Erin McNeill - Artistic Director
Erin began training at the young age of four, under the watchful eye of Dolores Kirkwood at Kirkwood Academy in New Westminster. She joined Royal City Youth Ballet Company where she performed and toured many ballets including The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Coppelia. She also had the pleasure of performing in Royal City Musical Theatre Company's productions of Hello, Dolly! and Gypsy as a chorus girl and dancer.
In 2003, Erin joined Pacific DanceArts in Vancouver and was soon after accepted into the pre-professional division under the direction of Li Yaming. There she had the opportunity to perform both neo-classical and classical work including Swan Lake; Grand Pas de Deuxs from Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, Raymonda and La Bayadere; as well as original choreography. In 2009, she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in NYC. Upon graduating, Erin moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to dance professionally with Atlanta Ballet, directed by John McFall and Sharon Story. While at Atlanta Ballet, she performed and gained exposure to many different styes and repertoire including Michael Pink's Dracula, David Bintley's Carmina Burana, James Kudelka's Four Seasons and Christopher Wheeldon's RUSH, as well as practicing Gaga technique for Ohad Naharin's Minus 16. She also worked with NYCB's Troy Schumacher on original work, George Balanchine's Who Cares?, and Christopher Hampson as the lead in his piece Silhouette. Erin also performed leading roles in Atlanta Ballet's productions of Cinderella and Snow White.
In May 2014, Erin appeared as a guest artist in Irene Schnider's production of Coppelia performed by Coastal City Ballet. And in June of that same year, she was one of twenty-two dancers invited from around the world to attend the Ballet Program at The School of Jacob's Pillow. There she performed in the season opening Gala in a new work choreographed by the award winning Choreographer Jessica Lang. Under program Director Anna-Marie Holmes, Erin worked with a faculty of choreographers, artists, and directors, including Dinna Bjorn, Adam Sklute, Madeleine Onne, and Maxim Beloserkovky.
During her season with Coastal City Ballet, Erin performed the lead role in the season opener of Don Quixote as Dulcinea in “Dream Scene”, lead soloist in a new work by Wen Wei Wang and was honoured to be cast as Cinderella in Ms. Schnider’s production of Cinderella, one of her favourite roles.
In October 2015, Erin travelled to Ireland to join Cork City Ballet as a Soloist. There she performed Yury Demakov's Swan Lake under the direction of Alan Foley in the Cork Opera House. And in June of 2016, Erin joined the prestigious English National Ballet under the direction of Tamara Rojo CBE to perform Derek Dean’s Swan Lake in the Round, in the world famous Royal Albert Hall in London. Also with ENB she performed in George Williamson's My First Sleeping Beauty.
In 2016 Erin joined Ballet Theatre UK as a Principal dancer and has performed and toured several lead roles such as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet which was a new creation and successfully reviewed in Dancing Times, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, The Sugarplum Fairy in the Nutcracker, Titania in A Midsummer Nights Dream, and the Little Mermaid in Christopher Moore’s The Little Mermaid. As well as performing a selection of feature roles in the 10 year Anniversary Gala of the company where she was again highly praised for her work in the August 2018 edition of Dancing Times UK.
In 2003, Erin joined Pacific DanceArts in Vancouver and was soon after accepted into the pre-professional division under the direction of Li Yaming. There she had the opportunity to perform both neo-classical and classical work including Swan Lake; Grand Pas de Deuxs from Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, Raymonda and La Bayadere; as well as original choreography. In 2009, she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in NYC. Upon graduating, Erin moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to dance professionally with Atlanta Ballet, directed by John McFall and Sharon Story. While at Atlanta Ballet, she performed and gained exposure to many different styes and repertoire including Michael Pink's Dracula, David Bintley's Carmina Burana, James Kudelka's Four Seasons and Christopher Wheeldon's RUSH, as well as practicing Gaga technique for Ohad Naharin's Minus 16. She also worked with NYCB's Troy Schumacher on original work, George Balanchine's Who Cares?, and Christopher Hampson as the lead in his piece Silhouette. Erin also performed leading roles in Atlanta Ballet's productions of Cinderella and Snow White.
In May 2014, Erin appeared as a guest artist in Irene Schnider's production of Coppelia performed by Coastal City Ballet. And in June of that same year, she was one of twenty-two dancers invited from around the world to attend the Ballet Program at The School of Jacob's Pillow. There she performed in the season opening Gala in a new work choreographed by the award winning Choreographer Jessica Lang. Under program Director Anna-Marie Holmes, Erin worked with a faculty of choreographers, artists, and directors, including Dinna Bjorn, Adam Sklute, Madeleine Onne, and Maxim Beloserkovky.
During her season with Coastal City Ballet, Erin performed the lead role in the season opener of Don Quixote as Dulcinea in “Dream Scene”, lead soloist in a new work by Wen Wei Wang and was honoured to be cast as Cinderella in Ms. Schnider’s production of Cinderella, one of her favourite roles.
