Co-Founders
The Partnership
Karine Plantadit
Karine Plantadit, a French native of Caribbean & African Peule descent, is an accomplished Tony Award nominee, dancer, choreographer, director, and yoga instructor. Karine was trained in both classical and contemporary institutions such as the Rosella Hightower Dance Center and The Alvin Ailey School. Graduating into The Ailey Company she was promoted to soloist and eventually ventured into Broadway, film and television to become an original cast member of productions such as Only Gold, The Lion King, Saturday Night Fever, After Midnight, Movin’ Out, Come Fly Away, Sex and the City, So You Think You Can Dance, Smash, Frida, Chicago, Across the Universe and Mozart in the Jungle.
Karine is actively immersed in the dance world as a permanent judge and teacher at Youth America Grand Prix, a certified Modo Yoga instructor (500hrs), trained with Baron Baptiste, accredited life coach and is also a Fred and Adele Astaire Award Winner for Outstanding Female Dancer for her work in After Midnight.
Michelle Camaya Julian
Michelle Camaya Julian, also known as “Mochi”, is a renowned dancer, choreographer, director, and yoga instructor. Michelle studied at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and later received a B.A. in Dance from the University of California, Irvine. Michelle's professional career includes the highly acclaimed The Lion King (Broadway, National tour & Las Vegas), Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away (National Tour & Japan) and Sinatra, Dance with Me (Las Vegas) and other musicals such as Fame, Swing & Evita; Movies: Enchanted and Memoirs Of A Geisha; a finalist on Bravo TV's ‘Step It Up & Dance’, and was a member of Donald McKayle's Etude Ensemble and hip-hop crew Kaba Modern, both at U.C.Irvine.
Michelle resides in San Diego and teaches for Samahan Filipino American Performing Arts as well as for the San Diego, Poway, Sweetwater & Grossmont Unified School Districts. She is certified in Bikram and Modo Yoga, recognized with an E-RYT 500 with Yoga Alliance and is trained in Inferno Hot Pilates.
the her-story of kamochi
The business started in 2016 but their friendship began much earlier…
Karine was a cast member of the original Broadway company of The Lion King in 1997 and Mochi joined the “Pride” in 2002 with the first national touring company. The two never performed in the long-running show together, however, in 2008 they were able to perform for a project with Otis Sallid in Abu Dhabi with the International Film Festival.
It was here wherein they found out that they both practice Nichiren’s Buddhism. For a longer and more impactful time together in 2011, these two bright lights performed for Twyla Tharp’s, “Sinatra, Dance with Me” in Las Vegas based on Tharp’s Broadway production, “Come Fly Away”, of which Karine was nominated for a Tony Award in the category: Best Featured Actress in a Musical. During their performances in Las Vegas, Karine was inspired to further her knowledge in yoga and became certified in Modo Yoga in 2012.
Mochi, being certified herself, dreamt of somehow working with Karine, together with their soulful interests in yoga, dance and community. It wasn’t until 2016 where they solidified their commitment to pursue their dreams through creating tangible goals.
With Karine in Harlem and Mochi in San Diego, they traveled from their respective coasts to the revitalizing island of Kauai and enrolled in a Barefoot Business Breakthrough seminar to guide them along their unique path. Since then, they have offered workshops, masterclasses, dance intensives and yoga retreats to over hundreds of adventure seekers and pre-professional young artists. This is a path they have been passionately paving for 5 years and counting....
