Linda J. Leowinata

Artistic Director

Known for her lyrical musicality as a dancer, choreographer and dance educator, Linda imbues her students with her love of dance and her life-long motto of "dancing with the heart".

Using her strong ballet foundation Linda has choreographed several major ballets and experimental pieces in collaboration with other dancers and musicians of traditional and modern genres from Canada, USA, China, Japan, Singapore and her native Indonesia. Her full-length ballet choreographies include The Doll Shop; Lileo si Burung Kutilang (Lileo the Kutilang Bird); Fusion I and II; Peace in the New Century; Dancing Under the Stars; Ariel, Save the Sea; No Place Like Home; The Butterfly Friends; and The Jewels. Linda's work has won numerous awards at dance festivals and competitions.

Since starting Poise Dance in September 2013, Linda has created three successful ballet/dance productions: The Flower Garden (2014), The Ugly Duckling (2015), and Peter Pan (2016) featuring dozens of Poise student dancers aged 2.5 years and up.

Linda holds ballet-teaching certificates from the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), London, England. Her students have consistently achieved high grades and honours in their RAD exams, and received prestigious recognitions for their dancing quality in performances and competitions since 1987. Many of them now dance and teach across Canada as well as in Australia, Indonesia, China, and the USA.

Linda maintains her lifelong passion for dance by continuously honing her skills with new developments. In July 2015, Linda added to her resume by becoming an Acrobatic Arts Certified teacher.

In 2016, Linda completed and received the certification of the Progressing Ballet Technique, an innovative program developed by Marie Walton-Mahon for students to understand the depth of training muscle memory in achieving their personal best in classical ballet.

Linda can be contacted directly at
artisticdirector@poisedance.ca

Raffaele Brereton

Hip Hop Teacher

It wasn't until high school that Raffaele Brereton also known as Raffaele GETMAD B. discovered and embraced his talent and love for dance. Self taught, Raffaele mimicked iconic figures and groups of the 1990's and early 2000's as well as trained with peers to expand his knowledge, understanding, and skill set of dance and continues to do so.

Training and continuous practice has allowed Raffaele to perform on small and large scale stages such as the International Indian Film Festival (IFFA) for international group RDB in 2011, America's Next Top Model Toronto Showcase with Canadian artist Trish in 2012, dancing out of the Air Canada Centre for the Toronto Raptors and taking his talents to film as one of the featured male dancers in the LifeTime BioPic of the late RnB phenomenon Aaliyah Dana Haughton titled - Aaliyah: Princes of RnB.

Raffaele has also made appearances in multiple music videos with artists such as Jully Black, Divine Brown, General, Cascada, and Machel Montano to men-tion a few; selected as 1 of 240 across Canada for So You Think You Can Dance Canada Sea-son 4 finals week; a founding member of the Toronto based all male dance crew The Original Gentlemen (The O.G. Crew) and the urban hybrid group, Miscellum Dance Collective (MDC).

Raffaele's commitment to self-improvement and passion for dance continues to motivate and push him to strive for more.

Jewel Cormier

Acro Teacher

Jewell discovered her love for dance at the age of seven and was a competitive dancer for 10 years, training extensively in ballet, acrobatics, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre, and lyrical. She completed the RAD ballet examinations to the Advanced 2 level as well as PAEC acrobatics examinations to the Pre-Professional level. Throughout her competitive career, Jewell additionally trained as an apprentice with Simcoe Contemporary Dancers which gave her the opportunity to train, perform, and choreograph amongst professional dancers. She is now a guest artist with the company.

Jewell's passion for dance led to an interest in teaching and choreography. She has taught both recreational and competitive classes in a large variety of styles to all ages of dancers. She has taught in her hometown of Newmarket at In Harmony Dance where she grew up dancing, as well as running classes through the Town of Newmarket and the Town of East Gwillumbury. She is thrilled to now be a teacher at Poise Dance Academy, where she looks forward to sharing her passion with all of her students.

