The Dance Institute
SHARON WALSH-MEHAFFEY
(A.I.S.T.D, CSB) Studio Director Sharon trained at the Nester Brooking School in London, England and The National Ballet School in Toronto. In 1976, she opened her own studio in St. John’s, Newfoundland which she ran successfully for 12 years. In 1982 she founded the Atlantic Dance Company which provided gifted students the opportunity to perform. In 1987 she moved to Toronto and taught for Seneca College, The Koffler Dance Centre & Wishing Well Montessori School. In 1993 she established The Dance Institute in Markham. Sharon is an Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, Cecchetti Society Branch.
The Dance Institute
JOEY ARRIGO
Joey Arrigo, a versatile artist from Toronto, is a prominent figure in dance and entertainment. With skills in dance, acrobatics, and teaching, Joey has left a lasting impact on global stages. Notable performances include Cirque du Soleil's “Volta” and “Kooza,” collaborations with Shaping Sound Dance Company and Pro Arte Danza, and roles in Transcendance Project's productions. His on-screen presence includes appearances in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and “Cabinet of Curiosities.” Recognized on CTV's “So You Think You Can Dance Canada,” Joey shared his story on “Canada’s Got Talent” as a dancer living with HIV. He serves as an ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research, advocating for art therapy's role in mental health support.
The Dance Institute
JULIA CRATCHLEY
Julia trained as a contemporary and classical artist in Vancouver, B.C, with Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program under the direction of Artemis Gordon and Lynn Sheppard. She has workshopped with international choreographers in Canada, New York and Europe. Most recently she has been to Belgium and New York to train in an intensive with the Batsheva company’s Gaga technique. Julia has been a part of Toronto dance company Helix Dance Project for four seasons now, and has assisted Linda Garneau with the process of ‘Rain’ ‘Verb.atim’ ,‘UnEarth’ and ‘The Waiting Room’ She was a dancer and choreographer for Bridge to Artists first three shows ‘Prima Volta’ ‘Senses’ and ‘On the Sawdust Trail’. She was also a company member for Toes for Dance, Conteur Dance Company and Rutherford Movement Exchange. Julia has toured to New York and Dominican Republic with New York choreographer Derrick Yanford. Julia became the artistic director of her own professional contemporary company TranscenDance Project in 2015 directing and choreographing the company’s first full length interactive show ‘Eve of St. George’ which premiered in December 2015.
The Dance Institute
GLUKE YE
Gluke started dancing at the age of three and has trained in styles like Chinese dance, ballet, Latin, jazz funk, and hip hop. She’s performed and competed with teams such as HAVOC, VYBE, and VIE Division. These days, she enjoys exploring movement both in and out of dance—whether through jazz funk, longboard dancing, bouldering, or snowboarding.
The Dance Institute
TORI MEHAFFEY (BFA)
A former TDI graduate, Tori has a BFA diploma from Ryerson University’s Performance Dance Performance Program, received the 2014 Ryerson Theatre School’s Dance Performance Award and the Lawrence Gradus Choreographic Scholarship. Tori has performed for professional dance companies Coleman Lemieux, ProArteDanza, Gadfly and Madboots and is a nominee for the 2016 Dora Awards, 'Outstanding Female Performance in Dance'. Tori has choreographed for The National Ballet of Canada’s 2015 Choreographic Workshop, Ryerson University’s 2015 Emerging Artist Choreographic Lab Series and Canada’s Ballet Jorgen 2016 movement research program. Her interest in researching movement has lead her to study at places such as ImPulstanz, Vienna; Springboard Danse, Montreal; Henny Jurriens Foundation, Amsterdam; and RUBBERBANDance Group Intensives, Quebec.
The Dance Institute
JAIDEN LYONS
Jaiden Lyons is a passionate and creative artist from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She was a professional assistant at LA Dance Magic for 3 years. In 2018, Jaiden received a full admission dance scholarship to Hussein College in Los Angeles, California – a four year BFA Commercial Dance Program. Over the years, Jaiden has had the privilege to work on stage, film and in theatre. Some of her dance credits are: Keke Palmer’s “Vitamin D” Music Video, Kelsi Mayne’s “Ain’t Your Jolene” Music Video, Rave Train’s Season 6 Episode 6 “Bvsstactic”, Marin Rylee’s “He Broke Up With Me” Music Video, Tyler Hutchings’ Contemporary Show “Whole New World”, and Lifetime’s: “The Christmas Dance Reunion”. Most notably, Jaiden can be found dancing in Drake’s new music video “NOKIA”.
