TERRI ROBITAILLE | DIRECTOR

Terri began dancing at a young age at the Denise Lester Dance Academy, where she trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Pointe. She was a competitive dancer, and a soloist. Terri was also a founding member and DANCE CAPTAIN of the performing group “Divinity”. She studied under the British Association of Teachers of Dancing syllabus, and received high marks on all of her B.A.T.D exams. Terri auditioned for and was accepted into the Dance Program at York University, where she trained with some of the best Ballet and Modern Dance Teachers in the country. She earned a specialized honours degree in Dance, with a double major in Teaching and Performance. Terri has performed in professional shows at venues such as the Betty Oliphant theatre, the Winchester Street Theatre, the Music Gallery, the Royal York Hotel and the Canadian National Exhibition. Before founding THE DANCE EXPERIENCE, she taught dance at the Durham YMCA, the Montessori Learning Centre of Pickering, the City of East York, The Toronto Separate School Board, York University, and Seneca College. Many of Terri’s students have won prestigious awards at Dance Competitions in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Acro, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre, and have excelled in BATD exams. Terri herself has won several awards for choreography including “Top Teacher”. Terri founded The Dance Experience in 1989 and has seen the studio grow both in numbers and quality since that time. Terri strives to keep up to date with her teaching techniques and choreography by regularly attending workshops, seminars and conferences. She recently returned from New York City where she took classes with some of the most renowned teachers and choreographers in the industry. Terri brings to her studio a love of dance and a love of children.

SHAUNA THOMPSON | CHOREOGRAPHER

Shauna began grooming her passion for dance at the age of 3. For over 15 years she studied Tap, Jazz, Ballet (RAD, Cecchetti and Russian), Pointe, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, and Acrobatics. She has competed throughout Canada and the United States including the American Dance Awards National finals in Las Vegas and Boston. Her passion for instructing young dancers started at the age of 14 when she began assisting classes. She was later hired as a full-time teacher at the age of 18 in the disciplines of Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, and Acrobatics. To gain more knowledge and experience, she attended and successfully completed the 3-year A.D.A.P.T (Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers) certification program, 2 year Performance Dance program at George Brown College, and received her Level 1 and Level 2 in acrobatics through the Dance Educators of Canada Forum for Acrobatic Dance. Shauna is constantly attending workshops and courses to update her education in dance. In the last eight years as a teacher and choreographer, students that she has had the honor of working with have won numerous awards including; Young dancer of the year, choreography awards and many overalls in groups, duets, trios, and solos. Shauna takes great pride in creating a positive and motivating learning experience. She is very enthusiastic towards sharing her passion for dance with all the young dancers she has the privilege of working with and strongly encourages them to set goals and dream big.