Eric Abel

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

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.

Alana Bartolini

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
High School: Etobicoke School of the Arts
Program and Year: Bachelor of Health Sciences - Year 4
Years in Company - 3

Alana started dancing and competing at the age of 11 at The Dance Extension. She has trained in jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, lyrical, ballet, and acro, and graduated from the Etobicoke School of the Arts as a dance major. She has completed her RAD ballet examinations up to advanced 2, danced in the modern company, DancESAtion, and competed at many competitions across Canada and the US. Throughout her years of dance, Alana has won many overall solo awards and several scholarships with various companies. She has had the privilege to work with great choreographers such as Milton Meyers of Alvin Ailey, Danny Grossman and travel to New York for dance opportunities. She is very excited to be a part of the contemporary company this year with many other talented dancers!

Lisa Beasley

Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
High School: Cawthra Park Secondary School
Program and Year: Kinesiology - Year 3
Years in Company: 2

Lisa Beasley has danced since the age of eight at Can Dance Academy in Mississauga, Ontario and danced competitively with the company for the past eight years. In high school Lisa was thrilled to be accepted into the regional arts program at Cawthra Park, 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, tap, musical theater and some flamenco. Through Cawthra Park, Lisa is delighted to have been able to work with amazing choreographers and teachers such as 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.

Allana Beavis

Hometown: La Salle, Manitoba
High School: University of Winnipeg Collegiate
Program and Year: 1st year, Master of Science in Global Health
Years in Company: 4

Allana Beavis has been dancing since the age of nine at the School of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At thirteen, she auditioned for the Junior Professional Program of Modern Dance and then began pre-professional training to become a modern dancer. In addition, Allana has been trained in ballet, jazz and hip-hop. In addition to dancing with the Modern Company, Allana has trained and performed with the Urban Company. She also competed in the Ontario University Competition for Hip-Hop (OUCH) on the McMaster team in 2008 and 2010. Some of her choreographed works in the company have gained recognition at competitions here in Ontario. A piece about zombies came 2nd in the Large Group category at the Terpischore Competition in 2010 and another piece about woman abuse won 3rd in the Large Group category at the Strive Dance Competition in 2011.

Kaitlyn Boese

Hometown: Arnprior, ON
Program and Year: Bachelor of Health Sciences - year 3
Years in Company: 1

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

Bio coming soon!

Olivia Chubey

Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
High School: Cawthra Park Secondary School
Program: Honours Kinesiology - Year 3
Years in Company: 1

Olivia began dancing at the age of 12, after a 2 year stint in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She joined Just Dance studio starting with jazz and ballet and later developed a love for pointe, acro, and modern as well as competing with the studio. At Cawthra Park Secondary school dance program her passion for modern dance developed working with teachers/choreographers such as Belinda McGuire, Gino Berti, Darryl Tracey, Nicholas Villeneuve, Sharon Wong and many others. At Cawthra she performed many times including yearly springfest pieces, Mosaix pieces and in her last year she also choreographed for Mosaix. At her studio, she did year-end performances and taught/choreographed for a recreational teen jazz class. Olivia really enjoyed her first year with the company and is ecstatic to be back!

Michelle Dubinsky

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
High School: Earl Haig Secondary School
Program and Year: Biochemistry - Year 4
Years in Company: 3

Michelle has trained at Young Dancers of Canada, All That Dance and the Martha Hicks School of Ballet. She graduated from the Claude Watson Dance Program at Earl Haig Secondary School. Michelle has been teaching at dance camps for several years, and choreographing many styles of dance. She is in the process of choreographing pieces throughout the community. Michelle is grateful to have received training from many wonderful teachers, including Roz Ornstein, Angie Seto, Jody Osmond, Ice, and Faye Rauw.

Image coming soon!

Caitlin Elmslie

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
High School: Holy Trinity Catholic High School
Program and Year: Kinesiology - Year 4
Years in Company: New!

