Balance Teacher Faculty 

Balance Dance Centre features diverse and experienced instructors who are sought after due to their accreditation and professionalism.  Our teachers are dedicated to offering a healthy learning environment, which will challenge and encourage your dancer to the best of their ability. It is our utmost priority to provide a positive and professional learning environment for all dancers and families.

Founder & Director

Kristine initially discovered her love of dance while she grew up training and performing competitively in ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz and hip hop. She has enjoyed opportunities to train in a number of cities in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Over the last ten years, Kristine has become an experienced dance instructor, choreographer, studio director, and adjudicator. 

During high school, Kristine focused primarily on her technical ballet skills and proudly completed her Royal Academy of Dance Advanced II Exam in 2009 through the International School of Ballet, as well as training at the School of Alberta Ballet Summer Intensive. Kristine broadened her dance education further by moving to Vancouver, BC the following year to attend Harbour Dance Center’s yearlong Intensive Training Program. While in Vancouver, she continued her university studies, and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education from the Royal Academy of Dance in association with the University of Surrey, England. Kristine had the amazing opportunity to venture to New York City, to train at the Broadway Dance Center, as a full-time student in the International Student Visa Program.

Dance has always been Kristine’s true passion, which is why she has long devoted herself to the pursuit of her dream to teach others. She has aspired to establish a dance studio that offers professional quality training in a positive atmosphere that fosters encouraging, life-long relationships. Kristine is thrilled to see the pieces of the puzzle finally come together, and she is truly excited to share her knowledge and passion for dance with students, families, and teachers at Balance Dance Centre!

“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” - Maya Angelou

Administrative Director

Brenna is a dance instructor with a 15-year teaching journey in the world of dance. Her training spans across various dance styles, including jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, and musical theatre. She holds a fine arts diploma, with a primary focus on dance and drama. Growing up in the Okotoks area she developed her skills through dance exams, performances and competitions  both locally and in the United States.

Specializing in jazz and lyrical dance forms, Brenna is dedicated to nurturing the talents of both recreational and competitive dancers. Her teaching philosophy centers around fostering creativity, discipline, and a deep love of dance.

In addition to her teaching abilities, Brenna is known for her exceptional organizational and administrative skills. She is behind the scenes ensuring the seamless flow of events and classes.

Beyond the studio, Brenna is a devoted mother to her two children. She also explores her artistic side through photography, capturing the beauty of life through a different lens.

With her diverse background, unwavering commitment, and infectious enthusiasm, Brenna strives to inspire her students to dance with their heart and soul every time they take a step on the dance floor.

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking” - Agnes de Mille

Artistic Director

Breagh’s love of dance started at the early age of 3 years old and has continued into her adult years. She trained for 15 years in ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. During these years, she studied under the R.A.D, I.S.T.D & Cecchetti Ballet Syllabi. She has performed and competed in and around Calgary and the United States with Starcast Dance Academy’s competitive team. In 2015, Breagh had the honour of being awarded Starcast’s “Dancer Of The Year''. She graduated from Holy Trinity Academy with Drama and Performing Arts/ Musical Theatre electives. Breagh has successfully completed her Acrobatic Arts Teaching Certification and continues to develop her passion for working with the youth by having obtained a Bachelors of Psychology, specializing in child & adolescent development with a minor in biological science. Breagh also holds a Graduate Bachelors Degree program in Elementary Education.

Teaching is a passion Breagh has pursued since a very young age, as this will be Breagh’s tenth year in teaching dance. When she is not in the studio teaching, she is spending her time teaching within a classroom to her grade 5 students. Breagh has extensive experience as an assistant teacher and co-teacher which has provided Breagh with the opportunity to develop Balance Dance Centre’s Assistant Teaching Program. This program is developed with the intention of passing on the joys of teaching our intermediate and senior students who are interested in pursuing a future dance teaching career.

Her child-like heart, creative passions, and child-centered education has guided her to specialize in teaching preschool, primary and junior recreational classes. Breagh loves connecting with each of her students and feels incredibly grateful to continue to watch them grow and achieve their goals each and every year! Breagh has also been a part of Balance Dance Centre’s administration team for the last 8 years offering her leadership and artistic direction as Balance continues to grow.

She continues to embrace her passions as a life-long learner, a dancer, an artist and a teacher, and is looking forward to her sixth year at Balance Dance Centre.

“Behind every dancer who believes in themselves is a teacher who believed in them first.” - (Unknown)

Competitive Team Director

Katie is a choreographer, dance educator and former professional dancer in Calgary, AB. Her over 20 years of experience in all areas of professional dance brings a unique perspective to her teaching.

Katie is overjoyed to pass her knowledge on to the next generation of dancers focusing on technique, performance quality, and building a passion for dance. Katie’s choreography and competitive dancers have won numerous awards throughout her career. Katie also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (with a focus on Ballet) from the University of Calgary, in conjunction with the School of Alberta Ballet.

