Heather is an experienced instructor and dancer. She began dancing at the age of four in her hometown near Barrie.  Growing up, she trained and competed in Jazz, Tap, Stage, Lyrical, and Hip Hop styles. She later expanded her repertoire to include Belly dance, Burlesque, Samba, and Latin rhythms. Heather currently performs with Diva Diverse Dance Company throughout Toronto and the GTA.

After completing her Honors Degree in Psychology at the University of Guelph where she became a Zumba Fitness instructor, Heather moved to Toronto to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Wellness and Health Promotion.  Her energetic, creative and easy to follow style made her classes one of the most sought after exercise dance classes in the city.

Heather has worked on multiple productions as a choreographer, instructor, and performer.  She has taught people of all ages and enjoys the unique experience that each dancer brings to class.  In 2013, She founded her dance fitness company, which allows her genuine appreciation for the language of movement and the journey of ‘self’ to transform people in her classes.

She is a Ballroom & Latin Dance Teacher, DanceSport Competition judge, and has been teaching Beginner through Advanced levels for 20 years.
Milena is one of those rare individuals who has the ability to see and bring out the very best qualities in people.

Originally from Estonia, Annie has been in the dance industry for over 30 years. Her dancing has taken her to England where she progressed with her training and fell in love with teaching. One of Annie’s strengths is the ability to make technique accessible for students at any level.

The joy of seeing a student progress is a personal sense of achievement and unabashed delight when they get it. Annie loves the diversity of people and helping them reach their dance goals.

Since moving to Canada, Annie has been involved in many projects including dance-consulting and choreography for a pilot of an ABC drama “Conviction”, performing live on daytime TV and other events.

Annie is certified Fellow member of the CDF in International Ballroom & Latin and American Smooth & Rhythm. She is also a certified CDF/WDC competition adjudicator. She frequently competes with her students as Pro-Am and competes professionally in Hustle. Annie, along with Steven James have recently been inducted into Disco America’s Hustle Hall of Fame.

Amy Lintunen is a Toronto based dance artist who explores the elements of storytelling through movement, rhythm and spoken word. Originally from Thunder Bay, Amy co-owned a dance studio with her sister for over ten years, before heading off to France to study at Off Jazz. Since moving to Toronto, she has performed with What’s On? Tap!, Ismailova Theatre of Dance, The Parahumans, Toronto Rhythm Initiative, Dianne Montgomery and as a Tap Percussionist, with The Red Rhythm, The Charlie Ringus Trio, and a featured soloist with the Jason Raso Quartet in Jazz Goes to the Movies.
Amy is co-founder of Vintage Taps, an entertainment group, focusing on tap dancing and singing songs from the Vaudeville Era. She is also artistic director of Sisu Dance Projects, which aims to educate and entertain through tap workshops, choreography and performance pieces focusing on social justice. While Tap Dance is her main passion, Amy also loves working in movement and contemporary dance.

Amy is continuing her studies, part time in New York City at the American Tap Dance Foundation Tap Teacher Training Program, studying with Barbara Duffy & Brenda Bufalino, among others.

Amy believes that tap dance gives voice to the full human experience. She enjoys teaching students to find their voice and creating performances that speak for others.

Linda looks beyond the needs of each dance student and sees their potential. Her goal is to have them transcend their own expectations. Linda is a seasoned teacher, competitor, and performer specializing in Ballroom and Latin International dancing. Her career spans over a decade and brings with it finesse and expertise as well as a first hand understanding of competition.

Linda has had the honour of working with and learning from some of the best dancers and teachers that the world has to offer. It is these experiences that she brings to her teaching. Linda is proud to have been working with the 2011 Canadian Junior Silver Medalists, the 2010 World Junior Silver Medalists, as well as many other talented, competitive ice dance couples.

Linda has had the privilege of representing Canada in the Professional Latin Division at many elite competitions both nationally and internationally. Linda’s promise to her students is discipline but also fun, knowledge, compassion passion and inspiration.

“Dance keeps me living in the moment. It free’s me from the aches and pains of life and allows me to express things that I wouldn’t be able to express through words. When I dance- it’s right here, right now…and nothing else matters.”

Allison Nichol is a passionate dance artist with more than twenty years of training in classical ballet, contemporary and modern dance and almost a decade of teaching dance to movers of all ages and levels of experience. A lifelong love of dance and a strong appreciation for the joy of movement, Allison believes that creative imagery combined with a sense of play and discovery should be at the centre of all dance training and bases all of her curriculum around this philosophy.

Originally from Toronto and a graduate of the dance department at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, Allison has a BFA with honours in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University as well as a MA in Transdisciplinary Art from the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland.

Allison works as a choreographer, teacher and rehearsal director. Her choreographic work has been presented in Toronto, Montreal, Berlin, Zurich, Lausanne (CH) and Delft (NL). Allison loves teaching ballet and contemporary dance to all ages and levels at Joy of Dance Centre.

