Squamish Dance Centre began it's journey with one studio and 86 students in January 2016. Fast forward to today and we are boosting with 400+ students and four large studios. We can contribute our continued growth to our loyal and supportive dance families, dedicated and talented instructors and our warm, efficient office team. Squamish Dance Centre is a place for dancers of all ages and abilities to express, enjoy, and learn in a supportive, inclusive and caring space. Offering a wide range of programs, SDC's instructors promise to create a safe space for your child to flourish, both inside the studio and in everyday life.
Miss Sara
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As the owner/director of Squamish Dance Centre, Sara Constantin truly believes that what can be learned in the studio goes beyond dance steps, and she recognizes that it is the soft skills like learning team work, setting goals, confidence, problem solving, creativity, self esteem, kindness and so much more that makes dance a worth while pursuit.
Miss Sara began her dance studies at age of three under the roof of Squamish's first dance school, Garibaldi School of Dance and then onto Miss Debbie's former dance school, Still Dancing. Miss Sara credits the skills she acquired through dance for shaping her into the person she is today. Born and raised in Squamish, Miss Sara is ecstatic to share her love of dance locally in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Miss Sara spent countless hours attending workshops, conventions and summer camps across the Lower Mainland. During her high school days, she found herself spending much of her time behind the studio walls of Vancouver Tap Dance Society. Where she studied under numerous world renowned tap dancers; learning routines, steps and absorbing an incredible amount of history. After graduating from Howe Sound Secondary School, Miss Sara began her full time teaching career at Still Dancing School of Dance. It was then that she expanded her passion for working with children. Miss Sara continues to attend classes and workshops, furthering her knowledge and skills to pass along to the next generation. Serving as the director of our competitive team, Miss Sara also teaches our Kinder program, Jazz and Tap. Qualified and certified in ADAPT (Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers) and working towards certification in Acrobatique. |
Miss Jenny
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Jenny began her career as a Ballet dancer at Sunhwa Art High School in South Korea, which is a prestigious school well known for admitting only top-level students in the country. She has also obtained a graduate degree at Sookmyung Women’s Univeristy, where she studied Physical Education with specialization in Ballet. Then she carried her passion in Ballet as she studied and trained at some of the leading ballet institutions such as Ecole Superieure de Danse Cannes Rosella Hightower in France and National Ballet Academy in Korea.
She continued to pursue her career in Ballet as she gained a wide range of experiences as a director at institutions such as The Korean Society of Dance Science, The Korea Ballet Association, and Hongshil Dance Institution. Not only has she taught at several leading universities in Korea for over 10 years, she has attended the New York Ballet & Power Pilates Workshops and participated at the Tokyo World Ballet Festival in Japan. Furthermore, some of Jenny’s awards include, Gold Prize in Group Ballet section at the National University Ballet Concourse, Silver Prize at the Korean Society of Dance Concourse, and Tribute from the Korea Ballet Association. After moving to Vancouver, Jenny continued to share her expertise and her professional knowledge and methods while teaching at the Pro Arte Centre for 8 years. Currently, as a fellow of the ISTD Imperial Ballet and a certified STTOT Pilates instructor, Jenny is excited to have joined Squamish Dance Centre, where she wishes to inspire and help students of all levels to discover their love and passion for dance. |
Miss Trishya
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Trishya Perera is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and judge who found her passion at a very young age. She has been trained in a range of different forms from classical to urban styles. Trishya graduated from York University in Toronto with a BFA honors in Dance. Trishya has choreographed for numerous plays, showcases and musicals with both her work and her self being represented in many industry showcases. Trishya’s musical theater experience continued as Consuela from West Side Story performed at The LOT in Toronto. She has had the opportunity to tour internationally with companies such as Creativiva & Echo Productions performing in “The Little Prince”, “Aladdin” & “Bonnie & Clyde”. Trishya is very grateful to have had the opportunity to produce and choreograph her own production, "All Apart Together" in March of 2014. Her teaching experience took her to London, England where she taught Contemporary at Pineapple Dance Studio, which then opened doors to tour Western Canada teaching and performing contemporary dance. Trishya is honoured to have been on the judging panel for StarCatchers Dance Competition and Toronto International Youth Dance Festival. Her most recent move to Vancouver opened many doors to performing and teaching. Trishya recently landed contracts with Vancouver Opera in Vancouver and Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular on Vancouver Island. Her teaching goal will always be to create well rounded and confident dancers and will always encourage her students to follow their dreams. Let’s dance, SDC!
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Miss Jane
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Miss Jane was introduced to ballet in a small Ontario town. This good start would have continued, but then only two choices were given, ballet or skating. She chose skating and carried on for 9 years. It was great for developing body strength, but it was also where she discovered the love of performance.
