361 Glebeholme Blvd. Toronto, Ontario, M4C 1T9 Phone: 416-469-2799 Fax: 416-469-1745 Email: pegasusstudios@rogers.com Meet Our Faculty Our faculty members are all professional artists and teachers who share our philosophy of teaching dance to inspire the natural creative talents, health and confidence of children no matter what age. We ensure that each teacher places the student first and allows them to grow in a creative, positive and encouraging environment. Our philosophies towards our students are the same for our teachers; we strive to create a positive teaching environment for each of them and their unique talents.
Jane Davis-Munro has been a professional dancer, choreographer and dance educator for the past 34 years. Ms. Davis-Munro is a Registered Educator, Tutor, Mentor and Practical Teaching Supervisor with the Royal Academy of Dance, the largest international examining body for the training of Ballet dancers and educators. She has been invited to teach for the Royal Academy of Dance and the National Ballet School’s teacher training program and is well known in Canada, USA and the UK as a dance educator with expertise in the field of Ballet as well as dance for pre-school aged children. Ms. Davis-Munro holds Advanced certificates in Ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance as well as Modern and National Dance through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. She is a graduate of Ryerson University Theatre Department specializing in Dance and holds a certificate for Early Childhood Education. She is currently writing and developing a pre-school performing arts curriculum combining her over 30 years of working with pre-school aged children in the field of dance and art. In her rich and varied career Ms. Davis-Munro has trained students who have gone on to become professional dancers and teachers, working in Canada and Internationally. In her career as a dance teacher and through her work as Artistic Director of Pegasus Studios, she has prepared 1,000’s of students for auditions, examinations, competitions and performances. Ms. Davis-Munro holds numerous certifications and has earned practical experience for the past 34 years in regards to the technique of Ballet and is one of Toronto’s most highly regarded Ballet educators. Ms. Davis-Munro is passionate about the development and training of the next generation of dancers and is dedicated to the education of Ballet as an artistic expression, a physical sport and a discipline of life. She believes dance is a fundamental part of a child’s development physically, mentally and artistically and works everyday to continue spreading this philosophy. Bonnie Gaztambide – Lyrical Jazz & Zumba Teacher
Bonnie is thrilled and honoured to be a part of the Pegasus community for her second year. She has been a guest choreographer for the Pegasus Performance Groups and taught Adult Lyrical. She has been dancing for over 30 years and teaching for over 10. Primarily she is a Modern dancer and her classes are fun, lyrical and technically challenging. Bonnie practices Bikram yoga on a daily basis and incorporates a lot of yoga asanas in her class. She also tried to rounds it off with a bit of cardio, strength training and relaxation at the end. She has worked with all levels and ages. She enjoys the process of fine tuning dancers and helping them to improve their performance skills. Most of all, she believes in honouring each student as an individual, and teaches solely through positive and constructive feedback. Come check out her class sometime and discover what it feels like to dance from your heart. Briar Munro – Pilates Teacher & Fitness Department Manager Briar Munro has been dancing her entire life. Growing up in the dance studio, Briar was drawn to Jazz and Tap. She studied Ballet, Jazz and Tap for 12 years at Pegasus Children’s Dance Centre. In her teens Briar discovered Hip Hop and has spent time studying with various teachers in Toronto, Boston and New York, as well as performing with Thrive! a Toronto based Hip Hop company. Her background in dance has also led her to a career in Personal Training and Pilates instruction. Briar is now the proud owner of Fly Girl Fitness running fitness bootcamps and inspiring women to live healthy lifestyles. Carolyn Madge – Ballet Teacher & Ballet Department Manager Carolyn took her first Ballet class in Dorval, Que., when she was four years old. IT was an instant love affair that has resulted in a teaching career that has now spanned over 20 years. In addition to her BA in Psychology from the University of Ottawa, Carolyn holds the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Teaching Certificate, as well as the Teaching Diploma. Carolyn studied under her mentor, Helene Tassie of Ottawa, for most of her training. Together in 1998, Helene and Carolyn opened Academie ExtravaDanse in Rockland, ON, exposing the small Eastern Ontario town to dance classes in a bilingual setting. Here, Carolyn continued to enjoy much success, entering many students in RAD Ballet exams, ADAPT (Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers) Jazz exams and amateur dance competitions. She took great pleasure in watching her small studio grow and her dancers flourish. It was difficult to leave Ottawa, but Carolyn is happy to have found Pegasus and continue to share her love of dance. Carolyn lives in East York with her husband and their young son, William. Dharini Woollcombe – Pilates Teacher
