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 Melissa Demers,
Director and Head Instructor
Dance and the performing arts has been an integral part of
Melissa's life for nearly 30 years. Some of her earliest memories
include dance classes at the Marcia Hickmott School of Dance. She
continued to develop her skills throughout her teenage years and first
gained recognition for her efforts in 1998 as Dancer of the Year at
the West Carleton Secondary School.
After completing her education, Melissa went on to teach and develop
exercise programs at many different corporate facilities in Ottawa.
She has also enjoyed a great deal of success as a personal
trainer.
Melissa joined the Ottawa Renegades Dance team in 2002 and competed on
a National Sport Aerobic team in 2003.
Melissa takes great pride in the work she has done with both the Rural
Root and Kanata Theater groups. She has performed on stage in the
Kanata Theatre's successful play "the Snow Ball" and
continues to choreograph dance routines for both theatre groups.
Although her background is very diverse she has always had a special
love for Ballet having studied both Cecchetti and RAD (Royal Academy)
disciplines very seriously. Melissa's love for movement is also
fulfilled through fitness, with certifications as a group fitness
instructor, an individual conditioner, a kickboxing instructor, a
Spinning instructor, a fitness consultant and personal trainer.
Not surprisingly, her love of dance resulted in the formation of the
West Carleton School of Performing Arts where she has dedicated
herself to sharing her love of dance. She is an ADAPT certified
instructor.
Since incorporating WCSOPA 10 years ago, Melissa has worked very hard
to bring together a team of well educated dedicated instructors who
share her love of dance and the arts. Her goal has been to provide
teachers who have a wealth of knowledge experience and a determination
to the organization in an effort to ensure a life changing and
memorable experience for her patrons. She has also developed an
Internship Program for some of her more talented students in an effort
to help them develop and gain life experience. We think you'll be
very impressed when you read their bio's.
Melissa's objective within the school is to promote healthy
living, high self esteem and to share her passion for the arts.
Sharing it with children has been a bonus.
Melissa looks forward to personally introducing you to all of the
fantastic staff and talented students at the West Carleton School of
Performing Arts!
 Kelly Greig -
Instructor
Kelly is one of WCSOPA's most experienced and enthusiastic
instructors. At the early age of three Kelly was first introduced to
Tap dancing. Loving the stage and dance, she took up Jazz when she was
nine. By 12, she began assisting her sister teaching both tap and jazz
in a recreational dance program in a local community center.
During her mid-teens, Kelly also began training in ballet. She studied
the A.D.A.P.T. syllabus and excelled in her dance exams . Kelly
competed throughout Ontario winning many awards. By 18, Kelly
inherited the dance program her sister ran and carried on directing
and teaching at the school for several more years. During that time
Kelly entered some of her advanced students in local competitions and
was proud to see them bring home medals.
As an adult, Kelly continued taking dance lessons, attending specialty
workshops and teaching until she welcomed the birth of her first
daughter when she took a break after 25 years in the business.
Kelly has since introduced both of her daughters to the world of dance
and has been actively involved behind the scenes. It's now been
several years since she's put her shoes back on to share her
enthusiasm for dance (Tap especially) with others.
 Ashley Rivington -
Instructor
Ashley is a highly trained and dynamic instructor who has been dancing
for over 20 years. She has training in a variety of dance forms. She
has achieved her Associate Membership through the British Association
of Teachers of Dancing (BATD) in Stage and Ballet. She is an ADAPT
certified instructor as well.
Ashley is a graduate of York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in Dance and additionally completed a semester studying dance in
England. She has trained with professionals such as Carol Anderson,
Donna Krasnow, Holly Small, and Karen Bowes-Sewell.
Ashley's Choreography has received multiple 1st Place, Platinum
and Special Award recognitions. Ashley is also a certified teacher
through the Ontario College of Teachers.
 Laila Edwards -
Instructor
Laila has been dancing for over 25 years. She has studied many dance
genres with her primary focus and passion in Jazz.
Laila has always been a performer and loves to be on the stage. Some
of her fondest childhood memories are from different dance
competitions she took part in and she feel great pride for her
recognition as dancer of the year at WCSS in 1999. Laila's dance
life continued on into her adult years. While busy earning 2 Business
Diplomas in both business and marketing at Algonquin college she also
danced for the Ottawa Rebels and the Ottawa Renegades. Laila has now
been teaching for WCSOPA for 10 years. She continues to strive to be
the best she can be through attending regular workshops, master
classes, and studying the A.D.A.P.T. syllabus. Her dedication and
attention to detail has made her choreography a favorite with students
and judges, earning her and her students many special awards, platnium
awards and high scores.
