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the
Cumbrae School of Dancing
NEWSLETTER

Off to a Good Start!z

What a wonderful start weve had to our year! We hope by now that
everyone is settled in and enjoying their classes. This is always such an
exciting time at Cumbrae; take a look at what some of our dancers have
been doing!

BATD TRIXIE HARDY NORTH

AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIPS

Our New
Space!

We hope you are enjoying our

newly renovated space!
Watch for more changes to
come over the coming
weeks- Cumbrae
wouldnt be the same
without the wall of
fame!
Thank you to the Baker
family and to Mr. Feng
for their help in putting
this all together!

Summer Intensives 2014

We are very proud of all dancers who

attended the BATD Scholarships in
Toronto in October. Dancers age
10-17 are selected to attend by their
BATD examiner based on their
spring examinations. The following
students were invited to the 2014
event: Marie-Ange Diotte,
Sabrina Sterling, Valerie
Fortin, Clara GatesFlaherty, Megan Evaire,
Chloe DeGiacomo,
Trista Willbond,
Gabby Lowe,
Cassandre Leroux,
Camille Leroux,
Katie Over, Tiaran
Sinkus, Danya
Bouzane and Jana

Lowe trained this

summer at Ballet Jorgen in
We are very proud of our students
Toronto, while Sophie Butler
who step outside of their comfort
spent her summer at the
zone and spend the summer training Quinte Ballet School.
at one of the many pre-professional Sisters Camille and
summer programs offered
Cassandre Leroux trained at
throughout the country. Gabby
ESBQ in Montreal.

Hudson.
After two days of
hard work in their classes, scholarship
candidates also performed at the
showcase on the Saturday evening in
numbers choreographed by Miss
Baker and Miss Harvie specifically for
the event. The girls danced
wonderfully!
Many of our dancers stayed to attend
the BATD workshop on Sunday with
guest teachers like Miles Faber
(SYTYCD) and Jay Fagan amongst
others. Chloe, Katie, and Gabby all
received special recognition for their
performance in these classes.
Well done girls! Looking forward to
next years event already.
Both Sophie and
Cassandre were
accepted to their
respective schools
year-round program;
though we are happy
to have them back at
Cumbrae.

MARK YOUR
CALENDARS!
DEC 6

Christmas Tree
Photo Shoot
(grade 4 ballet/jazz/
contemporary & up)

DEC 15-20
Open House

DEC 21-JAN 3
Winter Holidays

JAN 11

First of 10 RAD
exam prep classes
(Grade 1 - Grade2)

JAN 31

Dancers Give Back

Performance

MAR 16-21
March Break

JUNE 2-6

Recital 2015

Off to Disney World!

It is a very excited group of dancers,

teachers, and parents that are all booked
up for the first
Cumbrae goes to Disney
event!!
At the end of June
2015, 24 dancers, 4
teachers, and 42 friends and family
members will be off to Disney World in

Orlando, Florida!! Dancers age 9-19 will

get the opportunity to perform not only on
a Disney stage, but also down Main Street
in a Dance The World Disney Parade!
We look forward to showing off to Disneygoers what a talented group of dancers we
have traveling all the way from Ottawa!
Our next trip to Disney is set for 2020!

Dancers perform in The Nutcracker!

ALBERTA
BALLETS

Party child: Cassandre

Leroux
Palace Page: Alexis
PRODUCTION AT Orange
Rat: Sophie Butler and
THE NAC
Elena Whittam
This holiday season
Soldier: Lauren Rapley
Cumbrae has nine
dancers that will have the Mice: Rebecca Lintonopportunity to dance on Leblanc, Claire
the NAC stage as part of Campbell, Tallulah
the cast of The Nutcracker. Giroux, & Annaleise
Auditions for youth roles Kanstrup
were held in October
2014, and students have Congratulations dancers!
been very busy
rehearsing on Sundays
in preparation. The
following is a list of
students who will be
performing in the
production that runs
from December 2nd to
the 7th at Canadas
National Arts Centre:

BALLET JORGENS
PRODUCTION AT
SHENKMAN

Toronto-based dance
company, Ballet Jorgen,
puts a new Canadian
spin on the traditional
story of The Nutcracker
where woodland
creatures take the stage!
The production runs
from December 12th to
the 14th at Shenkman
Centre for the Arts.
In this production,
Calixa Fox was
selected by audition
to portray the shows
only beaver as well as
one of the
chipmunks. Well
done Calixa!

