch, Washington, DC
The Weirdo Show, Washington, DC
Flights of Fire, Washington, DC
Belly Horror Show, Washington, DC
VirginFest, Washington, DC
Temple of Poi Expo, San Francisco, CA
Santa Clara County Fair, Santa Clara, CA (as part of the Mutaytor)
Fire Arts Festival, Oakland, CA
Fire Arts Expo, San Francisco, CA