our team |
Administration
Jacqueline O'CONNORFounder, Artistic Director & Co-Owner
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aLexandra DerusArtistic Director & Co-Owner
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Katelyn McKayAssistant to the Director
JO SmithAdministrative Services Manager
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Instructors
MORGAN ANDERSONInstructor
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Morgan began her dance journey at the age of 3, completing 3 years of Royal Academy of Dance ballet exams before joining a competitive dance team at age 9. She competed for 9 years, training in jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, musical theatre, and modern, finishing her final season of dance as the first graduating dancer at Studio 12! She also spent 3 years as a Junior TiCats Cheerleader. During her years of dance, she has preformed at many events such as Dance the World at Disney World, the Special Olympics kick off day, the Harlem Globetrotters half time show, the Santa Clause parade and more. Morgan also was apart of the St. Thomas More dance team, helping to choreograph game day and assembly routines. Morgan has worked with dancers ages 2 and up throughout her dance career, always being a leader and role model for those around her.
“I want to create a welcoming, inclusive, and fun environment for every student that walks into my class. I’m so excited to share my love of dance with you all!” |
Emily BellInstructor/choreographer
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Emily has had a love for dance since the age of 3. She has been dancing competitively for 11 years and is currently in her senior year of dance. Emily has extensive training in various dance styles including jazz, lyrical, contemporary, acro, hip hop, tap, ballet, pointe, and musical theatre. Emily’s talents have won her numerous awards and scholarships. In 2013, she received and attended ‘The Hollywood Summer Tour Intensive’ in Los Angeles. There she received training in jazz funk, and Latin jazz and took many classes at Movement Lifestyle, Debbie Reynolds Professional Studio, EDGE Performing Arts Centre and Millennium Dance complex. In LA, she also had the opportunity to shoot her own demo reel. Emily was also part of many productions for the St. Jean De Brebéuf dance program from 2016-2020. There she received training in a unique Spanish dance style called ‘Suevillanas’. She has experience in leading and assisting young children in both the school and dance environment. Emily is thrilled to be part of the staff at Studio 12 and can’t wait to share her knowledge and love of dance with her students!
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Lindsay ButlerInstructor/Choreographer
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Lindsay began dancing at the age of 2 and continued to dance recreationally and competitively for 15 years. Lindsay has trained in all different styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and hip hop. Lindsay has worked with children ages 1-15 in both a dance and school environment. One of her favourite parts of being a dance teacher is watching her students achieve their goals and gain confidence they can use both in and outside of the studio! Lindsay strives to create an environment in her dance classes that are engaging, enlightening, and fun for all. In addition to teaching dance, Lindsay works as a Behaviour Therapist and is currently completing her Master of Professional Education in Applied Behaviour Analysis. Lindsay cannot wait to begin another amazing season at Studio 12!
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Andrea CransInstructor/Choreographer
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Andrea found her love for dance at Caledonia Studio of Dance at the age of six and has extensive training in jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and ballet. After graduating from CSOD Andrea ventured off to New York City and completed Broadway Dance Centers ISVP (International Student Visa Program) program. While in New York Andrea was lucky enough to study under well-known respected choreographers and participate in many performances around the city of New York.
