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34 years of tapping, 22 years of teaching, and a decade of professional performing, have brought Kim Chalovich to the forefront in the Canadian Dance Community. She is a full member of PAEC (Performing Arts Educators of Canada), and she has studied under Al Gilbert, Henry LeTang, Lane Alexander, Jeannie Hill, Dianne Walker, Van Porter and Valeria Pinheiro from Brazil. Her continued dedication to tap dance can be seen year after year, through her productions, her students, and her school outreach program. Her professional career started at 18, dancing at Ontario Place. While she attended university, obtaining a mechanical engineering degree, she continued to dance with local performing troupes and also became a certified fitness instructor. Tap was always Kim’s preference, but it truly became her passion about 10 years ago (following her 2nd stroke…”medical scares tend to make you evaluate what is truly important in your life!”). In 1999 - after 8 years of working as a professional engineer, in the automotive industry, Kim left one career and entered another, becoming the founder and Artistic Director of the Mississauga based, professional tap dance company “What’s On? Tap!”, choreographing, directing, and performing in self-produced tap musicals. Other performance credits include TAP! (sharing the stage with international artists: M.A.D.D. Rhythms & Van ‘The Man’ Porter), The International Children’s festival, Dance Ontario’s Dance Weekend , fFIDA (the fringe), Junction Arts Festival, the Mississauga Arts Awards, and many festivals, conventions, industrials across the GTA. You may also have seen Kim featured in Dance Current Magazine (for her devotion and commitments to tapdance), and INSTYLE magazine with sister, country singer, Terri Clark. In addition Kim offers a school outreach program called “RHYTHM DANCE”: a percussive, teaching technique she created, for children to learn about the relationship between rhythm, dance, and music. As a result, “RHYTHM DANCE” has been adopted into the dance/drama curriculum in several schools. Kim continues to teach tap in her local tap studio and present workshops and master classes abroad – enticing children and adults with her fun-loving energy, and unique tap styles. Kim’s latest endeavors include the creation/production of the ECTC (Eastern Canadian Tap Conference), modeled after the many celebrated, tap-preserving events happening in NYC, Chicago, and abroad. With the support of the Mississauga Arts Council, this event serves to educate and dazzle tap enthusiasts from all over!
Samantha Baldwin - Samantha is a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. As well as being a part of What’s On? Tap!, she is also a member of InMotion Dance Company, with whom she has performed in numerous contemporary, commercial, and children’s shows, which have taken her to Toronto, Montreal and Croatia. She is currently working on a dvd for children with InMotion, in which she portrays ‘Tappermina Legwarmer’. Samantha has also performed for many years with The National Tap Dance Company of Canada, in children’s shows that have toured Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Bermuda. Samantha is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School and Second City’s Conservatory Program.
Natasha Angelkotter - Started dancing at 7 years old and went on to train at ‘Bush Davie’s Theatrical Stage School in England. Since moving to Canada she has trained with Kathleen Duffy at the Dancers’ Studio and then completed an intensive 3-year Dance course at Ryerson. She completed her teacher’s certification through R.A.D. and she is also a member of P.A.E.C. Natasha has performed in numerous shows at the Meadowvale Theatre & The Living Arts Center with the Mississauga Orchestra: the Mississauga City Center Opera in Carmen and in Oklahoma with the CVS summer Production. She also performed in the Ryerson Dances 1994, and 1995 with renowned choreographers. Presently Natasha is a dance teacher with Discoverability and at TDS Dance Space in Mississauga; and has been a member of What’s On? TAP! since 2003. Natasha would like to thank her friends and family for their love and support.
