Amy discovered her “Happy Feet” at 18 months of age ( K.C and the Sunshine Band were a formative influence) but had to wait to begin her formal dance training until the age of 3. Starting off in a small church basement in St. John’s, NL. she pursued her love of dance throughout her school years, studying throughout Canada, and considers herself extremely fortunate to have studied with excellent teachers who stoked her passion for dance such as Judy Knee, Tina Phelps and Barbara Ashley in Newfoundland and Johanne Gingras, and Ross Brierton at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.

Pursuing her post secondary education in dance, she travelled to the UK where she studied Dance and Dance teacher training under the guidance of Miss Gaynor Owen(Professional international examiner for the ISTD, and a highly respected Chairperson of the Modern Faculty Committee) at the Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre. While studying overseas she was awarded the “Ready And” award for excellence and promise in Teaching. Participating in over over 40 dance examinations, Amy holds international dance qualifications from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) at the Associate level in Ballet, Modern Theatre, Tap, National, Freestyle, Latin and Ballroom. She has also completed the PBT training certificate to further ballet technique. She successfully completed her Royal Academy of Dancing Intermediate examination as well as ISTD Advanced 2 level examinations in Ballet, Modern Theatre, National, and Tap. She studied with accomplished teachers and examiners such as Debbie James, Barbara Simmons, Jane Baylis, Barbara Johnson and Val Jones, as well as choreographers Peter King and David Needham.

Foregoing a professional dance career overseas, Amy returned to Canada in 1999 to pursue her passion for teaching. Choreographing and teaching in the Ottawa area for almost 20 years, Amy treasures the innumerable, long lasting relationships she has made with dancers and their families, many of whom still keep in touch through frequent visits, emails and phone calls.

Throughout her extensive dancing career Amy has learned the importance of physicality to development of self esteem, inner strength, personal development and creativity in dancers. At a personal level she understands the capacity of dance training to nurture inner strength and understanding of self and is committed to helping her students find the same. 

She has found great joy and professional satisfaction in teaching, and has mentored several candidates to successful completion of Advanced 2 examinations. For her students, she believes that confidence and self esteem will flourish through disciplined practice, unleashing of their creativity and opportunity to compete against themselves by challenging their newly learned skills against an international standard. 

Amy believes learning is a life long journey, not only for students but teachers as well, and is committed to encouraging her students to keep reaching forward.

Ryleigh began dancing at 3 years old and started competitive dance training when she was 11 years old. She has trained in ballet, modern, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hiphop, and tap and graduated with honours from the Canterbury High School Dance Program where she received her arts certificate.

Ryleigh has completed the Associate level in both Ballet & Jazz with the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD) and has many years of experience training and teaching under the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) as well. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Carleton University in 2018 where her studies in child development inspired her to bring new insights into the age-based programs she has been curating during her years as an instructor.

Ryleigh has been teaching and choreographing for over 11 years, and she sees her work as an opportunity to create meaningful connections with young dancers, acknowledging that a safe space is essential in nurturing dancers to grow to their full potential.  

Jaiden has been dancing since she was 3 years old, starting with ballet. She continued with ballet exclusively until middle school where she started taking Hip Hop with our very own, Miss Jaime. Although these two styles are so different, Jaiden says that she loved having the contrast in her training.

Jaiden continued with both styles at Studio A until she graduated high school, also completing her RAD Intermediate Vocational Ballet exam.

Since graduating, Jaiden has continued to dance in the Hip Hop space and has joined Culture Shock Ottawa, a dance team focused on exploring the different street styles of Hip Hop. She joined the team in 2023 and has had the privilege of performing with them in many places, including San Diego! 

Jaiden has been teaching at Studio A since its inception, starting as a Teacher’s Assistant for Miss Jaime’s younger Hip Hop class. Jaiden now enjoys teaching our Intermediate and Senior Hip Hop classes and still teaches some of the same students she taught as an Assistant. 

Outside of teaching, Jaiden is pursuing Software Engineering at the University of Ottawa.

Born and raised in Kanata, ON, Kim started her journey in the arts as a little 4-year-old ballerina. At 13 she had to make the tough choice, dance lessons or piano. Her love of music won out. Kim still dances for pleasure today (mostly in the car) and loves to take Adult Ballet and Barre Fitness classes when she can.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. While at Mount Allison, Kim was a member of the Garnet and Gold Musical Theatre Society performing in Anything Goes, Grease, Kiss Me Kate, Chicago and Oklahoma!

Kim has been an active volunteer with MusicFest Canada for over 20 years and currently serves as Production Director, overseeing the volunteers, logistics, sponsor equipment, showcase concerts, and communications for the festival hosting over 10,000 students across the country. Kim is also very active with Capital Region MusicFest, where she sits on the Executive Committee as Treasurer. 

Kim loves working with the fabulous students at Studio A Dance, acting as their Technical Director/Stage Manager since it’s inception. She also is an invaluable member of the office team, free-lances as the Studio DJ during the Stittsville Parade of Lights, and is teaching Musical Theatre this season.

Kim brings joy to all those who know her, and loves to see the joy of music, dance, and artistry developed in every student.

“There is something to be said about expressing yourself through the medium of dance”

Megan began dancing at the age of 12, and her love for the art form has grown with every year she continues to dance. 

Megan has studied Jazz, Tap, Modern, Ballet, and Hip Hop extensively and has competed in Jazz and Hip Hop competitions in Ottawa. She attended the Canterbury High School dance program, where she was introduced to choreography and composition. She choreographed numerous dance pieces while attending, and feels herself extremely fortunate to have been able to immerse herself in dance and collaborate with other dance enthusiasts. Throughout that time Megan continued to train with Amy, and under her tutelage completed her Advanced 1 ISTD modern exam before leaving Ottawa for University.

Megan graduated from Guelph University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical science, and in 2018 with a Bachelors in Nursing degree from Western University.

Throughout her studies Megan was able to continue dancing and spent her summers teaching children with special needs at Camp Kennebec, in Arden, Ontario.

In Megan’s words, “Dance will forever be ingrained in my heart and I cannot wait to impart my knowledge and enthusiasm to prospective students”.

Megan has been very successful with his competitive endeavors this year, and has brought the Studio A team to the forefront.

Training in dance since the age of 4, Jaime has had over 25 years of dance experience in Ballet, Tap, Modern and Hip Hop. Jaime studied extensively in the RAD and ISTD examination syllabi completing Vocational examinations in Ballet, Modern and Tap. As a student she danced competitively and had the opportunity to perform several times with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal in their production of the Nutcracker.

Jaime is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance, and has studied their development programs in Repertoire syllabus, Benesh notation, and is also a Silver Swan licensee. Jaime has completed her Progressing Ballet Technique certification and holds a Pre-School Acro Dance certification with AcrobaticArts.

As part of Jaime’s professional development, she has attended numerous courses, workshops, and masterclasses where she had the opportunity to learn from Stacey Tookey, Shawn Byfield, Lynn Wallis (former Artistic Director of the RAD), Li Cunxin (Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet) and has met one of her ballet idols, Karen Kain.

Jaime graduated Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Music.

Jaime is passionate about providing a fun, safe environment for students, where they can express themselves through the art of dance.