Eric Abel

Hometown: Aurora, Ontario
High School: Aurora High School
Program and Year: Humanities - Year 2
Years in Company - 1

Eric started dancing 11 years ago, when he joined the Somerville Dance Academy in Oak Ridges, Ontario. Competing competitively for the past 8 years, Eric has competed all over Ontario and worldwide. In 2006, Eric travelled to Reisa, Germany to represent Canada at the International Dance Organizations. As a member of the Canadian National Tap Team, Eric brought back a Gold and Silver medal. Recently, Eric has been recognized as the Overall Senior Performer at the Toronto Kiwanis Dance Festival and the Orillia Opera House Dance Festival for the last 3 years. Eric has his Honours Certificate of Advanced Tap and Pre-Professional Level given from the P.A.E.C. Eric is happy to be joining the Dance Company at McMaster and is looking forward to working with the other members this year.

David Anzarouth

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Highschool: Merivale High School
Program and Year: Commerce - Year 1
Years in Company: New!

David began training in gymnastics at the age of 6, at the Corona School of Gymnastics. He showed much potential in the sport and was asked to advanced to competitive at the age of 9. David has competed throughout the province of Ontario achieving Level 7 at the age of 12. He began dancing at the age of 15 performing in musicals, and experimenting in styles such as lyrical, ballet, tap, jazz, and musical theatre. David has worked at summer camps as a performance instructor, directing and choreographing many musicals such as Grease, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Fame! This spurred on his love for dance and performing to continue at McMaster University. David is extremely excited to explore the world of dance and continue to learn and grow as part of the McMaster Dance Company.

Lisa Beasley

Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
High School: Cawthra Park Secondary School
Program and Year: Kinesiology - Year 4
Years in Company: 3

Lisa Beasley began dancing at the age of 3, took a break to try out gymanstics and returned to dance at the age of 8 at Can Dance Academy in Mississauga, Ontario. She danced competitively with the studio’s company for eight years. Lisa was thrilled to be accepted into the regional arts program at Cawthra Park Secondary School, majoring in dance and in grade 11 was part of the Repertoire Dance Company at the school. Lisa studied a variety of styles of dance including ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical/contemporary, tap, musical theater and some flamenco. Through Cawthra Park, Lisa is delighted to have been able to work with amazing choreographers and teachers including Linda Garneau, Danny Grossman, Daniel Lewis, Nicholas Villeneuve and Sharon Wong. Lisa has performed in a variety of shows with her high school including Springfest, Mosaix and the Peel Regional Dance Showcase along with her studio's annual end of year. Lisa was the leader of the McMaster Dance Company in her third and the first term of her fourth year and she is thrilled to be able to dance with such talented people this year.

Kaitlyn Boese

Hometown: Arnprior, ON
Program and Year: Bachelor of Health Sciences - year 4
Years in Company: 2

Kaitlyn began dancing at the age of three and hasn’t stopped since. The amazing teachers she has had an opportunity to work with include Janice Oakes, Linda Jamieson and Ellen Andrews. She has also danced in 11 pre-professional productions of The Nutcracker, in a variety of roles including the Snow Queen and Clara. Kaitlyn began competing at the age of eight in a variety of styles, such as ballet, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical and contemporary. She has completed her Advanced II and Grade 8 Award with the Royal Academy of Dance. Kaitlyn has been an instructor at a children’s summer dance intensive program for several years, as well she has choreographed for a number of theatre productions including the Health Science Musicals. This is Kaitlyn’s third year dancing at McMaster and she is grateful for the opportunity to continue to pursue her passion. She is looking forward to another exciting year as part of the McMaster Contemporary Dance Company.

Carissa Bowerman

Program and Year: Alumni/Community

Melissa Denroche

Hometown: Kanata, Ontario
High School: Earl of March Secondary School
Program and Year: Social Sciences - Year 2
Years In Company: New!

Melissa began dancing at the age of four in creative movement ballet classes and continued her training by studying different dance styles including jazz, tap, modern, lyrical, contemporary and musical theatre. She had the privilege of dancing with the Linda Jamieson School of Dance and the Footworks Dance Academy. She began competing at the age of 10, and completed both Graded and Vocational Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) examinations. Her love of performing got her involved in pre-professional productions of the Nutcracker and high school musicals such as “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Cabaret”. She continues to grow as a dancer and appreciates the opportunity to learn and dance as a member of the McMaster Contemporary Dance Company.

Tanya Dlugosz

Hometown: Mississauga, ON
Program and Year: Life Science - Year 2
Years in company: New!

