Carousel Faculty
The Carousel Dance Centre prides itself on offering a top notch teaching staff. Our instructors are experienced, certified and commited to providing a positive dance experience for each one of their students. We are committed to providing skilled, trained and experienced teachers for all levels of dance, inlducing our youngest particpants.
Heidi Churchill, BA, BEd, RAD TC - Director
Heidi has been the Director of the Carousel Dance Centre for 14 years. After completing her undergraduate degree in Dance (University of Waterloo) and her Bachelor of Education (Queen’s University), Heidi was excited to join the Carousel Team and combine both her love of teaching and her love of dance. Heidi’s teaching experience includes teaching ballet, modern dance, creative dance and jazz to all ages and ability levels with a special focus on the development and teaching of programs for toddlers and pre-school age children. Heidi holds her Teaching Certification with the Royal Academy of Dance and has attended teaching courses & seminars at the National Ballet School, Royal Academy of Dance and daCi International Conferences in Regina and The Netherlands. With a vision that dance can and should be for EveryBODY, Heidi has been instrumental in developing adapted dance programs at Carousel. This knowledge has been shared with University students in her teaching of the dance component of Music 380E at Wilfrid Laurier University and is put into practice each year in her role as the Artistic Director of Arts Express Day Camp, an arts camp for children with disabilities.
Laura Prada, BSc, ARAD, RAD Adv. Teaching Diploma - Assistant Director
Laura has been a faculty member at the Carousel Dance Centre for more than 30 years. After completing her Bachelor of Science Degree in dance at the University of Waterloo, Laura went on to pursue her teaching certification with the Royal Academy of Dance. Laura holds her Advanced teaching certificate with the RAD and specializes in teaching upper level ballet classes. Laura has taught and entered several students for the RAD Advanced 2 exam and has also entered students for the Solo Seal Examination, which is the highest of examination levels and is only pursued by a handful of students in Canada each year. In addition to her specialty teaching Advanced ballet levels, Laura is very interested in Carousel's Dance for EveryBODY program and has been working on establishing both a program for adult students with disabilities and a section of dance company for teens with disabilities. Laura's dedication to providing dance opportunities for individuals with disabilities led to her being nomianted for Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region's 1st Annual Inclusion Award in 2011.
Crystalle Kruis, BA, RAD TC
Crystalle has been teaching dance for over 20 years. She has taught ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, and modern dance, but her first love is teaching ballet. Having completed her degree in dance from the University of Waterloo, she continued her training with the Royal Academy of Dance and successfully holds her RAD Teaching Certificate. Crystalle teaches ballet and RAD classes at Carousel and has entered numerous successful exam candidates. Most recently, Crystalle has designed and implemented a conditioning program for dancers. Crystalle is passionate about teaching and is proud to be a teacher at the Carousel Dance Centre.
Bea Benian
Bea has trained professionally at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Temple Studios in Guelph under the direction of David Earle and Suzette Sherman and has attended various forms of movement workshops and intensives including The Martha Graham School of Dance in New York, NY. As an independent artist, she has performed for the Newton Moreas Dance Theatre, Hamilton Dance Company, Bill James, Company TILT and Dancetheatre David Earle. Bea has apprenticed for Company Kd'D2 in their work Resiance and as a guest dancer with The Danny Grossman Company performing David Earl’s Dreams End. Bea has also performed her own choreographic work of Lonely Woman and Tete a Tete at the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival. She teaches contemporary dance at The Carousel Dance Centre and The Cambridge Theatre of Dance School. Since 2007 Bea has been the Artistic Director of ‘Perpetual Motion’, Cambridge Theatre Dance Youth Company where she has had the opportunity to create dance with a group of young and talented dance artists who perform at various venues. Bea is a recently certified Hatha Yoga instructor.
Michelle Moylan, BFA, MA
Michelle Moylan's professional life is a fusion of dance pedagogy, performance, landscape, architecture, and contemporary art. Michelle has a visual arts bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph. She has 12+ years of experience in jazz dance instruction and has been a part of the Carouel Dance Centre jazz facutly for over 8 years. Michelle's jazz classes are fast-paced, challenging, and current and she works hard to help her students become confident in the jazz 'style'. Michelle also has an active record of exhibitions in galleries across Canada performing and collaborating with artist Cesar Forero in the creation of jovial social spaces as performance art installations.
Natalie Sebastion
Ms. Sebastion is an award winning teacher and choreographer and currently teaches all ages in ballet and jazz and also teaches musical theatre at several dance studios, high schools and colleges in South-Western Ontario. She has been a registered R.A.D. teacher since 1995 and is a member of A.C.T.R.A. and the Canadaian Actors Equity Association. Natalie is a graduate of the George Brown Dance program. She received the Kitchener Waterloo Arts Award for the Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in 1998 and the Tyrone Guthrie Award, Stratford Festival. Natalie is an accomplished singer, actress and dancer. She has performed with companies such as The Stratford Festival, the Canadian Opera Company and Charlottetown Festival. Favourite roles include Anita in the West Side Story, Josie Pye in Anne of Green Gables, Suzie in the Great Adventure and Sheila in Swing Step. Film and television credits include Assistant Choreographer for the Disney Film Eloise, Stormy Weather and the Gemini Awards. Natalie is very excited to be joining Carousel's teaching faculty!
Juliana Sherk, RAD. RTS, CDTA, ACTRA
Juliana Sherk has enjoyed a successful career as a performer, instructor, choreographer, producer and director over the past 20 years. She trained extensively in all dance forms in Toronto, New York and Spain and received the Director Award upon graduating from Ryerson Theatre School in 1994. She has performed with Xing Dance Theatre of Canada and the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company. From 2005-2010, she owned and operated her own dance school, “Juliana’s School for the Performing Arts’ and founded its resident dance company, “C’est Ça Danse!” From 2004-2008, she was a ballet instructor and faculty member at the University of Waterloo. In the 1990s, Juliana was the character performer and choreographer for Sharon, Lois and Bram’s “Elephant Show” touring North America and appearing in television and video projects. Juliana is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance, the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association and a member of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts.
Kalene Ticknor
Kalene began her dance training at the Carousel Dance Centre and continued to follow her passion for dance as a student at Eastwood Collegiate's Integrated Arts Program. After graduating from the Art's Program, Kalene studied dance at both Ryerson University and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. During her post-secondary studies, Kalene studied many styles of modern dance technique including Graham, Horton and Limon. Kalene joined Carousel's teaching team in September 2008 and currently teaches ballet, jazz, pointe, modern dance and children's programs. When she is not in the studio teaching, Kalene still loves to perform and has recently performed with Michelle Hopkins and the Toronto based company, Dancemakers. Kalene has many fond memories of her years as a Carousel student and is delighted to now be a member of the teaching staff!
Caroline Vukson, BFA
Caroline Vukson holds her BFA Honours in Performance Dance at York University where she studied under teachers such as Julia Sasso, Karen Bowes-Sewell and Carol Anderson. Prior to her training at York, Caroline was a student and teacher at the Dance Academy of Mount Forest. While at York, she performed in Terrill McGuire’s premiere of “In Motion”. As a company member of the York University Dance Ensemble, she performed in pieces by Susan Cash, Francoise Sullivan, the Masters candidates and also performed in Meagan O’Shea’s Nuit Blanche presentation of “Dance Like No One is Watching”. Caroline has worked for Cirque de Soleil’s Debra Brown in her premiere of “Rising Up” which commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Special Olympics in Canada. Caroline is very excited to be a part of the team at the Carousel Dance Centre.