Carla Marques
Carla Marques is the Owner and Director of Premiere Dance Incorporated in
Burlington Ontario Canada. Carla brings with her over 22 years of experience
teaching and choreography experience in ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, and tap dance.
She has been the driving force behind Premiere’s success and growth for the past 25
years.
Carla has taught workshops and adjudicated throughout Canada and the United
States. Her students have won overall titles, for individual and group performances,
at regional and national levels.
Her choreography awards and studio choice awards are numerous, and continue to
increase each year with her dedication and drive to provide the best dance
instruction for her students.
She is the teacher/choreographer of Junior Miss Dance 1993, Petite Miss Dance 1999,
Miss Dance of Canada 2000, Junior Miss Dance 2001 of DMA chapter 43, Junior Miss
Dance 2002, Junior Miss Dance of America 2003, and most recently, teacher and
choreographer for Petit Miss Dance 2004.
Over her years in dance, Carla has adjudicated for many dance organizations
throughout Canada and the USA.
As a teacher and choreographer, she strives to bring the best in dance to her
students, such as technique, grace, poise, self-esteem, discipline, and how to be a
team player.
Carla not only takes pride in her career as a dance teacher, but also takes great
interest in her students’ progress and well-being.
Kim Falconi
Kim Falconi is an accomplished, award winning teacher and choreographer in all forms of
dance and acrobatics. She has performed on television and stage throughout her career.
She is proud to have spent many years training as a triple threat performer which has led
her to achieve many of her life time goals. Kim was a featured acrobat in the opera “Aida”.
She travelled to Cleveland where she was a member of the girls singing group “She Said”
and is very happy to be a former “Miss Dance of Canada”.
Kim is a certified DMA teacher where in many of her students have been able to rank
nationally in this organization. Some of her former students are now dancing in theatrical
shows and companies across North America and Europe. Kim is a highly sought after
adjudicator and choreographer, because of her strong technical background and
commitment to the artistry of dance. She has been pleased to share her love and
knowledge of dance with our students.
Kim’s choreography has been recognized both regionally and nationally and her students
have held numerous national titles. Kim is best known for her skills and choreography
teaching acro (gymnastic) style dance.
Stacey Aquila
Stacey Aquila resides in Mississauga, Ontario where she began her dance training over 30
years ago. She competed all over Canada and the United States and studied extensively
in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip hop, acro, voice and acting. She graduated from
Cawthra Park high school for the performing Arts where she majored in Dance and also
studied in voice and acting. Stacey is also a graduate of Randolph Academy for the
performing Arts (A post secondary/college-level Triple Threat training program) where
she studied and received classes from numerous professionals such as George Randolph,
Gregory Hines, Karen Andrew and many others. She was Toronto’s Chum Fm Idol winner
and was in the top 100 on Canadian Idol(Season 2). She performed as “Cha Cha” in the
Toronto production of Grease and has choreographed and performed for such groups as
the Backstreet Boys Tribute. Her Theatre credits include….Hansel and Gretel (Herendez
Opera) Job and the snake (Cube City) A Midsummer nights dream (Randolph Academy)
and Nine (Toronto Cent. for the performing arts). Some of her T.V credits include…..Class
Act, Walt Disney Press Release and numerous National Anthem performances.
Stacey is a member of PAEC (Performing Arts Educators of Canada) where she completed
her full membership in the jazz division. Stacey now teaches full time in Ontario where she
has received many choreography awards both nationally and internationally. Her
students have won numerous overall awards and have also been the recipients of many
scholarship titles. She is a guest teacher for many renowned dance organizations and
workshops across Canada and the U.S.A.
Giselle Sloan
Giselle Sloan started dancing at the age of 3, and has studied jazz, tap, ballet, acro, hiphop,
lyrical & contemporary, learning from renowned teachers and choreographers
throughout her competitive career. She was a member of the HEAT varsity dance team
while completing her undergraduate degree at Western University, and was a team captain
during her senior year. Her jazz and street style choreography won numerous choreography
and overall awards at the varsity level.
After completing her undergrad, Giselle went on to obtain her Bachelor of Education at the
Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University, and for the last 10 years has merged
her love of teaching and dance while teaching and choreographing for dancers of all ages.
In addition to teaching jazz, acro and street style at the studio, Giselle also teaches and
choreographs for athletes representing Canada at a national level in acrobatic gymnastics.