Jaiden has won multiple awards of recognition for her choreography. Her most notable experience was co-choreographing and dancing for the Canadian Mental Health Gala in 2017. As an emerging choreographer and performer, she’s eager to continue immersing herself into the Toronto dance community!
The Dance Institute
PYRO
Andrew “Pyro” Chung found his passion for the arts in the year 1999. After years of training and learning, he has now competed in the highest levels of street dance competitions/battles, winning well over 50 titles worldwide and also representing Canada at the Street Dance World Cup in 2016. Throughout the duration of his battle career he was also training in choreography, working as a dancer on Film and TV shows (Disney, Netflix, Family Channel, CBC, CBBC) and on different stages around the world. After early retirement from competing, he now focuses on sharing the knowledge he has gained over the years to train up and coming dancers to the best of his abilities. Co-founder of Footnotes Street Dance Academy, Pyro trains dancers to be knowledgeable within their own crafts and helps dancers grow more efficiently, so they don’t need to make the same mistakes he did. Pyro has now been running Footnotes Academy for the past 10 years, while choreographing, scouting, and casting for different projects on Film and Television.
The Dance Institute
NADIA RUFFIEUX
As a dancer Nadia boasts talents for a broad range of styles, including, ballet, modern, lyrical,
contemporary, jazz, hiphop, and acro, which makes her an incredibly well-rounded performer.
The versatility has served her well in live performances, which includes a dancer role for Universal’s Junoweek with Reve, OTF’s gala for sickkids 2023 (directed by Mitchell Jackson), and Studio North’s studiosix show (choreographed by Derick Robinson). She has also competed on Canada’s Got Talent as anensemble dancer.
In addition to being Acrobatic Arts certified, Nadia completed her training at Intrepid Dance Company,
where she trained under renowned faculty that includes Mitchell Jackson, Derek Piquette, Linda Garneau,
Kelly Shaw, Alisha Lucchese, Edgar Hpa, Tara Pillon, Angelina Leofanti, Christina Kotsopoulos, and
Derick Robinson. She has worked as an assistant to Mitchell Jackson (Choreography and intensives),
Derek Piquette (acrobatic arts), and Linda Garneau.
The Dance Institute
GRACE FOSTER
Grace Foster started dancing when she was four at a local community centre in Toronto. Grace started with ballet technique, then added modern, jazz and hip hop to her dance vocabulary. She earned a Certificate of Professional Development from the dance department at George Brown College, in Toronto. Foster attended Columbia College Chicago and received her Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree with cum laude in dance teaching. Grace has taught at many locations, including The Martha Hicks School of Ballet, the City of Toronto and In Motion Dance West to name a few. She is excited to join the TDI team and happy to be able to share the love of dance with the new generation.
The Dance Institute
MATTHEW MORALES
Matthew Morales is an emerging dancer and choreographer in the Toronto and Ontario university urban dance scenes. Coming from Markham, he began dancing with VYbE Dance Company and trained in styles including hip hop, popping, locking, whaacking, house, and urban choreography. Since then, he has worked with groups including Vie Division (McMaster University), K9 Collective (Toronto), the ARTillery (Hamilton), The Male Initiative (Toronto), The Toronto Raptors Dance Team, The Industry (Toronto), the Kindred Culture teaching faculty (Mississauga), and the VYbE Dance Studio teaching faculty (Markham). Matthew strives to inspire others to discover more about themselves, to grind towards their own individual passions, and to serve others through dance.
The Dance Institute
EVERETT WOODS
Owner/director of Core Training Gymnastics, Everett has over 30 years of experience coaching athletes of all ages and abilities, including individuals with special needs.
Certifications and Awards:
- Diploma - Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation, Coaching
- Canadian Personal Training Certified
- N.C.C.P Level 3 National Coach Certified (women's)
- N.C.C.P Level 2 National Coach Certified (men's)
- N.C.C.P Level 3 Trampoline
