Our Faculty

 

Michelle Nicholson

Artistic Director/Founder

Alixa Flexibility Module 1, 2 & 3

Michelle is an enthusiastic teacher, choreographer, performer and adjudicator who celebrates dance through her innovation and inspiration! Michelle's dance career began at the early age of three where she trained under the direction of Margo Hartley at Bojangles Art of Dance in Kitchener, Ontario. Training in jazz, tap, lyrical, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre and modern, she attended one of Canada's most prestigious schools. Michelle attained her Intermediate levl in ballet from the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD). She went on to receive extensive training in New York City at Broadway Dance Center from well known teachers such as Mia Michaels, Ray Leeper, Wes Veldink, Sheila Barker, David Marques and Michele Assaf. In addition, Michelle frequently attended The Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles to continue her dance training. Michelle has worked and performed with various dance companies and artists including Helix Dance Project: “Hotel”, directed and choreographed by Linda Garneau, Bell Mobility Celebrity Gala: “Chicago”, The Wes Veldink Movement: “Walking Through Walls”, directed and choreographed by Wes Veldink, The Honey Kats Gala, K-OS “Superstar” music video, Under Construction & Company: choreographed by Sheila Barker and Brian Thomas and with the well known boys group N'SYNC. As well, Michelle danced alongside Stacey Tookey in Broadway a Tropea: choreographed by Terry Beeman, A.C Ciulla and Michele Assaf in Tropea, Italy. Michelle enjoys staying active in the dance world by teaching, choreographing and adjudicating for numerous studios and organizations throughout Canada. She has been recognized for her innovative choreography, receiving countless awards for her creativity, conception and overall vision. Michelle is sought after as a choreographer and has choreographed for hair, fashion and comedy shows and for charity events including Megan's Walk. Michelle's students have gone on to dance across the continent. They have actively taken to the stage performing for various companies, festivals and schools from The Julliard School in New York City and New World School of the Arts in Miami to Toronto Dance Theatre, The National Ballet of Canada, Miami City Ballet, Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY, The Joffrey Ballet, Ryerson University, Compagnie Marie Chouinard, SUNY Purchase Dance Conservatory, The Randolph Academy, Point Park Conservatory, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and The Conteur Academy in Toronto to name a few. Michelle shares her joy for dance by striving to inspire young dancers with her passion and energy. She has brought her love for dancing on the stage into the classroom and enjoys sharing her knowledge with all dancers. Michelle's desire to teach and motivate has lead her to open her own studio and she is thrilled to introduce Emotion Dance Company, Guelph's new premier studio! Emotion Dance Company offers only the best in dance instruction and looks forward to bringing out the best in your child while challenging them to be better than themselves.

Amanda Damaren

Amanda is a passionate actor/dancer/singer rooted in Kitchener Waterloo. As a resident, she was actively involved in community theatre by sharing her expertise and energy with young people in schools and non-profit organizations. Amanda Damaren is a graduate of the Eastwood Collegiate Integrated Arts Program under the direction of Janis Price. She graduated with an Arts diploma majoring in Dance as well as an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Eastwood Collegiate provided Amanda with a foundation for dance, theatre and vocal training as well as opportunities to perform lead roles such as Jan in the musical Grease, as well as dance along side professional modern companies including Ballet Jorgen, Toronto Dance Theatre and David Earl.

As a resident of Kitchener-Waterloo Amanda trained with Confidance Studio, Kitchener, Quinte Ballet School, Belleville, O.I.P, Toronto and Metro Movement, Toronto. As a competitive dancer, Amanda achieved several awards including Top Soloist, Overall Highest Score and Dance Odyssey’s Favourite Dancer. Furthermore, Amanda has received recognition for her choreography and creativity from several dance competitions.

