Kinikia is a dancer performing events in the Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland tri-state areas.

Kinikia Lin-Kissick is a mother of two children and a wife. She is also an avid animal lover. She was born and raised in Northern Virginia. She is of Taiwanese, Formosan (native indigenous Taiwanese descendant) and Chinese heritage. She graduated UMBC, University of Maryland Baltimore County with a BA in Visual and Performing Arts-Dance and a minor in writing. At UMBC she produced several dance pieces which were performed, some solo, some group work. Styles of dance showcased included modern, hip-hop and tap. She also performed in other student works and performed a modern piece with Darla Stanley. She has studied Hawaiian hula, Tahitian, Maori hakas, Samoan dance, belly dance, latin dance, jazz, tap and modern at Joy of Motion Dance Studios, independent Hawaiian teachers in VA, Hilo, Hawaii, Bora Bora, Tahiti, various studios in Baltimore, Maryland, various studios in Virginia.

She worked as an independent freelance dancer from 2000-2002. In 2002 she performed Nestani in Synetic Theatre’s Host and Guest, a dance theatrical play about the friendship of a Muslim and Christian in the Chechen territory. She voyaged across the intercoastal waterway, up the Great Lakes and down to the Gulf of Mexico on board the Amara Zee with the Caravan Stage, an Avante Garde dance theater which performed the play Red Tides. She performed modern, improvisation, fire spinning and also sailed the ship en route to various performance sites across America which included small cities and large cities such as St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Peoria, Erie, Chicago and dozens more. She also freelanced belly dance performances on the side during the sojourn and learned basic aerial dance training. On return, after a 7-month contract, she joined the Silk Road Dance Company, a renowned central Asian American, Middle Eastern folkloric dance company founded and directed by Laurel Victoria Gray from 2003 until 2005. Kinikia performed at the Kennedy Center, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Joe’s Movement Emporium, Smithsonian and other notable venues with the Silk Road Dance Company. She performed many dances in the group and traveled to San Antonio, Pennsylvania and later returned as a guest artist to Doha, Qatar for the opening ceremonies of 2011 Asian Cup Tournament. She was offered a contract in 2005 from Get Up and Go entertainment, but declined as her mother’s health was in question and she was offered a principal solo role in Haft Paykar (2005), she later reprised her role as the Sandal Wood Princess for Silk Road in 2011’s reproduced Haft Paykar show. From 2005-2007 she freelanced as a belly dance performer and hula dancer both independently and as a contractor for Polynesian entertainment groups in DC and an independent booking agent from Texas. She became a corps member of a premier Polynesian company in 2007-2010, becoming co-director of its 501c status in 2008, then artistic director in 2010 until business management changed direction. She has had random entertainment opportunities including an AOL commercial, an industrial hotel commercial in New Orleans and opened for a premier R and B artist Emily and opened dance performance for Richmond’s Gwar.

DC Hippodrome Variety Show Entertainment began establishment in 2009 founded by Kinikia. In 2010, it was founded under LLC business incorporation through the Commonwealth of Virginia. The group performs Latin and Caribbean shows called “Fiesta” incorporating a diverse repertoire of zouk, calypso, soca, dancehall, cha cha, salsa, and samba.
The main show “Hawaiiana” is DC Hippodrome’s Polynesian luau also for a full-length show-Hawaiian hula, Tahitian, Maori poi spinning, haka, Tongan, Marquesas, Samoan and fire dances.

Kinikia is also a belly dancer and offers solo and group shows through DC Hippodrome. She combines her fire dance skills in some of her belly dance shows. She has put together several collaborative belly dance, Arabic and Moroccan themed shows with other belly dance, fire dance and aerial dance artists.

The company uniquely incorporates novelty entertainment in the shows particularly “Fiesta” for additional crowd-pleasing such as aerial silk dance, hula hoopers, stilt walkers and musicians-ukulele players, drummers and steel pan drummers. Her contacts in the entertainment industry also allow for professional photography to be included in the packages, ideal for weddings and other notable special events. DC Hippodrome shows are in-home, corporate, festival and school performances. They can be booked privately or for public cultural heritage shows.

Kinikia also has a long history of dance teaching. She taught at James School of Dance in Mclean, VA for three summers, the McLean Community Center, Dream in Color Foundation, Aerobix Inc., recreation centers in Northern Virginia and currently Glen Echo Park (2006-present). She is starting classes at Global Music Academy and party bookings that prefer a venue can also book DC Hippodrome there.

She taught dance throughout her pregnancy with her first child and daughter until giving birth and performed hula throughout her second pregnancy with her son.
She hopes to one day bring acclaim to DC Hippodrome Variety Show Entertainment to all parts of the country and abroad.