Janice was the co-founder and director of the Blue Quill School of Dance for nineteen years, and opened The Edmonton Dance Factory in September 2003. Janice has choreographed for various companies, instructed at home and abroad, and enjoys adjudicating. Janice has trained extensively in Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Musical Theatre. She has a dance minor from the University of Alberta and has attended professional studios, seminars, workshops, competitions and performances across Canada, Los Angeles and New York. Janice is a certified teacher of Al Gilbert and Brian Foley dance syllabus and has completed major RAD dance syllabus. She performed with company and the Alberta Dance Company for several years. As a teacher with over 30 years of dance experience, her forte is jazz dance. Her passion for dance has inspired her students to progress into professional careers.

Kelsey has been an active member of the dance community for most of her life first as a student and then, as a teacher. As a dancer, she trained extensively in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical and Musical Theatre and has performed in many competitions and shows both locally and abroad. She has taken classes from and attended professional workshops with many recognized choreographers across North America including New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Hawaii. In 2004 she was part of the Canadian National Tap and Jazz teams that travelled to Germany to compete in the World Championships. Kelsey has successfully completed her RAD Grade 8 Award and Al Gilbert tap syllabus up to and including grade 9, for which she received highest honors. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and an MBA from Queen’s University. With over 15 years of teaching experience in Jazz, Lyrical and Tap she prides herself on producing technically sound, self motivated, confident dancers. Kelsey loves watching her students accomplish their goals and sees both the dance and life skills that she is able to pass on as the biggest accomplishment of her dance career. She is excited to begin another year of sharing her love of dance with her students.

Teresa is an honors graduate of Grant MacEwan College with a diploma in Dance Instruction. During her first year of studies, she received the only scholarship awarded to the Arts department for her achievements in Ballet, Jazz & Modern Dance. She has and continues to educate herself in Royal Academy of Dance and Vagonava workshops. Teresa has been a licensed registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance since 1997, and also earned a teaching Diploma from the R.A.D. Teresa has instructed Ballet & Ukrainian Dance for the past 30 years. She has been invited to participate throughout Canada and the U.S.A. as a guest instructor, adjudicator and choreographer. Teresa founded her own Ukrainian dance school the Kalyna Ukrainian Dancers in 1987; she was artistic director, manager and owner for 18 years. She also founded the first Ukrainian dance program in St. Martin’s Ukrainian Bilingual school which she ran for 12 years. Teresa continues to pursue and further her knowledge in the study of dance by attending courses and workshops on a regular basis. Her love and passion for dance continues to be recognized in the numerous awards she receives. She loves working with children and enjoys their enthusiasm towards studying the expression of dance

Toronto native Nicholas began his training at the age of 7 with Ukrainian folk dance at the Ukrainian Academy of Dance/Arkan Dance Company. He then went on to attend George Brown College where he studied dance/performing arts. He has also attended the Oakville School of Dance, School of Alberta Ballet, L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, and has attended the summer dance intensive at Canada’s National Ballet School. Aside from his roles in The Nutcracker and a character role in Alberta Ballet’s Swan Lake, Nicholas has performed with Cirque du Soleil in the opening ceremonies of the C2-MTL Conference in Montréal. He has also traveled across Canada and internationally to Ukraine, South Korea and Indonesia performing with Arkan Dance Company. Nicholas is also an alumni of Ballet Edmonton, Edmonton’s resident ballet company. 

Debbie England began her dance training at private schools in Edmonton and continued her training at Grant McEwan College as well as workshops, seminars and classes in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York. She specializes in tap and tap history though she has studied all disciplines of dance along with performing with Kompany, Alberta Dance Company and 4Tap. With almost 40 years of experience, Debbie has been a guest instructor, choreographer and examiner for workshops, schools and colleges in Alberta and Saskatchewan as well as an adjudicator for competitions and festivals across Canada. Her students have been awarded many scholarships and many have developed a similar passion for dance enjoying much success across North America. Debbie is an active member of the Alberta Dance Educator’s Association and is a recognized instructor of the Al Gilbert Syllabus

Since the age of three, Kristina has studied numerous forms of dance in the disciplines of Polynesian, jazz, tap, ballet, musical theatre, lyrical jazz, & stretch technique.  Her dance training originally began at Blue Quill School of Dance, under the instruction of her mentor Janice Winter, and has grown to include training at Sandra Gray School of Dance, as well as Shelley’s Dance Company.  Both as a dancer, and now as an instructor for the past 17 years, Kristina’s ambition and dedication…’to be the best that she can be’ has given her wonderful opportunities to attend various competitions & workshops in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Los Angeles, & Hawaii.  As an instructor, Kristina has enjoyed watching her students grow personally both on & off stage.  Kristina has also been fortunate to watch some of her students embark onto professional dance careers, as well as become dance instructors around the city.  Kristina is eager to start the dance season and to share her love of dance with her students!

