RAD RTS, B.Sc. FNH (Hon), PBT Cert.

Born in BC, Krista trained in the Professional Ballet Programs of The Richmond Academy of Dance, National Ballet School of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Montreal’s L’Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec.  While living in Montreal, she worked with company members of Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, and studied daily with the esteemed Alexandra Wells, former principal dancer of Boston Ballet, and faculty member of The Juilliard School, New York. Krista danced many classical and contemporary roles, completed all RAD Vocational Examinations, and won numerous awards and scholarships, including one to train at London Studio Centre, England.  After injuries put a stop to her performance career, Krista obtained a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Food, Nutrition, and Health, from The University of British Columbia.  With a special interest in wellness and injury prevention, she has conducted nutrition seminars for dancers.  

Krista’s teaching career is entering her 25^th year and spans multiple studios in BC and Alberta.  She holds her Teaching Certificate and Registered Teacher Status with the Royal Academy of Dance and is also certified in the Progressing Ballet Technique conditioning method.  From 2009 to 2021, she was Head of Ballet at RNB Dance & Theatre Arts, in North Vancouver.  She is now on faculty at Tri-City Dance Centre in Coquitlam, where she is Assistant Director to the specialized Conservatory Program, as well as trains students in the younger grades of study. Krista also works with Vancouver’s newest emerging professionals, having taught company class for Ballet BC and, this season, rejoining the faculty of Lamondance, a pre-professional training company, under the Artistic Directorship of Davi Rodrigues.

Krista teaches class with passion and an eye for detail, holding high technical standards, while encouraging individual discovery and expression.  She continues to guest teach and choreograph at different schools throughout Western Canada and has adjudicated in both exam and performance settings.  Krista offers coaching in classical repertoire, PBT, open work (Vaganova and RAD influenced), and RAD Exam Syllabus.  Her students are consistently recognized for strong exam results, awards and festival placings.  They continue to be chosen as representatives to the BC Provincial Festival, are accepted to prestigious international training institutions, and have gone on to dance professionally.  Krista has a genuine passion for ballet, and loves sharing this with the next generation of dancers!

Sarah’s career in dance, spanning 24 years includes numerous awards, scholarships and grants for both herself and her students. Past students have danced professionally for; Ballet BC, Ballet Kelowna, Toronto Dance Projects, and numerous Independent Choreographers. As well students have gone onto esteemed teaching and choreography positions including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and powerhouse choreography for such companies as the National Ballet of Canada, Ballet Kelowna, Alberta Ballet and work in choreographing for commercials and films. 

Sarah’s passion and dedication to training the next generation of dancers includes faculty positions at Arts Umbrella (Vancouver) and as the Assistant Artistic Director for Dancestreams; an Internationally touring pre-professional youth dance company until 2007. For 8 years in this position, Sarah coached and acted as a rehearsal director for such outstanding choreographers as Crystal Pite, Bengt Jorgen, Hannah Stilwell, Joe Laughlin and Louis-Martin Charest among others. 

Sarah has also enjoyed teaching master classes in Germany, Belgium and at the Hollywood High School for the Performing Arts in LA. 

Sarah is a sought-after adjudicator with numerous years of experience in both festival and competition formats. She continues to educate herself and most recently participated in the National Ballet School symposium on Addressing Racialization in Ballet. Sarah is also a Certified Acro Dance Adjudicator. 

Sarah is committed to providing quality, unbiased and positive critiques to the next generation of dance artists. Sarah is excited to share her personal cornerstones of excellence.

“Creativity, Technique, Artistry and Passion.” 

Marcel is a dance educator, choreographer, and dance adjudicator based in the Vancouver area. He is a fully certified Dance Teacher with ADAPT Syllabus (Jazz, Tap), Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association (Jazz, Tap, Acro), Acrobatic Arts, Progressing Ballet Technique, Alixa Flexibility.  Marcel is also a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) where he completed the full three-year program, earning him a Diploma in Applied Performing Arts. He also holds certification specifically for adjudicating with the ADA Adjudicator (ADTA), and is a proud member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance.  

Over the years, Marcel has had several exciting opportunities to perform and showcase his choreography. Some of the highlights include: touring Western Canada and parts of the United States with a song and dance group called Saskatchewan Express, co-choreographing CCPA’s production of ‘Young Frankenstein‘, starring in CCPA’s production of ‘Lend Me A Tenor’, choreographing ‘Hello, Dolly!‘ with Fraser Valley Stage, setting choreography and dancing in a production of ‘The Nutcracker’ with The Sunshine Coast Youth Dance Association, and touring to England to dance in the Gilbert and Sullivan International Festival in a production of ‘The Gondoliers’.  