Jessica Westerman - Jessica began her dance training at the age of four, in Timmins, Ontario. Following high school, she attended the Ryerson University Dance Program. From there, she pursued Musical Theatre at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. Under the guidance of working professional faculty members including George Randolph and Ron Singer, she graduated with a Diploma in Musical Theatre in 1999. Throughout the years Jessica has had the pleasure to meet and study with many wonderful people, including the late Tap Great, Gregory Hines, and Dianne Walker. She has performed with the Stirling Festival Theatre, and with the National Ballet of Canada as a Courtier in The Sleeping Beauty, at the Hummingbird Centre. Jessica was a member of the National Tap Dance Company of Canada for five years. On tour, the company travelled across Canada, performing tap works for young audiences. When not performing you can find Jessica teaching around the Greater Toronto Area. Jessica is currently on the dance faculty at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts and also runs her own Advanced Tap classes in downtown Toronto at Studio 27. In 2004, Jessica was the Interim Artistic Director of Dance Alive Productions, a workshop-focused dance producer. Muskoka Dance Weekend 2004, was presented at Deerhurst Resort to an enthusiastic group of students from all over Ontario. Professional dancers and instructors from across Canada taught classes in: Jazz, Lyrical Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern, African Dance, Breakdance, Hip Hop, Flamenco, Yoga, and Pilates. As the Programming and Administrative Assistant for Dance Ontario, DanceWorks, and The CanDance Network, Jessica is proud to take on new challenges in the dance world. She has programmed two Satellite Series events for Dance Ontario’s DanceWeekend at the Premiere Dance Theatre, including a Tap Dance Series (2004) and a Latin Dance Series (2005). In 2005, Jessica presented Dance Ontario celebrates TAP: Mr. Bojangles and Friends; a one-night only Tap gala event held at the Harbourfront Studio Theatre, Toronto. As well as being a performer in ‘What’s On? TAP!” professional dance company, Jessica is also a faculty instructor with the ‘What’s On? TAP!’ Studio.
Lisa Shingler - Lisa Shingler has been tap dancing since the age of four. While growing up in Kitchener-Waterloo she studied tap at Moree School of Dance and tap, jazz and ballet at Scott’s Studio of Steps. In her secondary school education, Lisa was involved in the Arts Package Program at Eastwood Collegiate Institute where she majored in dance and visual arts. Lisa has participated in many dance festivals across Ontario and in the United States as well as performing with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony at The Centre in the Square. Lisa took a hiatus from dance between 1994 and 2001 while she finished post-secondary school. Lisa currently works full time as a Registered Nurse in Kitchener and has been a member of “What’s on? Tap!” for the past three years. Lisa is delighted to be a member of “What’s On? Tap!” and would like to thank Kim Chalovich and Samantha Baldwin for giving her the opportunity to become a member of “What’s On? Tap!” as well as Geoff for his continual encouragement and support.
Kristy Best - Kristy Best began dancing in Whitby, Ontario at the age of five. After a few years of dancing recreationally, she joined the competitive dance team at her studio and continued competing across Ontario for the next 10 years. In 2003, she studied Dance Performance Foundations at George Brown College, where she was accredited for her dedication to the program by Ballet Jorgen Canada. That same year, Kristy traveled to Riesa, Germany for the second time to compete as part of the Canadian National Tap Team at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships. She competed as a soloist and placed first runner-up World Tap Dance Champion. Kristy has also performed in the opening ceremonies of the Ontario Summer Games, at Woodbine Race Track, at the Deerhurst Resort and for the Toronto Roadrunners Hockey team. Kristy has been teaching dance in the Durham region for the past 7 years and has recently returned from a performing tour on a cruise ship.
Rosanne Kissoon - Rosanne began dancing at the age of 3 and hasn’t been able to stop tapping her feet since. She spent over 7 years competing throughout North America and has won numerous awards and scholarships. She is an associate member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing in the stage division and has been teaching and choreographing for over 10 years. Rosanne has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, acro, lyrical, and modern, and travels to New York annually to train at the Broadway Dance Centre. In 1999, Rosanne had the pleasure of representing Canada at the International Dance Organization World Championships as a member on the Canadian National Tap Team. In 2000, she was named The Canadian National Tap Champion for the female division and traveled to Germany to compete as a soloist and member of the Canadian National Tap and Showdance teams. Most recently, Rosanne spent four seasons as a member of the Toronto Raptors Dance Pak. She has been seen performing and appearing for TV shows such as TSN, ESPN and Raptors TV. Rosanne graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelors of Commerce degree in 2006 and currently works at Scotiabank, along with teaching and choreographing for various dance studios. Rosanne is excited to begin her first year as a member of What's On? Tap and looks forward to many great years of tapping.
Sarah Marcucci - Bio to follow...
Gen Hooker - Bio to follow...
Nicole Dymianiw - Bio to follow...
Jean Linke - Bio to follow...
Lindsey Adamson - Bio to follow...
Katie Bryan - Bio to follow...
Kylie Somerville - Bio to follow...