Instructors

Andy has been dancing since she could walk and teaching for over 30 years. Her ballet training was with the Royal Academy of Dance at several Ottawa-area dance schools, and she studied ballroom with Lison Neveu in Montreal, where she won the Championnat Circuit Corpo in 1994 with her partner Jean-Sébastien Langlois. In highland dance, she won a gold medal at the 1993 Canadian Inter-Provincial Championships and competed across Canada and in Scotland.

She graduated from the Concentration Danse Contemporaine of the Centre d'excellence artistique de l'Ontario at École secondaire publique De La Salle, where she later taught for several years. Andy received her BFA in contemporary dance from Concordia University in 1999 and performed in the Danse Buissonière at Tangente in Montreal, and the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa with Kaeja d'Dance in 1998.

On her return to Ottawa, she joined the faculty of several dance schools, as a fully qualified member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing. A brilliant choreographer with dozens of award-winning pieces, Andy is the epitome of organization merged with creative insight.

Jenn has been teaching for 30 years, as a qualified Member of the BATD. Her specialties are highland, ballet, tap, and contemporary dance. Her focus on alignment and injury prevention, as well as an infectious love of dancing, are her trademarks at Dance Fusion Studios.

Jenn received her early classical training in Vagonova ballet in Germany, and on her return to Canada, studied with various professionals in Ontario and BC. She co-founded Caithream Celtic Dance Fusion in 2002, a dance company which combines the traditions of highland dancing with a fusion of modern dance styles. The company toured across Canada, performing at hundreds of events, festivals, and theatres. While the company is on temporary hiatus, Jenn continues her role as storyteller in the studio's creative choreography.

She is constantly seeking professional development opportunities, learning from master teachers like Galen Hooks, Bill Waldinger, Noriko Hara, and Lisa Howell. She believes strongly that every body can dance, and that all of her students deserve to feel safe in and out of the studio.

Ava has been dancing since she was two years old, with training in classical ballet with the RAD and the National Ballet of Canada, as well as modern, contemporary, lyrical, and jazz. She competed across southern Ontario for 8 years, receiving numerous awards, scholarships, and invitations. She graduated from the Canterbury Dance Programme, where her focus on choreography bloomed. She has performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Jörgen, and Les Petits Ballets, and has worked with renowned choreographers such as Jacques Monfiston, Joshua Beamish, and Tiffany Mclachlan.

Ava is currently pursuing a joint honours degree in psychology and linguistics at the University of Ottawa, utilizing this experience in her teaching to better understand and communicate with her students. She is passionate about fostering creativity in a safe environment where students’ mental health is prioritized. In her free time, Ava is constantly bettering her personal dance education by taking a variety of dance and fitness classes in as many styles as possible. Her goal is to share a love of dance with her students, and to cultivate a passion for emotional expression through movement.

Alex has been dancing since age 10. She started with jazz but fell in love with dancing of all styles and received extensive training in jazz, musical theatre, tap, ballet, and modern. At age 15, Alex was added to a professional dance company in the GTA and performed at charity events, school events, and, her personal favourite, haunted houses! She started teaching in 2018 and has been hooked ever since. She’s taught at summer camps, Fosse workshops, Musical Theatre workshops, and classes for adults and kids. She completed her professional BATD Jazz Associates Exam in 2019.

Alex believes that dancing is for everybody and is a great way to build self-confidence, which is often a joyous theme in her classes. Her overall goal is for students to fall in love with movement and self-expression.

Outside of the dance world, she’s completed her BA at Carleton University and worked for one of Canada’s top animation studios.

Caitlin has been dancing since she was two years old. She started training at a local Durham Region dance studio and quickly expanded her passion into gymnastics, cheer, musical theatre, and competitive dance. However, with dance being her true passion, she focused on her training. She went on to compete with top studios across North America in ballet, jazz, acro, contemporary and hip-hop. She danced at popular conventions like Nuvo and Radix, performed with the Raptors, Argos, Harlem Globetrotters, Kaeja d'Dance Troop, Carnegie Hall Open Floor Nights in New York City, and won overalls and scholarships at North American dance competitions.

With Dance Fusion Studios, she has been dancing and teaching since 2022 and is often seen in their performances (Christmas Carol 2022, 2023 and Passages 2025) dancing in the main cast and with Caithream Celtic Dance Fusion members.

To expand her training, she obtained coaching licenses from NCCP Gymnastics and studied Contemporary Dance and Musical Theatre at O’Neill’s Performing Arts program.

Now, Caitlin’s favourite thing is sharing her love of dance with people of all ages and levels. She truly believes that anyone can take part in the joy of movement and dance regardless of age or experience.

Outside of dance, she completed degrees from both the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto and is the Founder and CEO of OMG Social Media Agency, an Ottawa-based social media management agency.

Mélanie is originally from Sudbury, where she trained in multiple dance styles and started her teaching career. As a former competitive dancer in jazz, contemporary, and acro, she won many awards and scholarships. They love to expand their dance horizons, and have taken classes in varied styles such as musical theatre, jazz funk, burlesque, Bollywood, hip hop, and merengue. Mélanie also studied and performed in aerial dance arts.

Mélanie is currently working on a Master's degree to fulfill her dream of being a Registered Dance Movement Therapist.

As a fully certified teacher with the BATD, their passion is intuitive and authentic movement that crosses genres. They fully embrace the studio motto of "Every Body Can Dance" and use their platforms to elevate safe and inclusive dance spaces like Dance Fusion Studios.

Sharon is a born teacher. As a tap dancer, she trained under Cathy Weatherup at Studio Seven after graduating from O’Neill CVI’s Performing Arts program.

With deep roots in musical theatre, Sharon has performed in shows like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with Broadway World Toronto, and the Music Man with The Community Players of New Hamburg, among many others. She continues to push herself as a teacher by taking instructors’ master classes with teachers like Everett Smith and Galen Hooks.

Born in Cape Breton, Steph grew up stepdancing as part of the performance company “La Swing du Suête.” She was a dancer in the largest musical production in the Atlantic provinces, "Le Grand Cercle,” originally produced for Le Congrès Mondial des Acadiens, as well as dancing in the Celtic Colours Festival.

She has been dancing with Dance Fusion Studios since 2011. She also joined Caithream Celtic Dance Fusion as a full member in 2017, where she performed roles in “Passages,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Swan Loch,” and “Deconstructing Highland.”

Steph began teaching in 2013 and finds joy in helping dancers discover that there is no such thing as a "perfect dancer's body" - no matter your size or height or how wobbly your ankles or how angry your hips! She loves sharing her own path to overcoming what would traditionally be seen as limitations in the dance world, and how to learn to not only work with your body but celebrate its uniqueness.

Outside of the studio, Steph works in healthcare, as a medical radiation technologist. She also continues her teaching work in the MRT program at Algonquin College. Besides dancing, she finds peace in hiking, camping, and playing with puppies.