Amanda recently lived in Vancouver BC where she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Simon Fraser University. Amanda is highly trained and has worked with numerous choreographers such as: Rob Kitsos, Judith Garay, Chengxin Wei, Megan Walker-Straight and Leslie Telford. Amanda also spent time training under TwoFourSeven hip-hop company where she worked under Carlo Atienza, Roberta Bierman and Jerome Esplana. She has competed at various hip-hop competitions around the world such as: World of Dance, Vegas, Body Rock, San diego and Artists Emerge, Seattle. Amanda has an extraordinary vision for improvisation, collaboration and creation in dance and is excited to continue and share her work outside of University.   

Amanda’s credits include Suicide Squad, Mr. Young, Canada’s Got Talent, The LA Complex, Hellcats, Baxter, Being Erica, Camp Rock 2, High School Musical, Canadian Idol and The Stratford Festival. She is proud to have worked with Romina D’Ugo and and David Ayer in Suicide Squad, Luther Brown in his stage production On My Way Home, Leon Rubin in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of Measure for Measure and Amy Wright on the set of Being Erica and Get Up ‘N Move.

Amanda’s goal is to continue collaborating with as many aspiring and innovative artists as possible and looks forward to extending her passion for dancing, singing and acting in many further artistic endeavors.

Brooklyn Giffen

BFA (Hons) Theatre/Dance

Brooklyn Giffen is an artist based in Toronto, ON. She began her training at Sean Boutilier Academy of Dance at the age of five years old, where she studied, trained and competed in various dance genres. She has extensively trained and completed numerous Cecchetti Syllabus ballet exams, since the age of nine. Brooklyn’s passion for performance has included many training specializations, including: classical ballet, classical jazz, tap, modern, contemporary, street style, multiple areas of acting practice, voice, improvisation, creative process studies and choreographic training.

Brooklyn is a 2021 graduate of Ryerson University’s School of Performance. She enters the professional world with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance Dance. During her studies, Brooklyn was trained and mentored by many honored Canadian dance educators including: Vicki St. Denys, Louis Laberge-Côté, Tanya Evidente, Robert Glumbek, Kenny Pearl and Kate Hilliard.

Her curiosity as a collaborator and her versatility as a performer has enabled her to participate in various works in both performance dance theatre and on film. Brooklyn has performed stage works by esteemed Canadian choreographers such as Kelly Shaw, Alyssa Martin, and Alysa Pires, and in 2020 danced in A Gathering, a new work by Bobbi Jene Smith & Or Schraiber, commissioned by Fall For Dance North. Brooklyn has performed for The Vancouver Art Gallery under the guidance of Vancouver based artist Justine A. Chambers as well as internationally in Hydra, Greece under the directorship of Canadian producer Peggy Shannon.

Having been previously trained under the guidance of Michelle Nicholson, Brooklyn is thrilled to be a part of the Emotion Dance Company team as well as share her passion of dance by inspiring young artists to discover their artistic expression.

Danielle Silverberg

My name is Danielle and I am so excited to be part of the Emotion Dance team! I have been dancing for over 10+ years either recreationally or competitively. I absolutely love to dance! This year I will be teaching hip hop, jazz and contemporary Can’t wait for what this year brings!

Destiny Rettinger

Born and raised in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Destiny has always had the love for performing, no matter if it was dancing, singing or acting. She started dancing at the age of 2 where her mother signed her up at the local community centre. Her teacher then asked her mother if she would be interested in going to a dance studio for more advanced training. Destiny has never stopped dancing as it became a part of who she is. She’s studied different genres of dance such as, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip-hop, and many more. Destiny always showed a creative side to her life and made sure to audition for every show she could during her time in school.

Later after school she signed with modelling agencies in Canada and abroad. She since then has also signed with Da Costa talent agency and has been in various films and television shows for dancing and acting such as, Handmaid‘s Tale, The Boys, The Next Step and much more. Her latest role is a side lead named Mason in the upcoming movie Snowday on Nickelodeon and paramount plus. 

