2021/ 2022 Registration Now Open

Owner & Director

Miss Ruth-Ann Gray

DMA, IADA

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Ruth-Ann has been the proud Owner and Artistic Director of The Dance Shoppe since 1994. Prior to opening the studio at the age of 19, Ruth-Ann had trained in various forms of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical and Modern. Ruth-Ann received certifications with the British Association of Teachers of Dance, Canadian Dance Teachers Association, Dance Masters of America and the International Association of Dance Adjudicators. Ruth-Ann is proud of all of her students and enjoys seeing them follow their passion through performance and teaching opportunities.

Ruth-Ann loves to give back to the community where she grew up and is constantly looking for ways to do this through performance opportunities for her students in Milton. She cherishes every moment and is happy to have a job that truly is her passion!

Director & Instructor

Miss Rachelle Seguin

BFA Honors in Dance, BATD, DMA, IADA, HDC

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Rachelle has been actively involved in the dance community for over 25 years. She is a well known and accomplished performer, instructor, choreographer and adjudicator. Rachelle is a graduate of York University, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Specialized Honors in Dance. This allowed her to become familiar in the areas of dance pedagogy, dance injury prevention and treatment and dance history alongside her technical dance training. She has extensive training in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, lyrical, musical theatre and hip hop. Rachelle’s students have won countless overall awards, pageant titles and have been accepted into such prestigious dance programs as The National Ballet School of Canada, Quinte Ballet School, George Brown College and York University. Several students are now performing for various companies across Canada and the United States, on cruise lines and with the Toronto Raptors. Over the last couple years Miss. Seguin has been involved in some notable projects including being a founding member of an organization called Healthy Dancer Canada who’s mission is to be the Canadian Leader in facilitating communication and collaboration between the dance community and health professionals to enhance the health and well being of all dancers. Miss. Seguin is a registered member of the British Association of Teachers of Dance in the Stage Division and also a member of Maple Leaf Dance Masters of America Chapter #43. She is also a certified member of the International Association of Dance Adjudicators. Rachelle prides herself on providing a fun and challenging environment for students of all levels in her classroom and loves seeing the passion grow within them!

Director & Instructor

Miss Lindsey Feltoe

BFA Honours in Dance, DMA

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Lindsey starting dancing at the tender age of three and has continued to pursue her passion ever since. She trained in multiple styles including jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, acro, hip hop and musical theatre at the competitive level and began teaching as a senior student. Lindsey graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors in Dance. Lindsey is also an active member of Maple Leaf Dance Masters of America Chapter #43. Throughout her career Lindsey has had the opportunity to share the stage with well known names such as Everett Smith, David Cox just to name a few. She is currently a member of a tap performance group called “What’s On Tap” with whom she performs regularly. Lindsey enjoys applying her education to teaching children of all ages. Her passion for dance allows her to provide her students with the love and appreciation she has for this art form. Lindsey hopes to continue to inspire dancers and help guide them to success. Lindsey became a part of The Dance Shoppe in Milton in 2008 and is proud to be part of such a wonderful team.

Director & Instructor

Miss Meaghan Boland

BFA, BATD

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Meg Boland began dancing here at the Dance Shoppe at the age of 8. She quickly found a passion for dance, and began training in various dance styles including jazz, tap, ballet, acro-jazz, modern, lyrical, and many others. Over the years she has competed internationally and won numerous awards and scholarships. She has completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Psychology at York University, as well as obtaining her Associates certification in Acro with the B.A.T.D. As a performer, Meg has enjoyed learning and performing a variety of styles, notably including Bollywood and circus arts. Having taught students from age 2 through adult, Meg loves working with dancers of all ages, and looks forward to each day that she can step into a studio and inspire another person to move with confidence. She is so excited to be back at the Dance Shoppe!