Wendi has been involved in the dance and entertainment industry for over 20 years. She has touched a wide range of the performing arts, television, modeling, stage performances, adjudicating as well as owning and operating over 3 successful studios. Wendi started her training at the young age of 4 in Edmonton; and throughout her later years followed her passion for dance to training facilities in New York and Los Angeles studying with some of the most well-known and respected teachers in the dance industry. As an established and well respected teacher, free-lance choreographer and Creative Director Wendi continues to travel across Canada, the US and Asia with her dance career. As the Director of Entertainment for the 2000 Winter Games and 2002 Alberta Summer Games she choreographed the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. She also choreographed the opening ceremonies for the International Aids Walk and Cancer Walk for Life in 2001. Wendi’s has choreographed for numerous local artists for both live performances and music videos most recently for up and coming artists Jasmine Singh and Kelly Nall. She also sat on the judging panel to select the 2013 CFL Edmonton Eskimo Cheer Team as well as choreographed for the team. Her field choreography was also broadcast on CNN and major Canadian Broadcasting stations for the 2013 CFL Grey Cup Extravaganza in Toronto. Recently, Wendi returned from Asia after 3 months of teaching and choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam. Wendi believes her greatest accomplishments have been the ability to train, mentor and inspire hundreds of students, many of whom are now teachers, choreographers and professional dancers around the world.

Christie began dancing at the age of five and has studied several forms of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre. Her dance training began at Blue Quill School of Dance where she won several awards through dance competitions and completed her Al Gilbert Tap Syllabus up to and including Grade 9, which she achieved with highest honors. Her training then took her to include Shelley’s Dance Company in Edmonton, where she also taught dance in several disciplines, before traveling around North America to train and dance professionally in Las Vegas, Vancouver and most recently in Toronto.  Christie looks forward to her return to teaching and is excited for the upcoming season with Edmonton Dance Factory.

Taylor began dance classes at the age of two and has performed, competed, attended workshops, travelled, and taught ever since. Training up to 30 hours throughout the school year gave a lot of time to study Ballet (Vaganova & RAD), Jazz, Tap, Lyrical/Contemporary, Modern, Musical Theatre, and Hip-hop. Never wanting to settle she has also trained aerial silks and hoop dancing. She has been fortunate to compete and perform in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Her goal is to spread her love of dance and bring out the very best in every student that enters her classroom. She is excited to start another wonderful year at EDF.

Blake has been dancing since the age of 8 and ever since he took his first steps on stage he loved the art. Since then he has pursued dance as a career and travelled all around the world with dance. He has even competed professionally on world stages such as hip hop international. His goals as a teacher are to give his students as much knowledge as he can and help them to fall in love with dance.

Richard Andries has become one of the key driving forces within the Hip Hop dance scene in Edmonton and across Alberta for the past 15 years. With his high energy classes and his passion for the art, he continues to share his vision of the positivity of hip hop culture in everyday life. His personal style is heavily influenced by the foundation of hip hop dancing; popping, locking, breaking, house, etc, and newer forms such as Krump, and Street. Richard stars in the hit music video “Bounce With Me” by Kreesha Turner, which was directed by world renowned director, Little X. He has accompanied Canadian artists Kayle and Gary Beals as a background dancer and has toured Europe with Urban Metropolis, and 4 Korners the Toronto Raptor's official DJ's. He has also toured across Canada with Snoop Dogg, Sean Paul, and The Game.

With his dynamic style and energetic choreography Richard maintains the true techniques of hip hop including Popping, Locking, Breaking, Tutting and more. Richard has traveled to Detroit with the Xtreme Dance Convention Faculty. There he assisted Bradley Rapier of the "Groovaloos", and was along side of some of Americas finest choreographers including Liz Ramos, Brian Friedman and many more. Richard has also taught internationally in China and Spain. Richard is currently teaching throughout Alberta and continues to train, perform and teach with North America's finest.

Edrick Ochoco began dancing in 2012 at the age of 16. His career in teaching and choreography started in 2015 where he has been highly influenced by choreographers such as Carlo Atienza and Alexander Chung. Edrick has trained in places such as the Millenium Dance Complex and Movement Lifestyle in Los Angeles California, and is highly motivated to bring that level of teaching and skill to wherever he may teach. Edrick’s style consists mostly of movements inspired by the Hip-Hop Culture, but he does not consider himself strictly Hip-Hop as he cultivates and believes in free movement of the body. In his first year of teaching, Edrick has brought many groups that he created to the top three finalists in competitions including his main crew “BathTubbs”, who received 1st Place at the competition titled “In The Zone 9” in Winnipeg. Although he is proud to receive these awards, Edrick does not believe that placements in competitions matter at all. Edrick’s passion has taught him much about dance and that it is so much more than winning. To him, dance is a lifestyle and can teach people many things about themselves, the cultures of other people and places, and also serves as an outlet for any pain and struggles that he may experience. With this in his heart, he hopes to incorporate his beliefs into his teaching and hopes to one day move the hearts and minds of his students.