Jewell has begun to immerse herself in the professional dance industry by attending workshops and intensives to further her knowledge in dance and teaching, and has performed in a number of local projects and shows. These include Dasin Dance’s The Four Seasons Project, Simcoe Contemporary Dancers’ Cumulonimbus and the Fable Keepers, Inception High Tea & Performances, Dusk Dances Barrie, and more. Jewell is now going into her second year of studying at Ryerson University's Performance Dance Program.

Kaitlin Kawam

Acro, Jazz, Contemporary Teacher

Growing up in a small town, Kaitlin began her dance training at the age of three, and has been dancing ever since. She has trained and competed in all styles of dance both nationally and internationally, winning multiple awards and titles.

Kaitlin is now a Toronto-based dancer who has performed at many events around the city including Let the Elephants Dance, an arts- based fundraiser for mental health and as an opening act in the “I Am Blake McGrath” Promo Tour.

She continues to further her dance training, attending weekly drop in classes as well as being a member of DARK Dance Company. Kaitlin has been teaching all genres of dance for six years to students ranging from age two to eighteen. She is a certified BATD jazz, tap and ballet teacher and has her Acrobatique Junior and Intermediate Level certification.

Currently, she is studying Life Sciences at the University of Toronto, majoring in Global Health. Kaitlin aspires to share her love of dance with all of her students and allow each and every one of them to grow and reach their fullest potential.

Crystal Finn-Dunn

Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Tap Teacher

Crystal Star Finn-Dunn B.F.A. is a diverse, emerging dance artist. She has performed across Toronto in shows such as Ted Talks, the Pan-American Games, Nuit Blanche, Gadfly’s Urban Dance Symposium (TUDS), Breakin’ Convention, MonstrARTity, Funkbox NYC, Your Dance Fest and New Blue Dance Festival. Internationally, she has performed with Culture Shock Toronto (CSTO) in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with Danny Fernandes on tour in China, and New York City at Ladies of Hip Hop with FlowHER House Collective. Her international TV performance debuted at the 8th Annual HUM Awards in July 2018.

Crystal has over 21 years of training through recreational and competitive studio practice in the styles of ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, lyrical, acro, hip hop and musical theatre. Crystal is a graduate of York University specializing in ballet and modern, and performance and choreography, presenting her contemporary choreography on various stages at York.

Crystal's classical and contemporary training has manifested into her practice of street styles hip hop, house, waacking, popping, and locking. Through battling in street dance she has placed in the selected brackets multiple times including Ladies of Hip Hop, Marquee Madness (San Jose) and made finals in the Urban Hip Hop Union’s battle DEVO for All-Styles, and Tap Water Jam (Montreal) for House. In 2017, she took the opportunity to train for five weeks throughout Europe practicing a wide range of techniques and learning from masters of said styles. In February 2018, she founded FlowHER House Collective, a women-based street dance collective focused in the style of house dance.

Stella Leowinata

Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Acro Teacher

Stella Leowinata started ballet when she was 3 years old and found her growing passion leading her to the professional ballet program at Canada's National Ballet School at the age of 11.

She graduated in 2014, earning the Governor General's Academic Medal and with valuable dancing experience including the lead child role, Marie, in the National Ballet of Canada's production of The Nutcracker.

Stella performed in the school's productions of Giselle, Sleeping Beauty in annual spring showcases and numerous pieces in the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Workshops. She participated in summer exchanges in Cannes, France with L'Ecole Superieure de Danse de Cannes and in Copenhagen, Denmark with the Royal Danish Ballet.

Following the completion of high school, Stella continued her dance education at Central School of Ballet in London, England as a company member of their annual UK tour and worked with choreographers Christopher Bruce, Kit Holder, Mikaela Polley, and Christopher Marney. Stella earned her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Professional Dance and Performance from the University of Kent in 2015.

Stella received a certificate in completing the Progressing Ballet Technique course, an innovative program developed by Marie Walton-Mahon for students to understand the depth of training muscle memory in achieving their personal best in classical ballet. She also received certification from Acrobatic Arts to teach acrobatic movements.