Kim’s passion for dance started at an early age when she began to learn Tap, Jazz and Ballet. At age 13, she went to Randolph Dance Theatre. By 14, she was a performer and the assistant choreographer for Lisa Lougheed’s national tour. Kim’s dance experience spans both on and off stage. She has worked with Kevin Pugh, Dance Teq, Randolph Dance Academy, and is a graduate of the Earl Haig Performing Arts program where she continues to share her choreography with future performers. Kim is not only a teacher specializing in teaching kids and teens at Joy of Dance Centre, she is also the manager responsible for the day to day operations, systems, administrative staff, scheduling and rentals. Her creativity and ability to tell a story through dance has made her a central and in demand teacher at Joy of Dance. Kim is a graduate of Claude Watson/Earl Hague Performance Arts Program, RAD (Royal Academy of Dance), BATD (British Association of Teachers of Dancing) with honors and highly commended. Kim is known for her commitment, sense of humour as well as her take no prisoner approach, which is what makes her such a popular teacher at Joy of Dance Centre.

“Dance is talking without using words; telling your story. It balances and heals out all the craziness and helps you catch your breath when you can’t breathe. It’s what keeps us going.”

Arpad has followed his passion for dance and performance for over 30 years. His training and teaching experience covers a diverse range of genres including Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Ballroom, Latin and Ballet. Arpad has also served as an adjudicator and a performer throughout southern Ontario with leading artists of the time including The Platters, and Martha Reeves.

Arpad truly believes that any age is a good age to dance because it brings joy and a certain transformation. Arpad brings a loveable quirkiness and playfulness to his teaching, which is well balanced with an endless patience and attention given to anyone who wants to learn.

“You can’t be sad when you’re dancing.”

Willem Sadler is a street styles and contemporary creator based in Toronto, Ontario. Willem has had the opportunity to perform and show his work Internationally, most recently in New York City. As a young dancer and performer his drive has always come from his love for movement performance and his connection to music. Following many years solely training in street styles, he expanded his training in this artform, beginning to train in a multitude of styles. Willem defines himself as a versatile dancer/creator and strives to squash the separation of ‘styles’ and present dance as movement without restrictions. Willem is grateful to have the opportunity to express freely as an artist and contribute towards enriching the Toronto dance community with his knowledge in both Contemporary dance and Hiphop.

Emily is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and is the Founding Director of Joy of Dance’s Adult RAD Ballet Program. She is a graduate of the professional dance training programs at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and CODARTS: Rotterdams Dansacademie in the Netherlands. She danced professionally as a contemporary dancer across Europe and Canada for 8 years and has been teaching ballet and contemporary dance to all levels and ages for over 20 years.

Emily called Joy of Dance home from 2009 – 2023. She now resides in Edmonton, Alberta where she teaches and coordinates the Outreach Ballet Program for Alberta Ballet. Emily has been lucky enough to travel across the province, from the 50th Parallel to the 58th, offering free programs to kids and teens who do not normally have access to ballet as well as Masterclasses to dancers who reside outside of Alberta’s big city centres. Though Emily misses Joy of Dance deeply, she is grateful to be living close to family and owning a home.

Rachel has spent her life in a studio. Growing up she trained full-time as a dancer; competed regionally and nationally, winning special awards and scholarships; as well as successfully completed RAD vocational examinations. Following high school, she completed the two-year Performance Studies program at George Brown training full time with Che Chung, and then immediately began a professional career as lead dancer for Carnival Cruise line as well as working as a freelance performer for both stage and film/television.

Rachel later attended the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School, where she benefited greatly from each unique opportunity that NBS offered her such as teaching ballet for an outreach program with the Boys and Girls Club of Scarborough; being hired as a full-time ballet assistant and day counsellor for both the 2010 and 2011 Professional Summer Schools; teaching for special events at NBS and being hired to teach in the Associate Program during her final year. She graduated from the TTP successfully completing her RAD Registered Teacher’s Status exams, Cecchetti Associate teaching exam, ISTD National Associate teaching exam and the Vocational
dance exams within each syllabus.

Rachel has become a sought-after professional ballet teacher throughout the GTA, working with young students as well as coaching pre-professionals, training dancers in professional ballet programs, preparing and entering students for ballet examinations (RAD and Cecchetti), private coaching, creating original choreography for performances and competitions, and was brought on to be assistant choreographer for the Hart House Theatre’s production of “The Great American Trailer Park Show”.

As lifelong learner, she continues to stay current and knowledgeable, partaking in ballet specific conferences and events such as the En Avant DTC, the RAD’s launch course for their new “Discovering Repertoire” program as well as receiving certification in Marie Walton-Mahon’s Progressing Ballet Technique (Junior, Senior and Advanced programs), first in August 2016 when she first came to Toronto and again in July 2018.