Dharini received her Pilates Instructor’s Certification through Body Harmonics Pilates where the training focuses on keen kinaesthetic awareness and movement re-education. A few years ago she discovered that Pilates was the only relief for her chronic lower back and shoulder pain, and was determined to share this antidote with others. She continues to enjoy helping her students discover integrity of movement in order to support physical healing and personal fitness goals. Dharini holds a B.F.A Honours in Acting (York University), B.A. English (Trent University) and interned at the off-Broadway Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. As a professional actor Dharini continues to work in theatre and on television, most notable as a series lead in the nightly show Metropia and recent appearances on shows such as Being Erica and The Bridge. Her acting training included a vigorous movement-based curriculum. She grew up playing every sport she could, and as an adult, she continues to keep active with Modern dance, Yoga and Pilates. As well as essentially eliminating pain, Pilates has helped her tremendously as an actor in terms of body awareness, movement, and voice support. Georgia Leung (RAD RTC, ARAD) – Ballet Teacher
Registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance. Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance. Former Artistic Director of the Orient Dance Company of Toronto. Certified Beijing Dance Academy CDGE teacher. Certified Instructor for Brain Beat Dance. Honours Bachelor of Arts at University of Toronto. Janice Pomer – Modern Teacher
In 2002 Janice’s first book Perpetual Motion, Creative Movement Exercises for Dance and Dramatic Movement was published by Human Kinetics USA (‘If you are teaching dance and/or drama, and especially if you are teaching in the school system, you need this book. Author Janice Pomer gives invaluble ideas for the integrated uses of arts in education…’ Dancer Magazine, USA 2002.) Her second book Dance Composition, An Interrelated Arts Approach was released internationally in 2009 (‘…takes dancers through the process of observations, exploration, creation and reflection, moving from simple to challenging, and relating ideas such as shape and light in art, time and tone color in music, and emotion and character in literature and drama to dance.’ Book News USA 2009). Heather Hamilton – Yoga Teacher
Heather's style of teaching is founded in the Ashtanga Yoga lineage combined with knowledge gained from her own daily practice and lifelong interest in body awareness, movement and spirituality. Her classes focus on breath development and steady movement to allow students to find their foundation and use proper alignment to develop deep flexibility, strength and stillness in their mind and body. She is a creative, sensitive teacher who connects quickly with students building their confidence as they discover, deepen and embrace their own yoga. Heather received her initial teacher training under the direction of Cynthia Funk at the Yoga Sanctuary. Since then she has trained and taken workshops with some of the most influential yoga teachers from the East and West including Sri Pattabhi Jois, Mark Darby, Mark Whitwell, Matthew Sweeney and Sadie Nardini. She continues her studies in Toronto with David Robson and through her connection with Yoga Festival Toronto and the Toronto Yoga Conference. She has been certified RYT-500 by the Yoga Alliance since 2004.
Katie Kimura – Jazz, Tap & Lyrical Teacher Katie hails from Calgary, Alberta where she began her journey in the performing arts in dance. Katie’s training has earned her Advanced standings in ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance, ADAPT tap and ADAPT jazz. Her other dance studies include African, ballroom, hip hop, Irish, musical theatre, modern and lyrical. Katie’s performance and teaching career has taken her across the globe as a performer with Airtours Suncruises fleet. While in England, she was privileged to work under the guidance of Alan Harding and Roger Hannah. Katie’s theatre performances in Canada include My Fair Lady with Manitoba Theatre Centre, Rocky Horror Show with Stage West, The Stone Princess and Buck with Toronto Public Youth Theatre. Since moving to Toronto Katie has continued to share her love of dance through teaching and is very excited to begin her 3rd year with the Pegasus family.
