Cyndi Scott – Artistic Director
Cyndi Scott has had many roles in Canada’s professional dance community. Currently she is the Artistic Director for the Edge School and the Director of Dance Development for the Calgary Stampede. With twenty- five years of experience developing dancers from their first steps to the professional level Ms. Scott brings a passion and dedication to the art.
At the age of nineteen, while still an undergraduate at the University of Calgary, she founded Airborne Dance Studio where she was Artistic Director from 1996 – 2008. In that role she earned a reputation for developing dancers with strong technique and became a sought after choreographer. Her professional career as a dancer, teacher, adjudicator and choreographer has taken her throughout North America and Europe.
Her contribution to the arts community has been recognized by local and national leaders including Calgary’s Mayor Nenshi and the Governor General of Canada, Honourable David Johnston. Cyndi Scott was awarded a Global Arts award in Los Angeles in 2012.
Her choreography has been featured in the Opening Ceremonies for the Special Olympics, World Police and Fire Games, the Jimmie Slyde Institute in Barcelona Spain and professional fundraising events supported by Prince, Calvin Klein, and Wayne Gretzky.
Her students have been successful in achieving professional dance careers including SYTYCD Canada season 2 winner (Tara Jean Popowich), Odyssey Dance Theatre (Breanne Wilson), X Factor (Amy Gardner) & Kylie Minogue (Janelle Lancaster).
Caitlin Lockwood – Ballet Principal
A native of Toronto, Caitlin Lockwood began her training at the George Brown College School of Dance (academy for Ballet Jorgen) before moving to Vancouver and graduating from the Goh Ballet Academy in 2000. With the Goh Ballet, she performed in their 25th Anniversary Gala, in Las Vegas, and toured 7 cities including Shanghai and Beijing in China.
Upon graduation, Caitlin went on to perform soloist roles with Laura Alonso’s Centro Pro Danza (Cuban Ballet, Havana). Returning to Canada, Caitlin performed with the Ontario Ballet Theatre (Toronto), Ballet Kelowna, Ballet Victoria, guest soloist with Mission Dance Company, soloist with Ballet Ouest (Montreal) and appeared in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremony with Alberta Ballet and Ballet BC alongside Sarah McLaughlin.
Caitlin has choreographed and danced in numerous runway shows for Redken 5th Ave (Toronto), and danced on screen in CBC’s “Tonya Lee Williams Gospel Jubilee” and the feature film “Life with Mikey”. During her career, Caitlin enjoyed performing featured roles and repertoire including: Don Quioxte (Queen Dryad), Coppelia (Prayer), The Sleeping Beauty (Diamond Fairy), The Nutcracker (Rose Fairy, Arabian Princess, Candy Cane Soloist, Snow Soloist) Serenade (Balanchine- 4 Russian Girls), Grand Pas de Quatre (3rd Solo), The Four Seasons (Spring), Bird Song (Principal), La Bayadere, Swan Lake, Alice, Carmen and Paquita. She has also performed various classical, contemporary, modern and jazz works by distinguished choreographers Jean Grand-Maitre, Bengt Jorgen, Crystal Pite, Maurice Causey, Joe Laughlin, Chan Hon Goh, Choo Chiat Goh, Lynn Sheppard, Lynn Cote, Kathleen Rea, Michael Downing and Sylvie Bouchard, amoung many others.
Now retired from the stage and teaching full time, Caitlin has taught for several schools in Vancouver, Calgary and Kelowna, including the Canadian School of Ballet, Airborne Dance Centre and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, and currently leads the Ballet Progamme at Edge School.