Instructor

Miss Chelsey Banyai

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Chelsey has been dancing since the young age of 2 years old. She has trained in various styles of dance including, ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre and modern. She started competing at 5 years old and continued to be apart of a competitive dance team for 13 years. She has competed at both the regional and national levels winning several awards and special awards. Chelsey graduated from Cawthra Park Secondary School from the Regional Arts Program, majoring in Dance. She was able to train with various choreographers and teachers as well as expand her knowledge on dance history, kinesiology and different styles of dance.

Chelsey has graduated with her Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University and Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University. Throughout her university career she continued her love for dance on the Laurier University dance team where she competed in the styles of jazz, lyrical, tap, contemporary and hip hop. She was also the dance team captain for the team organizing practices and competitions, as well as choreographing the jazz, lyrical and hip-hop dances. During her time on the dance team she has organized and lead workshops at different studios around the community. Chelsey is excited and looking forward to sharing her love and passion for dance with her students.

She is thrilled to be a member of The Dance Shoppe Team!

Instructor

Mr George Absi

Hip Hop, Jazz, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Pursuant to his long time love for the arts, George has been a professional dancer and choreographer for over 15 years. He has been training in all genres of dance – Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap and Contemporary. He was born and raised in Ottawa, ON where he did most of his training which includes A.D.A.P.T and R.A.D. He first landed a job working for Carnival Cruise Lines. shortly after that he danced for International Artist PSY, Deborah Cox, Kreesha Turner, Fefe Dobson, Aleesia and Classified, to name a few.

George performed and appeared on several television shows and commercials; he appeared on Once Upon A Time, Handmaid’s Tale, Shitt’s Creek, Breakfast Television, “Threads” a short film as a news anchor, and just recently appeared on PBS Kids, Let’s Go Luna as “Hakim” a principal role. He appeared on Cineplex commercials and Tim Horton’s Web Commercials. He also performed in a world wide TV broadcast for The 2015 Pan Am Opening Ceremonies with Cirque Du Soleil and The 2015 Pan Am Closing Ceremonies both for 50,000 plus audience.

George is currently the Artistic Director and Choreographer of T.D.C Entertainment catering to main event functions and corporate events such as Illuminute, The Luminato Festival, The Teddy Bear and The Bell Celebrity Gala.

In late 2016 George made his debut in the theatre with the musical Beauty And The Beast, in Halifax, NS. Soon after, George traveled to Kamloops, BC and Aquarius Theatre in Hamilton, ON to perform a role in Mamma Mia, where he also acted as Dance Captain and Assistant Choreographer. He also played the role of Jimmy and ensemble with the musical Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Sleeping Beauty The Panto, the role of Buttons in the musical Newsies. This year he will play the role of one of the angels and dance captain for the regional premiere of the musical Kinky Boots with Drayton Entertainment.

You can catch George teaching drop in classes at various dance studios in the downtown Toronto area. George believes that with hard work and determination you can conquer anything in life.

Instructor

Mrs O’Heany

MFA (Dance History), LRAD, RAD RTS, Affiliate Teacher ABT NTC

Ballet Instructor

Mrs. O’Heany started her ballet training in Toronto, with renowned Canadian teacher, Gladys Forrester.  She continued her dance and teacher training at the College of the Royal Academy of Dance, London, England, where she gained various dance certifications.

After having taught at various studios in Canada, the USA and England, Mrs. O’Heany started her own ballet school in Toronto, dancespace, and a junior ballet company, The Toronto Ballet Ensemble.  There are many dancers and teachers working today from those highly successful institutions.

As well, Mrs. O’Heany pursued her MFA in Dance History, studying ballet technique from the nineteenth century to the present; wrote articles and definitions for the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Dance and researched training and teaching methodologies while at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Most recently, Mrs. O’Heany gained her Affiliate Teacher status in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. She continues to teach, Mentor and support young dancers and teachers in their pursuit of the art of ballet.