Jessica Reynolds - Hip Hop Teacher Jessica is a dynamic, dedicated dancer and teacher from Toronto, Ontario. Jessica’s strong passion for dance and the performing arts came at an early age. She was encouraged to enroll in dance classes but it wasn’t until she was 13 that she enrolled in her first dance class. She had fallen in love and began to explore many dance styles. Jessica has trained in many styles of dance such as Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Modern. Jessica excelled quickly and was invited into the competitive program at Gotta Dance where her love of performing flourished. Jessica also graduated from the prestigious Etobicoke School of the Arts with a major in Drama and a minor in Dance. Jessica has worked with artists on numerous live and touring performances. Some of these artists included; Lady Gaga, Blake McGrath, Massari, Kim Davis and many more. Jessica’s talent has enabled her to work on many music videos. She has worked with some of Canada’s top directors such as Cazhmere and John Poliquin. Jessica can be seen in videos with artists such as Blake Mcgrath, Addictiv, Jordan “J-man” Francis and many more. She can also be seen in Disney’s Camp Rock: The Final Jam, which was released this summer. Jessica’s love of the performing arts has allowed her to travel between Toronto, Los Angeles, London England and Australia.
Lia Munro - Drama Club Leader & Receptionist Lia Munro has been performing and training as an artist from an early age. Growing up at Pegasus Studios, she trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Modern dance forms. Lia has studied acting, technical theatre production and creative writing at various schools within Toronto and London, England. Completing a BA in Drama Studies from York, Lia moved to Edmonton where she began her Masters Degree in Theatre and taught undergraduate script analysis. Returning to Toronto she is finishing her final year at York to receive an MA in Theatre. Lia specializes in dramaturgy and suffragette drama and is interested in developing new work and creating opportunities for education through theatrical formats. She is glad to be back at Pegasus where she first worked as a teaching assistant and credits her experience as a student and employee with giving her valuable teaching skills and resources. Lesley Halcro – Yoga Teacher
A student of yoga since 2000, Lesley’s personal journey along the path of yoga began as a way to overcome chronic back pain. She quickly realized that her yoga practice was not only benefiting her physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. Lesley has been a teacher of adult literacy and English as a second language for more than 20 years, so it was only natural that she combine her love of teaching with her passion for yoga. She holds a 350-hour Yoga Teacher Certificate (RYT-200), graduating from the EWYT program in early 2006. Continuing her studies, Lesley has also taken special courses on back care yoga, yoga for children, yoga for older adults, and restorative yoga. Lesley’s classes are taught in the classical Hatha tradition, focusing on a blend of postures, conscious breathing, and meditation - to relax, rejuvenate and enhance mind/body awareness. With her gentle yet encouraging teaching style, Lesley strives to create a safe and non-threatening atmosphere that honours each person’s background and abilities. Lisa Mitchell – Body Conditioning Teacher & Office Manager As a student at York University for Dance Therapy, Lisa developed her love for fitness and teaching. This love has continued and turned into a passion for working in the fitness and dance community. As a member of the Pegasus Studios family, Lisa always looks forward to the days when she gets to return to her fitness teaching roots. Lisa is a CanFit Pro certified instructor. Melissa So – Hip Hop & Jazz Teacher
