ACROBATIC ARTS CERTIFIED • SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (S.3) FINALIST

Born and raised in Canada, Charlene Hart began dancing at the age of 3. She has continued for 33 strong years, and her career is only growing more substantial. She has accomplished many dreams and continues to thrive for what she wants.

Most recognizable, Charlene achieved the title of final top 5 girls in the hit TV show, "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" Season 3. Charlene competed against thousands to make the Top 22. Since the completion and filming of SYTYCDC, Charlene has returned to BC where she is working hard and travelling the lower mainland teaching workshops, master classes, setting choreography and highlighting in numerous shows.

Charlene has appeared in such shows as: Carnival LA 2010, The Annual Sports BC Award Ceremonies 2011, Women's Resource Society Show against "Abuse Towards Women," Vancouver's Choreography and Talent Showcase '11 and Cliff House Entertainment production of "Fest of Fools." Charlene has choreographed, in addition to highlighting with her own solo work, for Song, Strings and Steps productions of "Talent," "A Christmas Tale" and "Hits from Broadway." Film credits include the movie, from the famous Nickelodeon Production, "Ragz."

Charlene choreographed for Team Canada West, where they placed Top 5th Finalist Jr. Small Group Modern Formations Division @ 'World's' in Poland. She was titled 'Head Instructor' in charge of cleaning all of Team Canada West Routines to prepare them for Worlds 2014. Charlene also had the privilege of being the head choreographer for 'Fraser Valley Stage's Production of Oklahoma', where they received standing ovations and sold-out performances! In 2011, she was chosen and awarded by the Abbotsford Arts Council the 'Arty Award for Outstanding Artist in the Performing Arts, Dance.’

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Holland America Cruise Lines (as Dance Captain), were amongst Charlene's professional jobs at the age of 18. After dabbling in the creative side of dance, Charlene became a production assistant and choreographer for Stiletto Entertainment. She was then inspired to move to New York City to train with the best of the best, and expanded her education in dance into the world of Ballroom, and Latin. Whilst digging into this new training, Charlene also continued to study hard with some of the world’s top teachers and choreographers that are constantly sought after: Stacey Tookey, Mia Michaels, Maria Torres, Blake McGrath, Luther Brown, Jean-Marc Genereux, Sergio Trujillo, Danny Arbour, Gustavo Vargas, ShowTyme, Melissa Williams, Bill T. Jones, Christiana Woodard, and the staff of Alvin Ailey to name a few.

Additionally, she has completed the Royal Academy of Dance graded and vocational exams. She has her certification in Acrobatic Arts and continues to train and extend her certification levels in this field of dance.

When Charlene is not performing or studying her art, you can find her sharing her abundance of knowledge, experience, and insight - shaping and developing young dancers to chase after their dreams. Charlene's passion for teaching reflects the same passion and love she feels towards dancing herself.

SFU BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (DANCE)

Chelsea Goddard is an emerging performance artist creating on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations. Originally from Williams Lake, she moved to Vancouver to study dance at Simon Fraser University. There, she was given opportunities to work with such dance artists as Chengxin Wei, Meredith Kalaman, KT Niehoff, Rob Kitsos, Justine Chambers, Company 605, and Tara Cheyenne Performance.

Chelsea holds a BFA in dance and is currently working as an independent artist and dance teacher. Chelsea is excited to inspire her students at Kids In Motion!

ADAPT CERTIFIED • ITP (HARBOUR DANCE CENTRE)

Emily Allen began her training as a young dancer in her hometown of Sherwood Park, AB and trained in many disciplines including jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, tap, and musical theatre. She competed in a number of dance competitions winning multiple awards and scholarships including scholarships from the Alberta Dance Educators Association, LA Dance Magic Convention, To The Pointe Summer Dance Intensive, and Five Star Dance Company which allowed her the opportunity to be cast and perform in a show in Mexico. Emily assisted with a variety of dance classes at her home studio and travelled to Toronto to obtain her ADAPT assistant teacher certification. She soon found a passion for teaching and started teaching her own dance classes at the age of sixteen. Emily has received her certification in teaching Junior Grades Syllabi from the Edmonton School of Ballet, and her full ADAPT teacher certification.

