Teachers

Anne Stephen began dancing at the late age of 19 in a recreational Adult class at the Eileen McGrath School of Dance. As a lover of dance, she quickly excelled and became a teacher with Eileen’s School in 1985. During this time, she completed several exams in Jazz , Tap and a professional designation with BATD. Opening Danceability in 1998, was the realization of a dream. Anne considers herself to be most fortunate to be surrounded by a wonderful staff and great students, and to have one of the best jobs in the world.

Heather is now entering into her 18th year teaching at Danceability, and now in her 2nd year as owner.  She educates her students in all styles including Jazz, Tap, Contemporary/Lyrical and Hip Hop, both for recreational & competitive students. Heather has choreographed many award winning routines, and picked up a few choreography awards along the way. Heather began dancing at the age of 4 at the Eileen McGrath School of Dance. At the age of nine she made it into her first troupe “Shoelaces”. From there she trained as a Teacher’s Assistant, choreographing routines, completed numerous exams and competed throughout eastern Canada and The New England States. Over the years she has had the pleasure of teaching hundreds of children and passing on her love of dance. She wouldn’t trade her dancers for the world and is extremely grateful for everyone that is, and ever was in her Danceability family.

Jaime has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She began her dancing career at Eileen McGrath’s School of Dance, where she had the honour of having Anne Stephen as her 1st dance teacher. Jaime began competing solos at the age of 8, being one of only a few competitive dancers at the time. She was asked to join the schools first dance troupe shortly after.

Jaime travelled to Montreal to compete a solo when she was 12 years old and came home with a 1st place. Throughout the years with her solos, duos and troupe dances, she has won numerous awards in competitions throughout Canada and the United States.

In 1997, she travelled with her dance school to Boston to compete and take part in workshops at Dance Olympus. Jaime also auditioned to do the Dance Olympus VIP summer tour. Hundreds auditioned and she made it (one of only 2 Canadians on the tour). She got to tour around the States (Orlando, Chicago, Boston, Houston and Las Vegas), dance at all the conventions and was part of the faculty shows, performing as a VIP. She was also an assistant to these choreographers during each convention. It was an opportunity of a lifetime having taken classes from, and assisting such choreographers as Frank Hatchett, Steven Boyd, Debbie Dee, Jo Rowan and Gregg Russell to name a few.

Jaime went through an extensive “teacher – in-training” program and did many exams with Al Gilbert and BATD. At the age of 16, Jaime was asked to become a dance teacher at Danceability when it opened it’s doors for the first time. It was then that her passion of choreographing and teaching became apparent. Her troupes have won many awards in Canada and the US and she has won numerous awards for her choreography.

Jaime has been a teacher with Danceability since day one! She is also a Dental Assistant! Jaime has been together with the love of her life for 25 years and married for 14 to her best friend John. Jaime has a daughter named Emma, who is in Expressions, one of our competitive dance troupes. Between school, dance and acro, Jaime couldn’t be a more proud mom!

Throughout the years, Jaime has been very fortunate to do what she loves and to be surrounded by positive, inspiring people. She is so very happy to share her passion with her students and so proud to be part of the Danceability family.

Karla started dancing at the age of 3 at Eileen McGrath’s school of dance. She continued to dance there until the age of 10 when she joined Danceability. Karla then went on to audition to be a part of one of danceability ‘s competitive troupes where she was then accepted into Expressions Dance Troupe. After that Dance quickly took over her life in the best way. If there was an opportunity to dance Karla took it! And that’s how she became a teacher’s assistant. From the age of 12 Karla assisted as many classes as she could learning as much as she could from all the great instructors that danceability had and still have today! Karla continued assisting classes until she was 18 when she became a teacher herself. Karla now teaches many classes from toddlers to competitive and loves every minute of it!

Throughout Karla’s 13 years in Expressions Dance Troupe she got the opportunity to compete in many competitions throughout the Maritimes and parts of the US winning numerous awards and taking as many workshops and classes as she could along the way. Karla has a huge passion for tap and she has successfully completed all her BATD tap exams in high standing. Karla loves teaching and sharing her love of dance. She only hopes that she can pass on her love for dance to her students as her teachers did for her. Karla is looking forward to another great year with Her Danceability family!

Karla has been trained in : Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip hop, Ballet and Portuguese folklore.

Vanessa began her dance training at the age of 5 at Eileen McGrath Dance Studio and joined Danceability when they opened their doors in 1998. She was accepted into the competitive program and joined Expressions dance troupe by the age of 9. Throughout her years competing she won numerous awards and completed her BATD exams in high standing.