Melissa’s passion for dance began shortly after she took her first steps at 13 months. To date, she is skilled in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Latin, Contemporary and Hip Hop dance, only to name a few. She continues to explore the world of dance. Melissa has performed and choreographed for the CFL Hamilton Tigercats, Ontario Raiders Lacrosse Dance Team, Canadian Music Week, City Dance Corps’ Talent Divined and Impulsed – Al Green Theatre and Betty Oliphant Theatre. Recently Melissa has performed for The Bazaar – Opera House, The Power of One in association with PAACT – Circa, Dances of Offering in support of various charities and the 2009 So You Think You Can Dance Canada promo for CTV. She can also be seen in the latest McFly Music Video. In summer 2007, Melissa was personally invited by the Azorean government in Portugal to perform and choreograph at their annual dance festival “Dances of the Senses, Memories in Movement”, returning in September 2010 to tour 3 more islands. In 2008, Melissa was invited to participate in the Mille Femmes photo shoot. Her picture can be found amongst 1,000 influential women in the Arts from all over the world. Melissa spent 6 years as a performer and Associate Director of Thrive! Entertainment. With 16 years of teaching experience, Melissa continues to work at several dance studios, high schools and elementary schools. Her choreography has won awards at several dance competitions across Ontario. Melissa is a strong believer that dance and the arts is the key to keeping today’s youth of the streets. She continues to coordinate and assist various charitable dance related events for Sick Kids Hospital, Red Doo Family Shelter, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Rethink Breast Cancer, Youth Rally’s, Summer Camps for under privileged children and youth, Arts for Kids Toronto, Yorktown Shelter, and Liam’s Light in association with Sick Kids Hospital. Dance has taken Melissa to interviews with Omni TV, Much Music, CIRV, CHIN Radio, Daybreak, Daytime TV, CTV, Evidance, CP24 and Rogers TV. She is the Co-Director, Creator and Producer of Women in Dance, a showcase celebrating the Female Dancer. She is never out of ENERGY and always ready to HIT THE FLOOR! All “For the Love of It”. Michael Hodgson – Musical Theatre Teacher
Michael is very excited to be expanding further into the Pegasus community this year as a Musical Theatre teacher. As a recently certified Ontario teacher, he is seeking every opportunity to hone his skills and Pegasus Studios is a very nurturing and comfortable place to do so. Having taught Drama/Literacy with Pegasus summer camps for the past few summers, Michael is eager to bring his musical talents to the team. Michael has performed professionally in Toronto in productions of Cabaret, Grease, The Who’s Tommy and has taken part in the Toronto Fringe Festival as well. Michael also had the unique opportunity to perform in a Chinese opera in Singapore while he was living there studying various Asian theatre forms. Michaels’ personal mission is always to instill confidence in his students and to engage them with work that is an extension of their already active and unique imaginations. Monique Bergeron – Tap, Musical Theatre & Combo Jazz/Tap Teacher
Monique is a Toronto-based dance artist, and performing arts educator. She has performed at the Toronto International Dance Festival, the Bata Shoe Museum, and The Princess of Wales Theatre. Over the past fifteen years, Monique has trained dancers from all across the city of Toronto in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Acrobatics, Hip Hop, Creative Movement and Musical Theatre. Her extensive teaching experience encompasses numerous dance studios, theatre companies, and academic institutions including Claude Watson School for the Arts where she was the head of the Jazz and Tap divisions. Currently, she is the Artistic Director of the "Dance for Schools" outreach program that delivers Dance workshops incorporating the Science, Math, Geography, History, Language and Arts Ontario Curriculum requirements. Since 2004, Monique's Dance workshops have exposed a multitude of teachers and students in over 45 Elementary schools to their first Dance education experience. Most recently, she has been invited by the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education as a guest instructor, delivering a series of Arts education lectures and workshops for the 2006-07 & the 2007-08 teacher candidates.