Andrea moved to Toronto in the fall of 2013 and completed her first year of The Conteur Academy, artistically directed by Eryn Waltman. In the fall of 2014 Andrea had the privilege of training with POV Dance Project, a contemporary dance company in Toronto under the artistic direction of Amy Adams and Kylie Thompson. Andrea’s stage credits include Toronto Dance Expo’s Choreographers Showcase, POV Dance Projects “Wireless Connection”, The Bazzar, Fever After Dark, the Conteur Academy’s production of “FRAMES”, and The Student Showcase presented by Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Andrea had the privilege of representing the city of Hamilton on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats cheer team from 2015-2017 and was lucky enough to perform for Shania Twain, One Republic, Alesia Cara, Dean Brody and Sonreal in the Grey Cup opening and half time shows. Andrea attended Mohawk College receiving a diploma in the Health Wellness and Fitness program and is also a certified level 1 artistic gymnastics and trampoline coach. Andrea continues to take dance, fitness and yoga classes around the city of Hamilton to gain the knowledge she needs to spread her passion for movement to the next generation. “If I can inspire at least one person to dance, I have succeeded in doing my job”. |
Karly DelyInstructor/Choreographer
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Karly’s love for dance was instilled in her at a young age by the teachers at a small local Hamilton dance studio. She trained as a
competitive dancer growing up which led to post-secondary opportunities with Ryerson’s Urban Hip Hop Union and McMaster’s Verve Dance Team. Karly was a cheerleader for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for four seasons, two of which she was a Captain of the team, getting to choreograph for the team and perform in front of thousands of fans at Tim Hortons Field and Grey Cup Festivals. She has taught recreational and competitive classes at various studios in Hamilton and the surrounding area. She has completed an Honours Bachelor of Communications degree from McMaster University and studied Autism and Behavioural Science at Mohawk College. Karly’s passion for learning and education led her to work as an Educational Assistant with the HWDSB where she strives to help every student she encounters reach their full potential each and every day. Karly is committed to her own professional development by continuing to attend workshops and classes led by top industry educators. She is eager to share her love for dance and learning with the students of Studio 12! |
Meghan DendekkerYoga Instructor
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Meghan grew up as a dedicated competitive dancer in many genres including acro, musical theatre, lyrical, jazz, ballet and tap. Upon completion of her senior year, she began to experience muscle tension, joint pain and back spasms. Intuitively knowing she needed to stretch and move her body more, she signed up for a yoga class and from then on her passion ignited.
Meghan graduated her 200 hour Hatha-Vinyasa teacher training in 2017 and has been teaching ever since. She works as a Project Manager during the day and is a large advocate for leading a balanced lifestyle. Her mission is to create an atmosphere where students are eager to roll out their mats to find a sense of stillness, movement, laughter, community and more. The key components to Meghan’s class include functional mobility, moving with integrity, slowing it down, releasing expectations and most importantly, finding thy breath. You will leave Meghan’s class feeling relaxed, refreshed, and restored. “I wish to offer students the elements of yoga that have impacted me the most and hold a safe space for students to wind down and breathe through the stresses of daily life. I am very excited to share my passion for the fourth year in a row at my favourite place, Studio 12. See you there! Namasté.” |
Alexandra DerusCo-Owner/Instructor/Choreographer
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Dance has always been a part of Alex’s life. Her training focused mainly on ballet and jazz, wherein she completed her examinations through the Canadian Dance Teachers Association and PAEC. It was through this training that Alex learned things that would carry into all aspects of her life- determination, grace, and strength. Dance created many opportunities for Alex that allowed her to learn and perform on stages around the world, making lifelong friendships and exploring new cultures along the way. The greatest gift dance has brought into her life, is the art of teaching. Alex has been teaching for over 14 years, and is certified in the High Five Principles of Healthy Child Development. Through the City of Hamilton’s Recreational Division, Alex worked with at risk youth for 10 years. Developing new programs, she utilized dance as a tool to connect youth to each other through the arts. She is passionate about community engagement, and creating safe spaces that are inclusive to every dancer. Some dance highlights include performing alongside the National Ballet of Cuba as a member of the Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble, participating at multiple Grey Cup games as a Hamilton Tigercat Cheerleader, and being a member of The University of Toronto’s Pom Team. Alex completed her Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in Equity, and Bioethics at The University of Toronto. Alex is committed to the mission of Studio 12- building a strong body, mind, and community through dance, and looks forward to helping people discover the joy dance brings.
