Our Teachers

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Studio Director/ Co-owner

Shani began dancing at the age of 3 in High River, Alberta, and she absolutely hated it. She was furious with her parents for signing her up for dance classes when she could be home watching Saturday morning cartoons!! Thankfully, despite the kicking and screaming, her parents made her stick with it, and after her first time on the stage, she knew she loved it.

Shani began teaching dance in the Okanagan in 1993 and she opened Lake Country School of Dance in 2000 at the age of 19. She is an award-winning instructor and choreographer; adjudicator; member of The Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association; certified Pilates instructor and yoga enthusiast. 

Shani was awarded the ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ twice from the Lake Country Chamber of Commerce and the YM/YWCA’s ‘Young Woman of Distinction Award’ in 2004. In 2015, she was honored to receive the Okanagan Arts Awards for Excellence in Dance. Shani was also an ambassador and model for the clothing store, Lululemon. She is active in the community and enjoys sharing her love of dance at local schools.

When Shani is not at the dance studio, she can be found chasing after her three kids, walking her dogs or practicing yoga. 

Director of Jazz and tap/ Co-owner

Vicki View is a multi-faceted teacher and choreographer who originally hails from Saskatchewan. She grew up studying a multitude of genres of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Modern, and Musical Theatre.   Vicki has toured and worked with many international convention circuits. During this time, she was awarded an achievement scholarship to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto where she studied dance, theatre, and acting. Vicki later moved to Vancouver where she danced professionally and trained with companies such as the Source Dance Company, Lamondance, Rukus Dance Productions, and the Goh Ballet.   In 2005, Vicki had the privilege of joining the Canadian Forces Show Tour as a co-choreographer and dancer for their Afghanistan tour. Vicki later embarked upon a career with Norwegian Cruise Lines on a world wide tour where she performed in the production casts onboard. Upon returning, Vicki choreographed and adjudicated for Brazil’s acclaimed International Dance Seminar.  Vicki has been teaching for 20 years and has been recognized for her versatility in many styles. Her choreography has garnered her provincial recognition and many choreography awards across North America. Since moving to Kelowna, Vicki has had the honour of receiving the Okanagan Arts Council Award for her achievements and accomplishments in dance.   In 2020, Vicki became co-owner of Lake Country School of Dance and continues to share her passion for dance with her students. 

Director of Ballet 

Justine Fraser is a professional performer, choreographer and dance educator, originally from Penticton BC. She began her formative dance training at Okanagan Dance Studios and at 14, she relocated to Vancouver BC to begin her professional training at Pacific Dance Arts. Here, she trained with a professional focus on both classical ballet and contemporary dance styles.   Justine spent her summers training at a variety of ballet schools, on scholarships, including Boston Ballet School, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Alonzo King Lines, and the Banff Centre for Performing Arts.  Upon graduation, Justine received a scholarship to begin her B.F.A. at the Alonzo King Lines Dance Centre, in San Francisco, CA where her training broadened to include Modern Dance Technique (HORTON), Commercial Jazz, Percussion, Gyrokinesis work, Choreographic Process, and Neo-classical Ballet.    Justine has gone on to perform with multiple contemporary and classical ballet companies throughout North America and became a soloist dancer with Ballet Jörgen Canada in 2012. Justine is an accredited ballet teacher with the American Academy of Ballet and in addition to teaching, she is also a reputable dance adjudicator and a member of the Professional Adjudicator’s Alliance.   Most recently, Justine had the pleasure of setting original choreography on the company dancers of Coastal City Ballet (BC), Lunarfest Taiwan, and Ballet Concierto Cancún (MX), to name a few. In 2021, Justine begin her first season with Ballet Kelowna, as artistic staff.  Justine is passionate about mentoring the next generation of dancers and is very excited to be introducing American Academy of Ballet’s Performance Award Examination Program to the wonderful students at Lake Country School of Dance.

Hip-hop & Contemporary

Abi started dancing at the age of 3, and the last 10 years of her studio dance education was spent training competitively in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip-hop. She began teaching and choreographing at age 15, and has had the opportunity to teach her choreography in both recreational and competitive classes, summer camps, and adult drop-in classes. Growing up, Abi competed in many local competitions, achieving several placements and choreography awards for her own choreography and others’, and she also competed twice in World of Dance. Abi looks forward to continuing her growth as an instructor, choreographer, and dancer at LCSD her alumni studio.

