519 426-9300
FACULTY 2023-2024
Miss Diane, a former competitive student at LNDC, began training in dance at the age of six and she hasn't stopped dancing since! Upon joining the Lisa Naves Dance Company family in its debut year at the age of 15, she quickly fell in love with the passion and atmosphere of the studio. She became a dance assistant the next year and then started teaching under the mentorship of Lisa Naves-Abonyi at the age of 17.
Diane is now entering her twenty-second year of instructing leaps and bounds, jazz, lyrical, acrobatics, and tumbling for recreational and competitive students. Since 2011 Diane has been heading the Competitive Recreation Team (CRC) at LNDC. She has also been a competitive choreographer and has received several special recognition and overall awards, as well as, had students compete at national levels throughout North America. She has also choreographed three musical productions in Simcoe and Port Dover: The Music Man, Not Just Another Variety Show, and Fiddler on the Roof.
Diane received her Bachelor of Science in animal biology from the University of Guelph in 2002 and then, highly inspired by her love of teaching dance, she decided to attend Teachers College at Western University in 2010. Now, a high school science teacher by day, Diane is also certified by test to teach dance through Dance Masters of America in acrobatics and jazz and she holds a module 1 certification through Acrobatic Arts. Diane loves to continually grow in her own dance education and does so by attending numerous workshops and teacher training opportunities across North America with some of the most influential dance teachers and professionals.
Diane's enthusiasm and positive instructional style is loved by all of her students and she is looking forward to another exciting year of dance!
TEAGAN DAVENPORT
Throughout her competitive years, Teagan has received many judges recognitions and overall awards for her tap solos. She has also attended many workshops where she has had the opportunity to learn from the best.
From 2012-2015 Teagan was part the Bringing Tap Back senior company, under the direction of Everett Smith. During this time she was able to grow as a tap dancer and performer with the opportunities provided to her, such as, performing in company productions, attending tap workshops and learning about the history of tap dance.
Teagan first discovered her passion for teaching at the age of 13 when she became an assistant. Upon graduating from high school in 2013, Teagan joined the LNDC faculty teaching tap, jazz, acro and leaps and bounds. It was during this time Teagan realized her love for working with children which led her to attend the Early Childhood Education program at Conestoga College in 2016. After taking two years off from teaching, Teagan has graduated from the ECE program with distinction and is now a Registered Early Childhood Educator.
Teagan is looking forward to another amazing year at Lisa Naves Dance Company and sharing her love of dance with her students.
Amanda began her dance career over twenty-five years ago. She started dancing competitively at the age of six in Brantford, under the instruction of Miss Lisa. At the age of 15, she made the decision to follow her mentor and joined the competitive team at Lisa Naves Dance Company. She trained extensively in many genres including Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, and Acro. Amanda continued to dance recreationally after she graduated in 2008 and has been a member of the LNDC Alumni every year.
Over the years, Amanda has been able to participate in many events including being invited by Debra Brown to perform in a large production with some of the performers from Cirque Du Soleil. She has dabbled in the modelling and film industries as well.
Amanda has continued to grow and nurture her passion for dance by expanding her versatility to include Contemporary, and becoming a teacher, choreographer, and adjudicator. Amanda has completed the Junior Segments of ADAPT and Acrobatique (ADTA) Teacher Training Programs. She has accumulated several certifications including Acrobatic Arts Pre-School and Module One, Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and Acro Dance Adjudicator (ADTA). Amanda is also a member of the Professional Adjudicator’s Alliance (P.A.A), and the Canadian Football Cheerleaders Alumni Organization (CFCAO). She is always eager to keep learning and stay relevant by pursuing more courses and proving to be a well rounded, versatile teacher!
Most recently, Amanda took her skills to the field as a member of the Hamilton Tiger Cats Dance and Cheer Team in 2019. She has continued to show her love for dance through guest teaching at workshops and intensives.
Amanda is very passionate about all aspects of dance and the industry as a whole and is an active and supportive member of the dance community. She strives to encourage her students and colleagues to reach their full growth and potential as well as continuing to learn herself and pass on her knowledge of the ever-changing art that is dance. She is so excited to be entering her 10th season of teaching at LNDC!
