Associate CSC-CICB (Cecchetti Ballet)
Michele began her study of dance as a young child in St. John's and has been dancing ever since. In addition to her local training, over the years Michele has attended many summer programs for teachers at such places as The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the National Ballet School. She has spent all of her adult life developing skills and experience in working with young children to ensure that her dancers have a safe, technically sound and fun introduction to dance. In addition to working directly with all of the students in her ballet program, Michele has always developed or sought out teachers to bring a full range of expertise to the students of Mount Pearl School of Dance.
Over the years, many teachers have passed through Mount Pearl School of Dance, most of them developed right here at home under Michele's guidance and encouragement. Some have gone on to careers outside the world of dance, but several have continued in the career they began here. Michele is very excited to again be introducing new, enthusiastic teachers to her students while continuing to provide the same stable foundation in dance that has been a part of the tradition at Mount Pearl School of Dance.
Erika Wilansky began to study dance in Montreal at the age of three. She grew up immersed in an environment that was alive with music and performance whether on the streets or in the schools and community centres. She studied Modern dance, Jazz, and Hip Hop as part of her regular high school curriculum. Erika has been teaching Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, and Burlesque for the past 15 years in St.John's and Montreal and will be entering into her fourth year at MPSD this Fall. Recent performances include Martha Carter's "iDub" in the 2006 Festival of New Dance, 1st place in 2008's "Dancing with The Priests" competition, as well as many performances with her Hip Hop crew, Soul Steps Crew (choreographer/dancer). Erika has recently had the opportunity to teach in Montreal and has been asked to choreograph for a touring youth dance troupe. Erika has extensive Hip Hop training and at least twice a year, continues to update her repertoire by training in Quebec and Ontario.
TTP-Dip (NBS), RAD RTS, ACSC- CICB, AISTD, BATD
Elisabeth Pardy began her early dance and musical theatre training in her native St. John's, Newfoundland. Inspired by the teachers of her youth, she channeled her passion for dance into a career upon high school graduation. Elisabeth graduated from a two-year dance Teacher Training Program in St. John's, NL where she achieved her Associate teaching qualifications in Tap and Modern Theatre from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). During this time she also attained her Advanced 2 dance exams in both genres.
With a keen interest in classical ballet, Elisabeth relocated to Toronto, ON upon acceptance to the three-year Teacher Training Program at Canada's National Ballet School (NBS). She is the third Newfoundlander to have successfully completed the program in the school's history. Graduating with Distinction in June 2008, she achieved Registered Teachers Status (RTS) with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in addition to her Advanced 2 and Associate exams in National Dance from the ISTD. During her time at NBS, Elisabeth also taught in the Associate Program, teaching and coaching both Junior and Senior level students. During July 2008 & 2009 Elisabeth was employed by NBS as a ballet assistant in their professional ballet Summer School.
Having completed teaching contracts in England, Ontario, ON and Ireland, Elisabeth is delighted to have brought her international experience and devotion to dance back to her native province. Since returning to Newfoundland, some of Elisabeth’s students have been accepted to York University’s dance education program, the Summer Intensive program at Canada’s National Ballet School and the Junior Professional Summer School at the School of Alberta Ballet. Truly passionate about classical ballet, she has a strong interest in developing her pedagogical knowledge with the goal of developing strong, technically sound and artistic dance students. Under the tutelage of Wanda Alix Walters Elisabeth was examined for and successfully obtained the Associate teaching qualification by two senior examiners of the Cecchetti Society of Canada in November 2010.
With a passion for the world of theatre, Elisabeth worked as an Actors Movement Coach on TaDA! Events' production of 'Alice in Wonderland' during October 2010 and choreographed TaDA! Events & SGM Productions' 'Blues Clues Live!' in April 2010 (in addition to performing the role of Blue).
Following a tremendously successful first year as Co-Artistic Director and Owner of Mount Pearl School of Dance, Elisabeth is looking forward to the future of MPSD with great anticipation and excitement. A strong believer in continuing professional development, August 2011 saw Elisabeth travel to Chichester, England for the ISTD Teacher Summer School to upgrade her skills and knowledge in Tap and Modern Theatre. She also travelled to Toronto, ON to study the new RAD Intermediate Foundation & Intermediate Ballet exam work.
- Graduate of the 3 year Teacher Training Diploma Program at Canada's National Ballet School
- RAD Classical Ballet Registered Teachers Status
- Associate, CSC-CICB
- ISTD Associate Tap, ISTD Associate Modern Theatre, ISTD Associate National Dance
- BATD Stage Associate Diploma
- Advanced 2 ISTD Tap, Advanced 2 ISTD Modern Theatre, Advanced 2 ISTD National Dance
- Advanced 1 RAD Ballet
- Advanced 1 Cecchetti Ballet
- Completed 'The Art of Teaching, The Teaching of Art' summer course at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (July 2004)
- Alumni of the Rockette Dance Education program, Rockette Summer Intensive at Radio City Music Hall, NYC (June 2008)
- Attended the ISTD Teachers Summer School for Tap & Modern Theatre in Chichester, England (August 2011)
- Attended the RAD Intermediate Foundation & Intermediate Ballet exam course in Toronto, ON (August 2011)
Amanda has been training in a variety of genres since the age of three. Today, she focuses her training and choreography primarily on Jazz, Pop, Hip Hop, Tap and Contemporary.