Tanya has been all over the map when it comes to her dancing career. Beginning at age four with Ukrainian folk dance, she danced with Arkan Dance Company for 10 years at which point she began practicing ballet; she quickly fell in love with this style of dance. As she moved forward with her ballet she took up pointe and travelled to Italy in the summer of 2008 to showcase dance across the country. It became clear to Tanya that dance needed to become a bigger part of her life so in 2010 she joined the competitive dance team at Annex Dance Academy where she competed in ballet, lyrical and jazz across Ontario. She thought her career would be over once she began university but after taking her first year without any dance she came to the conclusion that it was necessary for her to find a way to do it again. With that thought in mind she was lead to audition for McMaster Dance Company’s contemporary team and she has never looked back. She is incredibly excited to grow as a dancer and performer for the next three years with the company and learn from all of its talented dancers!

Fiona Haque

Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario
High School: Cawthra Park Secondary School
Program: Theatre & Film- Year 5
Years in Company: 1

Fiona has been dancing since the age of three, starting with cultural Bengali dancing with her lovely mother as teacher. After being uprooted to Mississauga, she branched out into ballet and tap, and over the next decade moved on to expand her repertoire to include jazz, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, musical theatre, acrobatics and pointe. She received her Regional Arts Certificate from Cawthra Park Secondary School in Drama and has had the opportunity to workshop with many notable artists of both the theatre and dance professions, including Tyce Diorio, Dee Casperi, Mandy Moore, Simon Fawn, Rob Hamilton and several wonderful people from The Second City. Her love for the arts in every capacity has taken her on many fulfilling and enriching adventures and she knows the McMaster Dance Company will be an excellent continuation of her artistic growth.

Elizabeth Giles

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
High School: Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts
Program and Year: Life Science - Year 1
Years in Company: New!

Elizabeth began her training at the age of three at the Riverdale School of Dance in Toronto, Ontario. From there she has danced at the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre, Pegasus Dance Studios, and Opera Atelier where she began partnering. She has also been a part of the Oakville School of Ballet Summer Intensive training for two years and was asked to be in a benefit performance for WindReach Farms as a part of the ensemble. Elizabeth has been classically trained in ballet under the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. She has achieved with Distinction for all examined levels as well as the Vocational Intermediate Royal Academy of Dance examination. Throughout her high school years Elizabeth attended Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts as a dance major training in RAD, Russian and Cecchetti methods. Elizabeth has had the pleasure of taking classes with guests Evelyn Hart, Lynn Wallis and Kaeja D'dance's Allen Keja. Elizabeth has performed many variations of Don Quixote Queen of the Dryades, Raymonda Variations 1 and 2, the Nutcracker and Paquita as a corps de ballet and many others. Elizabeth has also been training in Graham, Limon, Cunningham, and Horton techniques of modern dance. Serious consideration was put into joining a professional ballet company but she decided to further her education instead. Being a part of the McMaster Dance Company it will help satisfy her need for dance as well as broaden her training experience.

Katie Gould

Hometown: Richmond Hill. ON
Program and year: Kinesiology - Year 1
Years in company: New!

Katie has been dancing competitively since the age of eight but was truly a dancer before she could walk. While her true passion is tap dancing, she has also trained in a variety of styles including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Pointe. In 2010, she completed her grade 8 R.A.D exam. Katie grew up training at Dansecore School of Dance under the direction of Anne Sprincis. She has attended many dance conferences and workshops where she has been provided the opportunity to work with distinguished choreographers. Katie has travelled across Canada and the United States to compete in regional and national competitions winning many awards along the way. Currently, she is the choreographer at the Richmond Hill Center for Performing Arts summer camp. Katie has enjoyed performing with the McMaster Dance Company this year at events including Chocolate Fest and ACDFA. She is very excited to be part of the McMaster Dance Company family and to continue pursuing her love of dance.

Amanda Hardinge

Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
High School: St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School
Program: Humanities – Year 2
Years in Company: 1

Amanda Hardinge began her dance training at the age of three. Despite her young age, Amanda’s commitment and love for dance was immediately evident. At the age of six Amanda began dancing competitively and her passion for dance intensified with every class and performance. Amanda has trained diligently in the following disciplines: Ballet/Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical/Contemporary, Hip-hop, and Musical Theatre. Amanda has completed all of her RAD Grades 1-8 Examinations as well as the Intermediate and Advanced Foundation Vocational Examinations with the highest achievement of Distinction. She has been honoured to win numerous group and solo awards over the years. Her two most revered dance achievements are a full scholarship to “Dance Fusion”, a summer 2010 intensive workshop, at York University where she learned from choreographers such as Annie Wood, Linda Garneau, Jillian Meyers, and Danny Lawn and participating in the 2011 Dance Canada Pageant where she won the title of Ms. Dance Canada 2011. At the Pageant, Amanda had the opportunity of working with choreographers such as Ryan Foley and Breanna Willis. Amanda’s experience in these two life changing events inspired her to strive for her fullest potential not only in dance but in other aspects of her life as well. Amanda is thrilled to be a part of the McMaster Dance Company this year and is looking forward to a year of success and great memories.