In her eighth year with the studio, she has loved getting to know everyone in our amazing dance community.
Jenn’s passion for dancing began in her young childhood. With the support of her parents, she was extremely fortunate to be a competitive dancer in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical & Musical Theatre for 7 years. The personal growth and lifelong friends she built are some of her most cherished memories!
When presented with an opportunity at age 15, Jenn began teaching dance classes.
She was inspired to share such valuable experiences with others. For Jenn, being on stage was always so much fun…but seeing her young dancers shine on stage?! That brought a whole other level to pride & joy!
Her dance journey lead her to pursue other avenues such as being a part of the Hamilton Ti-Cat Cheerleaders, the Toronto Rock Dance Team, and a choreographer for school productions.
Not surprisingly, Jenn’s career path took her into Elementary School Teaching, and she currently lives in Simcoe with her two beautiful
children.
Jenn leads with her heart and gratitude…and is thrilled to continue her beloved dance journey!
Since a young age, Jordyn Winger displayed passion, natural ability and drive in all that she did. Before transitioning into dance, Jordyn competed in gymnastics, as well as various sports, which helped prepare her for the competitive world of dance.
For six years, Jordyn trained competitively at the Lisa Naves Dance Company. While competing, she won numerous scholarships, overall achievements and titles. She was often described as a powerful and versatile dancer with exceptional technique.
Jordyn has trained in various disciplines of dance including contemporary, acrobatics, ballet, partnering, jazz and hip-hop. In 2014, Jordyn successfully passed her Intermediate R.A.D. examination. She is also a certified instructor with Acrobatic Arts.
Jordyn is proud to have graduated from The Conteur Academy under the direction of Eryn Waltman, where she received intense training from some of the most reputable teachers in Canada. She both danced in and choreographed for Conteur Academy’s "Choreographic Works” presentation and also performed in "Fill in the Blanks” as part of Conteur Academy’s graduating class.
Jordyn looks forward to the next chapter of her dance career as an educator, eager to share her passion, knowledge and skill with her students.
BREE RODY
Miss Bree began dancing at the age of 12 under the direction of Nancy Floreani in South Porcupine, Ont. In her youth, she studied ballet and pointe, tap, jazz, modern, acrobatics and gymnastics. At the age of 16 she began training under Denise Treleaven-Cote. She taught her first dance class at 17 and obtained her specialist high skills major high school diploma in dance and vocals. She continued to teach dance throughout university at local studios in Waterloo Region, and spent the next 10 years teaching at various studios in the GTHA in competitive, recreational and pre-professional environments. She has also choreographed for community musicals including College: The Musical, The Great American Trailer Park Musical and X-Musical: An X-Men Musical. She has led several high school varsity dance teams to competitive victories and has taught specialized dance classes for autistic, neurodivergent and disabled dancers of all ages.
Miss Bree is a certified ADAPT tap and jazz instructor and holds her Acrobatic Arts Module 1 certification. She is proud to have trained with professionals such as Johnathan Morin, Ryan Foley, Dianne Montgomery, Sam Weber, Linda Garneau, Kate Jablonski and Stelio Calagias. Also a dedicated athlete with a background in yoga, bodybuilding and calisthenics, she strives to lead classes that help her dancers achieve their goals safely and with confidence through proper technique and nurturing attention. She has been part of the LNDC family since 2022.
Dancing since the age of 10, Justin has always known that dance was his passion and began his competitive training with the Lisa Naves Dance Company, training in jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, musical theatre and lyrical.
Since the beginning of his career, he has had the privilege of working with world renowned choreographers and Directors such as: Kenny Ortega, Mandy Moore, Tony Testa, Jamal Sims, Jillian Myers, Megan Lawson, Luther Brown, Sean Cheesman, Paul Becker and Rhapsody James.
Justin worked of the highly anticipated Fox recreation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Starring: Laverne Cox, Adam lambert, Victoria Justice, Christiana Milian, Ryan McCartan, Reeve Carney, Annaleigh Ashford, Staz Nair, Ben Vereen the man himself Tim Curry. Throughout the process Justin had the honour of working under the Direction of Director Kenny Ortega and legendary Lou Adler, as well as working with choreographer Tony Testa.