Michelle started dancing at a young age and found her passion for it almost immediately. She began her career with a strong R.A.D. ballet background, but became a multi disciplined dancer shortly after. She has studied jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, modern, musical theatre/acting, piano, trumpet, as well as, Ukrainian, Latin and Polynesian dancing. She has been fortunate enough to study under many talented instructors over the years, abroad and at home, including Alberta Ballet’s Ruth Carse and Shumka’s Terry Mucha. From a young age she joined a company that toured Canada and the United States, enriching her enthusiasm for performing on stage. Today she still studies dance and acro and performs with a local Polynesian group. Her mother was a teacher and passed down the gene to inspire and nurture children. She has taught dance in New York and choreographed a student summer production of "Grease" and studied in New Zealand but always came back to Edmonton where she felt most at home. Teaching is a passion she thrives on, always wanting to share her adoration for the arts with her students.  Michelle holds a bachelor of Visual Communication Design from the University of Alberta, where she studied many art forms that included: drama, film, art and design. Her design profession has led her to creative direct local television commercials and animated shorts. Michelle is Acrobatic Arts Certified, Alixa Flexibility Certified and TADA Certified.

An active part of the teaching staff at Edmonton Dance Factory for the past 7 years, Sabrina aims to inspire her dancers to grow as artists and challenge themselves in all aspects of their lives. As an instructor Sabrina has had the good fortune of taking her students to compete and train across North America. Watching her students excel and grow throughout the years has been truly rewarding and she is excited to begin this new dance season!

Rebecca began dancing at age three and has studied in the areas of ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. She has been a part of the Edmonton Dance Factory since she was ten years old. Rebecca started competing at the age of six, and since then has participated in many competitions within Alberta and British Columbia. She also had the opportunity to take master classes from many well-known choreographers. She holds a Bachelor of Elementary Education from the University of Alberta, and is excited to begin her second year of teaching with the Edmonton Public School Board. Rebecca is thrilled to be coming back for her fourth year of teaching at Edmonton Dance Factory. After student teaching for two years with many of the teachers she grew up having herself, she knew this was something she was meant to be doing. She can’t wait to share her love of dance once again with her students. Welcome back to all new and returning students!

Nila began dancing at the age of 4 in Edmonton, being trained in ballet, jazz, modern, bollywood, and classical South Indian dance. At the age of 12, she came to Edmonton Dance Factory and expanded her training to include tap and musical theatre. This year, when she isn’t at the studio, Nila will be studying hard as she begins the second year of the MD program at the University of Alberta, where she hopes to become a pediatrician. Nila is a strong believer that dance should be a fun, positive experience for everyone and is excited to share this experience with all her students this year! Welcome everyone!

Tegan has been passionate about movement and dance from a very young age. She has trained and studied in various disciplines of Ballet, Irish dance, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Modern dance. With a focus and passion for ballet, Tegan has received training in RAD, ISTD, and Vaganova methods and examinations. In addition to dance, Tegan grew up in musical theatre, taking workshops and classes from schools such as the Citadel Foote Theatre and MacEwan University, and performing in shows from the ages of 8 – 18. She spent many years studying voice, violin, and bass guitar, and played in multiple bands allowing for many exciting performance opportunities in and around the city of Edmonton. Tegan has attended courses and workshops in child and adolescent development and learning, lesson planning, choreography and contemporary dance, dance for preschool years, and the Intellidance® Method. Tegan has completed coursework with the NDEO in dance pedagogy, elements in dance, and ballet theory and composition. She has also studied in IDTS dance teaching method, and Progressing Ballet Technique, both of which have contributed to Tegan’s passion in teaching towards a solid understanding of dance anatomy, conditioning for dance, and safe development of technique. Tegan believes in regular professional development and as such has attended teaching courses with Winnipeg Royal Ballet, Cecchetti Society of Canada, and Vaganova society, and workshops in Creative Movement and composition to name few. In addition to teaching dance, Tegan has had the opportunity to work as a teacher’s assistant in a specialized learning program with Edmonton Public School and has her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Psychology.

Bio to come!

Brenna Grewal started dancing at the age of three, and started her training at Edmonton Dance Factory when she was seven. She has trained in Jazz, RAD and Vaganova Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Acro.  While student teaching and assisting in her senior years of dancing at the studio, Brenna discovered her love of teaching. She has had the opportunity to travel to Vancouver, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles to participate in various competitions and workshops, as well as work with competitive figure skaters from the Royal Glenora and the Derrick club. In 2015, Brenna completed her first Acrobatic Arts certification and is looking forward to continuing to further her learning. In June of 2018, she graduated from the University of Alberta Faculty of Science, majoring in biology and psychology. This fall, Brenna will return to school and begin working towards becoming a registered nurse. She is excited for her fifth year with the Edmonton Dance Factory teaching staff, and she is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with her students.

Haley An was a dancer with Edmonton Dance Factory for many years and a student teacher for 4 years. During her years in dance, she was a part of EDF Senior Company and won numerous awards/scholarships with both the group and as a soloist. Haley has trained in many genres of dance from ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and more. Currently, she is going into her third year of university and has continued her dance training, as a member of the student dance company - MOD Contemporary Dance Movement - at the University of Alberta. Through her work with MOD, she has also increased her creativity and choreography skills. She is truly excited to share her love and passion for dance with her students.