Instructor

Miss Michelle Galati

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Michelle is no stranger to the competitive world of dance. She started competeing at the age of 5 and won numerouse awards,titles and scholarships across Canada and the United States. Michelle started working as a professional Dancer/Actor and singer some of her Theatre credits are dancing along side Karen Cain in “Robin Hood”, “The Lion King”, “Cats”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”,”Grease”,”Oliver” and was principal dancer at the Statford fesival in “Daun Jaun”. Some of her film and T.V credits include Confessiions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Honey, and the Oscar award winning movie ‘Chicago’. Michelle Has also danced/toured with the Spice Girls, katie Lang, Lionel Richie,Tweet and Li’l Bow Wow to name a few. Michelle has been Teaching Dance for over 15 years and loves watching the growth in all the kids she has come across. Michelle is thrilled to be returning to The Dance Shoppe and is looking forward to an amazing year!

Instructor

Miss Julia Carnevale

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Julia Carnevale has been a part of the dance community for over 30 years.  She has trained in jazz, tap, ballet, acrobatics, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, break-dance, Latin, ballroom and many more.  As a professional dancer, instructor and choreographer, she places extreme value on versatility and believes dancers should embrace as many styles of dance possible.

Julia’s passion and excellence of dance can be seen both on and off screen. Some of her many dance credits include the films “Honey”, featuring Jessica Alba, “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” featuring Lindsay Lohan, along with other independent film productions.  She also carries an impressive list of video and live performances for Aaron Carter, Jully Black, Jamie Fox, Flo Rida, Lady Gaga, and several other Canadian artists. Julia most recently travelled around the world dancing for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.  That amazing journey allowed her the opportunity to work with some of the best dancers and choreographers worldwide. The culmination of all her experiences has contributed to her well rounded curriculum of dance and made her the positive, outgoing and enthusiastic teacher she is with an ability to inspire her classroom.

Instructor

Miss Olivia Afonso

Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemp Instructor

Olivia Afonso grew up dancing at The Dance Shoppe. She trained in all genres but always had a passion for tap. She has been attending The Toronto Rhythm Initiative every summer, joined the Tap Dance Centre and is a part of the pre professional division of the Rhythm Ensemble directed by Julliana Kelly. She has been on the Canadian national tap dance team four times for dancing and choreographing, and has been on the World Performers dance team once for tap. She has had the opportunity to do many performances which include, “ Everything Is Copacetic ”( Allison Toffan, and Julliana Kelly) , “ The Night Shift” ( Dianne Montgomery ) , “ECTC” (Kim Chalovich), “ Rhythm And Sound Cinqopation ” (Cori Giannotta and Johnny Morin) and the TRI Shows (Julliana Kelly, and Allison Toffan). From TRI, The Tap Dance Centre, and The Rhythm Ensemble she has been able to work with many professional tap dancers from all around North America. She has had the opportunity to work with Mackenzie Greenwall, Sarah Savelli, Ryan Foley, Johnny Morin, Joseph Wiggan, Matthew Clarke, and Travis Knights.

Instructor

Miss Lesley Cabrie

Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Acro

Lesley began her dance journey at the age of 3 as a competitive highland dancer in Scotland. At the age of 9 Lesley started ballet at a small local RAD dance studio.  Shortly after starting at this studio, she was asked to audition for the Scottish Ballet Junior Associate Programme.  Lesley ended up successfully gaining a place and was also later a Senior Associate with Scottish Ballet and The Royal Ballet.  At the same time, she was a competitive gymnast for many years and was chosen to represent her country.  While gymnastics had been a huge part of Lesley’s life, as time went on dance was what she wanted to pursue exclusively.

At the age of 16 Lesley began her full-time training at The Dance School of Scotland which then led her into her 3 year Diploma course at The Northern Ballet School in Manchester, England.  Upon graduating she went onto performing professionally for 10 years.  Lesley worked as a dancer/aerialist for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Tokyo Disney, laterally becoming Dance Captain of the production casts onboard.

