ATHABASCA DANCE SOCIETY
5412 50th Ave. Unit 2 - Turnabout Avenue Place - Athabasca, AB.
OUR DANCE TEACHERS
Karen (Kerry) Doidge
ADCC-CICB, A.I.S.T.D. (Cecchetti), RAD (Mutually Recognized Teacher)
Karen has been a ballet professional working in Edmonton and the surrounding area for nearly three decades. Since she received her Associate certification with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and the Cecchetti Society of Canada, she has been an integral member of Alberta's classical ballet community.
Ms. Doidge operated her own studio in Vegreville for six years. Upon moving to Athabasca she was asked to direct the recently established Athabasca Dance Society. In a community that had never previously had the benefit of a professionally run dance school, she instituted the use of a ballet curriculum and raised standards through Cecchetti examinations. Her students take yearly examinations with consistent results, and have been accepted to such prestigious schools as: The School of Alberta Ballet, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, as well as the dance programmes at Simon Fraser University, York University, the University of Calgary, and Grant MacEwan University.
In addition to teaching in Athabasca, Ms. Doidge instructs ballet in Edmonton. With a strong appetite for learning, she never misses an opportunity to take workshops, classes, and teaching courses, consistently expanding on her knowledge of ballet, pedagogy and anatomy.
Toni Tarrant
Dancing since the age of 3, Toni never doubted for a moment she would be doing anything else for a career other than dance. Dance is her voice, her passion for movement and music is captivating and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Toni Started dancing in the small town of Stony Plain, Alberta. As she got older and became more serious about her future in dance she moved into the city of Edmonton where she continued her technical training at Shelley’s Dance Company, under the watchful eye of Shelley Tookey. As well, Toni continued to grow and excel with Hip Hop and Street Styles at The Kore Dance Studio. In 2011 she began teaching at The Kore Dance Studio and was a creative director of NXG Company for 8 years. NXG has traveled all over Canada and the US competing at several pristine dance competitions with great success. While teaching and working with NXG Company, Toni also took the time to continue her personal growth as a dancer traveling down to LA to work with some of the world’s best teachers and choreographers.
In 2016 Toni moved to Vancouver where she began teaching at Harbour Dance Centre and worked with ITP, Source Dance Company, and many studios in the Vancouver area. She also danced with TwoFourSeven Company, which gave her the amazing opportunity to perform and compete on America’s Got Talent and Jeniffer Lopez’s dance competition show World Of Dance.
Toni’s passion for dance has turned into a great passion of working with her students to become the best dancers they can be. Her hope as a teacher is to have her students excited to come to class, work hard, and achieve their goals. Toni is very proud of all she has accomplished in 27 years of dance and is always gearing up to spread the love of dance to anyone she crosses paths with.
Lucy Bourret-Juda
I began dancing with the Athabasca Dance Society when I was 6 years old. Dance has remained an important aspect of my life through my elementary, high school, and university careers.
Being a part of the society was very influential in my life as it allowed me to begin teaching and ignite a passion in myself for helping others learn. I continued to take dance classes and teach dance while I was completing my education degree at the University of Alberta.
I now teach senior high English, fitness, and yoga at Edwin Parr. I love to spend as much time as possible outside with my husband and our dog hiking, snowboarding, and exploring nature. I look forward to engaging with the dancers this year and working with them to learn something new in every class!
I grew up dancing with the Athabasca Dance Society from a young age. I gained experience in ballet, jazz, contemporary and later on, hip hop. As a young adult, I taught young dancers in both creative movement and hip hop.
Currently, I’m an elementary teacher but I’m taking a break from full time teaching to raise my three children. With my love of dance and knowledge of teaching children, I look forward to being a teacher at ADS.
Shawna Murray
Shawna has instructed and adjudicated dance in Edmonton and the surrounding areas for over 25 years.
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She attended the Dance Teacher Training program at Grant MacEwan University then became a certified instructor with the Royal Academy of Dance.
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Ms Murray co-owned/operated a studio in St Albert for several years. While she enjoys teaching all styles of dance, ballet and creative movement are an area of interest.
Shawna is thrilled to be joining ADS to share her love of movement and play a part in developing young dancers.