Our Dance Teachers

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Studio Director & 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 dance would be in her life forever.

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 Teachers’ 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 honoured 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. 

Tap

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. 

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 Neoclassical 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 began 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 the American Academy of Ballet’s Performance Award Examination Program to the wonderful students at Lake Country School of Dance.

Jazz & Lyrical

Harmony was practically born in the studio, starting dance at the age of 2 and a half. For the past 22 years, she has thoroughly enjoyed her time in the studio and on stage and has had much success. 

Harmony has auditioned for and successfully been accepted into numerous dance programs over the years, including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school’s summer intensive program and 3-year post-secondary Teacher Training Program, the National Ballet of Canada, as well as the Moscow Ballet Company’s productions of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. 

Harmony has trained in many styles, including jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, pointe, acro, hip hop, musical theatre and ballroom. She has taken classes with many well-known dancers and choreographers such as Shannon Mather, Blake McGrath, Travis Wall, Willdabeast, Jenn Parsley, Rustin Matthews, Ade Obayomi, David Cox, Talia Favia, Jaci Royal, Mark Kanemura and many, many more. 

Harmony is looking forward to sharing her love and passion for dance while inspiring and encouraging her students to be the best that they can be.

Hip-hop & Contemporary

Abi started dancing at the age of 3. The last 10 years of her studio dance education were 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 and twice at World of Dance. She has also achieved several placements and choreography awards for her own choreography and others’.

In addition to teaching dance, Abi is completing her Master’s of Social Work, and plans to work as a clinical counsellor with children & youth. Abi is passionate about building young people up, fostering their strengths and empowering them to grow into their best, most authentic selves. She brings this passion into her work with young dancers, creating a team environment that is safe, welcoming, and fun. 

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 at 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!

Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary, hip-hop, Lyrical

Maya Collie is currently a Canada-based dancer from Kelowna, British Columbia. Her training includes contemporary, modern, ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, musical theatre, vernacular jazz, street styles, partnering and improvisation techniques. She has also spent time learning skills to aid in her performances, such as acting, singing, and modelling. She has trained with companies including Ballet Kelowna, ProArteDanza, Studio North, Harbour Dance Center, and Precision Dance Collective, to name a few. Maya has performed in the Canada’s Walk of Fame opening number, Dance Ontario’s Weekend and Studio 6 showcase in her professional career. Maya spent her formative years in British Columbia, where she achieved her ADAPT advanced II Jazz, Intermediate 3 Tap, and ballet RAD Advanced II certificates. Upon high school graduation, Maya was the recipient of several Arts-based scholarships that allowed her to continue training at the University level for four years in Toronto, Ontario. She created work for her fellow students and performed in works by Francesca Chudnoff, Alysa Pires, Esie Mensah, Robert Stephen, Ryan Lee, and Hanna Kiel. She spent her time under the guidance of Vicki St. Denys, Louis Laberge-Côté, and Tanya Evidente, as a 2025 graduate with distinction from Toronto Metropolitan University’s BFA Performance Dance Program. Maya is so excited to share her passion for dance and performing with her community and pass on the knowledge she has gained to young students. 

Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary

Ashley Rabinovitch is a professional dancer, choreographer, and dance educator from Vancouver, BC. She began her early training in Vancouver before continuing her development through several prestigious summer intensives, including Canada’s National Ballet School, École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec, Arts Umbrella, Joffrey Ballet, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet.

Ashley is a graduate of Lamondance’s Post-Secondary Program in Vancouver, where she trained with both former and current dancers of Ballet BC and performed works by acclaimed choreographers including Racheal Prince, Brandon Alley, Dario Dinuzzi, Kirsten Wicklund, Amber Funk, Heather Dotto, and Davi Rodrigues.

Following her training, Ashley joined Ballet Kelowna, where she spent three seasons performing with the company across Canada. During her time with Ballet Kelowna, she performed works by influential choreographers including Alysa Pires, Simone Orlando, Kirsten Wicklund, Heather Dotto, Kunal Ranchod, and Robert Stephen.

Ashley is passionate about mentoring the next generation of dancers. Drawing on her professional training and performance experience, she is dedicated to fostering strong technique, artistry, and confidence in young dancers while creating a supportive and inspiring learning environment.  

Jazz, Tap, Hiphop, Acro Jazz & Tots 

Bio coming soon!

Jazz, Tap, Ballet & Tots 

Bio coming soon!

Tots & Acro Jazz

Bio coming soon!

Assistant Dance & Tumbling Instructor 

Bio coming soon!