Joanna
oanna Gregory: Dance Choreographer and Teacher, Certified Personal Trainer (PTS)
Joanna has been part of the A.B. Dance faculty for the past 16 years, teaching many disciplines at the part time, select and competitive level. She has studied and teaches Tap, Acro, Jazz, and Musical Theatre. Throughout her dance career she competed at various dance competitions worldwide, winning numerous awards and attending a range of workshops. She was also a former Toronto Argonaut Cheerleader where she performed at games and other important events and charities within the GTA. Joanna is an ARTS YORK Dance graduate, where she studied modern and ballet and has completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Physical Education and Dance as well as her Master’s of Science and Education. Joanna continues to pursue education and is actively involved in teaching and choreographing at the studio and schools in York Region. In addition to her extensive dance background, she is also a certified canfitpro personal trainer (PTS) and coach. Joanna is a very passionate teacher and is recognized for her energetic and enthusiastic teaching methods and most importantly her dedication to her students!
Christianna
Christianna Stanley has danced from the age of 2 and has been teaching since 2003. She is certified with Canadian Dance Masters of America under the disciplines of Jazz, Ballet and Acrobatics. She has travelled to New York, LA, and Las Vegas to train and dance. Recently Christianna has choreographed a flash mob that was preformed at the Eaton Centre for an organization called "I believe she's amazing". She has also choreographed a group routine for the D.I.F.D gala fundraiser in Ottawa. Christianna currently is a dance instructor/choreographer full time.
Ms. Thomas
Ms.Thomas studied and danced professionally in South Africa, Israel and the UK.
Trained in Contemporary Dance, Spanish, Classical Ballet, African Dance and Jazz, she has been teaching classical ballet for more than 20yrs. She is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D.) and administers the Ballet Exam programme at AB Dance.
Ms. Thomas teaches Mini-Dance, all the grade levels, Senior Ballet and Pointe class. This will be her 15th year teaching at AB Dance.
Shannel
Shannel’s passion for dance began at the age of three. She studied various genres, including tap, jazz, ballet, acro, lyrical & contemporary. For 14 years, Shannel danced competitively, attended workshops and auditions within Canada and the US. She has won countless awards as a dancer and was featured on national television winning runner-up at one of the most prestigious dance competitions.
Shannel has over a decade of experience teaching at the competitive and recreational levels. Her students have won numerous overalls, special awards & scholarships. She has also been recognized by well-known and respected adjudicators for her choreography and creative concepts.
Shannel is excited to join the AB Dance family and is looking forward to a successful year.
Alessia
Dancing from the age of 4, Alessia found her true passion for dance with the help of the staff at AB Dance. She is a 2012 graduate from St.Elizabeth CHS where she was enrolled in the Regional Arts Performance Dance program. She will continue her education at York University where she will be attending the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program specializing in dance. She has danced at AB Dance for nine years training in various types of dance styles such as acro, jazz, ballet, hip hop and lyrical/ contemporary by many well-known choreographers. Alessia has also been teaching at our facility for three years educating children of all ages in all different styles of dance.
Alessia looks forward to learning and expanding her knowledge to share with her fellow dancers and students.
Lyza
Lyza-Jane was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and after moving to Toronto, she started her dance training at the early age of 2 years old. She trained formally in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, acrobatics, and hip hop and holds certifications with The British Association of Teachers of Dancing and the Royal Academy of Dance. She graduated with high honours from Cawthra Park Secondary School’s Regional Arts Program in dance discipline and was part of the Repertoire dance company. In 2009, she was accepted into the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. In 2010, she trained and performed for Eryn Waltman’s “High Tea” in the Capezio Awards for Choreographic Excellence (ACE) Awards in New York City. Lyza has also had the opportunity to teach and perform with FRESH Dance Intensive and many other contemporary dance companies, the Randolph Academy Triple Threat summer program, a National TV Promo for CTV’s “So You Think You Can Dance”, Toronto’s RBC WinterCity Festival, the Toronto Raptors Dance Pak, and as part of Team Canada for the IDO World Dance Championships in Germany. Lyza graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Psychology, where she was also Creative Director and head choreographer of CAISA Fashion Show – Canada’s largest student-run fashion show to date. She is certified with the International Sports Sciences Association in Personal Training, Fitness Nutrition, and Post-Rehabilitation Exercise Therapy. Lyza is currently completing her Masters Degree in Sport and Performance Psychology at CSU in California and recently became a resident counsellor at The National Ballet School of Canada. She is so happy to be teaching and training with the AB Dance students and hopes to continue to share her passion for dance and innovative training techniques with her dancers.
