The Premiere Team

A dancer her entire life, Lisa began teaching at Premiere Dance Academy in September of 1984. In September of 1999, she became the Owner and Artistic Director of the studio.

Lisa keeps very busy with teaching, choreographing, and her two daughters, who are both Competitive dancers. She also spends time adjudicating for various professional dance competitions all across Canada.

Lisa has had a very successful career in the performing arts. She choreographed the opening ceremonies of the World Police and Fire Games in 1997 and the Calgary Hitmen Anniversary Home Opener Opening Ceremonies in 2014. Additionally, she holds the position of co-director for the Hats Off Management Group.

She has been on set for various large-scale productions and has been acknowledged with many prestigious awards for her exceptional talents.

Lisa wrote the Calgary Board of Education Accredited Student Dance Teacher Training Program to create well-trained assistant and student dance teachers. She is thrilled to do what she does best; work with the dancers, create new pieces, and watch Premiere Dance Academy students grow into talented and inspired performers.

Ms. Laura has been dancing since the age of 2, training and dancing competitively for 12 years, including time spent performing with the Young Canadians. Throughout her dancing career, Laura received numerous dance scholarships, including the Jamie Hill memorial trophy, and is a proud Alumni of Premiere Dance Academy.

Laura has been teaching dance for the last 10 years to share her love and passion for dance with her students. She cares very much about the success of her students, both within dance and in their lives, and hopes to inspire young dancers to pursue their dreams.

Her choreography has been recognized at several competitions and her students have continuously seen success and growth with each passing year.

Todd Svecla found an early love for drama in high school and enjoyed working backstage for various productions. He was happy to step into the role of managing behind-the-scenes activities for Premiere Dance Academy after his marriage to Lisa.

Todd is a natural fit for the role as he has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Calgary and extensive experience running a business. He is available to answer any financial questions you may have regarding your account and handles general business details of the studio.

AJ started developing her love and passion for dance at Premiere Dance Academy when she was only 3 years old. She has trained in various styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Street Jazz and Lyrical. At the age of 7 she joined the competitive team and has won many overall awards and scholarships. Throughout the years she has expanded her training through participating in workshops, intensives, and dancing at different facilities such as Broadway Dance Center in New York. Dance has taught AJ the importance of hard work, dedication, and responsibility and she has enjoyed sharing these same lessons with her students throughout her years as a teacher and choreographer.

AJ has recently completed her Bachelor of Commerce Majoring in Operations Management at the University of Calgary. She is excited to step into her new role as Office Manager here at Premiere, the very place where she was moulded into the dancer and person she is today.

Ashleigh has been a part of the Premiere family since she was 3 years old and is very excited to be joining us as office assistant this season. Trained in disciplines such as ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, street jazz, musical theatre, and acro, she is a valued member of our team. Ashleigh has attended many workshops and has been competing since she was 5 and has won many scholarships. She joined us last season to start her teaching journey and is now joining us behind the desk to assist us with clerical work.

Miss Olivia has been dancing at Premiere Dance Academy since the age of 5 and started dancing competitively at 7. Trained in a plethora of disciplines such as jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, musical theatre, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, and street jazz, she is excited to share what she knows with others as well as bringing new ideas to Premiere. Olivia is known for bringing energy and positivity to the stage and studio. She has attended many workshops and has won numerous scholarships including dancing in Disneyland. On top of dancing Olivia is an actor. Her acting classes have assisted her with all genres and being able to grasp a better understanding of how important performance quality is. Being a dancer all her life, with multiple years of student teaching training, Olivia is honoured and thrilled to begin her teaching career! Premiere Dance Academy is and will always be Olivia’s second family and she is excited to welcome and inspire more students each year!

Rae-Lee is a dance instructor who is devoted to aspiring young dance artists. Her goal is to create healthy and enthusiastic dancers who love art and will positively influence the world of dance. Rae-Lee began her ballet and contemporary training in Alberta at Crossings Dance Studio. She danced for six years in Corps Bara Dance Youth Company, travelling around Alberta, Toronto, and New York City. In 2012, she began her training in contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University, where she furthered her skills in modern dance and choreographic composition. Rae-Lee moved to Toronto in 2014 to learn from renowned faculty at Canada’s National Ballet School’s Teacher Training Program. During her training at NBS, she obtained her teaching qualifications with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and the Royal Academy of Dance. In 2017, Rae-Lee graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Contemporary dance from Simon Fraser and her Teacher Training Diploma. Rae-Lee is excited to work and learn with the dancers and faculty at Premiere Dance this year! 