Her acrobats have travelled around the world, competing at both Pan American
Championships and World Championships, as well as competing on ‘Canada’s Got Talent’,
where they received the ‘golden buzzer.’ Many of them are the current Pan American
champions in acrobatic gymnastics.
Above all, Giselle hopes to instill her love of dance in her students, and to create an
environment in her classes that allows them to thrive, both inside and outside of the studio
Megan Wilkshire
Megan Wilkshire began her love of dance at the age of 3. At the age of 6, Megan joined the
competitive dance team at Premiere Dance Inc. and competed for 11 years in various forms
of dance. Megan has won various competitions and nationals throughout Canada and
United States with her fellow dancers and supportive dance instructors. In her early years
of dance, she had the privilege of being a part of the Junior Cheer Team for the Toronto
Argonauts.
As Megan continued her dance education she found a love of dance instruction and
passing on her passion to the younger generation of dancers – first with assisting studio
teachers and then becoming a dance teacher herself. Moving forward in her dance career,
Megan uses her knowledge and experiences to provide dancers with encouragement and
a “team effort” mentality. She has the patience needed with younger children to push and
nurture our future dancers to their utmost capabilities.
As Megan keeps learning and training her skills through workshops and guidance from her
fellow staff, she recently achieved her goal of earning choreography awards at various
competitions.
Megan is thrilled to be a part of the Premiere Dance Inc. family and wants to share her
enthusiasm and love for dance with her students.
Meghan Knapp
Meghan Knapp began dancing at the age of three and it has been a huge part of her life
since. She has been well trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and pointe.
She has competed throughout Ontario and the United States where she has been awarded
with many overall and title awards, reflecting her strong work ethic and passion for
performing. Now as a teacher and choreographer, her routines have been amongst the
overall standings as well as being recognized for their choreography.
Believing strongly that a dancers training is never finished, Meghan continues to train and
broaden her dance repertoire by attending workshops and intensives in Ontario and New
York.
Meghan is passionate about what she does. Having fun with her students, while bringing
proper technique and creativity into the classroom, has always been important to her as
she hopes to help develop well rounded dancers who genuinely love to dance!
Brooklyn Giffen
BFA (Hons) Theatre/Dance
Brooklyn Giffen is an artist based in Toronto, ON. She began her training at Sean Boutilier
Academy of Dance at the age of five years old, where she studied, trained and competed in
various dance genres. She has extensively trained and completed numerous Cecchetti Syllabus
ballet exams, since the age of nine. Brooklyn’s passion for performance has included many
training specializations, including: classical ballet, classical jazz, tap, modern, contemporary,
street style, multiple areas of acting practice, voice, improvisation, creative process studies and
choreographic training.
Brooklyn is a 2021 graduate of Ryerson University’s School of Performance. She enters the
professional world with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance Dance. During her studies, Brooklyn
was trained and mentored by many honored Canadian dance educators including: Vicki St.
Denys, Louis Laberge-Côté, Tanya Evidente, Robert Glumbek, Kenny Pearl and Kate Hilliard.
Her curiosity as a collaborator and her versatility as a performer has enabled her to participate in
various works in both performance dance theatre and on film. Brooklyn has performed stage
works by esteemed Canadian choreographers such as Kelly Shaw, Alyssa Martin, and Alysa Pires,
and in 2020 danced in A Gathering , a new work by Bobbi Jene Smith & Or Schraiber,
commissioned by Fall For Dance North. Brooklyn has performed for The Vancouver Art Gallery
under the guidance of Vancouver based artist Justine A. Chambers as well as internationally in
Hydra, Greece under the directorship of Canadian producer Peggy Shannon.
Brooklyn is thrilled to be a part of the Premiere Dance Inc. team as well as share her passion of
dance by inspiring young artists to discover their artistic expression.
Kayla Palmer
Kayla Palmer started dancing at the age of 7 and quickly found her way into the competitive
dance world. She spent 12 years competing and attending high level intensives and competitions
all over Canada and the United States. Kayla was awarded dozens of scholarships and
opportunities through her hard work and dedication to her craft and eagerly jumped to take on
every opportunity she could to improve. She began teaching when she was 15 years old and has
continued educating dancers ever since.
In 2012, Kayla was accepted into the Conteur Dance Academy under the direction of Eryn
Waltman, where she spent the next two years immersed in the world of contemporary dance.