In October 2015, Erin travelled to Ireland to join Cork City Ballet as a Soloist. There she performed Yury Demakov's Swan Lake under the direction of Alan Foley in the Cork Opera House. And in June of 2016, Erin joined the prestigious English National Ballet under the direction of Tamara Rojo CBE to perform Derek Dean’s Swan Lake in the Round, in the world famous Royal Albert Hall in London. Also with ENB she performed in George Williamson's My First Sleeping Beauty.
In 2016 Erin joined Ballet Theatre UK as a Principal dancer and has performed and toured several lead roles such as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet which was a new creation and successfully reviewed in Dancing Times, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, The Sugarplum Fairy in the Nutcracker, Titania in A Midsummer Nights Dream, and the Little Mermaid in Christopher Moore’s The Little Mermaid. As well as performing a selection of feature roles in the 10 year Anniversary Gala of the company where she was again highly praised for her work in the August 2018 edition of Dancing Times UK.
Yana Dragieva - Ballet
Born in Shumen, Bulgaria, Yana Dragieva has studied classical ballet in the Vagganova system since the age of six. She graduated from Sofia National Music and Dance University Choreographic department in 1996 in the class of prima ballerina Kalina Bogoeva. She continued her professional development with famous Masters such as Tadeusz Matacz and Alexander Ursuljiak from John Cranko School, Loippa Aroijo from Cuba National Ballet School, Seriozna Petrosjan in Erevan and Master Daniel Sallier in Montreal. Her mentor in her teaching career was Alexander Ursuljak, former director of Stuttgart Ballet School.Yana's professional dancing career started in Varna's State Opera house and continued later at State Music Theatre, Sofia. During this period she toured and later lived and performed in Wiesbaden, Germany, Finland, Norway and France. Yana has a Bachelor Degree from Bulgarian National Music University in Dance. She specialized in Classical Ballet Pedagogy Vagganova system, Choreographing and Rehearsing.
Alice Gerbrecht - Ballet
Alice Gerbrecht received her early dance training from Soonee Lee at the Vancouver Academy of Music. She also studied at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Goh Ballet. After moving to Boston she had the privilege to study with Caroline Llorca and Christine Busch as a student at Boston Ballet School.
Professionally, Ms. Gerbrecht danced with Oregon Ballet Theatre under James Canfield, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre of Boston, and Louisville Ballet under Alun Jones. During this time she danced a wide range of classical and contemporary ballet repertoire.
She served as Company Teacher at Louisville Ballet and was School Director of Louisville Ballet School. With the birth of her son, Ms. Gerbrecht moved back to Vancouver. Wanting to explore her love of rhythm and movement, she began training in flamenco. Within one year she was invited to join Rosario Ancer's company, Flamenco Rosario.
Ms. Gerbrecht has taught for Goh Ballet Academy, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre School, Ballet BC, Harbour Dance, and Coastal City Ballet. Ms. Gerbrecht served as head of the ballet department at Vancouver Academy of Music for 11 years and is currently on the teaching faculty of Pacific DanceArts.
Professionally, Ms. Gerbrecht danced with Oregon Ballet Theatre under James Canfield, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre of Boston, and Louisville Ballet under Alun Jones. During this time she danced a wide range of classical and contemporary ballet repertoire.
She served as Company Teacher at Louisville Ballet and was School Director of Louisville Ballet School. With the birth of her son, Ms. Gerbrecht moved back to Vancouver. Wanting to explore her love of rhythm and movement, she began training in flamenco. Within one year she was invited to join Rosario Ancer's company, Flamenco Rosario.
Ms. Gerbrecht has taught for Goh Ballet Academy, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre School, Ballet BC, Harbour Dance, and Coastal City Ballet. Ms. Gerbrecht served as head of the ballet department at Vancouver Academy of Music for 11 years and is currently on the teaching faculty of Pacific DanceArts.
Thomas Teague - Pas de deux & Men's technique
Thomas Teague, originally from San Diego, has achieved principal status in each of the companies his career has taken him. He performed leading roles in contemporary works by such internationally acclaimed choreographers as George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Val Caniparoli, Bruce Marks, Loyce Houlton, and award winning Canadian choreographer Renald Rabu. He also performed principal roles in many of the traditional classics such as The Nutcracker, Giselle and Les Sylphides as well as the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde and Eugene Loring’s Billy the Kid. Thomas’s career started at Minnesota Dance Theatre, moved on to Pacific Ballet Theatre (now Ballet British Columbia), and then to Oregon Ballet Theatre. Thomas has choreographed for Ballet Oregon and Milwaukee Ballet II and has been a guest performer throughout the country. Mr. Teague also teaches Pilates, is a licensed Massage Therapist and studied Oriental Medicine for 2 years. After retiring from his professional career, he and his wife Muriel co-founded and directed Ballet Arte, Academy of Classical Ballet and Ballet Arte Dance Theatre in the San Diego area. They owned the school for 10 years where they developed a comprehensive training syllabus and produced, choreographed and directed an annual Nutcracker, Spring Repertory Concert and many educational outreach programs. Drawing from his rich background in contemporary dance, Thomas also developed a unique contemporary ballet syllabus which has been widely acclaimed. This contemporary training is so needed and relevant in the professional dance world of today. In 2004 they accepted the positions as Directors and Principal Teachers for the Academy of Colorado Ballet where they successfully opened a second location for the company. In 2005 the Teagues moved back to San Diego and were happy to open their own school again, Del Mar Ballet. In 2014 they decided to move back to Canada to be closer to family and left their school in very capable hands.