Cailyn has been dancing for 14 years and dancing competitively for 10. During her dance career, she received scholarships from different organizations recognizing her talents and love for dance. She has completed her Advanced 1 RAD ballet exam. Cailyn spent the summer of 2019 dancing with Calaway Live and she performed in Disneyland in 2014. Cailyn is beyond excited to share her passion with her students and looks forward to their success. 

Megan Daniels was born in Saskatoon and came to Calgary 7 years ago to pursue a career as a professional contemporary and ballet dancer. After dancing with several small companies throughout Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, she decided to venture into teaching and fell in love with it right away. As a teenager, she was fortunate to train professionally at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and spent a few years in her early 20&30s dancing as an aspirant with the RWB company.

It was during those years that she realized that movement and dance are her life and she now feels so lucky that she is able to make her living teaching these things to others. Megan fell in love with the people and energy of Calgary as soon as she got here and now works full-time as a ballet and yoga instructor in the city. She is delighted to be a part of the Premiere Dance Faculty and pass along her love of ballet to the eager young dancers of Premiere Dance Academy!

Connor Denison is an award-winning tap dancer, choreographer and teacher and has had the honor to teach and perform at a multitude of studios, workshops, and festivals across Western Canada as faculty, guest artist, and choreographer. Growing up as a company member of Calgary’s Tri-Tone Rhythm Ensemble he has had the opportunity to study the history of Tap Dance, learn repertoire of the masters, as well as participate in the development of new contemporary works under the artistic direction of Tasha Lawson. Connor is also a graduate of the Tri-Tone teacher training program.

Highlighted performance credits include touring BC with the cast of “Love.Be.Best.Free” (Danny Nielsen), dancing as a lead in “Caravan” (Derick Grant and Tasha Lawson) and performing in “The Cholly Project” in Vancouver (Travis Knights). Recently Connor was featured in Danny Nielsen’s full-length production “On Foot,” premiering in the fall of 2019. In the fall of 2020 Connor was an understudy in Lisa Latouche’s piece “Fool’s Gold” presented by Fall For Dance.

In the spring of 2019 Connor began producing his own work entitled “Fourteen”. Audiences were later captivated in the summer of 2020 and 2021 when Connor was given the opportunity to extend the piece into a half hour set, presented by Springboard receiving rave reviews from industry professionals. Connor is currently developing the set into his first full length show.

Haley has been dancing for 18 years. She started off taking Tap and Ballet and very quickly discovered her passion for dance and started incorporating many other genres throughout her early years of training. Throughout the years Haley has had the opportunity to train in many genres including Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Acrobatics, Musical Theatre and Hip Hop. At the age of 8 Haley became a competitive dancer and attended competitions both locally and internationally. She has loved having the opportunity to train and compete. Haley is continuing her training and is always looking for ways to expand her knowledge as a dancer and teacher.

Haley realized that dance was something she wanted to pursue when she furthered her training at her former dance studio. During those years of her extensive training she performed in many shows and musicals, took part in many competitions, and attended several conventions with some of the most remarkable choreographers across Canada and The United States.

After many years of specialized training in technical genres of dance Haley decided to take part in ILLFX education to further her knowledge in dance and to learn more about Hip Hop. Haley has had the opportunity to compete at many prestigious competitions some including, Dancers Paradise in Mexico, Monsters of Hip Hop in California and Artists Emerge in Vancouver.

Haley has completed many Adapt and RAD exams over her years of training and has also completed her Acrobatic Arts Module 1 Course. In addition to being a competitive dancer she has also performed in musicals with the Calgary Dance Express.

Haley has learned so much about dance over the years and has been so inspired by all the wonderful teachers and peers she has had the opportunity to work with. She is very passionate about dance and teaching and believes that anything is possible with hard work and dedication. Haley hopes to inspire her students to become the best dancers and people they can be.

Alli George is a 2013 BA Alumni of the University of Calgary Department of Dance. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Science degree in Kinesiology with a research focus of injury prevention in youth dancers at the University of Calgary.

She began her dance training at the age of 10, at Danceworks Dance Academy of Lethbridge. As she trained over the years, dance became a serious passion; it is something she cannot live without. George has been trained in many forms of dance including contemporary/modern, ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop. She has been choreographing and demonstrating since 2002, and teaching since 2005. She is always looking to broaden her expertise and experience.

