Season 5 kicks off September 10th
Miss Maggie
Owner/Artistic Director
Maggie is the owner and artistic director of Fortitude Dance Centre. She began her dance training at the tender age of three and has enjoyed her journey and development ever since. She started with fundamental ballet and jazz classes but it did not take long for her passion to branch out into different dance forms such as musical theatre, lyrical, hip hop, and tap, at both the recreational and competitive levels. To further her training, Maggie enrolled in the dance program at York University where she took a variety of courses, with a focus on dance science and education.
Along with her dance training, Maggie has years of choreographing and teaching experience. Starting as an assistant instructor in her teenage years, she went on to teach for elementary and high schools, the City of Barrie, and various dance studios throughout Simcoe County. Many of her competitive routines have won special awards and overall high score awards at dance competitions across Ontario.
It has always been Maggie’s dream to own a studio and after years of hard work, she is more than thrilled to finally see that dream come to life. She looks forward to sharing her love of dance with all of her students, in a fun and safe environment, at Fortitude Dance Centre!
Miss Jenn
Instructor
Miss Jenn first found her passion for dance at the age of two when she began taking ballet classes at the local recreation centre in Barrie. She quickly fell in love and moved to a studio where she expanded her studies in other styles including jazz, musical theatre, hip hop, tap, pointe and lyrical, taking part in both the recreational and competitive programs.
Beginning in her late teens, Miss Jenn began assisting dance classes in the Barrie area and later taught classes of her own in Windsor. During this time, Miss Jenn attended multiple conventions in Detroit and Toronto, studying under Desmond Richardson, Tessandra Chavez, Brian Friedman, Tyce DiOrio, Chris Judd, Mia Michaels, Stephen “Twitch” Boss, and many more!
Miss Jenn has always felt at home in the studio! She is excited to be teaching at Fortitude Dance Centre and cannot wait to share her passion and love for dance with every student in her classroom!
Miss Breeanna
Instructor
Miss Bree has been dancing since the age of three, performing in just about every style possible, recreationally and competitively. As most young ones usually do, her passion for dance started with tap and jazz and quickly transformed to the need to attempt every genre dance had to offer.
In her final year of high school, she became the host of a weekly television show on Rogers TV. She then excelled in Toronto’s Seneca College acting program, and dipped her toes in the acting world for a few years, appearing in many TV shows, movies, and commercials.
Miss Bree’s love for dance never faltered and although she remained a substitute dance instructor throughout her acting years, she wanted to return to her roots. She began taking as many classes and workshops as she could to help hone her skills so she could excel as a dance instructor. Miss Bree earned her Module 1 certification in Acrobatic Arts, and is on her way to being fully certified in Module 2.
Miss Bree joined a not-for-profit dance troupe that performs in many different dance shows throughout Simcoe County and she also holds the title of ‘Volunteer Coordinator’ for a professional dance festival in Barrie called ‘Dusk Dances’. Miss Bree cannot wait to bend over backwards (literally) for her dancers at Fortitude Dance Centre!
Miss Brianna
Instructor
Brianna embarked on her journey in dance at the young age of 3, and around the age of 9 began performing at a competitive level. She has had the opportunity to train in various disciplines, including hip hop, tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, and contemporary. Though Brianna appreciates every style, she was drawn to the expression tap dancing offers, along with the rhythms that she could make with her “happy feet”.
With a strong desire to remain current and excel with the latest trends, Brianna continues to actively participate in conventions, workshops, and tap dance festivals. She has been fortunate to take classes with many professional tap dancers, such as: Antony Morguerati, and Danny Neilson, among others. One
of Brianna's greatest accomplishments is her intensive training she endured before competing in Germany on the Canadian Tap Team. Aside from tap dancing, Brianna has also choreographed and danced in a music video for a Lady Gaga impersonator. When Brianna isn’t in the studio, she enjoys flying around the
world as a flight attendant, which has given her the ability to attend drop-in dance classes at venues such as the Broadway Dance Center in New York City.
Brianna has always enjoyed sharing her love and passion for dance with others, and as a result, began assisting with classes at her studio at a very young age. She then started to take on other teaching roles: at a youth summer camp, as well as creating a dance team of her own at her high school, which she managed and choreographed pieces for.
To further her education as a dance instructor, she recently participated in a course at the Tap Dance Center which explored the fundamentals of the newest Canadian tap syllabus. Brianna will forever be a student herself, and is enthusiastically continuing her studies at the Tap Dance Center and the Rhythm
Ensemble. She can’t wait to tap her way through the season with her students at Fortitude Dance Center, one click at a time!
Coach Rachael
Instructor
Coach Rachael has always had a passion for athletics. Growing up she played a wide variety of sports, both recreationally and competitively. Some of her most notable coaches were professionals in their sport. It was through them that she realized that sports conditioning is equally as beneficial to an athlete as practicing the sport.
It is Coach Rachael’s goal to help her dancers realize their fullest potential; and in order to do so, strength training is a necessity. Through conditioning, her dancers will build strength, flexibility, endurance and coordination. They will strengthen supporting muscles, stabilize joints and increase mobility.
Coach Rachael’s motto is “I can and I will” and she takes this attitude into every class with the hopes that her dancers will also adopt it. After all, our attitude towards life is a great predictor of the outcome!