Melodie McKee- RAD
Originally from Lethbridge, Alberta, Melodie began dancing at the age of five under Kim Ully and RAD Examiner Jacqui Stuart. She spent numerous summers attending the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts on scholarship. Upon graduation, Melodie was invited to join The Banff Festival Ballet as an apprentice dancing George Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante and works by Gioconda Barbuto and Joe Laughlin. She then went on to dance and tour with many professional companies over a 13 year span including the Goh Ballet, Ballet North and Alberta Ballet. Melodie has danced a wide range of Repertoire, some of her favourites being Petipa’s La Bayadere, Julie Adam’s Chameleon and Balanchine’s Tarantella and Rubies. Her career has also encompassed a 2 year Professional study with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, and many Independent works throughout Calgary finishing with Tokyo Disney Sea’s Broadway Review Encore. Upon returning from Tokyo, Japan, she was accepted into the Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma Program at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England studying under Lynn Wallis and Hilary Clark. After receiving her diploma in 2007, Melodie returned to Calgary to embark on her teaching career. She now has students at the Solo Seal level and competing at the Genee International Ballet Competition, Youth America Grand Prix, and professional ballet programs and companies around the world.
Nicole Caron- Ballet Instructor
Nicole is on her way to her 15th season with Alberta Ballet as a leading dancer. She was born in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and grew up in Vancouver, B.C. She received her ballet training at the Richmond Academy of Dance, as well as Canada’s National Ballet School, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the American Ballet Theatre, and is an alumna of The Banff Centre’s Festival Dance. Some of her favourite roles include the title role inCarmen, Desdemona in Othello, Helena in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, the principal dancer in Balanchine’s Rubies, Serenade, Allegro Brillante, and Who Cares?, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Stomper in In The Upper Room and She in Balletlujah!. Nicole also enjoys teaching and adjudicating across Canada.
Kevin Kong- Ballet Instructor- Pas de Deux, Men’s classes
Originally from British Columbia, Kevin entered The National Ballet School in Toronto in grade 7 and graduated in 1991, with main teachers being Betty Oliphant, Glenn Gilmour and Luc Amyot. He received awards such as The Peter Dwyer Scholarship and The Ken Zeller Memorial Award along with many B.C Culture grants. After graduation, he danced with the National Ballet of Canada for 2 years, and guested with Ottawa Ballet. He then went on to Ballet West in Salt Lake City, as well as Alberta Ballet. After leaving Calgary, he joined the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. He moved back to Toronto in 2011 to do the Teacher Training Program at The National Ballet School where he entered as part time, receiving Pedagogy 1 and the Benesh Notation certificate. He has also passed all Cecchetti examinations. Kevin has taught for with Opera Atelier in Toronto, Vancouver Junior Professional Division, Harbour Dance Centre, Ballet Classique, Vancouver Ballet Society, Richmond Academy, the Arbutus Club, Extension Room in Toronto and Terpsichore School of Dance.
Rachael Poirier
Rachael Poirier has more than 24 years of experience as a choreographer and dance instructor. She has trained throughout North America in cities including Vancouver, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles. Her dances have captivated audiences across Canada, the United States, and as far away as Japan, China, Bulgaria, Greece and Sweden. Her creations have won numerous awards for their innovative
style and consistent originality. She has choreographed for many industrial shows such as EA Games, Deloitte International Accounting at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Currency International Research
Program at the Rockey Mountaineer Train Station, L’Oréal International at Pan Pacific, the opening acts for the B.C. Country Music Awards, Michael Bublé, and the world-renowned magician, Juliana Chen.
Rachael founded Danzmode Productions in 1994, which quickly established itself as one of Vancouver’s elite dance institutions. Many students from Danzmode Productions have had a dominant presence
at local and international competitions and shows. Many of the alumni moved on to professional dance careers in world tours and music videos with artists such as Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Rihanna,
Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, Pharrell, Cee Lo Green, Prince, Mia Michaels, and Jennifer Lopez. Several of her students have been seen in the Top 40 for So You Think You Can Dance, the Emmy
Awards, The Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards, the Voice and the Super Bowl. Rachael has choreographed routines and demo reels for university applications and many of her students have moved on to dance for prestigious academies and companies including the San Francisco Ballet, the Washington D.C. Ballet Company, Houston Ballet, Ballet BC, Point Park University, Juilliard, Alvin Ailey, Nederlands Dans Theater and the National Ballet of Canada.