At the age of seventeen, Emily was accepted into the Intensive Training Program at Harbour Dance Center and moved to Vancouver. Here she was introduced to many new styles of dance including heels and jazz-funk, both of which she would go on to teach. Emily lived in Vancouver for two years training, teaching, and performing at a number of events in and around the Vancouver area. She has worked as a dancer in music videos such as “Cut You Out” by Mackenzie Dayle, “Am I Cool Yet” by Brenda Dirk, and “Free” by DIY HIFI. Emily returned to the Edmonton area in the summer of 2020, and continued her dance education through the “Motives Professional Dance Company” at Motives Dance and Fitness for two years. She has also trained and performed with the Viva Dance Company, performing in their contemporary dance productions in the Edmonton Fringe Festival for the past two summers. Emily continued to teach during this time, teaching a variety of styles at two dance schools and at numerous workshops.

Recently Emily moved back to Vancouver and is excited to continue learning and developing in her dance training. Emily is passionate about helping young dancers reach their full potential and kindling their love of dance.

Emma has 13 years of dance experience in various styles but took a special interest in ballet.

She trained in Saskatchewan at Doris Sitter School of Dance and spent many summers attending The Royal Winnipeg Ballet intensives. After completing all of her RAD examinations, Emma finished her teaching certificate and has been working as a Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher for the past 5 years. She is also Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) certified and enjoys bringing elements of PBT into her classes.

Emma is also attending university to complete her psychology degree.

SFU BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (DANCE), KINESIOLOGY & FITNESS CERTIFICATE

Jessica's love for dance started at the early age of three at a small studio in Whitecourt, Alberta. There she studied and competed in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip hop, musical theatre and highland. Jessica's passion for teaching began when she was given the opportunity to instruct her own beginner classes, which eventually led to her teaching the tap and ballet programs for her dance school. Jessica shared her passion for dance by volunteering regularly for the Boys and Girls Club, Go-Girl Conference (a girl’s self-esteem camp), and other recreational dance programs and elementary schools to help encourage kids creativity and physical activity. As a dancer in high school, Jessica trained many hours per week, which included the opportunity to train on scholarship at The Edge Performing Arts Centre in Los Angeles.

Jessica was brought out to British Columbia after being accepted into The Source Dance Company, a semi-professional dance company based in downtown Vancouver. While in The Source, Jessica performed around the Pacific Northwest for events such as the BC Sports Awards, Vancouver International Dance Festival and many other art festivals. From The Source, she branched out to Simon Fraser University’s Contemporary Arts program, where she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance, with a Minor in kinesiology, a professional Fitness & Nutrition Certificate.

Jessica extends her gratitude to the families who make up K.Y.M. and feels extremely blessed to have the opportunity to engage young minds through dance and watch them develop as both artists and unique individuals.

SFU BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HEALTH SCIENCES)

Kim Panganiban is a passionate dancer and performer. She began dancing at the age of six where she developed a love for dancing Locking, Popping, Waaking, Hip hop, Jazz and Urban Contemporary. Additionally, Kim has had the pleasure of being trained aside established choreographers such as Joe Tuliao (Illustrative Society), Nii “Prince” Engmann (Studio 604/Harbour Dance Centre), and Kaelynn Harris (Millenium Dance Complex).

Kim has travelled abroad for competitions and to further her training in becoming a well rounded teacher and dancer. For the past three years, she has been travelling to LA to train herself at the BuildaBeast Convention (showcasing all styles of dance) and KM elite dance studios to gain knowledge from huge industry choreographers.

Kim has been apart of many dance companies such as “ImmaBeast” a well known dance industry in LA and “Illustrative Society” a collective artistry based in Vancouver. She has also co-directed and is still dancing with a highly competitive Vancouver dance group called The Apprentice. Through these companies, she has had the opportunity to participate in The Collaboration (a hip hop competition) in San Francisco, Monsters Dance (an all styles convention) in Portland and World of Dance in Los Angeles.

Aside from dance, Kim is currently studying at SFU to pursue a degree in Kinesiology to help others take optimal care of their bodies. Through her passion for dance, she hopes to inspire and be inspired by other artists and students. Kim is excited to share, grow and express her love for movement with Kids In Motion!

PROFESSIONAL BREAKDANCER

Magnus has been breaking for 13 years, Teaching for 8, and online for 5, teaching all over the lower mainland in studios, and throughout the whole world through youtube and privately.

Growing up he never felt like he knew his place, or identity in life, until he found breaking. Being a Bboy was not just a chance to do the art form for him, it became the way he gained confidence, social skills, health, wealth, relationships, from close friends to family and then all the way to romantic relationships.

His dance family is Now Or Never Crew, he now has the opportunity to dance, perform and compete next to his teachers/mentors and now brothers, which to him was always his main goal growing up, to be fair what child doesn’t want to be exactly like their mentors? Well, he was lucky enough to be able to have achieved that.