Teaching was always something Lesley had wanted to do.  To be able to give back to children the same experience she had growing up.  After she finished with her professional performing career she went back home to Scotland and gained her Membership Diploma in Ballet with BATD.  Lesley made the big move to Canada at the end of 2019 and has since been lucky enough to teach at a few schools in the area but she always knew she wanted to get back to her RAD roots.  She is currently studying to gain her teachers qualification with the RAD.

Lesley is extremely excited to be joining The Dance Shoppe family.

Instructor

Miss Mariah MacCaul

Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary

Mariah grew up in Montreal, Quebec and began her dance training at the age of 3 years old. She began dancing competitively at her studio at the age of 12 and continued to compete on her dance team until she was 25.

Mariah has trained following the BATD syllabus In ballet, jazz, tap,lyrical, and highland dancing. Mariah had also trained in contemporary, funky dance, and musical theatre.

One of Mariahs favourite performance opportunities was in 2013 when she participated in two performances abord the Carnival Splendor cruise ship alongside her dance team.

In 2019 Mariah completed her Bachelor’s of Art in Child Studies at Concordia University in Montreal with a focus on exceptionality and diversity in childhood settings.

In 2020 she also completed one year of a Masters of Art degree in Child Studies.

In 2021 Mariah was accepted to the University of Toronto. Here she will be studying Occupational Therapy and getting her Masters of Science degree.

Since 2013 Mariah has been teaching dance to recreational and competitive dancers. In 2020, Mariah obtained her BATD members certification in jazz. Mariah enjoys seeing all her students succeed and creating a sense of belonging within her dance classes. She has the ability to meet children at their level and to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. The most important aspect for Mariah in teaching dance is for her dancers to leave classes having had fun and feeling good about themselves.

Instructor

Miss Blair Vandenheuvel

Conditioning

Bio coming soon

Instructor

Jessica Pasqua

Tap, Ballet, Acro

From a young age, Jessica knew that dance would be one of the most influential aspects of her life. She began dancing at the age of 3 and has trained extensively in ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, lyrical, contemporary, modern, musical theatre, and national dance. One of her proudest accomplishments as a dancer was achieving candidacy for the prestigious Solo Seal Award through the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD).

Jessica is a graduate of the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) as part of a Joint Diploma/Degree Program with York University. This program allowed Jessica to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Honours in Dance Education, as well as an NBS Teaching Diploma and Registered Teacher Status with the RAD.

In addition, Jessica is a Member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD) in Acrobatics/Gymnastics & Stage (Jazz & Tap) and is an Associate of the RAD. She is also Module Two certified with Acrobatic Arts and Alixa Flexibility and is a Level 2 certified teacher in C-I Training™ (conditioning-with-imagery). Moreover, Jessica has received training through the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), through which she is a Level 2 trained coach in Trampoline and a Level 1 trained coach in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics.

Though passionate about teaching, Jessica also loves to perform and is becoming increasingly involved in the tap dance community. She is an original member of The Rhythm Ensemble, which is a pre-professional tap dance company run under the direction of Juliana Kelly. Being a part of this company has provided Jessica with valuable training, as well as numerous performance opportunities, including a full program entitled First Steps. She has also trained with the Toronto Rhythm Initiative, produced by Allison Toffan and Juliana Kelly, and has had the honour of performing pieces choreographed by Danny Nielsen, Joseph Wiggan, and Sarah Savelli. She also participated in Rhythm & Sound’s apprenticeship program under the direction of Johnathan Morin and Cori Giannotta and had the privilege of performing in their shows A Night Out and [Cinq]opation. Most recently, Jessica travelled to Valley Cottage, New York to participate in Heather Cornell’s Tap Labs with a focus on creating and composing in collaboration with guitarist Tony Romano. She has since continued to train with Heather Cornell online to learn Eddie Brown’s Lost Routines. Jessica is eager to continue learning, growing, and sharing in the tap dance community!

Jessica believes in fostering a safe learning environment where dancers can feel confident in expressing themselves through movement. She is excited to be a part of the Dance Shoppe family and share her passion for dancing with her students.

Instructor

Miss Alanna

Ballet

Bio Coming Soon