Mary Anne Kuebler – Director

Mary Anne started dancing at the age of 5, in Moose Jaw, Sask., where she trained in tap, jazz, ballet and baton. Music was a big part of her life and she studied piano for 10 years and was a member of “The Sprigs O’ Heather” pipe band. Her educational pursuits took her to Manitoba where she earned her B.Sc. degree. She continued her dance training as a young adult, at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and when she relocated to Sherwood Park in 1984, continued training. Mary Anne has taught pre-school, tap and jazz at several Edmonton and area dance studios, as well as tap for Edmonton Public School’s Continuing Education. She became owner/director of dancefusion in 2000 and has been secretary of the Alberta Dance Educator's Association since 2000. She continues attending workshops and seminars; believing you are never too old to learn. Mary Anne has filled the studio with some of the most qualified and talented teachers in the Edmonton area and is looking forward to continuing to provide dance training of the highest caliber, as dancefusion continues into it's 2nd decade.

Josephine Cavaco

Josephine, who hails from Montreal, developed a passion for dance very early. At the age of 3, she began her training at Le Centre d'Art de Natasha under ballet Mistress Marie Cote, a retired National Ballet company member.
Her training in ballet and modern lead her to join the professional program at L'ecole Superiuere de la Dance du Quebec. She continued her training in ballet, modern and character dance for the next 6 years under susanne Toumine and WEndy Wright. Josephine's devotion and lover of dance led her to join Les Grande Ballet Canadiens at the early age of 16. She has performed various roles in ballets such as the Nutcracker, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, Coppelia and Swan Lake.
Josephine is a performer, teacher and choreographer who recently completed her Associates in the Cecchetti teaching method. She looks forward to returning to dancefusion for her 3rd year, sharing her ideas, passion and love of dance with her students.

Richard Andries

Richard Andries is Edmonton's most sought after Hip Hop teacher and choreographer. Chris Brown, Ludacris,Boyz II Men, Ashanti, 112, Ginuwine and Shawn Desman are just a few of the international acts that Richard has opened for while performing with his dance group White Chocolate. The group was recently awarded with Top Professional Dance Crew at Canada’s first national hip hop competition Artists Emerge. This was where Richard was presented with the Most Outstanding Dancer title as well as the Icon Award. White Chocolate has also performed at Alberta’s Centennial Celebration for the Queen of England, the 2004 Juno kickoff party and the Universal Records Juno After Party. Richard has toured with hip hop legend Snoop Dogg, as well as rap artist The Game.

Richard has also accompanied Canadian stars Kayle and Gary Beals as a background dancer. With his dynamic style and energetic choreography Richard maintains the true techniques of hip hop including Popping, Locking, Breaking, Tutting and more. This year Richard traveled to Detroit with the Extreme Dance Convention Faculty. There he assisted Bradley Rapier of the "Groovaloos", and was along side of some of Americas finest choreographers including Liz Ramos, Brian Friedman and many more. Richard is currently teaching throughout Alberta and preparing for a dance tour across China with Spice Productions. He continues to train, perform and teach with North America's finest.

Anne Marie Schotte ( B.A. B.Ed)

Anne Marie began dancing soon after she learned to walk. She trained in ballet, tap, and jazz in a variety of major cities across North America and continues to keep up with what is current by participating in workshops and seminars.
Anne Marie performed and choreographed with dance companies LANorth, DanceFX, Kompany, and the Calgary 88's dance team. She also toured across Canada with the Las Vegas produced variety show “Magin 'n' More” and has appeared in several musicals, industrials, and music videos.

Danica Smith

Danica began her dance training at the age of six, at the Newell Society for Dance Education.  After completing high school, she relocated to Edmonton, where she trained at the Edmonton School of Ballet, completing her Advanced II Cecchetti Exam, as well as receiving her Associate Teaching Certificate, followed by her Associate Diploma in 2006.  Danica is keeping up her own dance training, as she enters her third season performing with Citie Ballet.  She is passionate about the theatrical side of dance, and is excited to share that passion with the students at dancefusion Academy of Dance.