Angelica
Angelica began dancing at the age of three, and has been passionate about dance ever since! She was an A.B. dancer for ten years and has been a part of our A.B. Dance Inc. faculty for 8 years. She is trained in multiple genres including acro, jazz, hip hop, tap, musical theatre and ballet.
Angelica has completed her Bachelor of Arts as well as her Master of Arts in Child Study and Education at the University of Toronto. She is currently a teacher with the York Region District School Board with a passion for the primary division. Both in the classroom and at the studio, Angelica hopes to spark children’s creativity to create a fun and exciting environment for children to learn and grow in.
Angelica is thrilled to be a part of the A.B. Dance Inc. faculty again this year! She is looking forward to working with all of the talented dancers and having lots of fun!
Jesse Hargrave
Jesse Hargraves started dancing at the age of three, and has now been a professional instructor, choreographer and dancer in and around Toronto. Being in the industry during this time has given her opportunities to perform on television, in music videos, as a back up dancer for multiple singers and in live performances for many major events. For over two years Jesse performed around the southern United States and Caribbean in large production shows on Carnival Cruise Lines. She has gained vast experience as a versatile teacher, teaching both industry professionals as well as students at recreational/competitive studios and in workshops around the city. Styles Jesse has professionally taught and performed in include hip hop, contemporary, tap, jazz, ballet (RAD level 2 certificate), acro, musical theatre, swing, country and samba. Credits include: Cirque Du Soleil, Kardinal Offishall, The Tenors, Derrick Barry, Vita Chambers, Fito Blanko and more!
Dominique
Dominque began dancing at the age of 3 and has been dancing ever since. She danced competitively for over 10 years and won various overall titles. Dominique has also been currently teaching and dancing with team Canada and competing with them at the Dance World Cup. She just returned from the Dance World Cup in Portugal and is proud to have won a gold medal for Canada! Dominique continues to take classes to explore the dance world and stay up to date with everything new. She loves teaching and passing her knowledge to inspire and help other dancers grow.
Kristy
Kristy’s love of dancing began at the early age of 3years old. After studying at local studios in Stouffville, she attended Unionville High School for the Performing Arts and continued her dance training in post-secondary education. Kristy earned her diploma from George Brown College in Dance Performance Studies, training in various styles of dance and within company classes with Ballet Jorgen.
While following her passion of performing and dancing within small companies in the GTA, Kristy also found her passion of teaching and choreographing. Over the last 8 years, Kristy’s choreography has been recognized for competitive dance teams, skating clubs as well as entertainment events.
Currently, Kristy is focusing her energy on sharing her passion of dance to children of all ages. She is also presently a member and captain of the Argos Cheerleaders for the Toronto Argonauts. Kristy hopes to continue within the dance community and reminds all dancers that “life’s a dance, you learn as you go”.
Kim
Kimiya’s love for dance at the age of 4 and has continued for 18 years. She has trained in styles such as ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern and contemporary. Her teaching experience began when she assisted recreational & competitive classes at the studio where she trained competitively. During her four years at University she began teaching her own classes, especially to younger dancers. Additionally, she was part of McGill’s Dance Company, Mosaica, and was a coordinator in her third year. She looks forward to continuing teaching and inspiring young dancers.