Katie’s lifelong love of dance began at the age of three when she saw The Nutcracker for the first time. Her early training consisted primarily of ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, adagio, tap, and musical theatre. As a high level competitive dancer herself, Katie has received many awards, scholarships and titles.

Katie danced professionally for over ten years performing to crowds around the world. A highlight of her career was as a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines where she performed as both Dance Captain and Lead Dancer.

Katie is excited for her seventh year with the Balance Dance Centre dance family.

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” - Martha Graham

Michelle is a dance educator and choreographer with over 10 years of experience. She has been passionate about dance from a very young age and is trained in ballet, modern theatre, contemporary, jazz, and recently began training in tap. Michelle completed most of her training at Alberta Ballet School where she completed annual examinations in both ballet and modern theatre. Throughout her training, Michelle studied under the instruction of Shirley Agate-Proust, Lynette Fry-Abra, Aram Manukyan, Jennifer Mariani, Julie Coleman, Maria Crothers, and world-renowned Nancy Kilgour. Although primarily trained in ISTD, Michelle is also familiar with RAD, Cecchetti and Vagonova methods. She currently holds her Licentiate teaching qualifications in ISTD Ballet, her Advanced 2 in ISTD Ballet and is working towards achieving her Fellowship teaching qualifications in ISTD Ballet and Associate teaching qualifications in ISTD Modern Theatre.

In addition to her formal training, Michelle has taken several workshops in dance both locally and internationally. In 2011, she travelled to China to perform in an international arts exchange. In 2013, Michelle attended ballet master classes in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Here, she studied under world-renowned teachers in Vagonova ballet. Michelle also attended classes at ISTD2 Studios in London in 2016 to study Modern Theatre. She has danced in Alberta Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” for five seasons as a member of the children’s cast. Most recently, Michelle spent nine months in London, UK studying at and working at Pineapple Dance Studios.

Michelle is excited to teach at Balance Dance Centre. With her fun-loving spirit and passion for dance, she hopes to pass on the same level of excellence in training to her students that she received from her teachers.

“People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life.” – Martha Graham

Paige has been dancing since the age of 3 and started dancing competitively at the age of 5. Paige has trained in tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, ballet and acro. She has been assistant teaching for 7 years and is dedicated to helping students grow with unique ideas to inspire them.

Paige has performed in the Disneyland parade and excelled at numerous competitions. Paige has also completed multiple tap, jazz, and ballet exams, including most recently, her International Society of Teachers of Dance Intermediate Ballet Exam with Merit!

Paige is excited to bring her love of dance to all her students and inspire them to become the best versions of themselves.

Maia began dancing at the age of three on Vancouver Island and brings over 20 years of formal studio training. She has completed her RAD Advanced II ballet exam and holds a BA in Contemporary Dance with distinction and a BKin with first class honours from the University of Calgary. She is currently pursuing a BSc in Psychology as the next step in her path to becoming a Clinical Sport Psychologist specializing in aesthetic sport.

With over six years of experience as a dance educator, including work as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Maia emphasizes musicality, safe movement practices, and truly placing focus on each individual student. Her choreography was recognized with a Judges’ Choice Award for Musicality at Shine Dance Competition, and she brings over 10 years of formal music training into her classes.

Outside the studio, Maia enjoys climbing, ski touring, and backpacking. She believes the role of a teacher is to focus fully on the student, creating a space where each dancer feels safe, inspired, and seen.

Maia is very excited for her first season with the Balance Dance Centre team!

Miss Arles began dancing at the age of 4 in Calgary. During those years she achieved an expansive dance education in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Lyrical and Hip-Hop. She received exclusive training by experienced registered Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) teachers, preparing her to complete exams in Grades 1-8 and Vocational Syllabus and Advanced ADAPT Tap and Jazz. As an intensive dancer she has had eight years competitive dance experience in solos, duet and group dances and won scholarships to support her training. To broaden her education she attended enrichment programs such as Triple Threat Dance Convention, International School of Ballet Summer School of Excellence and ADAPT TTS led by renowned Brian Foley. Outside of training, Miss Arles has had the privilege to perform with Alberta Dance Theatre and prepare students to perform with Canmore Canada Day Parade and Disney Dance the Magic Show and Parade in California.