 Kaytlin Barr -
Instructor
Kaytlin started her dance training at the age of 6. Training with
WCSOPA since the first year it opened. Kaytlin's first love was
Hip Hop but over the years she's branched out to Tap, Jazz, Ballet
and the competitive team.
In 2006 , Kaytlin began her career as a dance teacher with her first
Mini Hip Hop class for WCSOPA. Combined, her love for kids and dance
brings astounding energy and fun to her classes. This is Kaytlin's
5th year as an instructor with WCSOPA.
 Rianna Weatherby -
Instrutor
Rianna has been dancing since she was 2 yrs old, and has trained in
Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Modern and Drama. She taken many workshops
in styles such as Breakdancing, Ballroom, Irish and African. She has
received many awards including Dedication, Overall Excellence and
Scholarships.
Rianna has been with WCSOPA for 9 years and has been an instructor
since 2006. She has taught Hip Hop, Creative Movement and Pre Tap,
while most recently adding Drama to the mix. Her choreographies have
been used at Competitions, winning 1st place awards, and a judges
Special Award for Creative Concept in 2010.
Rianna now works for WCSOPA full time as a Recreational and
Competitive Instructor and as our Office Administrator.
 Kayla Levesque -
Instructor
Kayla has been dancing at the West Carleton School of Performing Arts
for over 10 years and have been a competitve dancer for over 4 years.
In 2009, she won the "Over All Excellence" award along with
a scholarship. Her dance background is in Hip Hop, Tap, Contemporary,
Jazz, Pointe, Ballet, Lyrical, and Musical Theatre. Hip Hop has always
been a style that she found interesting and kept accelerating in. She
has also taken singing classes for many years which became a big part
of her learning experience at the studio and improved tremendously.
She has been an assistant instructor for most of her years at the
studio and enjoy helping and teaching the students ways to improve
their talent. Last year, she was employed as an instructor's
assistant for 2 Hip Hop classes. She now is an instructor at the
studio and enjoys sharing her knowledge and passion for dancing and
singing with the students. She hopes her students find the love for
dancing and singing as she has. Dancing is her passion and always has
been.
 Crystal Cornell -
Instructor
Crystal began dancing when she was three years old - training in Jazz
since she was 9 and Tap since she was 10. When she was 9 years old
Crystal became one of WCSOPA's youngest instructor trainees and
has already developed several choreographies. With time, Crystal has a
promising future in dance.
Crystal attended the Art Experience Summer Dance Camp and received a
Scholarship for Most Improved. Later, Crystal attended DeLaSalle where
she studied in Ballet and Modern dance.
 Matthew Dufresne -
Instructor
Matthew studied music at the University of Western Ontario with a
major in Percussion Instruments. Playing the Piano since the age of 4,
he is currently studying for his Grade 9 Royal Conservatory
certification. He holds his Grade II Theory and Grade III Harmony
certifications from the same organization, and recently completed his
facilitator training for the Remo Health RHYTHMS wellness group
drumming program. Matthew is an accomplished musician in many musical
styles having studied and performed on several instruments including
Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Drum Kit, Snare Drum, and Marimba. Most
recently he was the musical director in Rural Root
Theatre’s production of All For Your Delight, where
he provided artistic direction, musical arrangement as well as an
original composition for the show.
 Yvon Soglo -
Instructor
Yvon Soglo (B-boy Crazy Smooth – founder of the Bboyizm Dance
Company) has been dancing for over ten years during which time he has
come to be known as one of Canada's top street dancers.
Some of his professional experience includes instructing Cirque du
Soleil acrobats and performing at the Nancy Jazz Festival in
France.
In 2006 he was honoured to receive the Most Valuable B-boy award at
the annual Kings of NY Competition and was the first B-boy to receive
a full grant from the Canadian Arts Council to study in both New York,
Philadelphia and Orlando.
In 2007 he was a keynote speaker at the United Nations Youth
Conference. He is now dedicating himself to carrying on the street
dance culture in the world of performing arts.
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