Katherine Mascarin

Acro Teacher

Katherine is a graduate of George Brown College in the Fitness and Lifestyle Management Course. She is also a graduate of the Humber College Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist Assistant Program. During her internship she has worked at several facilities: Bodymed Clinic as a Physiotherapist Assistant, Southlake Regional Health Care as an Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant, Maple Health Care & Rehab as a Physiotherapist Assistant and at St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital as an Occupational Therapist Assistant.

Katherine's passion for dance led her to teaching dance classes which she has been doing for the past 11 years in Acro, Jazz, and Ballet to students ages 3 to adults as well as coaching competitive teams at multiple studios for the past 10 years. Her students have won many awards at dance competitions and overall standings in dance offs.

Katherine continues to increase her knowledge and skills of dance by regularly attending workshops, seminars and classes. She is an Associate member of Performing Arts Educators of Canada for both Acro and Jazz. She has her Full Membership with Acrobatic Arts Canada.

Katherine Olsen

Ballet Teacher

Katherine began her intensive dance training in Panama, Central America where she studied at the Maruja Herrera Academia de la Danza. It was here that Katherine developed a deep love for ballet and the classical arts.

In June of 2016, Katherine graduated with distinction from the Teacher Training Program at Canada's National Ballet School where she received the Sylvia McPhee Award for outstanding achievement and citizenship. She is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and is an associate with the ISTD in National folk dance.

Katherine enjoys working with dancers of all ages and abilities. In her teaching, she stresses the foundations of classical technique, but also believes that artistry and individuality are key in the development of a well-rounded dancer. Therefore, she seeks to plan structured, yet creative classes that build technical strength while fostering a love of music, movement, and imagination.

As an educator, it is her belief that she should not only be a strong role model, but also learn and grow from her students. Katherine is determined to create an atmosphere of discipline, yet open- mindedness and joy: a place where movement is governed, yet liberated by the human spirit.

Bronwyn Roberts

Ballet Teacher

Bronwyn started dancing at the age of three in her home province of Prince Edward Island. She trained in RAD ballet, jazz and theatre dance and later moved on to training in contemporary and modern dance at Simon Fraser University.

Currently she is a Toronto based dancer and teacher entering her third year as a student at Canada's National Ballet School in their Teacher Training program. She has had a passion for dance and arts education for many years working in both recreational and professional settings.

Bronwyn also has a passion for arts integration and has taught arts based programming at the science enrichment program SHAD. Her work has been recognized nationally and in 2017 Bronwyn was named a TD Scholar for her community leadership.

Tamerra Herres

Acro, Contemporary Teacher

Tamerra Herres has spent a generous part of her life immersed in the dance world, where she has spent over 20 years in the industry. Upon her high school graduation in Canada, she then traveled to the state of California where she trained and competed with the US company Dance Precisions. Shortly after, Tamerra received a full professional dance scholarship through the EDGE Performing Arts Centre in Los Angeles where she trained under some of the industries finest choreographers in multiple styles of dance.

In her extensive career as a professional dancer, Tamerra has had the opportunity to perform for the likes of Nelly Furtado, Canadian rapper Shad and Disney Tokyo in Japan amongst others. Her talent and dedication has also presented her with opportunities to work on projects with Universal Studios Hollywood, Fashion Arts Toronto, the Capezio Ace Awards and the Toronto Fringe Festival. Over the years she has blossomed into a well versed teacher, coach and choreographer with her artistry denoting strong aspects of storytelling, refined athleticism, and use of transitional staging and imagery. Her movement quality is very much inspired and influenced by human intention in its many forms and is guided by layers of musicality.

She has a passionate heart for teaching the younger generation and is a strong believer that when science, proper technique and artistic expression come together, the dancer can realize their full potential with longevity. She believes the time is now, that creative aesthetics and smart effective training should be merged together.

With knowledge there is power, and combined with passion, there is purpose.