Dancing to him is the greatest foundation for life, as it was and still is his foundation to everything. There are countless mental, physical and emotional tools concepts and lessons that dance has taught him, that he applies to his life daily. He can proudly say that dance has supported him full-time since the very beginning, he is blessed enough to be able to have over 100 students locally, along with over 20,000 students internationally that follow his online endeavours.

His single goal with teaching is to become the best version of himself possible, by providing his students the tools they need to become the best versions of themselves possible, so that they can become the version of themselves that they’ve always dreamt of becoming.

SFU BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (DANCE 2023)

Myah McCarthy is a Contemporary dance artist living, working, and playing on the traditional ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples—Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam First Nations. Myah first started her competitive training as an aspiring Olympic gymnast, shortly after a severe injury she found an even stronger passion for the dance language. Myah began her pre-professional dance training in a half-day program at the Dance LAB Studios in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was here that she discovered a great amorosity for contemporary dance. After graduating from her studio training, she further developed her skills with Lamondance in North Vancouver where she danced in two principal roles during her year with the company. The next year, Myah was given the opportunity to dance with Jaci Royal and her company Royal Flux under their apprenticeship program in Los Angeles, California.

After a year in California, Myah decided to move back to Vancouver in hopes of gaining her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Simon Fraser University. It is here that she is creating her most recent work that discusses topics of survival and unity. With her ongoing education, she hopes to create a sound connection to the industry in her hometown and bring her new experiences to the Vancouver area.

Sarah Hin Ching U 余衍晴 (she/her) has taught extensively across the Lower Mainland, working with students of diverse skill levels and ages 2 to 70. My teaching philosophy lies on providing students an opportunity to progress while being supported by my guidance and professional knowledge in dance. She strives to nurture each student's growth by acknowledging their individual needs and aspirations.

Sarah is a Chinese-Canadian dance artist/choreographer, trained and influenced by a multitude of styles including Latin Ballroom, contemporary, ballet and hiphop. My work has been presented by National Arts Centre, Capsule: Video series (Ottawa), The Dance Centre (Vancouver), NewWorks (Vancouver), DanceWorks (Toronto), Impulse Theatre (Victoria, BC), Free Flow Dance Theatre (Saskatoon), SpringWorks (Ontario) among others. In 2022, I received the Professional Performing Artist Award from British Columbia Arts Council and have been awarded residencies at School of Toronto Dance Theatre, City of Port Coquitlam, ArtStarts (Vancouver), and Plastic Orchid Factory. Other notable performing credits include Dancing on the Edge Festival 2019 with Danse Carpe Diem/Emmanuel Jouthe (Montreal) and Nuit Blanche 2021 with Jackie Latendresse (Saskatoon). I hold a BFA in dance and kinesiology from Simon Fraser University.

Ursula Blanchard is a contemporary dance artist originally from New Jersey. She came to

Vancouver to study dance at SFU and since receiving her BFA has loved getting to teach and

dance in different parts of the city. She is excited to be training with the Lamondance dance

company in the fall. She continues to develop her choreographic and artistic voice since

graduating and has discovered a passion for teaching along the way.

ALBERTA UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS (MEDIA ARTS)

Jason Bakaas is an emerging performer, director, writer, and puppeteer in Calgary, Alberta. As a performer, Jason has been in productions all over the city. Some of his favourite credits include Benny (Rent) and Chadwick (Elf) with Storybook Theatre, one of Canada’s most successful TYA Theatre companies, and Princeton (Avenue Q) with Front Row Centre Players, a role for which he won an award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the Calgary ACTS annual CAT Awards. Other acting credits include The Prince/Beast (Beauty and the Beast), Prince Charming (One Bad Apple) with Morpheus Theatre, Peter and Others (The Rumble Follies) with Life Stages Theatre at the Calgary Fringe Festival, as well as roles in productions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Annie, The Wedding Singer, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Footloose. On-screen, Jason has appeared in the first season of FX’s Fargo, and Vertical Entertainment’s Still/Born. As a director, Jason has led productions with Untold Stories Theatre for the past three years and has received accolades for several productions, including the winner of Outstanding Direction for a Musical and Outstanding Production of a Musical for The Wind in the Willows in 2022 and nominations for the same awards for Rodgers and Hamnmerstein's Cinderella in 2023.

Jason attended the Alberta University of the Arts (then known as the Alberta College of Art and Design) for a degree in Media Arts, with a specialization in Video and Sound design.