Find out more about our Dance & Movement Teachers below.
Amanda Lau
Ashley Binette
Bernadette Rollin
Chloe Best
Emily Mustard
Lucienne Anczykowski
Nina Buddhdev
Palak Dhiman
Sarah Kennedy
Sofia Sanchez
Amanda Lau
Jazz and Lyrical Dance
Amanda is a Vancouver-based performing artist, choreographer, dance educator and vocalist. She has over 18 years of training in jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theatre, stage, tap, street jazz and ballet. Amanda has extensive teaching experience with a variety of ages, levels and genres. She is an awarded competitive dancer in all her dance disciplines, receiving numerous awards and scholarships. Amanda has adjudicated at the Performing Arts BC Regional Festivals and Tri-Cities Got Talent for the past 7 years. She is a professional dancer for the National Lacrosse League and the Vancouver Warriors Dance Crew at Rogers Arena. She was also a captain and dancer with the SFU Athletics Dance Team.
In addition, she has taught, trained and performed across BC with the Vancouver Tap Dance Society’s touring ensemble, TAPCO. She has trained with tap masters such as Michelle Dorrance, Jason Samuel Smith and Travis Knights. Amanda has performed in and choreographed multiple musicals in Vancouver. Past accomplishments include nominations for “Best Supporting Actress” (CTC Awards) and “Outstanding Supporting Performance” (Ovation Awards). In addition, she has worked in film, music videos and print ads.
As a vocalist, she competed in numerous voice competitions and received scholarships and awards from BC Performing Arts, Arts Club Theatre, CDMF and Kiwanis. As a performing artist, she has also trained with Arts Club Theatre and The Gateway Conservatory.
Amanda’s teaching philosophy is growth-oriented and focuses on cultivating creativity and confidence through movement. All students will be learning in a welcoming, supportive and inclusive environment. She looks forward to sharing her passion for dance with her students!
Ashley Binette
Children and Adult Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap and Hip Hop
Ashley found her love for dance and performing at a very young age. With over 20 years in the performing arts industry, she has earned titles such as National Gold Champion for two consecutive years in dance competitions in Las Vegas and Orlando, as well as National Silver Champion in a dance competition in Portland, Oregon.
Ashley is trained in tap, hip hop, jazz, musical theatre and ballet and has trained with many masters, including Jeni Le Gon, Jason Samuels Smith and Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo (NappyTabs).
She was a backup dancer for Tazneem Tarmohamed, has been featured in television commercials such as Alley Cats, and performed in local productions, including For The Luv Of It, West Side Story and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Ceremony. Ashley is always eager to share her knowledge and continue to learn in every aspect in the performing arts industry.
Bernadette Rollin
Adult Yoga
Bernadette has been practicing yoga since 1984. She received her Yoga Teacher Certificate in September 2000 upon successfully completing a five-year program of yoga study with Om Sairam. In addition, Bernadette has studied and been awarded her 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Certificate from Sandra Sammartino in conjunction with receiving her Canadian Yoga Alliance Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher Certification (CYA-E-RYT500). Bernadette also has completed her Teaching Chair Yoga Workshop program studying under Sylvia Smallman. Bernadette has continued to develop her yoga education through worships with Erich Schiffman (Hatha Yoga), Sherryn Rault (Critical Alignments Yoga Therapy) as well as reading and weekend retreats and practices. Bernadette has been teaching yoga to both adults and children since 1999 blending dedication, passion and joy into her teaching.
She is a member of the British Columbia Yoga Alliance and over the years has continued to develop her yoga education through workshops, reading and practice. Bernadette is also a successful visual artist in her own right and teaches art to children and adults.
Chloe Best
Intro to Ballet
Growing up in Maple Ridge, BC, Chloe started her dance journey a little later than most. Starting at 16, Chloe started to take a hip hop class with her friend weekly. While Chloe always held a passion for music and acting, she was not exposed to the world of dance until later on. Shortly after she began dancing, she realized her love for dance and immersed herself in as many styles including ballet, lyrical, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, tap and more. During this time Chloe also assisted in teaching jazz every week at her studio.
After graduating from 5678 Dance Centre in 2022, began taking drop-in dance classes weekly at varying Studios around Vancouver including Harbour Dance Centre, Studio North, and Trek of Arts. She also participated in competitions like ‘Artist Emerge’. She continued to grow her knowledge of dance by taking open classes weekly and studying in on-camera workshops and summer intensives.
Chloe has assisted in teaching kids, worked on theatre productions such as “Seventeen”, and received her coach certification through Special Olympics BC working with special needs students and athletes. Chloe now strives to share her passion for dance and remind everyone with a passion that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
Emily Mustard
Children’s Intro to Ballet and Boys Can Dance
Emily started her dance career at the age of 6 at Place des Arts. Growing up taking ballet classes with Lucienne Ancyzkowski as well as jazz and technique classes, she received several awards and scholarships. She then branched out into hip hop and street jazz, which is where she ultimately found her passion.
In her last year of high school, Emily joined hip-hop training company “Kill the Lights” (KTL) run by industry professionals Ken Yung and Shauna Smith through Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver.
After booking work in the Vancouver dance scene, including multiple music videos, movies, live performances and commercial work, Emily decided to return to team dancing and training.
Her biggest accomplishment to date was being invited to dance with an internationally renowned, all-female competitive hip-hop team called Style and Grace. Run by Carmen Forsyth and Ravienal Lescano, Style and Grace competes locally and internationally and was featured on Season 3 of NBC’s World of Dance.
Emily continues to travel and teach locally and in other Canadian cities in the hopes of spreading her love of dance to others.