Lorena Perez Sanchez

Jazz, Tap, Contemporary Teacher

Born and raised in Costa Rica, Lorena Perez is a dancer, choreographer and passionate instructor, graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She acquired her MFA degree in dance with an emphasis in performance and pedagogy. As a member of NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company, she performed works such as “Grace” by choreographer Ronald K Brown and was one of the dancers selected to perform this piece at Radio City Music Hall. During her time as an MFA student, Lorena had the opportunity to teach at the NYU Future Dancers and Dancemakers program and choreographed for the SADC company and various concerts at the Jack Crystal Theater. After graduating from Tisch, Lorena performed in site specific performances by choreographer Kate Harpootlian and joined VALLETO dance company. During her time at NYC, working as a professional dancer, instructor and choreographer, Lorena was also part of the faculty at Ballet Hispánico (Emerging Teaching Artist).

Throughout her life as a dancer, Lorena has performed in a variety of national and international venues from television to non-profit events, such as Nigel Lythgoe’s Dizzy Feet Foundation in Los Angeles. Moreover, she has appeared in several opening numbers in the show Dancing with the Stars, Costa Rica and has acted and danced in episodes for Costa Rican T.V. Show Dele Viaje. In 2015, she landed the role of a ‘Jet Girl’ Minnie in West Side Story, which was the first Broadway musical in Costa Rica. Before obtaining her MFA in Dance, Lorena graduated from College, earning a BA degree with high honors in Business Administration from Universidad de Costa Rica.

Lorena has more than twelve years of experience teaching jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, tap, and ballet and has choreographed multiple works for various studios around her country Costa Rica, New York City and Toronto. She is also a T Spheres certified injury prevention instructor and is very passionate about helping her students develop healthy habits and anatomical understanding of their bodies. She currently resides in Toronto, Canada and feels honored to be part of the faculty at Poise Dance Academy.

Kelsey Willmott

Jazz, Tap Teacher

Kelsey was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta where she first started dancing at the tender age of three. Starting with Ballet, Jazz and Tap as her dance foundation, that lead to her training in various different styles of dance making her an overall versatile dancer.

Her first big performance experience was with The Young Canadians, where she trained for eleven years, and performed at the world famous Calgary Stampede. While with The Young Canadians she performed for The Queen of England Elizabeth II. Upon completion of her training there, she continued with her career dancing for Carnival Cruise Lines as an on board performer and entertainer.

Afterwards, Kelsey moved to Toronto, Ontario to allow her to further her career and has since had the opportunity to perform on stage with well known Korean recording artist PSY and Canadian rock band Headly at the Much Music Video Music Awards. She has performed for recording artist Craig Smart, along with appearing on screen in music videos and National commercials. Her career has allowed her to tour many places such as Doha; Qatar, Sharjah; UAE, Turks and Caicos, all over the Caribbean and across Canada.

Kelsey is grateful for this career which has allowed her to travel, to perform in various productions and countries to continue with her passion for dance and entertaining. Teaching dance has always been a passion as well. Bringing students into the art of dance holds a special place in her heart. Watching them learn and grow and find their own love in the movements is something truly special.

Emily Sugianto

Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, Acro, Hip-Hop Teacher

Emily started dancing ballet at the age of 4 with her mother, Linda Leowinata, and eventually branched into jazz, tap, acro, hip hop, contemporary, and modern. She danced competitively for 4 years before attending the professional ballet program at Canada's National Ballet School.

While there, she performed multiple child roles in the National Ballet of Canada's production of “The Nutcracker” by James Kudelka and she choreographed and danced in the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Workshops. Throughout her 4 years at NBS, Emily was trained by Laurel Toto, Rosalie Deligioridis, and Vera Timashova and worked with numerous artists including Peggy Baker, Menaka Thakkar, Johanna Bergfelt, Carina Bomers, and Martine Lamy.

From 2016 to 2018, Emily obtained Distinction in the Royal Academy of Dance Intermediate, Advanced 1, and Advanced 2 vocational exams, becoming an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance. She then received her Solo Seal Award on June 18, 2018. During this time, She worked with Cindy Fisher, Evelyn Hart, Martha Hart, Jeremy Nasmith, and Malgorzata Nowacka. Emily also completed her Acrobatic Arts Module 1 Teacher Certification with a perfect score.