Jonah
At the age of 6, Jonah never could have guessed that agreeing to take a dance class would grow into the passion he now has for the arts. Jonah has trained in many genres including Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, hip-hop, and acrobatics. Throughout his time as a competitive student, he has won numerous awards and scholarships, and has attended many workshops across Ontario. In 2015, Jonah had the honour of representing Canada in the 2015 International tap championships in Germany, bringing home the silver medal. Jonah has a passion for teaching and is beyond excited to begin teaching at AB this year. He hopes to build a new level of tap technique at the studio, and bring the same fun and excitement to tap that sparked his love for the style.
Nikki
Nicollette Evans has been dancing since she was 7 years old, competing and training in all different styles from tap, jazz, contemporary, ballet, point, modern, acro and hip hop. She has competed all over Canada and the United States winning titles. She has competted at many competitions winning numerous awards at a regional and national level. She has also won several choreography awards in past and present years for her work. Nicollette has focused herself now on hip-hop and has really been studying the culture of the style. For the past four years, her hip hop routines have won various diamond choreography awards at A.D.A and numerous overall high scores. She is also very involved in choreographing for the Toronto hip hop industry.
Nicollette has been apart of performances and competitions with her hip hop crews (Fo’Real and UHHU) such as Beatdown, World of Dance, Festival of Dance, O.U.C.H, and many more. I am known for my energetic, hard hitting choreography and my individualized teaching style. She is currently involved with a hip-hop crew that competes all over Canada. She has been trained in street hip-hop for several years and continues to train and learn from this style. Nicollette is extremely excited and enthusiastic to be part of AB Dance and looks forward to spreading her knowledge and skill to the children. Nicollette is excited to share her passion of dance with her AB Dance students!
Sandra
Sandra Yip began her gymnastic journey at the age of 5 where she quickly rose in ranks within the national high performance stream until the age of 17. Sandra finished her competitive years as a Junior high performance athlete representing Ontario at several national championships.
Sandra continues her passion for the sport and has been coaching for 18 yrs. Sandra has worked at all levels of experience from the grass roots, parent and tot classes through to the intense national stream programs, however her enthusiasm lies in the preparatory pre-competitive programs where she prepares young athletes for provincial and national competitive gymnastic careers.
Along with her NCCP level 3 gymnastics coaching certification, Sandra also has a personal training degree, F.L.M.P., from George Brown College. This allows Sandra to be at the top of her league in physical preparation and motivation by creating an environment that encourages a healthy long-term lifestyle in gymnastics and sport.
Amey Rahey
Amey began her dance training in Cape Breton, NS, and currently resides in Toronto, ON. She has trained extensively in numerous styles and has always sought out additional dance education. As a young dancer, she has had the opportunity to work closely with highly respected choreographers such as Blake McGrath, Teddy Forance, Nick Lazzarini, and Bobby Newberry. Amey began choreographing at a very young age, and has received numerous awards and scholarships at events across North America throughout her dance career. She is best known for her unique style of movement, as well as her commitment to the development of young artists. Having graduated in 2015 with a B.Comm. degree and a major in accounting, Amey is now a freelance choreographer, instructor, and the Creative Director of both Elite Dance Productions: a touring competition and convention company; and DFRNT Dance: an intimate artist development program. Amey has been chosen to take part in many renowned training programs, such as The Gypsy Project LA, the Dana Foglia Dance Training Program, the SoulEscape Company Intensive, and the RUBBERBANDance Winter Workshop. These programs allowed her to work alongside a select group of dancers to study under artists such as Erica Sobol, Dana Foglia, Justin Giles, Victor Quijada, Jiri Pokorny, Tilman O’Donnell, Medhi Walerski, Lisa Ebeyer, David Harvey, Dana Wilson, Will Johnston, Jen Osorio Pendleton, and Alan Salazar, to name a few. She recently participated in The Galen Hooks Method Artist Development session, under the direction of Galen Hooks. Additionally, she has performed in multiple shows as a company member of Justin Giles’ SoulEscape in Dallas and Los Angeles, at the 2018 Raptor’s home opener, has taught at Arizona’s DancePlex, and is currently a faculty member at Toronto’s Underground Dance Centre. She is also a proud member of the Professional Adjudicator’s Alliance. Amey continues to seek out opportunities in order to fulfill her desire to continuously grow as an artist.