The versatility in Marcel’s training has allowed him to push the boundaries of basic dance routines and create exciting new pieces to share with his community. He has been recognized with numerous choreography awards, and high score/overall wins with his pieces. Marcel has had students be accepted into prestigious post-secondary institutions, and even go on to have professional careers in the performing arts industry; becoming performers, teachers, and choreographers themselves.  

Marcel is passionate about dance education and continues to train and perform as a working professional artist around the West Coast.

Tasha is an established International dance artist with 25 plus years as a vibrant and successful visionary spanning festival producer, educator, choreographer, artistic director and performer.  

Ms. Lawson is the founder, producer and artistic director of the Tri-Tone Rhythm Society and Calgary’s Rhythm, Body and Soul Festival, an annual four-day event that celebrates, preserves and promotes tap dance and percussive arts through education and presentation.

Ms. Lawson is respected for her values as an educator and her ability to affect positive growth in youth. She is recognized for developing well-rounded dancers, providing the foundation needed to pursue a professional career. Students have been accepted into prestigious schools including Jacob’s Pillow in Mass. and Escola Luthier in Barcelona and performed with acclaimed companies such as STOMP and Dorrance Dance.  

Understanding the versatility required as a working artist, in 2015 Tasha developed Tri-Tone Teacher Training Programs in Rhythm Tap and Pre-School Creative Dance, sharing methodologies that integrate technique, musicality, artistry and history while inspiring creativity and self-discipline in students.  

Driven by curiosity about varied cultures and their influence on rhythm, music, and movement, Tasha has travelled abroad and studied with body percussion masters, Keith Terry (USA) and Fernando Barba (Brazil), as well as other leaders in the field. She has since developed a technique which transcribes tap vocabulary and repertoire to the body and has been presented at the International Body Music Festivals in San Francisco and Paris, France, and Festival Danse Encore, Quebec. Tasha has delivered body percussion workshops for casts of Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas and toured the US and Japan as Assistant Artistic Director of Big Top Show, KOOZA.  

From 2002-2008, Tasha performed and toured with Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, Texas, under the direction of Acia Gray. Ms Lawson was nominated for Dancer of the Year by the Austin Critics Table Awards, for her performance in “The Souls of Our Feet; A Tribute to American Tap Dance”. During this time, Tasha also served as Artistic Director of Tapestry’s apprentice company, Visions In Rhythm, developing as a choreographer and director in the creation of six full-length concert presentations.  

In 2010, Tasha was invited by tap master, Dianne Walker, to join the faculty of Jacobs Pillow for its inaugural Professional Tap program. She has since been working closely with Dianne, in the preservation of the Late Leon Collins’ body of work.  

Additional residencies and workshops include Capilano University, University of Calgary, University of Texas, Decidedly Jazz Dancework’s Professional Training Program, Harbour Dance Center, Vancouver’s, ITP Program, Peggy Peat School of Dance, Spectrum City Dance, and Dansko Studios among others. Tasha has been invited to guest at International Festivals; Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Vancouver International Tap Festival, Third Coast Rhythm Project, Sole to Soul, Tap into a Cure, Toronto Rhythm Initiative, MADD Rhythms Canada, Festival Danse Encore, Brazil’s Le Biennale De Dance, Germany’s Tanzhaus Festival, and Calgary’s Rhythm Body and Soul Festival.  

After graduating with advanced standing in Dance Teacher Training and Dance Performance, from Grant MacEwan University, under the mentorship of Charlene Tarver and Brian Webb, Tasha then attended Simon Fraser University, while choreographing and performing in festivals, Dancing on the Edge and Women In View in Vancouver, Canada. She later relocated to New York, immersing in rhythm tap and music studies. Tasha has had the privilege of sharing creative spaces, with tap masters, Roxanne Butterfly, Heather Cornell, Dianne Walker, Brenda Bufalino, Max Pollak, Sarah Petronio, Derick Grant, Katherine Kramer, Dr. Arthur Duncan, Dr. Harold Cromer, Dr. Jeni Legon, Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Dr. Fayard Nicholas, among others. Tasha is grateful for the mentorship and opportunities provided by many versatile artists, collaborators, colleagues, students, and tap masters who support and inspire her journey.  

Continuously expanding, she is currently freelancing as a guest artist, teacher, choreographer and program consultant, and festival adjudicator. For more information visit www.rhythmbodyandsoul.com or www.tashalawson.com