Cumbrae Alumni

Many of the students that have passed through

Cumbrae doors have gone on to do wonderful
things in the dance/arts community. From
dance companies to the Broadway stage,
Cumbrae alumni are always making us
proud!
This edition, we introduce to you...

Amy Woods
Amy Woods began dancing at The Cumbrae School of
Dancing at the age of five. While it began with ballet, it
wasn't long before tap and jazz were added to Amys list
of dance styles as her love for the art grew. It quickly
became her dream to further her training in hopes of
making a lifestyle out of dance.
Growing up, Amy received supplementary training at
the Quinte Ballet School, Le Groupe de la Place Royale,
and Canterbury School of the Arts. She holds a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in ballet and modern from York
University, where she danced as a member of the York
Dance Ensemble headed by Luc Tremblay. After
spending many years studying, Amy began her

performance career with the Menaka Thakkar Dance

Company as a modern dancer. In modern dance she
had found her true love! Independent endeavors then
took precedence for Amy; she danced and
choreographed with a small contemporary collective
called AttenDance. This collective performed in
Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Guelph.
Amy then migrated west to Vancouver and continued to
participate in various multi media performance
opportunities. After a small hiatus, to raise children, it
was contact improvisation that drew her back to dance.
She is a presently a
member of Continuum
Dance Company and
working on a dance
event bridging
architecture and the
body with Donna
Redlick. She is also the
owner of a popular
Vancouver restaurant
called The Foundation!

Dancers Give Back: Ottawa

Some of Cumbraes senior students will perform in
Dancers Give Back 2015. The performance brings together
14 studios from the Ottawa area to raise money for DIFD
Ottawa: a charity raising awareness of youth mental
health in our community.
The event will be held at the
Algonquin Commons
Theatre on January 31, 2015.
Cumbrae students Andra
Brabant, Katie Over, Jana
Hudson, Olivia Makara,
Gabby Lowe, Camille

Leroux, Victoria Linton, Alexane Lahaie, Chloe

DeGiacomo, Trista Willbond, Alexis Orange, and
Katherine Robidoux will perform a contemporary piece.
Come out and support a great cause!
Dancers Give
Back clothing
can be
ordered
today in the
shop with
proceeds going to DGB charity.

Cumbrae Photo Shoots

As some of you may have seen on social media, or in some of our studio calendars, etc.,
many of our dancers have been taking part in seasonal location photo shoots throughout
the past year. Miss Harvie and Miss Baker have become more skilled over time with
photography, and we are always impressed with the creativity and open-mindedness that
our dancers bring to each shoot. Dancers are often selected based on events (BATD
scholarship candidates were in our fall shoot, while both summer intensive groups
participated in summer photography). We would like to thank Madi McColl, Tori Pelletier, Emma
McGinnis, and Andra Brabant for their help on some of these outings. Stay posted for the next event!

2014-15 Teaching Faculty

Mrs. Harvie - Principal - RAD Ballet, Tap, Highland

Amber Harvie - Assistant Director - Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, Theatre
Ping Feng - Ballet
Kristen Wilson - Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary
Natasha Cinnani - Jazz, Hip Hop,
Meghan Baker - Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary
Jen Healy - Irish
Sue Fay Healy - Irish
Brenda Everitt - Highland
Adrianna McGee - Ballet, Jazz
Madelaine Erazo - Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop
Michelle Brazeau - Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop
Emma McGinnis - Ballet, Tap
Andra Brabant - Tap, Theatre
2014 -15 Teaching Assistants: Katherine Robidoux, Sophie Butler, Amelia Morin-Lamontagne, Valerie
Fortin, Megan Evraire, Emma Rizok, Rene Brazeau, Danika Lafontaine

Congratulations to...

GABBY LOWE & ALEXIS

ORANGE
Gabby and
Alexis were
both offered
spots in the
Alberta Ballet Schools preprofessional training program for
summer 2015.

Gabrielle Lowe was accepted to

the schools contemporary ballet
senior summer intensive.
Alexis, who is a new student to the
senior group at Cumbrae, was
accepted to the Alberta Ballet
Schools classical ballet senior
summer intensive.
Congratulations girls, what an
accomplishment!