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Claudia GennaccaroInstructor/Choreographer
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Claudia Gennaccaro is a Vaganova trained ballet dancer from Hamilton, Ontario, and a Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association (CDTA) Licentiate Member in the Ballet Division. As a young student, she studied ballet under professional teacher Janette Lindley before transitioning full time to the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts, studying under world renowned teacher, Max Ratevossian. Here, she worked on the art of classical ballet, and studied operatic singing under Marta Greta Kicek and David Varjabed. Claudia has danced around the world in professional ballet intensives in Cuba, Italy, New York City, and Ohio. Claudia was the only Canadian dancer chosen to attend the Bolshoi Ballet summer intensive in New York, one of two Canadians chosen for the English National Ballet’s summer intensive, one of four chosen to study in Italy, and the first Canadian to dance across the Ballet Nacionale de Cuba’s stage. During her classical career, Claudia had the opportunity to perform principal roles in full length ballets such as “Princess Florine” in The Sleeping Beauty, “The Mazurka” in Les Sylphides, “Swanilda” in Coppelia, “The Sugar Plum Fairy” in The Nutcracker and “Odette” in Swan Lake, among many other repertoire pieces. Claudia has been a ballet teacher for the last 4 years, and has had the privilege of teaching all age groups of dancers from primary to adult, and has worked as a “repetiteur” by coaching dancers in professional pieces for ballets such as The Nutcracker and Coppelia. Currently, as a Grade 5 teacher in the Hamilton region, her passion for teaching and her love for the art form allow her to transfer her gifts to her students.
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MADISON KOLIBASHInstructor
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Madison has always had a love for dance, but her dance journey started at the age of 2. From there she trained in recreational classes. Then at the age of 6, her competitive dance journey took off. Madison joined Studio 12 Dance Company in the year 2019 where she continues her passion of dance on their competitive dance team. This year will be Madison's 9th year as a competitive dancer and 4th year dancing at Studio 12. Madison trains in dance styles such as jazz, hip-hop, ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, and musical theatre. Through Madison's 9 years of competitive dancing she has won many special awards, overalls, and scholarships for a number of her solos and group dances. She has been invited to participate in various scholarship programs including the Hollywood Summer Tour, Dancer Palooza, the Elite Dance Team Nationals and many others. Madison has also participated in the Honey Badgers halftime show as well as the Toronto Rock lacrosse halftime show. Madison is always looking for ways to elevate her dance skills by taking part in exams, and workshops. Before teaching, Madison has gained experience in assisting for the past few years where it has shown how much she loves sharing her passion with younger kids. She has worked with kids ages 2 and up in various styles. Madison is beyond thrilled to share her love, experience, and passion of dance with everyone she meets!
“I am so excited to share my love of dance with every one of my students. My number one goal is to make sure that everyone who comes into my class feels loved, inspired, and has fun. I can't wait to kick off this season at a Studio 12 and can’t wait to see you all there!” |
Jacquie O'ConnorCo-Owner/Instructor/Choreographer
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Jacquie has trained and competed in various forms of dance including tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical and hip hop from a very young age and has successfully completed her RAD ballet examinations. Jacquie was captain of the Canadian National Tap Team, and received bronze (production) and gold (adult) medals at the annual competition in Riesa, Germany. She is the founder of the award-winning Bishop Tonnos Dance Team who performed in the Orange Bowl half time show in Miami, Florida. She has been teaching competitive and recreational classes at various studios in Hamilton and the surrounding area. She has completed an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at McMaster and was a member and eventually co-director of the McMaster Verve Dance Team. Jacquie has successfully completed Modules 1 & 2 of the Alixa Flexibility Training Program and is eager to share her new knowledge with the dancers at Studio 12!