Emily is a recipient of the University of Toronto National Scholarship and is continuing her studies in Life Sciences. She has also continued performing, as a featured dancer in campus theatre productions of "Mamma Mia!" and "Guys and Dolls" and as a member of Silhouettes Dance Company. Emily is very excited to continue sharing her passion for dance at Poise.

Nailah Ramcharan-Gibbs

Acro, Jazz Teacher

Nailah Ramcharan-Gibbs is an athletic and energetic performer, teacher, and choreographer who has been deeply entrenched in the performing arts since she was a young child. Her unique athleticism and energetic performance quality stems from her unique background in musical theatre and artistic gymnastics. Her 12 years of competitive training has offered her many opportunities to travel and compete on the internationally, representing Team Canada. Since retiring, Nailah has continued to train and perform as an acro dancer and compete in trampoline.

Nailah began her formal dance training at the Etobicoke School of the Arts where she double majored in Dance and Musical Theatre and went on to receive her Honours BFA in Choreography and Performance at York University. During her time in university, Nailah had the opportunity to work with influential artists through her involvement in the Toronto and NYC dance scenes, including Amy Hall Garner, Kylie Thompson, and Suzanne Liska. Most recently, Nailah spent a year dancing at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she worked with various choreographers that include Jacqulyn Buglisi, Carolyn Dorfman, Ross Daniels, Helen Simoneau, and Jennifer Muller.

She is constantly searching for further learning opportunities to strengthen her skills as a teacher, performer, and choreographer. Her artistry utilizes interdisciplinary collaborations, sophisticated athleticism, and transitional performance and imagery. Her movement quality is inspired and influenced by the extremes that the human body can experience and is conducted by nuances of musicality.

Jia Brent

Ballet, Jazz Teacher

Beginning her dance career at the age of three, Jia Brent studied ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. She began her competitive dance career at the age of seven. Jia trained at Creswell Dance Academy and that is where her spark for dance was ignited. Her love of ballet began at Canada’s National Ballet School Associates Program where she studied for three years. While at NBS, she had the opportunity to perform in their annual production of The Nutcracker where she played a mouse in her first year and a lamb for two years following.

Entering high school, Jia focused on her ballet training. Jia completed the RAD syllabus ending with RAD Advanced 2. In completing her Advanced 2, she earned her Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD), indicating her level in excellence in ballet. In Canada, Jia has had the pleasure of working with Ian Parsons, Barbara Chonin, Cindy Fisher and Teresa Randall. All were excellent teachers who helped fine tune her dancing. Internationally, Jia was accepted into Alvin Ailey’s Summer Intensive. Jia also attended Camp Broadway in New York which gave her the opportunity to perform on Broadway stages and work with former Broadway performers.

In 2018 Jia began a Bachelor of Arts in Dance at York University. She hopes to graduate from York with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies in 2022. In addition to completing her undergraduate degree, Jia is also enrolled in the RAD Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies course in which she anticipates to complete in 2022.

Jia is excited to be on faculty at Poise Dance Academy. Her goal is to use her passion for dance to ignite her students’ passion with the same love for learning and performance that she has.

Ita Dwi Lestari

Office Manager

Ita Dwi Lestari graduated from the Faculty of Languages and Arts in the Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia, majoring in the Department of Dance Education.

She has been teaching traditional Indonesian dance at The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Toronto from 2004 until 2017. Her proudest achievement there was directing the Sendratari Ramayana dance performance.

She has also involved herself with many cultural events in Ontario like Carassauga, the Indonesian Street Festival, Nuit Blanche at the Ontario Science Centre and the Aga Khan Museum.

Besides dance, Ita is also very passionate about playing gamelan, angklung, and kolintang, all of which are Indonesian percussion instruments. Ita dedicates her time and skill to teach and promote the arts to people of all ages.