Caitlin began dancing recreationally at age 14 when one of her friends invited her to try a musical theatre class. She trained at the Loft School of Art and Dance in jazz, tap, lyrical and hip hop. To expand her technical knowledge, Caitlin also took ballet and conditioning classes at Allegro Danceworks. Dance became a big part of her life and Caitlin was given the opportunity to teach recreational jazz classes at the Loft. She was also a part of her high school’s dance troupe, performing at different events in the area. Since her first year at McMaster, Caitlin has been a dancer and choreographer for the McMaster Dance Club. She is excited to build on her experiences as a dancer by being a part of the Contemporary Company this year!

Fiona Haque

Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario
High School: Cawthra Park Secondary School
Program: Theatre& Film- Year Four
Years in Company: New!

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.

Amanda Hardinge

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

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

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.

Allison McAvella

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

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!

Taylor McCabe

Hometown: Georgetown, Ontario
High School: Georgetown District High School
Program and Year: Kinesiology - Year 4
Years in Company: 3

Taylor has been dancing since the age of 4 at the Halton Hills School of Dance in Georgetown where she studied ballet, jazz, and modern. With her studio she completed her RAD Advanced I ballet exam, performed in annual recitals and ballets, and traveled to Germany on a dance exchange. She was the winner of the Sonia Chamberlain Trophy in the HHSD Choreographic Competition four years in a row. Other dance experiences include classes at the School for the Toronto Dance Theatre and the Summer Dance Intensive (Sundance) Camp at the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre. With the company she has taught and choreographed for the former Junior Company and competed at University competitions and the ACDF. She has enjoyed performing at local events and MDC shows and is excited to do it all again this year! She is also the trainer for both the Urban and Contemporary companies.

Elana Mlotek

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Highschool: Branksome Hall
Program and Year: Humanities - Year 2
Years in Company: 1

Elana began dancing at the Canadian Children’s Dance Theatre in Toronto. She developed a strong connection to modern dance through an introduction to free movement, and at age 10 was accepted to the Young Apprentice Program under the artistic direction of Deborah Lundmark. Elana also studied ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance and received her Advanced 1 Ballet Diploma. She trained with Donna Krasnow and Arwyn Carpenter as well as many guest choreographers such as Danny Grossman, Coralee McLaren, Lawrence Lemieux, Daryl Tracy, Andrea Nann, Brendan Wyatt and Carol Anderson. Elana was accepted as an apprentice with CCDT Company in 2008 where she understudied works by choreographers Holly Small and Gerry Trentham. She has performed at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront’s Music Garden, Winchester Street Theatre, Harbourfront Fleck Theatre and trained for 4 years in the Sundance summer intensive where she presented 3 of her own works.

Olivia Stille

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
High School: Bell High School
Program and Year: Commerce – Year 5
Years in Company: 4

Olivia is in her last year of an Honours Commerce program, and is so excited to be back with the McMaster Dance Company! After a year hiatus from dance at Mac while on an internship with IBM Canada, Olivia has returned for her fourth year of dancing in the Contemporary Company. Before her years at McMaster Olivia danced at Greta Leeming Studio of dance in Ottawa, where she completed her RAD Intermediate ballet exam, and competed in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical across the continent. Since joining the McMaster Dance Company she has grown tremendously as a dancer and made some of her closest friends. With the Company Olivia has traveled to New York and Virginia for the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) and has worked with Heidi Strauss among other amazing choreographers.

Adina Strom

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
High School: Earl Haig Secondary School
Program and Year: Community Member
Years in Company: 6

Adina has trained at Interplay School of Dance and Earl Haig Secondary school in the Clause Watson program. At both of these schools she trained in ballet, jazz, and modern under the instruction of such teachers as Roz Ornstein, Tara Blight, and Faye Rauw. Since beginning university at McMaster Adina has also trained at various drop-in dance studios in Toronto such as Metro Movement, O.I.P. Dance Centre, and Dance Teq where she has continued to learn under amazing teachers and choreographers. During her undergraduate years at McMaster, Adina was originally a member of the McMaster modern dance company, McMaster jazz company, and eventually the McMaster contemporary company. She is looking forward to being a community member this year and being able to continue dancing with the company.

Laura Tambosso

Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ontario
High School: Langstaff Secondary School & Neuchatel Junior College
Program and Year: Honours Kinesiology - Year 3
Years in Company: 2

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.