ISABELLE BELANGER &

VICTORIA LINTON
Both Isabelle and Victoria
auditioned and were chosen to be
a part of
the Ottawa
67s Dance
Team.
Although
they were
unable to
take the positions due to their
already busy schedules, we are
very proud and excited for these
two senior dancers!

EDEN
NOWISKI &
CALIXA FOX

MISS BAKER & MISS

HARVIE
Miss Baker and Miss Harvie
recently completed the Certificate
in Ballet Teaching Studies, a twoyear program offered by the Royal
Academy of Dance. They are
both now recognized teachers
with the R.A.D., in addition to
being full members of the
Academy with Advanced
certification.

These two 10 year

old students
attended the audition for
Canadas National Ballet School
and were accepted into their
Summer Intensive 2015. NBS,
one of the worlds
foremost training
institutions, accepts
only 150 dancers
from Grades 6
through Grade 12 on
their international
tour. Way to go, girls!

GABBY LOWE
MACKENNA AND AINSLEY
BELL

MacKenna Bell and her sister,

Ainsley, had a successful day at the
OHDA Highland competition on
October 24th. MacKenna won a
3rd, two 5th place ribbons, and a
6th. Ainsley won a 6th place
ribbon!
Well
done
girls!

More great news for Gabby; she

has recently won a scholarship to
attend The Paris Dance Tour
during the
summer of
2015! This
scholarship was
one of only 3
handed out to
advanced
dancers at this
months iDance
Convention in Ottawa.
Sounds like a very exciting
opportunity!

Congratulations
to our award
winners...
Each year The Cumbrae School of Dancing presents a handful of our dancers awards of excellence.
This is for students with formidable work ethic, a positive attitude, and a love for dance. Winners are
awarded a trophy as well as funding towards future classes at Cumbrae. The 2013-2014 award winners
were Katie Berube, Sophie Butler, and Adrianna McGee. Additionally both Valerie Fortin and Camille
Leroux were awarded scholarships to the Cumbrae summer intensive! Congratulations and thank you
for your dedication and hard work!

Thank you Showtime helpers!!

Though it may seem like a long time ago, Showtime 2014 was a wonderful show! We
would like to take this opportunity to thank the following parents, students, and
friends for their help in making everything backstage run smoothly:
Annie Champagne, Karen Fortin, Jen GatesFlaherty, Darlene Maloney, Jody Thompson, Sophy
DeGiacomo, Tracy Rizok, Amanda Linton, Jennifer
Linton, LeeAnn Crisante, Ann Stevenson, MariePierre Diotte, Michelle Lydon, Edith Over, Andrea
Hudson, Maureen Sirois, Lanndis DeLallo, Mallory
Linton, Anne Morin, Arlene MacIver, Karen
Brabant, Christine Maguire, Allison Moy, Johane
Brady, Marguerite Canough, Rachel Gates-Flaherty,
Justine Walker, Kelly Tessier, Elizabeth Fetterley,
Alison Kapcala, Erin Bayne, Rachel Kreft, Tiffany
Golding, Megan Nowiski, Taylor Moser, Tanya
Rivington, Stef Rizok, Derek Harvie, Shawn
Evraire, & Greg Bell. Our apologies to anyone weve
missed!

New Cumbrae Gear!

New Cumbrae Gear will be arriving in time for the holiday season! We have ordered hoodies, dance
shorts, muscle tees and sweatpants! These items should be in the shop in early December! There are
limited quantities of each item.

Insta-Challenge 2014!
Are you following us on Instagram? Do you have any memorable
shots from your days at Cumbrae?
For the next 3 weeks (November 25th-December 9th), post your
photograph with the hashtag #cumbraelove. The posts with the
most likes will be eligible to win one of our American Apparel
duffel bags!
*please note that note that users with private accounts would have to invite
the username cumbraedance to follow them in order for us to view and include
your photo in the competition.

December Open House!

We are looking forward to inviting parents and family to our annual Open
House Week! From December 15th to the 20th, classes are open to be
viewed. Come see what your child has accomplished in three short months!
For the last 10 minutes of each class, we will have refreshments and snacks
and you can catch up with other parents and with your childs teacher.
Seating is limited and we ask only that you bring a nut-free snack for our
treat table.