Lucienne Anczykowski
Children and Adult Ballet, Pointe, Body Development
Sep 2023-Jun 2024: In-Person and Online lessons Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
A professional and certified Russian Ballet teacher, Lucienne began her studies as a resident of a Polish State Ballet School, later working toward her professional teaching credentials at the University of Music in Warsaw. Her performing career was with the Maurice Bejart Theatre de XX Siècle in Belgium. Lucienne continues to learn by attending extensive teacher ongoing training through the National Ballet School of Canada.
Nina Buddhdev
Expressive Yoga with YogBhava
With over twenty-five years of experience in the Healing Yogic Arts field, I am a passionate educator of Classical Yogic styles. Classical yoga uses the power of expression, mental wellness, movement, visual journaling, sound and breathwork. Yoga is my lifetime practice, which takes prominence in all areas of my life. I came to teach yoga with many unanswered curiosities in my Indian classical dance training. The limitations of my chronic piriformis syndrome steered me to seek a deeper understanding of the body-mind-spirit connection for fearless movement. I like to meet people where they are and help them discover their potential through accurate body alignment. In Canada, I have taught Yogic Arts for over ten years to community groups and at cultural events. For six years, I learned Iyengar and Vinyasa techniques with Kaivalyadhama (KVD) and Raja Yoga Philosophy with Yogic Studies. I like to teach with a contemplative pedagogical approach for an absoluteness of yoga’s essence and full experience. In September 2020, I completed the Yoga Alliance 200-hour teaching course to add to the 300 hours of KVD training I have completed in the UK. I learned about the modern-day studio culture, its widening knowledge gaps and the need for the art and science of yoga to make a lasting impact. This training provided essential anatomy, stretch reflex receptivity, restorative and alignment theories in practice, drawing from the Anusara School of Yoga. I incorporate the heart-centred universal principles of alignment, foundations, muscle energy, organic energy and spirals.
Palak Dhiman
Kathak Dance
Palak Dhiman began her studies of Kathak in 1993 in India before continuing her formal training in Canada under Usha Sharma. Engaging with dance academically in 2013, she earned an MA in Sociology, focusing on Indian classical dance’s role in identity formation. Throughout her artistic journey, Palak has featured in numerous stage productions with Manohar Performing Arts in Winnipeg (2006-2019) and Upasana in Ottawa (2016-2019). She has toured Canada with the Usha Dance Ensemble (2022) and co-choreographed The Eagle and The Lotus with Manohar (2019). Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, she released her first independent video dance project, Digital Jugalbandi, portraying two friends navigating the pandemic through Indian classical dance storytelling. In 2021, her movement film Kathaka: Storyteller was selected by the Canadian National Arts Centre for their project Capsule. In Ottawa, she co-founded the Manohar East Collective, launching their grant-funded project Visual Translation in 2021, exploring how emotions and poetry can be conveyed through movement. As a newcomer to the Greater Vancouver arts scene, Palak presented her inaugural full solo performance at Place des Arts in April 2024. She continues to refine her skills and share her expertise by teaching Kathak both in-person and online. Starting September 2024, she will teach Place des Arts’ inaugural Kathak Dance course for youth and adults. As a dance educator, Palak’s aim is to help create a warm, respectful and inclusive environment where students can collaboratively experience the world around them through the lens of this beautiful and rich storytelling dance form, Kathak.
Social Media:
Instagram – @dhimpalak
Website: www.palakdhiman.com
Facebook: Palak Dhiman
Sarah Kennedy
Adult Dance (Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop)
Sarah Kennedy is a recent graduate from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia with a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) majoring in Dance. She is from Newmarket, Ontario and has been dancing since the age of four. Sarah grew up in a competitive dance studio environment and competed in many dance styles including jazz, ballet, contemporary, tap, musical theatre and acro.
As an emerging artist, Sarah has performed in many works at SFU including Ascension 2018, 2020, 2021, PPE Waves, Ghost Forest, Myriad and Coda. She has been performing in Dusk Dances since 2017 and has toured with artists in Barrie and Hamilton, Ontario. During her career, Sarah has had the pleasure of learning from artists such as Megan Walker-Straight, Rob Kitsos, Judith Garay, Marla Eist, Emmalena Fredriksson, Justin Chambers, NiNi Dongnier, Charlotte Boye-Christensen and Sylvie Bouchard.
Over the last five years, Sarah has been teaching various genres to students of all ages and levels of abilities. She believes that dance should be a key source of expression, communication and emotion. In her classes, students should feel welcomed and prepared to reach their goals, all while being part of a positive and inclusive environment. Recently, Sarah completed her ADA certification as a founding member through Lexy Cox and is excited to share her passion and knowledge in the industry.
Sofia Sanchez
Dance and Movement
I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. From an early age, I trained in Latin American and Venezuelan traditional dance as well as belly dance. My mother, who practiced psychopedagogy inspired me to pursue a career in the service of children. I studied psychology with a focus on developmental and social psychology at Simon Fraser University. Here I spent time working as a production technician and assistant for various productions in SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts, while also training in Theatre Production. Once my university studies were completed, I moved on to a graduate certification in expressive arts therapy from Langara College and I later pursued a Master of Arts in Expressive Arts Therapy from The European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland. I have worked for over 8 years in early childhood arts programming, teaching visual arts and dance with Arts Umbrella, City of Port Moody as well as independently. I have also done contract work for DAREarts (now ThriveYouth) and the City of Coquitlam as an Artist Educator, Cultural Ambassador and Dancer. I am passionate about celebrating diversity and empowering immigrant communities. I am active in the dance community, and you can find me teaching belly dance with World Dance Co and SFU Recreation, as well as performing Venezuelan traditional dances around Vancouver. I also enjoy painting and selling my art in local shops.
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