Kayla trained an in depth 40 hours a week in ballet, contemporary, floor work, modern, partnering,
choreography, improvisation, jazz, yoga, pilates, and more. In 2014 after graduating, Kayla spent
the next two years dancing professionally for several entertainment and stage shows while also
freelancing as a dance instructor.
By 2017, Kayla co-founded Beyond Dance Academy and carried out growing in the studio
business for the next 4 years. The studio received two Readers Choice awards, countless top
scoring overall awards and numerous top studio awards. Through these years, Kayla created an
abundance of memorable, unique and authentically curated routines for the stage. In the
summer of 2018 she travelled to New York City to the Martha Graham School for Contemporary
Dance to learn the ins and outs of Graham Technique led by Virginie Mecéne.
Kayla now finds herself educating and training competitive dancers in contemporary, jazz and
advanced technical classes. She continues to push the creative envelope in choreography with
each routine she designs. By fostering safety and trust in the classroom, she is able to assist
dancers to achieve their goals confidently as well as discover and enhance their artistry. Her
passion, focus and genuine care for advancement in dance, make for her classes to be an
exciting and educational experience.
Allison Toffan
Allison Toffan has established herself as a leader in the Canadian tap dance scene by
consistently stirring up momentum as a producer, curator, dancer and choreographer. Her
mentors include world-renowned tap artists Heather Cornell, Brenda Bufalino and Max Pollak.
Her work has been presented at Fall For Dance North (Union Station Series), Dusk Dances, The
Edwards Summer Music Series, Toronto Body Percussion Festival, TD Toronto Jazz Festival, and the
Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival. Other career highlights include: 2010 Olympic Opening
Ceremonies, Warehouse 13 (Jeff Dimitriou), TapCity (NYC) and Vancouver International Tap
Festival with Lisa La Touche, Festival Dance Encore with Tasha Lawson, Montreal Tap Festival with
Tanya Knights alongside the legendary Arthur Duncan and establishing the Toronto Rhythm
Initiative (TRI) in 2011 – a platform Allison created to voice the artistry of Toronto’s tap dancers in
collaboration with live music, co-produced with Juliana Kelly since 2016.
Teaching credits include: Artist in Residence – Ottawa Rhythm Initiative, Dance Faculty at Sheridan
College, Randolph Academy, Montreal Tap Festival, Vancouver International Tap Festival, BC
Performing Arts Festival, Manitoba Dance Festival, Eastern Canadian Tap Conference, Triple
Threat, MOVE, The Dance Project conventions, as well as multiple workshops across Canada.
Other notable projects include The Big Band Tap Revue – created with Toronto Jazz Orchestra’s
Artistic Director Josh Grossman, co-produced by Soraya Peerbaye and directed by Emmy Award
winner Ted Louis Levy, dancing on the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed video game
Cuphead, nominated for a 2018 Juno Award for best orchestration, Artistic Direction of the Toronto
International Tap Dance Festival, produced in partnership with Harbourfront Centre, the creation
of Ripple Effect, an outreach company offering free programming set to tour community centres
and libraries in 2024, and serving on the production team for Heather Cornell Legacy Project. To
stay up to date with Allison, please visit: www.toffanrhythmprojects.com .
Heather Jones-Foster
Heather Jones-Foster trained at L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Quebec, Le School of Dance
(under the tutelage of Joyce Shietze and Mary Ross), The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
Professional Division, Arts Umbrella (under the tutelage of Artemis Gordon, Mary Louise Albert and
Sylvain Brochu), the Artist in Residency Program at Main Dance and with Donna Redlick. Heather
obtained her Cecchetti ballet teaching qualifications through Canada’s National Ballet School’s
Teacher Training Program, under the mentorship of Rosalie Deligioridis and Jane Wooding.
Heather creates a positive learning environment, by providing continuous encouragement, giving
achievable corrections and highlighting effort and progress.
Delaney Holness
Delaney Holness started dancing at three but found her stride and passion at eight when she
joined the PDI competitive team. Since then, she has continued to expand and explore her
passion.
As a dancer, she received accolades at competitions and conventions, including the Premiere
Dance Inc student of the year award. She has choreographed in various styles for Premiere
Dance inc, Dr. Frank J Hayden Dance team, and the McMaster Recreational Dance team.
As her career continues, she hopes to inspire her students and help them to foster a love for
dance.