She performed and taught repertoire with the youth modern dance company Inturns based out of Danceworks Dance Academy in Lethbridge until 2008. She spent 2008-2009 training in Graham technique and performing in Toronto with a variety of instructors and choreographers including Daryl Tracy, Johanna Bergfelt, Wendy Chiles, Heidi Strauss, Michael Trent Kate Stashko, and Sarah Lochhead. She then returned to Alberta to pursue her degree in dance at the UofC. George now teaches and choreographs locally for community and studio dancers.

George has an Exercise Science diploma from Lethbridge College. She is a Certified Personal Trainer with the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP). Her passion for fitness, and the art and movement of dance allow her to create fun, interesting, high-energy classes and choreographic works. She is always very excited to share her knowledge and love of dance with anyone who wants to learn.

Miss Marlea began dancing at the age of four. Her love for dance quickly grew as she trained in the genres of ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, tap, and hip hop. After many years of dancing, her love for dance expanded into a passion for teaching.

Miss Marlea has been teaching for nine years and currently has an Associate Degree in Modern and Tap through the ISTD and is a certified PBT instructor. She has completed dance exams through the ISTD up to and including Intermediate Ballet, Gold Jazz, Intermediate Modern and Advanced 2 Tap.

Miss Marlea loves to help inspire and shape young minds and bodies to reach their full potential and be creative through movement. She focuses on proper technique training and making sure that dancers have a well-rounded base to build on throughout their dancing careers. She has traveled around the world to help expand her knowledge and training and is looking forward to using this information to help her students.

Miss Marlea has continued to be a student throughout these years and grow her technique, not only as a dancer but as an instructor as well. Always taking on new opportunities and challenges to become more creative and broaden her areas of specialties.

Ms. Jennalee started dancing at the age of 3 and never looked back. She has trained extensively in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, and hip hop. 

Ms. Jennalee has attended numerous ballet summer schools including the National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Goh Ballet, and the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. She obtained her Advanced II RAD as well as her Intermediate ISTD.

Ms. Jennalee has attended many conventions and has progressed her dance studies at Harbour Dance Centre, The Edge in Los Angeles, and in New York City.

Ms. Jennalee has been teaching and choreographing in and around Calgary since 2006 and has taught at Premiere Dance Academy since 2008. Ms. Jennalee received a Broadcasting Diploma from Mount Royal University and recently completed a Communications degree at the University of Calgary.

Stephanie is a recent graduate from Saint Francis High School. She has been dancing since the age of three at Premiere in various disciplines such as ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, acro, contemporary, and street jazz. She has been competing since the age of five winning numerous awards and scholarships. Stephanie joined the Premiere faculty as a choreographer in 2019. Stephanie is very excited to pass on her knowledge of dance onto the next generation.

Melissa was born and raised in Invermere, British Columbia where she enrolled in ballet at 3 years old. Growing up she trained and competed in various styles of dance specializing in Jazz, Tap, and Ballet. After graduating high school in 2013, she travelled to Toronto to begin working on her Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers (ADAPT) certification, which she graduated from in July 2015. Melissa completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in dance with a concentration in Pedagogy in June of 2019. During her university career, she performed with the Young Canadians of the Calgary Stampede, which gave her a multitude of performance opportunities, including the 2015 Trans Alta Grandstand show “A Canadian Classic”. She has worked with, performed, and trained with dance companies in Calgary including ‘The Show Company’ and ‘Illfx Education’. She has also trained with The University of Calgary Cheerleaders who are competitive stunt team. In recent years, Melissa has had the opportunity to perform in music videos with country band Leaving Thomas and new Calgary artist Mak London. Melissa is still growing as a performer, and teacher. The dance world is vast, and she is continuing to educate herself so she is always growing for and with her students. Her focus is on foundational technique and educating students where the root of each style originates from. She is a huge advocate for dance injury prevention and safety for her students. She also encourages students to explore their own creativity. 

Morgan was born and raised in Prince George, British Columbia where she began her dance career at age 3. She danced in many genres throughout the years including jazz, tap, hip hop, ballet, acro, and modern/contemporary but found particular enjoyment and success in jazz and contemporary, receiving both local and provincial recognition in these genres. After graduating high school with honours in 2021, she accepted a seat in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Program at the University of Calgary where she is currently studying. Outside of her studies, Morgan is working on her certificate in Safe Dance Practice and is also a member of the Corps Bara II dance company in Calgary. Morgan has been teaching dance since 2015. She enjoys teaching children of all ages at both the recreational and competitive levels and has found success at the provincial level for her choreography. Morgan loves to pass on her joy and love of dance to her students!