Gail Ledger

An Accredited Al Gilbert Examiner and Teacher in the disciplines of tap and jazz, Gail has taught workshops, summer schools and master classes internationally. She is one of Canada’s most experienced and qualified instructors for the Al Gilbert Tap Syllabus and this is certainly reflected in her students’ achievements every year.
Gail was one of the original members of The Alberta Tap Dance Association, which has now evolved and grown into The Alberta Dance Educator’s Association. Gail has also taken several turns at running popular Canadian dance festivals, including fulfilling the role of coordinator for The Alberta Dance Festival. Her extensive experience in dance education, choreography, arts administration, and many other dance-related fields have given her a wealth of knowledge to share.
Miss Gail’s choreography has been featured in countless shows and events, from Edmonton’s local festivals to the internationally viewed TV series Star Search. Gail’s students have gone on to incredibly successful careers as choreographers for TAP DOGS, The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and shows being produced in Vegas and Off Broadway in New York City. There is also an abundance of former students who have moved on to professional careers as performers on cruise ships, stages, and in resorts all over the world, as well as teachers, choreographers, and professors of dance in colleges.
Gail Ledger is known throughout the dance community for her amazing commitment and dedication not only to the highest quality dance training, but to each and every one of her students. Just having completed her 40th season as a dance teacher, Gail brings an energy and love for dance into class that stays with her students forever.

Francois Chevennement

François Chevennement was previously Artistic Director of Dance Alberta in Edmonton prior to accepting the same position with Citie Ballet as of July 1, 2006. In his first season with Citie Ballet he revealed a strong artistic vision with excellent productions starting with an Hommage à Billy Bob and finishing the season with Convergence a collaborative performance with FreeFall Dance where the evening's closing work, choreographed by Mr. Chevennement, received a standing ovation. Strong marketing and increased ticket sales were indicative of his boundless energy and commitment to leadership.

Shannon Sedgwick

Shannon Marie Sedgwick is a motivational leader, strong teacher, innovative choreographer, and strong community supporter in Edmonton, Alberta.  Shannon has provided training, instruction, and choreography for competitive dance groups ranging in age from 5 – 30.  She has taught and choreographed in multiple disciplines including lyrical, jazz, hip hop, and musical theatre. In addition to her teaching experience, Shannon has been a teacher-assistant for multiple forms of dance, a choreographer for the play, Annie, and a choreographer for her graduation fashion show. 

Shannon has over 15 years of training and performance experience in singing and dance, and she is well-trained in jazz, lyrical, ballet, voice, and hip hop.  Shannon has won multiple scholarships for her musical theatre solos and impressed many audiences with her beautiful stage presence and soulful voice.  In true triple-threat fashion, Shannon has also performed as an actor holding the lead role in a production of the musical, Fame. 

Always committed to building a better world for others, Shannon has performed in a number of community fundraising events including singing in the Santa’s Kidz (2006-2007) and dancing for Blue EyE Soul in Hip Hop for Hope 4 and 5 (2007-2008). 

Jordan Armour

I began taking dance lessons when I was 4 years old.  I started with Gail Ledger taking her “Kinder Combo class” which consisted of instruction in both tap and jazz.  I stopped studying dance at the age of 7 and became very involved with sports.  I returned to dance when I was 9 years old, studying Hip Hop with Curtis Ledger.  I had the privilege of working with Andrea Rabinovitch from Dance Alberta at the age of 10.   Andrea also trained me in contemporary jazz, and I performed at various venues throughout the city as well as competitions.

Since 2004, I have been an assistant teacher with instruction of Hip Hop classes and have taught a hip hop class at the high school I attend as well.  This particular class expanded to include hip hop instruction to the physical education girls’ classes.  I have instructed summer hip hop workshops in dance for 6-8 year old children and regular classes for 6-8 year olds and 8-10 year olds in hip hop.

I continue to study Hip Hop, tap, ballet, breakdancing and improvised tap.  As well, I am a regular performer at Hip Hop for Hope and Stars of Hope and enjoy competitions throughout the dance season also.

I am looking forward to sharing this season of dance with the students of dancefusion!