Dancers of Rachael’s, represented with her choreography, have gone on to compete and win the B.C. Provincials in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Musical Theatre categories. In 2004, her innovative choreography for Alex Wong’s “Capture of the Tiger” solo became the first Canadian winner at the Prix De Lausanne in Switzerland. This piece has also been performed with A.B.T. Studio Theatre N.Y. in 2005, the Miami City Ballet Company in 2006, and has most recently been seen during Vegas week on “So You Think You Can Dance” where Alex Wong was a finalist. Her inventive work for Kostya and Fei Fei’s Contemporary piece “Innocence” was awarded a Bronze Medal in the Varna Competition in Russia and was later performed with the Shanghai Ballet Company. She has been awarded several Choreography Awards at Youth American Grand Prix for for Miguel Nguyen, Martina Prefontaine’s performance of “Hummingbird” which contributed to her winning the Hope award at 10 years old in Seattle in 2012, Melissa Ong’s performance of “Attitude with Strings” in Carolina in 2007, and Alyssa Steven’s performance of “Womb” in Los Angeles in 2007 and in San Francisco in 2009. Kirsten Wicklund was in the top 12 at the finals of Youth America Grand Prix in New York City, where she performed contemporary solo “Nothing Else Matters” choreographed by Rachael Poirier.
In 2006, Kirsten Wicklund won the National Teen Outstanding Dancer title at NYCDA. Dancers Tiffany Tregarthen, Stephanie Moseley, and Bynh Ho, all represented with Rachael’s choreography, were in the
top 4 at New York City Dance Alliance Finals. In 2008, Miguel Nguyen and Rina Watanabe won the Gold Medal at the World Championships in Norway for modern dance. One of her most successful ommercial
dancers, Stephanie Moseley, is known for her works in TV series Hellcats and Hit the Floor.
Rachael has been dancing since she was 5 years old and has been instructing and creating dances for the past 25 years. To quote a colleague, Ronelle Rhodes, “Rachael’s choreography was in a league of its own, it stirred a massive shift in the lower mainland and challenged local teachers. She (singlehandedly) was a huge contributor to the modernization of a lot of Dance-Arts in the studio scene and beyond.”
Breanne Wilson
Breanne Wilson, originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, started her early dance training under the direction of Cyndi Scott. She then trained and performed under the direction of Umran Sumen at the International School of Ballet. There she completed her Royal Academy of Dance ballet exams up to the Advanced II level receiving Distinction. She also danced with Jeunesse Classique Ballet performing many different roles, some of which include Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Waltz Soloist in Les Sylphide. She also appeared on the finals week episodes of the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance Canada where she made it to the top 50 finalists. She later attended The University of Arizona School of Dance on scholarship. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, as well as a Minor in Business Administration. There she was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with several choreographers and perform many pieces some of which include,Rubies by George Balanchine, Megalopolis by Larry Keigwin, Evolution of a Dream by Sherry Zunker, Fire Bird by Ernie Flatt, and Panorama by Martha Graham. She also performed a pas de deux in the Opera,Die Fledermaus, in a collaboration between the University of Arizona School of Dance and School of Opera. Breanne received several scholarships while at the University of Arizona including an International Student Tuition Scholarship, The Maccorquodale C Scholarship and she was a Medici Scholar award recipient for two years. She spent her summers training at the intensives of several companies including River North Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Alberta Ballet and the Rockette Invitational Week. She also enjoys sharing her love and passion for dance through teaching. She has taught a variety of dance classes for Edge School for Athletes teaching throughout Alberta in Calgary, Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray. Breanne has modeled for theKADYLUXE brand and was chosen as the cover model for photographer Ed Flores gallery showing entitled, Heaven and Earth. Breanne is currently a company member with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City and is in her second season with the company. She has performed several shows with the company including Romeo and Juliet, Giselle & Carmen and has completed two European Tours performing throughout Germany and Switzerland.