Shortly after finishing work with RHPS, Justin headed to Vancouver British Columbia to continue to work with Mr. Ortega and his team on Disney’s Descendants 2.
Since then, Mr. Lopes has worked on or can be seen in Julie and The Phantoms (Netflix), Peacemaker (HBO), Disney’s Descendants 3, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC), SEE (Apple TV), Disney’s Zombies 1 &2, DC Legends of Tomorrow, The Magicians and A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (Netflix)
Justin continues to pursue his craft, and always strives to grow as a performer and person.
KATIE SINKOWSKI
Katie has been dancing since the age of three training in ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz and hiphop at a variety of studios around Norfolk, Haldimand and Brantford. Having always had an appreciation for ballet, her love for the art really ignited in her early 20’s when she successfully completed her first RAD ballet examination.
Katie began dancing at the Lisa Naves Dance Company in 2014. Training under Sharon Smith, who was her former ballet teacher as a young child, Katie successfully completed a variety of levels of the RAD to include up to advance 1, and continues to train in advanced 2.
Since 2019 Katie has been assisting with the ballet program at LNDC, and officially joined as a teacher in the fall of 2022. She has truly valued the experience to have Sharon as a mentor and learn the RAD syllabus from both a dancer and teachers perspective. Katie is very thankful she is able to share her passion for ballet with her daughter Abby, and help show her and other students at LNDC to appreciate the technical aspects and history of such a beautiful art.
VICTORIA VANHEUGTEN
Victoria continued to dance during her post-secondary education at Western University, joining the Mustang Dance Pack. She pursued a career in broadcast journalism. Dance was pivotal in giving her the confidence to speak live on-air and in front of a camera.
Today, Victoria is an integral part of her family run construction business and has two young children. In fact, it is her own children’s love of dance that has brought her back to the dance studio! She is excited to be teaching, while giving her daughter the dance experience that she had when she was younger. Indeed, Victoria hopes to pass on her passion for dance to the next generation of LNDC dancers.
MIGUEL RAMIREZ
Miguel Ramirez found his passion for dance at a young age, and has been able to teach and inspire young dancers all over the world. He is one of the most sought after hip hop choreographers working today. His Choreography was featured on America's got talent. Miguel also choreographed for the Emmy award winning television series on PBS ‘Odd Squad’ and ‘Odd Squad: The movie’. He is on the Dance Attack workshop and student expo faculty and the Co-founder and Choreographer of the hip hop crew ‘The ARTillery’. Which placed 1st at World of dance Michigan 2018 and 2019 and 3rd at the Beatdown in 2016. Miguel choreographs numerous award winning routines all over Canada, some of the awards include; Top choreographer, Top soloists, Top duet/trio, Top scoring routine, and Top scoring hip hop routine to name a few. Miguel continues to develop his technique and refining his talents by training all over Canada and USA. He mentors his students with a fundamental message: with hard work and dedication, anyone can achieve greatness.
Miguel always takes time to give back to the community by volunteering and teaching dance and drumming at orphanages sharing his many joys and talents with others.
HAILEY SKITCH
Hailey found her passion for dance at the tender age of 3 and began competing at the age of 5. She has been dancing with Miss Lisa since even before her studio opened in 2001. Hailey has many years of experience in multiple disciplines, ranging from ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, musical theatre and hip-hop.
During her teen years, she began assisting and after graduating from the studio, she continued to come back as an alumni to perform at recitals. Over the years, Hailey took her passion for working with kids and turned it into a CYW diploma. Later in life, she transitioned her skills to move into a sales position.
Hailey is eager to share her love for dance with all the new and returning students during her first year of teaching. She is looking forward to watching each child grow and develop their own personalities while learning about the art of movement.
KAITLYN MALO
Kaitlyn has been dancing since age two, practicing various styles including RAD ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary. She has trained at Norfolk County studios and completed Royal Academy of Dance ballet examinations up to the Advanced 1 level.