Miss Arles is passionate about giving back to her community. She began teaching through her home studio’s Student Teacher Education Program (STEP), whereby she felt called to teach her love of dance to children. Since then she has completed teaching certification and accreditation with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers (ADAPT), Acrobatic Arts and Performing Arts Education of Canada (PAEC). Embracing a philosophy of individualized and detailed technical training, complemented by a positive and fun learning environment. Miss Arles prides herself on creating a supportive teaching space based on principles of respect and inclusion. She wants all her students to feel valued. Individual attention and constructive feedback is provided, which helps to develop their confidence as dancers. Through a variety of volunteer roles in her local community, Arles has also developed extensive leadership skills with children, and teaches them that many of the skills learned in the dance classroom can translate into important skills for life. She is a trusted role model, offering young dancers mentorship, support and guidance.

Miss Arles’ passion is to help students understand the differences between each dance genre and help them connect and transfer their knowledge of Ballet into Jazz, Tap and other disciplines. She believes that teaching correct technique is important to students' success together with developing positive personal characteristics. She strives to promote self-awareness, self-confidence, resilience, mutual respect and positive relationships in her students to help them develop healthy self-esteem and a strong sense of studio and community belonging.

Miss Arles is looking forward to working with all the amazing and talented dancers at Balance Dance Center for the 2025/2026 dance year.

Maddie has been dancing since the age of three and completed 15 years at her home studio, with 10 of them being apart of the competitive program. During this time she trained in all styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Acro, Contemporary and open genres. In her home studio they practiced and trained in RAD syllabus for ballet and ADAPT for Jazz and Tap; completing in advanced levels for both. Along her other disciplines she has spent the past few years partially focused on training in the different styles of hip hop including popping, locking, breaking, house, hip hop freestyle, vogue, tutting, funk, and many more open styles. Maddie spends her off time continuing her training through different choreographers, studios, and dance crews throughout Calgary and the surrounding area to ensure she is bringing her students the most fresh and current style in the dance world.

Some of her achievements include performing with a group of dancers from her home studio at Tasha Lawsons National Tap day Celebration, attended and performed at the Vibe Out community show run by Sean Butler where the proceeds went to the Calgary food bank, obtained the invitation scholarship for the Lightning Elite dance team 2024, completed three years of dance during high-school, and over the years achieved multiple special and high scoring awards for her musical theatre duet including “Comedic Affair”, “Maturity in Movement”, and “Broadway Bound”.

In the past year Maddie has had the opportunity to be apart of the invite only pilot programs with the Calgary Roughnecks Drill Crew and Calgary Stampeders Outriders dance teams. With these opportunities she got to train with the team and then have the opportunity to performs sidelines and routines along side the teams at a season game. With these events Maddie has gained a love and passion for the Pom style and is looking forward to exploring it more and being able to teach it to her future students.

Outside of the studio Maddie has a great passion for the outdoors and nature. Her first job was as a high end gardener and that is where her love for plants originated. She enjoys going on hikes, camping, adventures and appreciating the world around her. As well in her public school time she was apart of many sport teams including basketball, volleyball, soccer and badminton, where she was chosen to be captain for one of the years in middle school and winning city championships for her team in highschool.

With Miss. Maddies bubbly personality and fun approach with her teaching style, she cannot wait to meet her new students and be apart of the Balance family for the 2025/2026 season and many more to come

Sam has been dancing since the age of three, training competitively in lyrical, tap, ballet, and jazz. Over the years, she has explored a variety of recreational styles including hip hop, acro, and additional tap classes. Her ballet training has included the Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D.) syllabus, further enriching her technical foundation.

At 14, Sam began assistant teaching at multiple studios, gaining hands-on experience with dancers of all ages and levels. She is currently working toward her Acrobatic Arts Module One certification to ensure her acro instruction is safe, progressive, and effective.

Sam specializes in early childhood dance and is passionate about designing fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate classes. Her goal is to help young dancers build confidence, coordination, and a lifelong love of movement. She is thrilled to continue sharing her knowledge and joy for dance with each student she meets.

Advaitha has been dancing for almost 17 years, starting at just 3 years old. She fell in love with the art form instantly and began competing by the age of 4. After graduating, she knew dance had to remain a part of her life, so she transitioned into teaching. She now pours her whole heart into teaching and choreographing, and has begun branching out into creating her own dance-related projects.

In the fall of 2024, Advaitha created her first-ever dance film concept piece, which was selected to be screened at the Calgary Hip Hop and Street Dance Festival. She has also performed in multiple University of Calgary productions, including But What is Natural?, which was invited to be featured at the Calgary Alchemy Festival.

Currently, Advaitha is pursuing a double major in Sociology and Music at the University of Calgary, with plans to complete an after-degree program in Education to become a high school teacher. She is thrilled to be joining the Balance Dance team this year and can’t wait to share her passion, creativity, and experience with your dancers!

Britanny is a professional dance educator and choreographer in Calgary, AB with close to 20 years of experience. She specializes in Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop. She is an ADAPT certified instructor and also holds certification in Acrobatic Arts Module 1 & 2.  Britanny loves to move and inspires others to do the same. She encourages creative movement and engages her students with an innovative and energetic approach to movement and dance.