When a new dance school opened in town, she jumped at the opportunity to try jazz dance, which resulted in her completing her exams with the BATD (British Association of Teachers of Dance). After many years and performances, including a TV spot doing the Can Can, where they wouldn’t let us lift our skirts, she arrived in 1992 to Squamish. Here she joined the dance school, ‘Still Dancing’ where she assisted and taught the classics; Ballet, Jazz and Tap. This gave her the opportunity to work with all levels and ages, dancing through her days in both Squamish and Whistler. As the school grew, she was also involved with the details of running a studio from administrative, to all the creative elements required. A very rewarding experience. Her introduction to Street Style and Hip Hop in later years lead to many hours learning the moves and grooves at places such as, Harbour Dance Centre, Triple Threat conventions, and a variety of different workshops and classes. It’s now her “go to” style of dance. Her love of all things to do with dance and performance is evident in her classes. Movement, expression, creativity and growth is a passion she loves to share. There’s always been an innate desire to keep learning and bring new ways into everything she does to pass on to others. A Feldenkrais Practitioner/teacher, Jane graduated from the Feldenkrais Method of Movement in 2012 and is a certified member of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America. Her knowledge and experience is of great value. It flows through to her dancers with the instruction of their movements. Jane also has a strong background in energy work, and in recent years, has developed her knowledge in somatic experiencing. This all provides a valuable learning experience for everyone she teaches. Having the great opportunity to teach Miss Sara through the years, it was an added joy to watch her become the successful owner of her own dance studio which we all know as SDC. I feel blessed to be a part of this journey. |
Miss Ashara
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All her life Ashara has been a very dedicated athlete. After 8 years of training and competing in figure skating, in Victoria and Vancouver and 3 years of international competitive cheerleading, Ashara discovered her love for circus. Inspired by a hand to hand duo on "America's Got Talent" she made no hesitation in finding CircusWest, where she spent 3 years learning the basics of circus. After participating in pre-selection tours and the summer camp, Ashara decided to audition for École Nationale De Cirque in Montreal. She was accepted into the Mise a Niveau program and began to focus on aerial hoop. Ashara now lives in North Vancouver and is a professional performer with various companies in BC
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Magnus
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I’ve been breaking for 11 year’s, and teaching online for 3. I teach all over the lower mainland in studios, and throughout the whole world through youtube and privately. Growing up I never felt like I knew my place, or my identity in life, until I found breaking. Being a Bboy was not just a chance to do the art form for me, it became the way I gained confidence, social skills, health, wealth and relationships from close friends to family. My dance family is Now Or Never Crew (look them up!), I have the opportunity to now dance, perform and compete next to my teachers/mentors and now brothers, which to me was always my goal growing up. But to be fair, what child doesn’t want to be exactly like there mentors? Well I’m lucky enough to be able to have achieved that. Dancing to me is the greatest foundation for life, as it was and still is my foundation to everything, there’s countless mental, physical and emotional tools, concepts and lessons that dance has taught me, that I apply to my life daily. I can proudly say that dance has supported me full time since I moved out of my mum’s house, I am blessed enough to be able to have over 100 students locally, along with over 10,000 students internationally that follow my online endeavours. My single goal with teaching is to become the best version of myself possible, by providing my students the tools they need to become the best versions of themselves possible, so that they can become the version of themselves that they’ve always dreamt of becoming.
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Miss Cierra
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Cierra Rohde has worked with a variety of choreographers in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, including: Heather Dotto, Lara Barclay, Davi Rodrigues, Monica Proençea, Barbara Tutt and Amy Burns. After her time training in a competitive studio setting, she completed two years with Lamondance in Vancouver. Throughout her time with Lamondance, she performed in “Cinco”, “Rooted” and many local events including VanCity Project and Brazil Festival. Outside of Lamondance, Cierra had the opportunity to perform in the Vancouver Paralympics Opening Ceremonies. Cierra graduated from Conteur Academy in Toronto, Ontario where she trained with faculty members Eryn Waltman, Dani Matte, Ryan Lee, Kelly Shaw, Colleen Snell and Sheona Bell. While Cierra has currently shifted her focus to the Contemporary world, she is a trained singer and Musical Theatre enthusiast, thanks to Lisa Kelly. Cierra is a positive and dedicated artist with a passion for dance that drives her motivation and persistence towards the constant improvement of her craft. She is always happy to jump into a new process and wishes to share her love of dance and contribute innovative ideas to this industry.