Kaitlyn has also trained at the Tap Dance Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. This is where she received her Tap Teachers Certification, under the Tap Dance Centre syllabus. She has also completed PAEC tap exams through the Tap Dance Centre. Throughout Ontario, Kaitlyn has had the opportunity to train with several recognized tap professionals including Kim Chavolich, David Cox, Jonathan Morin, Dianne Montgomery, Mackenzie Greenwell, Travis and Tonya Knights, Mats Nixon, Julianna Kelly, Allison Toffan, and Michael Glenney.
In 2019, 2022, and 2023 Kaitlyn competed with Team Canada Tap Dance at the International Dance Organization’s Tap Dance World Championships in Germany and Croatia. In 2023 she was part of the adult formation that placed fourth in the world for adult formations.Kaitlyn is excited to share her love of dance, particularly tap dance, with students at LNDC this year.
RACHEL BALL
Hailey found her passion for dance at the tender age of 3 and began competing at the age of 5. She has been dancing with Miss Lisa since even before her studio opened in 2001. Hailey has many years of experience in multiple disciplines, ranging from ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, musical theatre and hip-hop.
During her teen years, she began assisting and after graduating from the studio, she continued to come back as an alumni to perform at recitals. Over the years, Hailey took her passion for working with kids and turned it into a CYW diploma. Later in life, she transitioned her skills to move into a sales position.
Hailey is eager to share her love for dance with all the new and returning students during her first year of teaching. She is looking forward to watching each child grow and develop their own personalities while learning about the art of movement.
KAITLYN MALO
Kaitlyn has been dancing since age two, practicing various styles including RAD ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary. She has trained at Norfolk County studios and completed Royal Academy of Dance ballet examinations up to the Advanced 1 level.
Kaitlyn has also trained at the Tap Dance Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. This is where she received her Tap Teachers Certification, under the Tap Dance Centre syllabus. She has also completed PAEC tap exams through the Tap Dance Centre. Throughout Ontario, Kaitlyn has had the opportunity to train with several recognized tap professionals including Kim Chavolich, David Cox, Jonathan Morin, Dianne Montgomery, Mackenzie Greenwell, Travis and Tonya Knights, Mats Nixon, Julianna Kelly, Allison Toffan, and Michael Glenney.
In 2019, 2022, and 2023 Kaitlyn competed with Team Canada Tap Dance at the International Dance Organization’s Tap Dance World Championships in Germany and Croatia. In 2023 she was part of the adult formation that placed fourth in the world for adult formations.Kaitlyn is excited to share her love of dance, particularly tap dance, with students at LNDC this year.
RACHEL BALL
Rachel has danced at Lisa Naves Dance Company since the age of 2. She started her journey on the competitive team at the age of 7.
Rachel has trained in numerous dance styles such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, acrobatics, tap, lyrical and hip hop. Rachel has harnessed her skills in many categories, winning multiple awards and overall achievements. She is seen as a role model for young boys and girls within dance.
In 2020, Rachel passed her level 8 acrobatic arts examination. She has also successfully passed all of her R.A.D examinations from grade 1 to advanced foundation.
Rachel has been assisting at the studio since the age of 9 years old and was given the outstanding assistant award in 2023. Rachel is currently helping guide the upcoming dancers for success and motivating them to become better and more successful performers. She has created many special bonds with so many amazing children and is very excited to continue to share her love and passion for dance with her students.
OFFICE STAFF
Rachel has danced at Lisa Naves Dance Company since the age of 2. She started her journey on the competitive team at the age of 7.
Rachel has trained in numerous dance styles such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, acrobatics, tap, lyrical and hip hop. Rachel has harnessed her skills in many categories, winning multiple awards and overall achievements. She is seen as a role model for young boys and girls within dance.
Kathryn grew up in the St. Thomas area. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Guelph. For 13 years she ran an organic sprout operation, with her husband, supplying 150 stores in the Greater Toronto Area. A tough decision was made in 2016 to shut down the sprout operation, Kathryn switched gears and held two part time jobs as a wine merchant and a pharmacy assistant. In 2013 she signed her three kids up for dance classes at LNDC. Kathryn knew nothing of dance prior to 2013, but had to learn fast. Two of Kathryn’s kids were fabulous recreational dancers and one kid was a competitive dancer who is now finishing grade 12 at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto.
Kathryn is very excited to join LNDC as the Office Manager and watch a new group of dancers become fabulous adults.
WENDY KING