Britanny is originally from Saskatchewan and moved to Calgary to attend the University of Calgary where she trained in the dance program to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Dance and Kinesiology.  During her university years she performed and toured with local dance projects across Western Canada.

To further her training and education, Britanny has traveled across Canada and the USA where she has had the opportunity to take class and learn from dance artists and dance masters from around the world. She attends workshops and dance teacher seminars on a regular basis in order to provide high quality instruction to her students.

Throughout her career, Britanny has been involved in the competition circuit as a dancer, a teacher and choreographer. She promotes a positive competitive atmosphere and encourages her students to be the best they can.  She has received recognition and has won numerous awards for her work.

Britanny knew at an early age that her passion was for creating and educating. She wanted to instil the love and passion for dance in others. Britanny promotes positivity and self-wellness along with a strong work ethic. She is committed to motivating dancers, providing high quality training to students of all ages and abilities and to helping individuals achieve their goals.

Sarah has been dancing since the age of 4, training in tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, and musical theatre. Growing up just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sarah has been teaching dance for the past 14 years. New to Calgary this year, Sarah is excited to continue inspiring students to challenge themselves and enjoy dancing in a variety of styles.

Some highlights of her performing career include being a cast member of Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage, dancing alongside the Arkells, Johnny Reid and Hedley, and competing two years in a row at the International Tap Dance Competition in Reisa, Germany. She has also experienced many teaching highlights including taking students to perform alongside Niko and Vinz at the Russel Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Florida, guest choreographing for local drop-in dance studios, and receiving recognition and receiving numerous awards for her work.

Sarah received a Bachelor of Arts and Education while at university. For over years, Sarah was a teacher in Winnipeg public schools, specializing in dance as a course credit for senior years students. Here, Sarah has been able to work with students of all ages and levels in multiple styles, as well as develop extra-curricular teams to perform at community events.

Sarah is excited to continue teaching at Balance Dance Centre and work with so many talented students!

Chiarra started dancing at three years old in Okotoks, Alberta, where she found her love for dance. As her passion for dance grew, she increased her hours of training and competed in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, contemporary, musical theatre, and acrobatics.

At 16, Chiarra had the opportunity to be employed with Calaway Park as a dancer and entertainer for the season, which enhanced her love of performing immensely. Chiarra has completed up to Advanced 1 with the Royal Academy of Dance, trained in the Al Gilbert tap syllabus, and completed exam levels 6 & 7 in the Acrobatics Arts syllabus.

She has received numerous scholarships from competitions and conventions including Nuvo Dance Convention and many overall awards for individual, small and large group dances at various competitions across Alberta. Chiarra has had opportunities to perform in many settings, the most memorable being California Adventure Park at Disneyland.

She is certified in Acrobatic Arts Module 1 & 2, Alixa Flexibility Modules 1 & 2, First Aid, and CPR. Chiarra is also working on her Developing Dance Teacher certification program with International Dance Teaching Standards as well as completing her Healthy Dance Practice Certificate with Safe in Dance International.

Chiarra is currently working on finishing up her 5-year program at the University of Calgary, working on her Bachelor of Arts majoring in Dance combined with a Bachelor of Kinesiology. As she continues to study under many professionals in post-secondary, she has and will perform in Dance@Noon and Mainstage.

As Chiarra continues to grow as a dance educator and a person, she looks forward to sharing her passion for dance and inspiring her students to reach their full potential in and out of the studio.

Mrs.Proust received her early training in England at the Arts Educational School and Graduated from the London College of Dance and Drama with Distinction. During this time she gained her Associate qualifications in Ballet, Modern, Tap, National and Ballroom. She has taught throughout the world spending time in New Zealand helping to develop the modern work that was newly introduced.

She has continued to further her qualifications, holding Fellowship status and Examiner for Ballet, Modern, Tap and National for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.

She is the only Quadruple examiner in Canada, and very few hold this status. She travels extensively as an Examiner for these faculties visiting such places as Australia, South Africa, Portugal, Mexico, Italy and Malaysia to name a few, as well as North America. In the past she has taught for the University of Calgary, was Dance Mistress for Decidedly Jazz, ran the Imperial Baroque Dance Company and ran her own school, Calgary Imperial School of Ballet. Shirley worked with the School of Alberta Ballet for 25 years and was Head of the Regular Division. Now semi-retired, Shirley continues to examine internationally, visiting Japan and China and Mexico in recent years.

Along with teaching, Shirley enjoys working with teachers aspiring to upgrade their teaching status and coaches students for competition and examinations. Mrs Proust was Awarded the ISTD International Theatre Award for her contribution to the field of dance education and dedication to the ISTD 2017.

"Dance is about more than the steps, it is about life lessons." - Unknown