Andrea Ciacci - Jazz, Tap, Musical TheatreTeacher Andrea is a versatile and passionate performer and teacher originally from Markham, Ontario where she began her training at a very young age. Her extensive training has included jazz, hip hop, tap, gymnastics, ballet, and contemporary and aerial dance. Some of her performing stage credits include featured dancer in Carmen (Canadian Opera Company), Tokyo Disney Land, Dance Legends (Drayton Entertainment), The Nightingale (COC Europe and North American tour), Celebrity Cruises, Toronto Raptors Dance Pak, and back-up dancer for Katy Perry. She has also worked on several films and TV shows including, dancing alongside Jessica Alba in feature film Honey (Universal Pictures), Hillary Swank in feature film Amelia (A.E. Electra Productions, Hellcats (CW Network), and a SoYouThinkYouCanDance commercial (CTV).She has had the opportunity to share her passion for dance by teaching and choreographing for shows, studios, and schools throughout Canada. “I believe people have so much to gain from learning in dance; from the development of discipline, to a sense of accomplishment, increased self-esteem, exploration of emotion, and most importantly enjoyment.” She is excited to be joining the team at Pegasus Studios. Sacha Karlewicz – Ballet Teacher
Sacha Karlewicz began her dance training in Burlington, Ontario at the age of three. She continued her studies at Ryerson University earning a BFA degree in theatre dance. In 1999, Sacha became a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance as well as a fully certified Pilates instructor in the Stott Pilates method. Sacha continues her development attending numerous workshops hosted by the Royal Academy of Dance, National Ballet of Canada and many reputable teachers from across North America. Sheri Kimura – Tap, Jazz & Musical Theatre Teacher Sheri began her dance training in Calgary, Alberta with her sister Katie, where they were trained together in Jazz, Tap, Ballet and Lyrical. In her first year of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, Sheri auditioned for and was accepted to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts here in Toronto. Her favourite memories at RAPA include training with Linda Garneau and Siona Jackson, and even a Tap workshop with Gregory Hines! She graduated with a “triple threat” diploma in Musical Theatre in 2001. Since then, Sheri has worked in various short films, commercials, and theatre companies. This is her third season at Pegasus and she is honoured to be teaching among the exceptional team at Pegasus. Dance is a form of expression that allows us to share ourselves with abandon, unimpeded by language or conventions. I hope to help my students realize, through emotional and physical strength, a sense, of self, and the invaluable feeling of freedom that comes from this type of expression.
Sherry LeBlanc – Yoga 4 Kids Teacher Hon. BSc., IKYTA & OYA Certified Yoga Instructor, Yoga Therapist, Director of "Yoga 4 Kids".
Sherry is a former modern dancer who has been teaching a comprehensive method of strengthening, stretching & aligning the body for 25 years. Sherry also specializes in teaching yoga & meditation to children & teens of all ages and abilities. She teaches private yoga therapy sessions to infants & children with developmental disabilities and professional development workshops for adults who want to learn how to teach yoga to children. Sherry continues to be inspired by children's enthusiastic response to yoga. www.yoga4kids.org
Steven McCabe – Art Teacher
Steven McCabe is a visual artist, filmmaker, author and poet. In 2009 he had a one-person exhibition at the Artwood Gallery (Hamilton, ON) showing paintings and works on paper from the series Sandinista. To view an online review visit: http://stephanievegh.ca/blog/2009/10/13/james-north-supercrawl-october/ To see more of Steven McCabe’s paintings visit www.stevenmccabe.ca In 2009 he created the video poem My Story Is Not My Own (RT 11:22) which has screened internationally. Subsequently he created the video-poems Three Poems and God & Rave. To view these works visit www.vimeo.com/stevenmccabe & www.youtube.com/mccabesteven Since 1995 he has had four full length poetry manuscripts published, most recently Hierarchy of Loss (Ekstasis Editions 2007). As well he has coauthored and illustrated a chapbook (2006) and illustrated a book of Victorian Fairy Tales (P.D. Meany Press 2008). To view his poetry titles visit http://www.stevenmccabe.ca/Poetry.html He often performs poetry with musicians and dancers in collaboration with multimedia projections of the art work. He is on the artist roster of Learning Through the Arts (Royal Conservatory of Music), Arts for Children and Youth of Toronto, and Inner City Angels. He has taught Saturday and summer art classes at Pegasus Studios for over ten years. Whitney Fraser – Ballet Teacher
Whitney Fraser began her dance training in Ballet and Jazz at the age of 7 in her hometown of Owen Sound, ON. She has completed her Grade 2 through to Grade 8 as well as her Intermediate Foundation to Advanced 1 examinations through the Royal Academy of Dance with high levels of Distinction. Whitney holds Registered Teacher Status with the Royal Academy of Dance and is a graduate of the RAD’s Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies program. She also studied concurrently as a Professional Development student in the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School for 3 years where she focused on RAD Pedagogy and National Dance under the direction of Anuschka Roes and Teresa Randall. Whitney is currently studying Benesh Movement Notation and has been accepted to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Education through the University of Surrey, UK. |
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