Much of Amanda’s passion and creativity has been fostered through the Mount Pearl School of Dance where she has been working since 2007; teaching jazz, hip-hop, tap, contemporary, and both the school’s junior and senior performing groups. In 2010, she was awarded with the Dance Teacher’s Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Scholarship. Amanda has also recently completed her Advanced 1 ISTD Modern and Tap exams and is currently working on her Associate in both tap and modern.
This past year, Amanda travelled to Saint-Jean, NB and auditioned for the hit T.V series “So You Think You Can Dance Canada”. There, she was awarded a ticket to compete in “Finals Week” in Toronto this past April, where she was thrilled to make it through the first couple of rounds and get the opportunity to take master classes from professional choreographers such as Luther Brown and Sean Cheeseman.
Outside of the MPSoD, Amanda gained further teaching and choreographing experience locally through coaching her high school's dance team and performing with the Mount Pearl Show Choir for five years. Her time with the Mount Pearl Show Choir provided her with the opportunity to showcase her choreography skills while also allowing her to perform internationally, including Japan and Disney World Florida. Locally, Amanda was part of the “Our Diva’s Do Christmas on Broadway 2009” production at Holy Heart Theatre; and has also been a member of a local dance company “NewFoundDance” since the summer of 2008 as both a choreographer and a dancer. Amanda also had the opportunity to be the Co-Choreographer for Janet Cull’s “Simply the Best – Tina Turner Tribute”, this past October.
Always committed to enhancing her level of dance, Amanda is continuously travelling to Toronto to train in Jazz, Commercial Jazz, Hip Hop and Street Jazz. She takes classes at One Immigrant Productions (OIP) from established choreographers such as Leon Blackwood, Tamina Pollack-Paris (SYTYCDC), and Mariano Abarca. While in Toronto during the summer of 2010, she also trained in commercial jazz with Lindsay Ritter for two months (owner of Lindsay Ritter Commercial Jazz Company) and participated in “The Give Back Workshops” at the National Ballet School hosted by Tre Armstrong (SYTYCD).In addition to her dance related aspirations, Amanda is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Business Administration program at Memorial University, and is also near completed her French degree.
A.I.S.T.D. (Tap)
Danielle McGettigan has been performing on stage as a dancer since the age of four and professionally teaching with Mount Pearl School of Dance for the past two years. With strong roots in Irish-Newfoundland step dance, Danielle expanded her horizons to all forms of tap dancing. After nine years of training, she achieved Associate status with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) in 2004. Hip-hop, Jazz and Modern are other dance styles at the forefront of her career.
Feeling most at home on the stage, Danielle has performed in many venues at both the local and national levels. Career highlights include the 2002 Juno Awards, NL Soiree '99 nationally televised concert, and the 2003 ISTD Summer School in Chichester, England. Danielle is also pursuing studies in Applied Mathematics at Memorial University.
Tony Ingram (bboy AhhSUM) started bboying early 2004 in St. John’s. Having only limited martial arts experience, he learned his first few moves from John Laite, a break-dancer he met while attending Memorial University. Since his meagre beginnings in Newfoundland, he has participated in as many learning opportunities as possible, both from peers and more experienced dancers. Tony has taken workshops from many internationally known b-boys, such as Poe One, Ivan Urban Action Figure, Kujo, Kid David, Casper, Dyzee, Morris, Puzzles, Jester, Crazy Smooth, Morris, Gadget, Glizzi, and Gizmo. In addition, Tony has studied contemporary dance with Martha Carter (Vancouver).
Currently, Tony is a member of Concrete Roots, a dance company whose mission involves youth outreach through dance in the Halifax area. Concrete Roots Productions has recently won 'Best New Business of the Year' from the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. As a BBoy, Tony is a member of Koala Corps, an influential group of BBoys from Atlantic Canada based out of Halifax. In 2005 he co-founded Newfoundland’s premier b-boy group, East Rock Crew, who he remains a part of today.
Through his involvement with Concrete Roots and his dance crews, ERC and KCC, he has performed and competed in a myriad of events including two consecutive years at the Canada Dance Festival, various projects with Festival of New Dance (Newfoundland), St. John’s Busker Festival, and various charity events. Competitively, Tony has won both solo and crew battles, attaining numerous 1st place titles in the Atlantic Provinces, and has competed nationally.
As a full time Physiotherapist, Tony is combining his interests in Health and Dance, through his website BBoyScience.com. This site is a project aimed at providing information for dancers to help them prevent injuries, stay healthy, and enjoy a longer dance career.
Associate Diploma CSC-CICB (Cecchetti Ballet)
Since closing her own studio in 1998 Wanda has continued to travel to further her studies in the teaching of ballet, attending summer programs and spending a full term in the professional development division at the National Ballet School. Along with her teaching duties, she continues to assist me in mentoring our younger teachers. In addition to working with students at the Sorensen School of Dance, she is a member of the faculty at Mount Pearl School of Dance. I am pleased to have her continuing as a member of the teaching staff.