Other then her life in the industry Destiny has also been teaching since she was 10 at many various studios, being able to teach others her love for dance.

Jaclyn Tarnoweckyj

BFA (Hons) Theatre/Dance

Associate Diploma CC-CICB, A.I.S.T.D. (CSB)

PBT Certified, P.A.E.C. Full Membership (Ballet)

I.A.D.A./P.A.A. (Certified Adjudicator) – Ballet

Jaclyn is an enthusiastic performer, choreographer and dedicated teacher. Jaclyn began her career in Toronto and throughout her training she was able to study all genres of dance. She received extensive training from many teachers such as Glenn Gilmore, Sheona Bell, Jane Wooding, Sean Boutilier, Nadia Potts, Carol Anderson, Robert Desrosie and Vicky St. Denys.

Jaclyn attended the prestigious National Ballet School of Canada Professional Development Program where she attained her Associate Cecchetti Teachers Diploma (A.I.S.T.D.). In addition she holds her Performing Arts Educators of Canada (P.A.E.C.) in ballet. As a performer Jaclyn has achieved her Advanced Cecchetti Diploma and her RAD Advanced Certificate. She is an adjudicator with I.A.D.A. (International Academy of Dance Adjudicators) and P.A.A. (Performing Adjudicator's Alliance). Jaclyn is also an honours graduate from Ryerson Polytechnic University where she attained her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance.

Jaclyn has choreographed many overall award winning competitive pieces for various studios in Ontario. She had the opportunity to choreograph for Miss Teen Canada 2008.  Her student was able to win her talent and title as Miss Teen Canada International 2008.

Jaclyn brings a vast range of dance knowledge and training to Emotion Dance Company. Her passion for dance exceeds limits and it is here at EDC she is able to share her love of dance.

Liz Morgante

BFA (Hons) Theatre/Dance

Alixa Flexibility Module 1 & 2 AcroDance Pre-School & Acrobatic Arts Module 1

Dance has been a part of Ms.Liz’s life since the early age of 3 when she first began her training. Growing up as a competitive dancer Liz trained in all styles of dance. She attained Honors for her Intermediate ballet exam through the Cecchetti Society. Liz has completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Performance Dance at Ryerson University. Sharing her knowledge, technical background and love of dance her choreography has led her students to various high scores and overall standings at Canada's most reputable competitions. Liz aims to inspire her students through her passion of dance.

Sidney Scobie

Sidney Scobie started her dance training at age 11, after extensive training in gymnastics. She started competitively training in acro, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, ballet and pointe at the age of 14 and teaching acrobatic classes at 17. After graduating she continued her passion for dance on the Trent University Dance Team. On the team she choreographed and competed on the acro and lyrical/contemporary teams while also largely working with the Trent University recreational dance team, teaching hip hop, jazz, lyrical and contemporary. Throughout her dance training she has been able to work with several artists and Universal Studios. These opportunities have lead her to perform in music videos and live concerts. 

Sidney's love for dance is acro and she is continually updating her teaching abilities through Acrobatic Arts certifications. She is a committed teacher who continues to nurture her growth and abilities in order to educate her students.

Lynn Freiburger

Office Administrator

Lynn easily steps into the role of Administrative Director at Emotion Dance Company as she has been involved in the dance industry for over 30 years. She was an integral part of the administration and reception at Bojangles Art of Dance for 17 years. Lynn has a way of putting everyone at ease with her warm heart and inviting demeanour. She has been nominated Woman of the Year by the Sertoma Club for her countless hours of work during the Christmas Miracle. Lynn enjoys volunteering her time at Out of the Cold, an outreach service for the homeless of Kitchener Waterloo

Lynn is no stranger to working with children as she is a grandmother to 5 beautiful children and enjoys spending her free time making them muffins, cookies and carrot cake ! She brings a wealth of knowledge to Emotion Dance Company and is thrilled to share her passion with the parents and students.