Chantelle grew up in Cranbrook B.C. There she started dancing and fell in love with it. After completing her Royal Academy of Dance exams, she attended summer intensives with Ballet Jorgen and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She has competed twice at the B.C provincials as a ballet soloist in 2019 and 2021. Currently Chantelle teaches dance at multiple studios and dances as a company member with En Corps Dance Collective and Ballet Bodies YYC. Chantelle wishes to dance and teach for as long as she can, inspiring those around her.

Originally from Sherwood Park Alberta, Shae developed a love for dance at a young age. Starting her dance training with the Sherwood Park School of Dance, she won numerous awards as well as scholarships in competitions all over Alberta. Shae truly found her passion for ballet as a child when she was given the opportunity to dance with The Alberta Ballet in such productions as The Nutcracker, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At the age of 12 she decided to pursue her dream in ballet and auditioned for The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. By 13 years old, she moved away from home to Winnipeg to pursue her ballet career. As a student in the school, she was given many great opportunities to dance in such productions as In Concert, First Steps (where she had a chance to choreograph on peers), Concert Hour and Ballet In The Park.

Upon graduation from The RWB Professional Division in 2014, Shae decided to explore contemporary by training with The Toronto Dance Theatre. Joining the RWB Aspirant program at the age of 18, she danced with the RWB company in Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, and David Suzuki’s Blue Dot Tour to name a few. Some of her favourite highlights of these years were dancing alongside Evelyn Hart, studying at The New Zealand School of dance and touring Canada with The RWB. Since a hip injury took a turn in her ballet career, she has since gone back to school working towards her Legal Assistant Diploma as well as attending the Teacher Training Program at the RWB. The journey of teaching for her has been at numerous dance studios in previous years, one of which being with the RWB. Shae is very excited to be teaching and sharing her passion for dance!

Sonia is a dancer, a dance instructor and Bollywood fitness instructor.

She has been dancing since she was 5 years old in France: ballet, modern, hip-hop and jazz. For the last 8 years, she has been performing Bollywood with a fantastic company in Calgary. She has performed on big stages such as the Jubilee Auditorium, the Grey Eagle, The Bella Concert Hall, the Jack Singer Hall and the Stampede Corral.

She’s been sharing her joy of dancing with adults and children for more than 12 years (in France, Gabon, the Netherlands and Canada). There is not one day when she doesn’t dance! Whether while driving, cooking, teaching classes or with both her children, she dances daily!

When she is not dancing, she’s coaching parents to help them eliminate the parenting overwhelm, burn-out, the guilt and anger, so they can parent stress-free with more joy & confidence.

Dana is thrilled to be teaching at Premiere. She has always loved teaching dance as a way to share her passion for lifelong learning and artistry.

Dana has been a student of multiple styles for 25 years and a teacher for 12 years. Her repertoire includes: Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre and Acro. She began dance at age 5, but her love for dance blossomed when she joined the Competition Team at Premiere Dance Academy.

Her teenage years brought many performance opportunities and recognition, individually and as a group on the competitive stage. Her summers were spent performing shows with Calaway Live where she sharpened her acting and performance skills.

She had the opportunity to train in Los Angeles on scholarship and also at Pineapple Dance Studios in London, England. She has spent time training at the Edge Performing Arts Center in L.A., as well as, Broadway Dance Center in New York. Locally, she has worked with O2 The Dance Company, as well as En Corps Dance Collective.

To this day, you can find Miss Dana working on a variety of projects. Whether it’s dancing with her BachataKiz team, choreographing music videos for Rebel Path or performing live with bands like Yves the Talent or at Miss Candy’s Variety Show.

Dana is so excited to bring excitement, fun and challenge to the classroom, and share the joy of dance with her students.

Miss Paige is a dancer and mover with a “Type A” personality who does not take things too seriously. Her background in a small city and fun-loving and positive personality deeply influences her movement and work. She is a recent graduate from the dance program at Simon Fraser University and has received a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She has worked primarily on live performance projects and has some experience in film and television. She enjoys collaboration and embraces leadership roles – in both arts and non-arts situations – that allow her to support a culture of kindness and play. Paige is very excited to share her knowledge and make fun memories with her students.