Johnathan Morin

Johnathan Morin began dancing at the age of eight. In that time, he has taken classes from many tap greats such as Dr. Jeni Legon, Dr. Harold Cromer, Prof. Robert Reed, Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe Arnold, Bril Barrett, Andrew Nemr, Max Pollak, and Lance Liles. His biggest inspirations in his life are Shay Kuebler, Dr. Jimmy Slyde, The
Nicholas Brothers, The Berry Brothers, Savion Glover and Gregory Hines. John recently completed Al Gilbert's grade 7 tap syllabus and plans on finishing the remaining grades in the next few years. Johnathan hopes to inspire others and expose the public to the wonderful world of tap. John loves teaching dance and seeing the progress in the students. His love of the art is apparent in his classes, which are up tempo and fun. Johnathan hopes to see you in his class  and is very excited to be part of the amazing teaching faculty at dancefusion Academy of Dance.

Alexander Chung

From taking small breakdancing classes at G.A.R.C. to training with some of America’s most famous hip-hip choreographers and dancers such as Shane Sparks, Cedric Gardner and Dominic from “So you think you can dance”, Alex’s dance life has slowly empowered him. Prior to this year at dancefusion Alex attended an arts school in Victoria which gave him a taste of ballet, jazz, lyrical, cultural and tap however intensifying his growth in hip-hop. Apart from dancefusion Alex is the director and organizer of the dance company “Distant Waves” which will be going on tour August 1st 2009 to January 4th 2010 attending 15 cities along the west coast of North America. Coming fresh from Vancouver and Victoria, he hopes to bring a completely new style of dance to dancefusion
this year.

As a kid and teenager, Alex always admired and looked up to his hip-hop teachers Richard and Curtis and is more than enthusiastic to join them along with all the caring staff at dancefusion Academy of Dance. Alex look’s forward to seeing and dancing with everyone at dancefusion once again!

Sasha Cherkawsky

B-Boy instructor extraordinaire, Sasha Cherkawsky is better known as “Astrob0y”. Over the years his energetic and innovative style has made him one of Edmonton’s foremost b-boy/breakdance instructors. His classes remain fun and energetic while building on the fundamentals of b-boy. Classes have a heavy focus on developing skills in power-moves and freezes while incorporating them into down-rock, top-rock and up- rock routines.

Sasha’s talents span the spectrum of dance and even gymnastics, as a former competitive gymnast, coach, and member of the Ukrainian Shumka dancers. Throughout the years he has performed all over the world. He has also been involved with numerous schools and charity performances, such as Santa’s Kidz and Hip-Hop for Hope. In addition to his performances, he has taught workshops and classes with many studios including LA Dance, HSM, Step by Step, Dancefusion, Dance Alberta, 3rd Street Beat, and even The University of Alberta.

Carlo Atienza

Carlo is one of the most captivating performers to have hit the scene as a choreographer in recent years.  He is currently a member of White Chocolate, who won top prize as best professional dance crew in 2006 and has also joined up with 3D dance crew who was awarded Choreographer of the year at Artists Emerge 2008 and again in 2009.  As a performer Carlo has had the privilege of opening for numerous artists such as Boyz II Men, Nelly Furtado, The Game, K-Ci and JoJo, Ne-Yo, Fabolous, Sean Kingston as well as world renowned dance crews Kaba Modern and Jabbawockeez.  He has also been awarded with numerous scholarships and awards such as Most Outstanding Dancer at Artists Emerge 2006.  Since then Carlo has been working on choreography for showcases such as Hip Hop for Hope as well as various prominent company classes and studios throughout the province. 

With an intricate style that emphasizes both coordination and musicality, Carlo hopes to encourage his students to hear music differently so that they may better understand themselves both as dancers and choreographers.  When it comes to his influences, Carlo is largely inspired by choreographers from L.A. and the Bay Area such as Shaun Evaristo, Keone Madrid, Phillip Geniza, and Jun Quemado.  He continues to educate and train himself in all styles of hip hop dance whether it be in locking, popping or house, all in efforts to keep growing as choreographer.  Carlo definitely has his goals set high as he continues to build upon the name and reputation he has already made for himself as one of Alberta’s most sought after dancers. 