Jacquie is fulfilling her life long dream and turning her passion into her profession with Studio 12. She is looking forward providing opportunities for individuals to reach their full potential and establishing a platform for dance to change their lives! |
Katelyn McKayAssistant to the Director
Substitute Instructor Choreographer |
Miss Katey has lived to dance since the age of 3 and has been assisting and teaching for over 19 years. Growing up, Miss Katey spent many classes learning the history and techniques of jazz, ballet, tap and urban dance styles while completing both CDTA and PAEC exams, focusing on structured technique training. Nothing feels better than butterflies filling your stomach 2 minutes before you get on stage and Miss Katey is no stranger to that feeling! Competing across Niagara, Buffalo and the GTA since the age of 8, she can understand dance on multiple levels and truly believes that the energy and joy you put out on the stage and into your dancing is what counts. You don't need to be the "best" dancer out there, as long as you smile and have fun, you ARE pure enjoyment to watch. She has extensive experience teaching in both recreational and competitive programs, with her dancers ranging from 18 months to adults. Raised in a small town and, taken across Southern Ontario for various work opportunities, she has always had the urge and the desire to keep dance close to her heart. Often referring to her dancers as her "kids", she thrives in creating both a respectful relationship and one that builds a lasting impression on each and every student that enters her classroom. Miss Katey is beyond excited for the year ahead with her Studio 12 family! |
Claris MenjivarInstructor/Choreographer
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Claris has been a dancer since the age of two and discovered her love and passion for dance after consistently attending her father's dance battles when she was young. Claris is fluent in all kinds of Hip-Hop, street dance and Commercial Choreography. She specializes in break dance thanks to her father, B-Boy Basz. The early years of Claris’ dance career were spent training in specific styles of Hip-Hop, including: Locking, Popping, & Breaking. During that time, she performed at various events like Super Crawl, Art Crawl, Banquets, Fashion Shows, Charities, the Miss Philippines 2014 Pageant, the PanAm games, on CHCH News, CBC News and many others. She also took part in many dance battles across the GTA. Although she was as young as 8 competing against adults she still managed to place high in the battles. As she got older, she started to compete at various competitions. She has won many overalls and received a scholarship to perform in Disney Land. She has competed and advanced at Canadian HipHop Championships Montreal twice with her crew at Defining Movement Dance. At 14, she joined a Hip Hop crew, ‘The ARTillery’. The ARTillery has competed at World of Dance LA in 2019 and World of Dance Michigan in 2019 where they placed first. Claris continues to instruct and assist workshops around the GTA. She is very excited to start her time here at Studio 12 and be apart of the Studio 12 fam! She hopes to bring a new and fun perspective to Hip-Hop.
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Rebecca MorassuttiInstructor/Choreographer
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Becky began her love for dance at three and was competing in competitions by the age of four. She danced competitively for 15 years until she moved away to attend school. Becky has been trained in various dance styles, including tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, ballet, hip-hop and musical theatre. She has completed her RAD ballet examinations and has participated in numerous performances, competitions, and workshop opportunities, which paved the way for her love for dance. She has completed two Bachelor degrees from Redeemer University in Chemistry and Education. Becky currently works as a certified teacher, teaching math and science at a local high school in Hamilton.
Studio 12 has created a positive, caring and inclusive community, which Becky is delighted to call her second home. Becky is excited to begin another incredible season as a member of the Studio 12 team. |
KATIE SWITENKYInstructor/Choreographer
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Katie has trained and competed in various forms of dance including tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and musical theatre from a very young age. She quickly learned that her passion for dance is best expressed while teaching and thrives in an environment where she can share her knowledge with young minds. In addition to teaching at Studio 12, Katie currently works as a certified Elementary Teacher.
While completing her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees, Katie was a dancer and choreographer for the Laurier Competitive Dance Team. She eventually became Captain for two years and oversaw both their competitive and recreational programs. Currently, Katie is in her fourth year as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Dance and Cheer Team. Katie is looking forward to watching all dancers at Studio 12 develop their confidence and dance abilities this season. She can’t wait to share her energy and passion with all of her dancers. |
ERica VEspaInstructor/Choreographer
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Erica began dancing at the age of four and has been competitive dancing since the age of nine. Erica’s talents and passion for dance has won her numerous awards at various dance competitions. In the 2009-2010 school year, Erica was a member of the Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School Dance Team, where they performed in the Miami Orange Bowl half time show and she also received the dance team and fashion awards at her graduation that year. Her passion is in Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theatre and Lyrical. Erica is also trained in Hip Hop and Ballet. Over the last few years her unique choreography has won many special awards, choreography awards, and overalls at various competitions. Erica is thrilled to be a part of the staff at Studio 12 and is excited for a great year!
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