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Ellie Bishop - Contemporary - Ballet
Ellie Bishop is a contemporary dancer and dance teacher from North Vancouver. She trained and performed with Pacific Dance Arts and Coastal City Ballet throughout high school, and upon graduation moved to Glasgow to receive her BA in Modern Ballet from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Ellie has taken part in summer intensives at Houston Ballet, Arts Umbrella, Gaga LA and the Henny Jürriens foundation in Amsterdam, and has performed at the Checcheti international competition in London, as well as New Works, BLOOM and Dancing On The Edge in Vancouver. Ellie currently dances with Modus Operandi under the direction of Tiffany Tregarthen, David Raymond and Kate Franklin.
Lexi Vajda - Contemporary
Lexi Vajda is an independent dance artist and dance maker who has the priviedge of living and working on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She has interpreted and performed the works of companies and choreographers such as Shay Kuebler Radical System Art, the response., Outinnerspace Dance theatre, The Party, Theatre Replacement, Company 605, Kinesis Dance, plastic orchid factory, The Party, Delia Brett, Cindi Mochizuki, Sasha Kleinplatz, Daisy Thompson and Emmalena Frederiksson. Her independent choreographies investigate alternative and peripheral spaces for choreography, collaborative creative practices, and improvisational score making. As a teacher she is inspired by the momentum of challenging assumptions in dance as well as searching for methods of play as a way to be rigorous about expanding physical capacity. She teaches contemporary technique at various dance schools throughout the lower mainland, Modus Opernadi and at Harbour Dance Centre. She was the recipient of the 2016 Mayor’s Arts Award for emerging dance artist.
Caitlin Griffin- Contemporary
Caitlin is best known for her work as a ballet and contemporary dancer and teacher and has spent the last 13 years dancing independently and for companies including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. She was a featured professional performer in The 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies together with Alberta Ballet and Ballet BC. She is a member of Margie Gillis’ Legacy Project Company and continues to be mentored by the Canadian dance icon. Caitlin also choreographs ballet and contemporary dance for stage and screen, international competitions, and galas. She is a regular instructor at Harbour Dance Centre where she teaches ballet with a focus on using imagery to understand the physics behind the technique. Caitlin is the founder of #hdisfordancing, an initiative to raise awareness for the Huntington Disease Community in Canada through dance.
Radostina Panova-Todorova- Guest Faculty
Trained at the State Choreographic School in Sofia, Bulgaria and danced with Varna Opera House and with the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia. Classical ballet dancer for 12 years, performing classical and contemporary ballet choreographies, opera and operetta productions. Her repertoire includes Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Paquita Grand pas and others, performing from corp de ballet to soloist and lead roles, such as Kitri, Cygnets, Pas de trois des odalisques.
Ms. Panova is experienced ballet teacher for more than 20 years, teaching at the National school of arts in Varna, Russian ballet school in Sofia. Prepares
dancers for the competitions: "National Meeting for Young Dancers: Sofia, Bulgaria, International Ballet Competition Paris-France, International Ballet Competition Luxembourg, International Ballet Competition Varna.
2012- 2018 she is teaching all levels of ballet, pointe, (Vaganova technique), variations, repertoire, historical dance and conditioning at the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet school in Canada.
Guest teacher in Bulgaria, Canada, Italy, Germany and Turkey. Holding MA in Ballet pedagogy from the National Academy of music Sofia, Bulgaria.
Ms. Panova is experienced ballet teacher for more than 20 years, teaching at the National school of arts in Varna, Russian ballet school in Sofia. Prepares
dancers for the competitions: "National Meeting for Young Dancers: Sofia, Bulgaria, International Ballet Competition Paris-France, International Ballet Competition Luxembourg, International Ballet Competition Varna.
2012- 2018 she is teaching all levels of ballet, pointe, (Vaganova technique), variations, repertoire, historical dance and conditioning at the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet school in Canada.
Guest teacher in Bulgaria, Canada, Italy, Germany and Turkey. Holding MA in Ballet pedagogy from the National Academy of music Sofia, Bulgaria.
Pacific DanceArts
Est. 1999