Vanessa joined her love of dancing with her education whenever possible, choreographing routines for high school musicals and joining the UNB/STU Dance team in University. While on the team, Vanessa was a dancer, choreographer and a member of the executive for 4 years. Vanessa has enjoyed teaching various styles and ages at several schools including: Danceability, UNB Recreation and Dance Fredericton. Vanessa has continued to further her dance training with varied instructors in New York, Montreal, Calgary, Portland, Halifax and Saint John.

Vanessa is looking forward to another year at Danceability. Vanessa has been trained in the following styles: Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Ballet, Portuguese Folklore, and Latin.

Kathleen discovered her love of dance at the age of 6 at Eileen McGrath School of Dance, and it immediately took over her life. With the opening of Danceability in 1998, Kathleen joined the Assistant and Competitive Programs, dancing with her fellow “power players” in the Expressions Troupe for 15 years. Proud to be a Danceability Dancer, Alumnus, and Teacher for the last 10 years, Kathleen hopes to ignite the love of dance in the next generation of Danceability dancers!

Kathleen earned her BBA at the University of New Brunswick and now works full time at Imperial Theatre, feeding her passion for dance and the arts.

Styles Trained In: Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet, Theatre and Musical Theatre

Exams: BATD and Al Gilbert

Tori George began dancing at Theresa Giddings School of Dance at the age of 4. She moved over to Danceability under the direction of Anne Stephen when it opened in 1998 and joined the competitive program in 2000. In the same year, she began ballet training at Port City Dance Academy with Andrea Scott. During her competitive years, Tori had the opportunity to perform and train throughout the Maritimes, New England, and New York. She also performed in musicals at Saint Malachy’s Memorial High School under the direction of Carl Killen.

Tori has always had a passion for choreography but did not start teaching regularly until 2013 after finishing her B.Sc. at the University of Ottawa. She has taught Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Musical Theatre to across all age ranges and levels. She began to specialize in live theatre choreography in 2014 when she was hired as the choreographer for the Harbourview High School annual musicals. Since then she has worked on projects with local theatre groups and music videos for local musicians. Tori is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique Junior, Senior, and Advanced Programs, and the Sugarfoot Teacher Training Program.

Tori is passionate about training safely and sharing the love of dance with everyone. Apart from dance, Tori works in the investment industry, is a licensed makeup artist and lash technician and loves spending time with her husband and two Bernese Mountain dogs.

IG: @teej_mcqueen

Brittany started taking tap classes at the age of 3 at Eileen McGrath Dance Studio. She joined Danceability in 1999 and successfully auditioned for Expressions dance troupe in 2000. The next six years she spent travelling to Halifax, NYC, Maine and more local areas to compete in dance. On top of training and competing, Brittany had many opportunities to learn from some of the industries top teachers and also completed her BATD exams.

After high school, Brittany found her love of teaching dance to children in Hampton and eventually became the owner and creative director of Dance Factor. She works as an X-ray technologist and is a mom of three.

Over the years, Brittany has trained in the following styles: Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop.

Brittany made the move back to Danceability in 2017 and has had a fantastic time working with both competitive and recreational classes. She is looking forward to another fantastic year with Danceability dancers!

Erica Plagenz (Melvin) is overjoyed to share her love of dance with her hometown of Saint John. Erica has been dancing for 20+ years, with over 10 of them spent instructing. She joined the Danceability family in 2018 as an instructor, choreographer, and performer. Having participated in competitions across Canada and the United States winning numerous awards and acknowledgements, Erica has taken classes from top performers and professionals in the dance world. In addition to her work at Danceability, Erica has devoted her time to choreographing musicals for Simonds High School introducing the students to dance and the art of performing. She brings high energy and a strong work ethic to every class and performance. Erica is thrilled to share her passion and creativity with her students during another incredible dance season!

Darrah began dancing with Danceability at the age of 3 but was certainly not new to the sport when she spent many days in the studio watching her mom and older siblings. Darrah started competing at the age of 5 with “Dynamics” until age 11. Darrah moved to Dance Factor under the direction of her sister and competed until the age of 20. She travelled across the Maritimes, Maine, and New Hampshire to competitions where she had the opportunity to take workshops with many top choreographers!

Darrah started teaching by helping 3-6 year old classes at the age of 12 and became an instructor at the age of 14! She has taught classes of all ages including 3 competitive troupes, and has been fortunate enough to win multiple choreography awards between 2014-2017. Darrah joined us again in 2017 as an instructor and loves getting to continue her passion of teaching with the students of DA.

Darrah is a mom to Daxton, who at the age of 2 has also expressed his love of dance last year, joining tap class! Darrah’s love for working with children extends to her second job where she works one on one with children with ASD as a Behaviour Interventionist.

“I’m excited for the new season to begin and hope everyone has a wonderful year!”