Jessie Heaman

Program and Year: Alumni/Community

Jessie recently graduated with a degree in psychology from McMaster, and after spending the last four years with the McMaster Dance Company she's back for one more. Jessie started her dancing career with ballet at Simcoe Dance Academy in Barrie. After 12 or so years of dancing she has done jazz, musical theatre, acro, modern and even dabbled a in little hip-hop, African, and salsa. She has been involved in many different shows, competitions, workshops, and has spent several summers teaching dance at camp. Although traditionally trained in ballet and jazz, Jessie has always been drawn to modern dance and thus was drawn to the modern company in her first year at McMaster. Over the years with the company she has fallen in love with modern and contemporary and expects that this love will only grow stronger during this next year.

Rachel Kalas

Hometown: Caledon, Ontario
High School: Mayfield Secondary School
Program and Year: Nursing – Year 1
Years in Company: New!

Rachel’s dance training began at The Academy of Performing Arts at the age of three. When she turned eight she moved to Lynn Morrison’s School of Ballet in Brampton and began to compete. Rachel has competed in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical and contemporary. She is also trained in tap and has been exposed to a wide variety of other dance forms. Rachel graduated from Mayfield Secondary School’s Regional Arts Program for dance in June 2012. She has completed her BATD ballet grades 3-5, elementary, intermediate, and advanced pointe examinations, attaining Honours recognition and was starred for scholarships in ballet. In 2010 she earned her Associate Teachers in BATD Ballet with all her marks in the 90s. She has gotten the opportunity to teach at her studio in Brampton and at Citrus Dance in Orangeville as a ballet, jazz and lyrical instructor. Rachel is thrilled to be part of the McMaster Dance Company and is very excited to be dancing with the energetic and dedicated dancers of MDC.

Dominique Krawchenko

Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario
High School: Westmount Secondary
Program and Year: Commerce - Year 1
Years in Company: New!

Dominique Krawchenko has been studying ballet at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts since she was 3 years old. Training under HCA’s founder/artistic director, Vitek Wincza and senior classical teacher, Olga Krymchanska, Dominique has a strong background in Russian ballet. In addition to her ballet training, Dominique has also trained in a variety of other dance forms including jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, modern and character. In more recent years, she has applied her technique and passion for dance through various performances and workshops around the greater Toronto area. Dominique is very grateful for the opportunity to be a member of the McMaster Contemporary Dance Company.

Allison McAvella

Hometown: Burlington, Ontario
High School: Burlington Central High School
Program and Year: Life Sciences - Year 2
Years in Company: 1

Alison began taking ballet classes at the age of 4. She was advised to seek studio training and by the age of 13 had expanding her diversity in dance to ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, tap, musical theatre, hip hop, and pointe and had found her way to Linda Collins School of Dance. She completed her RAD ballet examinations up to grade 8 receiving honours with distinction and has been competing since the age of 7 at competitions across Ontario and the States. Throughout her competitive years Alison has won overalls for solos, duets, trios and group performances. This past year, Alison got to work with Leon Blackwood and Shane Simpson as they choreographed her competitive hip hop number. Throughout high school, Alison led the dance team with a group of fun energetic dancers. She is excited to continue her life as a dancer with a new group of students who share the same love for the art as she does!

Laura Tambosso

Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ontario
High School: Langstaff Secondary School & Neuchatel Junior College
Program and Year: Honours Kinesiology - Year 4
Years in Company: 3

Dance has been a part of Laura's life for as long as she can remember. She began dancing recreationally at the age of 6, and at the age of 8 she began dancing at Vlad's Dance Company, where she trained and competed for 10 years. Laura has been privileged to have had the opportunity to work with many amazing choreographers, including Vlad, Linda Garneau, and Derrick Yanford, to name a few. She has also been fortunate to be in pieces that have won awards across North America. During an enrichment year at Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland, Laura had the pleasure of choreographing pieces for the school's Evening of the Arts. Last year, Laura joined the McMaster Dance Company's contemporary company and had an amazing time continuing to dance in university. She participated in various community events, such as Sack in the City at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the company's fall and spring performances. Laura is excited to once again be in the Contemporary company and loves being able to share her joy of dance.

Derrick Yick

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
High School: Western Canada High School
Program and Year: Arts and Science - Year 2
Years in Company: 1

Derrick was first introduced to dance when he watched his sister in a jazz class while waiting with his mother. He started dancing the following year at the age of 7, eventually competing in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, and modern with Absolute Dance Inc. He has danced in multiple competitions and charity events throughout Alberta, and trained with many renowned choreographers through regional dance conventions and summer intensive programs. In 2008, he won a full convention scholarship from Triple Threat Dance Convention. In his final year of high school, Derrick joined Airborne Dance Centre where he was able to gain acro and hip hop experience as well. Derrick's performance experience includes the role of the Nutcracker in a pre-professional production of The Nutcracker and show performances at Calaway Park. At McMaster, he has danced at faculty performances and has also acted in student plays for Artsci Drama Night. Derrick is delighted to be a part of the McMaster Dance Company this year and is eager to continue dancing and to train with a new team.