Julianna Veldtman

Julianna began her training in Edmonton Alberta. Throughout her career, she has studied Ballet, Jazz, Ukrainian, Lyrical, Modern, Tap, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre under renowned choreographers and instructors from across North America, London, France, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, and Ukraine. As a soloist and company dancer, Julianna traveled to exotic destinations performing on Celebrity Cruise Lines. Some of Julianna credits also include four national tours as a guest performer with the Kiev Ballet of Ukraine and a national tour with the legendary Dame Julie Andrews, Sir Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church, and members from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal London Ballet. Julianna was a member of the Ukrainian Shumka dancers and had the honor to be on the national tour as an original cast member of “Cinderella”.   In addition to performing, Julianna has assisted for members of the faculty at Broadway Dance Center in New York City and choreographed for studios overseas in Pretoria, South Africa.  Julianna is please to bring her experience and talent back to Canada where, as a teaches, choreographs and adjudicator, she encourages and inspired young people to realize and reach their full potential.

Maria Kolasis

Maria has completed 4 years at the California Pacific College for the Performing Arts and toured with the performing group” The Young Americans” throughout the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany ,Holland and Japan. She has performed the part of “Clara” in Alberta Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker”, “Esmeralda” in the musical “Notre Dame de Paris”,  and “Gabriella” in production of “High School Musical”. She is also trained in Lighting and Sound.

While performing throughout the world she also had the pleasure of instructing children aged 5 through 15 and young adults aged 16 through 21 of many different cultures and languages in voice, dance and musical theatre. She helped direct and organize many three day workshops at the end of which students performed a full hour musical production. 

More recently she has had the pleasure of taking part in CBC’s Triple Sensation where she made the top 9 in Western Canada. She was also a part of  the production  “Crazy for You” and has just finished recording her new single “Internal Happiness”.

Shaza

Since Shaza took her first class at Dancefusion with Nancy Bromley of Vibe Tribe productions, she hasn't looked back. Belly Dancing since 2002, Shaza has studied with Aurora Ongaro, Maria Thomas and Anita Schreyer of Arabesque Dance Company, Anemone Ruder and Tracey Stefaniuk of Isis Dance Productions and many more. Always on the quest for continual self-improvement and knowledge Shaza has participated in workshops with some of the finest Belly dancers in the world including: Yasmina Ramzy founder of Arabesque Academy, Beata and Horacio Cifuentes of Germany, Carolena Nericco of Fat Chance Belly Dance, Kamie Liddle and Petite Jamila of Belly Dance Super Stars, to name a few. Shaza has been Teaching at Dancefusion Academy of Dance for the last 3 years.

Selesta Beauchamp

Miss Selesta began dancing at the age of 8 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan where she trained in jazz, tap and ballet. She completed her advanced exams in tap and jazz through the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association.  Her ballet training was studied through the Royal Academy of Dancing. She competed in many festivals & attended workshops to further her dancing education.  Upon moving to Alberta, she completed her degree in Elementary Education as well as a certificate in fitness training. She has always continued to dance and teach dance as she is lucky enough to have 3 dance partners, her husband and two children, who she dances with on a daily basis! She has been teaching students aged 3 to adult in Sherwood Park for several years. Miss Selesta looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for dance with her new students!

Brittany Matlo

Brittany Matlo is born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Starting at the age of four she has danced many styles such as Tap, Hip hop, Jazz and Ballet. She has spent many years studying hip hop from professionals dancers such as ; Miles Faber from “ So you think you can dance Canada”, Megan Lawson from the hip hop crew “Fanny Pak” , George Anzaldo from the hip hop crew “ Supreme Soul”, and the Pioneer of hip hop, Mr. Wiggles.  She has assisted teaching at Dancefusion for 3 years with Shannon Sedgwick, and Richard Andries. She has danced in summer shows such as Hip hop for Hope 4, 5 and 6 and Tap into a Cure. She lives, and breathes dance, and would like to share her positive energy and the love of dance with everyone.