News & Updates...
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Recital save the date: June 17th, 2023 @ Meaford Hall
Adela Cleverley
Artistic Director
Adela Cleverley has been training in ballet and highland dance since the age of 9. She has performed in many shows with Ann Milne and the Owen Sound Academy of Performing Arts, including Dancing for Life and Dancing for Life... Because You Can. Adela is a competitive highland dancer and has been teaching competitive and recreational highland since 2008. In 2012, she became a fully qualified Member of the BATD for highland, and she is now a Member of the SDTA (Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance). Adela has also been teaching Ballet and Contemporary since 2012, and Adult Dance since 2015. In 2019, Adela also completed her Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies with the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance), which qualifies the Owen Sound Dance Academy as an RAD registered school.
Adela graduated in 2016 after five years of training in the Dance program at York University in Toronto, having received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, as well as a concurrent Bachelor of Education at the Primary-Junior level. At York, Adela studied classical and contemporary ballet, improvisation and Skinner Release Technique, and a range of modern dance techniques including Graham and Limón. She was able to expand and enrich her dance background with studies in choreography, conditioning, dance history, and dance kinesiology, as well as courses in early child development
and motor learning for dance. In her time at York University, Adela also had the opportunity to perform twice in the school’s annual production of York Dances, and has been inspired by the countless professional modern dance and ballet shows she was able to attend each year.
Adela has had the pleasure of training under many notable Dance Artists, including Julia Sasso, John Ottman, Carol Anderson, Tracey Norman, and Helen Jones.
Until 2017, Adela taught Highland, Ballet and Contemporary at the Owen Sound Academy of Performing Arts, and she was honoured to become the owner and Artistic Director of the new Academy in August 2017. Since then, Adela has continued to train dancers in these styles as well as teaching Preschool, Adult Dance, and Parent & Tot. She has put four full dance recitals on stage, including The Nutcracker in 2018 and the Academy's comeback celebration Human this past June. Recently Adela has begun further outreach and contemporary dance artistry with her latest creative project, Wildflower Dance Arts. Through her years of training at the OSAPA and York, Adela discovered a real passion for teaching and creating dance and is honoured to be able to continue sharing her art with this community.
Photo Credit: Candra Schank
Michele Hopkins
Professional Instructor
Michele Hopkins is an award-winning dance artist who has been dancing, teaching, choreographing and directing for over 25 years. Michele has performed extensively throughout her career in both classical and contemporary formats across Ontario and the United States. She engages both her students and the community in dance in a variety of dance projects and performances.
Michele has had experience dancing and choreographing for numerous classical ballets including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote, as well as various contemporary dance productions throughout her career with the Niagara Ballet Company, In Company of Dance, and as an independent dance artist.
Michele completed ballet teacher training at the National Ballet School in Toronto and the American Ballet Theatre curriculum in New York City. Michele is also a certified yoga and pilates instructor and mind-body therapy practitioner. She was the Artist in Residence at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts and has been recognized with a Mayor’s Cultural Award, Bernice Adams Award and as a YWCA Woman of Distinction. She has been involved in numerous Arts and Culture organizations and committees and regularly attends workshops and training in Toronto and NYC.
Michele recently moved into Grey Bruce with her family and is excited to immerse herself in the arts and culture of our area. The Owen Sound Dance Academy is delighted to welcome Michele into our faculty and the community!
Lauren McKibbon
Student Teacher
Lauren McKibbon has been dancing at the Academy since the age of 3 and has trained in a variety of styles including contemporary, ballet, jazz, highland, and musical theatre. Lauren has performed in many shows with the Owen Sound Academy of Performing Arts such as Dancing For Life, Just Delete (a musical about cyber bullying), and the Owen Sound Dance Academy’s 2018 production of The Nutcracker, in which she danced the role of the Nutcracker. She has also participated in workshops with brilliant dance artists, such as Mateo Galindo Torres, Carol Anderson, and Helen Jones. She has also had the opportunity to audition for preprofessional intensives in Toronto and this past summer, Lauren participated in a beautiful performance with the Academy's new youth company, Wildflower Dance Arts. Lauren assisted with dance classes from 2018-2020 and began teaching her own class at the beginning of 2020. The Academy's most recent June Show was Lauren's choreographic debut, with two beautiful contemporary dances she created for Junior and Intermediate dancers. Lauren will be graduating this year and feels very fortunate to be able to share all the knowledge she’s gained about dance with the next generation of the studio.
Lila Warrilow
Student Teacher
Lila Warrilow has been dancing since the age of 3 and has trained in many styles of dance including highland, jazz, musical theatre, ballet, and contemporary. She has had the opportunity to learn from some amazing dance artists including Carol Anderson and Mateo Galindo Torres. Lila was a competitive highland dancer for a number of years and has received Honours through all of her highland theory examinations, which has nominated her for the SDTA North American Scholarship event twice. She is currently working towards the Highland Associates Exam to become a certified teacher with the SDTA. Lila has performed in many shows and community performances with the Owen Sound Dance Academy and had the opportunity to expand her contemporary dance artistry by participating in the spring pilot program for Wildflower Dance Arts, culminating in a performance at Earth Day Grey Bruce in the spring of 2022. Lila began assisting with ballet and highland classes in 2018 and is excited to begin teaching her own classes this year. She is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with all of our new and returning dancers!