Ashley Schofield
Ashley Schofield is a passionate, motivated choreographer and teacher from Toronto, ON and has danced and performed for over twenty years. Miss Schofield trained across North America with notable teachers and choreographers.
Ashley is the founder and choreographer for Opus Dance Collective, a company housing pre-professional and professional dancers. Her company debuted her work at the Capezio ACE Awards in both NYC and Los Angeles in front of an influential audience and panel of judges. They have since continued to train and perform across Canada and the US. Ashley’s choreography and company can be seen on NBC’s World of Dance Season 2, as her Opus dancers battled it out amongst the top dancers in the world. She also recently had the honour of being selected to present a piece of choreography at the APAP 2019 Conference in NYC. Ashley and Opus Dance Collective are proud to present their second full-length show this summer in Toronto.
Ashley has been recognized for her creative concepts, artistry and choreography at both national and international levels of competition. Her competitive choreography has been displayed across Canada and the US at the YAGP Finals in NYC, in the Top 10 at the Dance Awards, charitable events and fundraisers, fashion shows, promotional teams representing both retail and media companies, along with numerous studio regional and national competitions.
Miss Schofield attended, by audition, the National Choreographer’s Intensive at Utah Valley University. While in attendance, she had the opportunity to work, study and create under the guidance of nationally recognized professional, Nelly van Bommel. Ashley is a certified ADAPT & PBT teacher.
Ashley enjoys taking part in many annual Toronto industry events including the Choreographer’s Ball, Hit The Floor All-Star Showcase, and 60×60 Toronto- she was also honoured to create work for competitors on this season’s World Performers Canada National Dance Team.
Kim
Kimiya’s love for dance at the age of 4 and has continued for 18 years. She has trained in styles such as ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern and contemporary. Her teaching experience began when she assisted recreational & competitive classes at the studio where she trained competitively. During her four years at University she began teaching her own classes, especially to younger dancers. Additionally, she was part of McGill’s Dance Company, Mosaica, and was a coordinator in her third year. She looks forward to continuing teaching and inspiring young dancers.
Karli
Karli trained at AB Dance since the age of 4 in a variety of genres such as Acro, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet, and Hip Hop. Karli has competed at numerous dance competitions across North America winning group and solo overall awards with the AB Dance Competitive team. Karli has also choreographed dance numbers for elementary and high school productions which led to her to receive the 2017 YSCPC Outstanding Leadership in the Arts Award and the 2017 Choreography Award at the Provincial Sears Drama Festival. Karli danced in the 2016 Toronto Argonaut Home Opener, the 2016 official Toronto Diwali Celebration, and the closing and opening ceremonies at the 2017 Invictus Games hosted by Prince Harry.
Karli most recently became a choreographer for CAISA Fashion Show – Canada’s largest student run charity fashion show, and is currently on This is London Dance Team representing Western at university level competitions as a dancer and choreographer. Karli will continue to dance and share her passion with her students.
Kevin
Kevin Howe has been dancing since the young age of 5. After 14 years of training in various styles of dance including Jazz, Tap, Hip hop, arco and contemporary in his hometown Ottawa, ON he decided to make the move to Toronto to begin his professional career.
Since then he has taken the dance world by storm from all angles, working with big names like Girlicious, Blake McGrath, Ke$ha, Russel Peters and Lady Gaga to name a few. On top of his stage performances, he has also ventured into film. His film and TV credits include Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure with Disney’s Ashley Tisdale, HBO’s Hellcats, and Disney’s Frenemies.
Most recently, Kevin was chosen to be apart of Canada’s top 22 on season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Recognized for both his dance abilities and choreography skills, Howe has began to make a name for himself in the industry amongst other well established professionals.
Having won the national title of “Americas Young Choreographer of the year” in both 2007 and 2010, his creative and innovative style has brought Kevin a lot of positive attention and he has since been given the opportunity to teach workshops and masterclasses to students and teachers across Canada.