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Miss Kirsten
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Kirsten Koronko started her dance training with Still Dancing School of Dance at the age of seven. During her years exploring various genres of dance, Kirsten leaned towards specializing in Acro. During her time exploring the magical world of Acro, Kirsten has developed a strong sense of the necessary understanding of safe technique and progression. She has spent many years assisting our Acro classes, where she honed her connection with our younger dancers, safe spotting techniques and the skills it takes to teach effective classes in a safe, fun, energetic and progress environment. Kirsten is patient, gentle and fair with all dancers, while keeping the class upbeat and engaging. An alumni, Kirsten understands the work it takes to progress and develop into a strong dancer. She applies the lessons she learned in her own classes into the classes she now teaches.
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Gerald
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Co-founder & co-owner of GNR Dance, Gerald has been dancing and teaching for over21 years. He is a professional in all forms of couples dance, teaching Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country and also a UCWDC Certified Judge, judging at various events around North America. In December 2005, in partnership with Annick Paquet, Gerald won the Professional Male Showcase Open division as a single at the UCWDC
North American Championships and then, in January 2006, went on to attain his first world title in the same division at the UCWDC World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. In January 2007, dancing with Lisa McIntyre, he won the Professional Male Classic Open division for his second world title at the 2007 World Championships in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2007 Gerald was fortunate to be able to dance with “Dancing with the Stars” The Tour. Gerald highest achievements were on the West Coast Swing circuit and was ranked #2 in Canada and 13th in World for Classic West Coast Swing in 2008. |
Miss Sarah
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Sarah spent her early and late schools years taking classical dance classes with Still Dancing School of Dance, while also being a helping hand at her mom's former daycare centre. Sarah's dance background coupled with her natural talent for working with children, makes her our official preschool queen! Sarah balances our high energy Kinder program with her soft voice, gentle nature, embracing hugs, voice of reason and negotiation skills that are like no other. You'll find Sarah around the studio helping a dancer with an untied show lace, giving a hug when it's needed, giggling at witty three year old remarks and so much more! Not only does Sarah work with our Kinder program, she also travels around Squamish to teach dance and foster a love of movement for local child care centres with our Introductory to Dance Program.
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Briana
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This gal keeps things running as smooth as peanut butter behind the scenes, we truly could not do it without her! Briana, a dancer herself, knows a thing or two about what entails with managing recitals, organizing for competition and most importantly how dance can positively impact a persons life. Not only is she amazing behind the desk, but also great at entertaining our dancers. You can often find her putting up pony tails and chatting with our dancers, they just LOVE her to bits! Briana is the queen of keeping us organized, ahead of schedule with our never ending to-do lists, answering parents questions, organizing costume orders and everything else that goes on behind the scenes.
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Marianna
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Hello! My name is Marianna and I will be joining the administrative team at SDC in the new year! I graduated University with my Bachelors in Business Marketing in June 2017 and moved to Squamish shortly after. Dance has always been a big part of my life and I’ve loved to dance for as long as I can remember. I joined my local studio when I was 5 and danced for a few years before taking a break and then returning to jazz and contemporary classes in my senior years of high school. I was fortunate enough to be selected to join the Varsity Dance Team at Vancouver Island University when I attended and performed with them for 4 years. We perform Pom, Jazz, Street Jazz and Contemporary Jazz pieces. I was also chosen to Coach the team for 2 years, managing the finances, working with the athletic department, organizing practices and events and even choreographing game day and competition dances. We were fortunate to have competed in and win our senior jazz large group category two years in a row! Most of my fondest memories from University is of my Dance Team and our time together and it taught me how important showing up for your teammates and showing up for yourself is. Now I keep my dance passion alive by taking Heels Cabaret classes with Luminesque Dance! I look forward to meeting you all and working along side the amazing SDC team! If you ever have any questions or just wanna chat, stop by and say hello!
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Charlotte & Bob
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Here's a bit about our irreplaceable right hand man and lady. Charlotte (aka Miss Sara's momma bear) helps keep things in order at the studio. She enjoys chatting with parents and dancers, assisting in any way she can. Although Charlotte has no dance training herself, she has a good grasp of the industry while being a huge driving force during Miss Sara's training and career. During her years behind the scenes, Charlotte has become an expert in helping with Recital and other event preparations and attending countless performances; all while keeping up with the fast paced environment. Charlotte has a vast resume in the customer service industry from retail to food. She spent 3 years in management for Fields and administration for her husband's business. Miss Sara's dad (aka Bob The Builder) is our handy man around the studio. You may see Bob working on maintenance or bringing a construction plan to reality. Bob has been an appliance repair technician for over 25 years, owning and operating his own business, Combined Appliance Center. Bob has proven himself to be a brilliant handy man, devising and building structures around his home. Now he does the same for our dance home! You can chat with Bob while he does odd jobs at Rehearsal, Recital and other studio events.
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Located at Unit 3 - 38924 Queens Way, Squamish BC
Across the bottle depot and beside Golden Crust
Across the bottle depot and beside Golden Crust
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Our 6,700 square foot dance home includes:
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