Jazz & Tap

Nicole is originally from Burlington, Ontario, and has been performing for over 30 years. Her training includes many styles; jazz, tap, ballet,

hiphop and Iyrical. She competed across North America, being honored with many overall

awards and scholarships along the way.

As a teacher, she is now sought after for her unique and innovative approach to dance, which she  instills in the classes she instructs. She has been recognized for her excellence in choreography

 and many of her students have been the recipients of awards and scholarships and gone off to pursue dance at a University level.

Nicole has been adjudicating across Canada for over 10 years, providing dancers with positive and

constructive feedback. She prides herself on strong communication and a wealth of knowledge in all

styles, giving dancers a well rounded critique to help them succeed in the studio and in life!

Nicole is an alumni member of What's On? Tap! and has also had the privilege of being a member of Bringing Tap Back and GeoMetriX Dance. 

Most recently, Nicole has been working with The DanceBug Show in which she has a weekly feature

titled, "Dance Q&A with Nicole Dymianiw".

You can find her past segments by visiting

TheDanceBugChannel.com

In addition, Nicole is a member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association Stage Division (Tap), as

well as a member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance.  Through her passion and love for dance, Nicole continues to motivate and inspire her students to become the best that they can be. It is her goal to instill positive and healthy attitudes in young, aspire dancers for many years to come.

Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary & Tots

Catherine began dancing at the young age of 4 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. For the next 9 years of her life she trained in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz, with a strong focus on Ballet.  At 13 she made the transition from Classical Ballet training to competition training and was exposed to more genres of dance including, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, and more. After High School Catherine pursued academics, completing a Bachelor of Science degree at Memorial University; and during her time away Catherine actively followed the dance competition world both inside and outside of Canada. In 2017, Catherine moved to Calgary and began working at the Alberta Ballet School. She attended many teacher workshops, training sessions and curriculum building exercises with both the professional and recreational divisions of the Alberta Ballet. In 2018, Catherine worked with YYC Dance Project to implement a more commercial style of jazz training within their after-school dance program and in 2020, she completed her Progressive Ballet Technique Certification. Catherine is thrilled to join the LCSD team and is excited to pass on her knowledge and skills!

Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary & Tots

Kennedy began dancing at the age of 3 at LCSD and continued until she graduated in 2019. Throughout her dance experience, she trained and competed in the styles of jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, lyrical and contemporary. Kennedy attended many competitions and conventions all over British Columbia that furthered her dance training. She also had the opportunity twice to travel to LA to train and perform in Disneyland. Kennedy started teaching at LCSD at the age of 14 and has experience teaching both recreational and competitive students aged 3-17. In addition to teaching dance, Kennedy is attending UBCO working towards a Psychology degree and planning to attend law school. Kennedy loves being a part of the faculty and teaching the dancers of LCSD!

Tots

Isabel was born and raised in the small town of Castlegar, British Columbia where her love of dance began at the age of 3. She received her training from Turning Pointe Dance Studio, where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre and Tap. During her 10 years as a competitive dancer, Isabel often travelled throughout the United States and Canada to further her training and grow as a dancer. Since graduating High School, Isabel completed the West Coast Choreography Lab Mentorship program in Vancouver where she studied dance, choreography composition and teaching techniques. More recently, in 2018, Isabel moved to Toronto to complete the George Brown College Commercial Dance Program, learning from the city’s most knowledgeable industry professionals. She is proud to have received training in vocals and acting, making her a diverse performer. Isabel is passionate about sharing her love of dance with others and strives to inspire her students to do the same. 

Jazz, Ballet, Hiphop, Acro Jazz, Tumbling & Tots 

Rhyse began dancing at the age of 5 at LCSD, and started the competitive program when she was 13. She trained competitively in the styles of jazz, ballet, contemporary, tap, lyrical, and hiphop competing all over British Columbia. Rhyse has also completed 2 years of elite training with LCSD which included multiple extra conventions, workshops, technique classes, and competitions to further her dance training. In addition to dancing locally, Rhyse has also travelled to LA twice to attend conventions and perform in Disneyland. When away from the studio, Rhyse attends Okanagan College where she is working towards her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which is her first step on her journey to medical school. Rhyse has loved her experience at LCSD as a dancer and now as a teacher, and hopes to share her love of dance with her students!

Tumbling 

Bio coming soon....

Tumbling 

Bio coming soon....

Tumbling 

Bio coming soon....