Staff

Vanessa Klassen

DW Studio Administrator/Owner, Ballroom, Seamstress
B.A. Music, ORFF (Level 1), Piano (Grade 10)

Originally from Oakville, MB, Vanessa has numerous years of experience and training in Music supplemented with her work with children and youth over the years in various capacities. While attending college, Vanessa joined Richard in his work and adventure providing multiple support and initiatives with her talents in music, administration, and costuming. Vanessa has been involved as studio administrative assistant for 5-6 years. Vanessa has also engaged in additional training in tap and ballroom over the years. A mother of 4 boys, Vanessa is the lone woman in her household balancing her time with family, studio, church, and her husband's productions.

Dance

Marilee Schroeder

Ballet, Creative Movement, Jazz, & Conditioning Teacher

CSC-CICB, RAD RTS
STOTT PILATES Certified Instructor

Ms Schroeder joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division at the age of ten. During her seven years of classical training with the RWB School, she had the joy of performing with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Corps and in several Manitoba Opera Association productions. Ms Schroeder continued her studies with The School of Contemporary Dancers during which time she performed and choreographed for The Allied Beauty Association fashion shows in Toronto.

In 2001, Ms Schroeder moved with her husband and three children to Morden, MB. It was at this time she began her teaching career at DanceWorks Studios. Here she enjoys working with dancers of all ages while preparing them for exams, recitals, various productions and special events such as The Nutcracker and A Seuss Christmas Carol.

She also enjoys promoting arts and dance in other rural communities of southern Manitoba. This has provided the opportunity for her to choreograph for many rural productions such as, the Chautauqua Spirit Festival’s production of When the Stone Speaks, Garden Valley Collegiate production of The Mikado, Candlewick Theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof, Moses and most recently Beauty and the Beast.

In 2010/11 She also had the pleasure of working within the Manitou Elementary school weekly teaching dance and the joy of movement while preparing the kindergarten to grade 6 students for their performances in the Manitou Chautauqua Festival through the Manitoba ArtSmart Grant.

Ms Schroeder holds her Royal Academy of Dance teaching certification, Can-pro certificates in Resist-a-Ball training, Maureen Rae’s fast track yoga levels one to three, and is certified in Stott Pilates.

With the desire to bring the best to her students, Ms Schroeder joined the RWB School Teacher Training Program in 2008. After 3 hard years she has graduated from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Teacher Training Program and has successfully completed her Cecchetti Associate Examination this past spring. With this new certification she looks forward to preparing students for Cecchetti examinations and bringing a higher quality of technique and artistry to her students.

Cathy Savage

Celtic

Cathy moved to Morden from Winnipeg last year and is looking forward to teaching Celtic dancing at Dance Works. Celtic dancing or Irish Step Dancing has become famous from the shows Riverdance and Lord of the dance. Cathy started dancing several years ago. Having danced with three different instructors, Cathy achieved several dancing accomplishments. Dancing competively for several years has given her the chance to compete in many competitions and she has participated in the North American National Dance Championships for a number of years. Cathy has achieved several awards and top placings at several competitions across Canada and the U.S.A. Irish Dancing gave Cathy the chance to perform many shows including Winnipeg's summer festival of Folkarama at the Irish Pavilion; and at Epcot Center in Orlando Florida Disney World for two weeks. Cathy is currently working towards achieving her Teachers Certificate from the Registered Teachers Association of Irish Dance from the Irish Dancing Commission of Registered Teachers Association in Dublin Ireland.

Tanya Schobert

Jazz, Musical Theatre

Tanya began her training in Jazz and Ballet at the age of eight in Fort St. John, BC. At the age of 15, Tanya moved to Edmonton, AB, to study Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. She holds her Major Advance Level Certificate through the Royal Academy of Dance. Tanya has traveled and performed with various shows and companies from Vancouver to Denmark. Tanya has taught with DanceWorks before and is a superb instructor and choreographer who lives with her husband and children in the Morden area.

Brittany Somersall

Jazz, Tap, Dance Exploration

Originally from Souris, Brittany moved to Morden and has successfully completed her program in Medical Radiologic Technology. Brittany has had several years of dance training through Dance Images(Brandon) since the age of four and addditional training at Studio One(Wpg). She has completed Al Gilbert Jazz Syllabus, various grades of the Tap Syllabus as well as excelling in Royal Academy of Dance Ballet and Pointe work. She holds experience in minor and major roles of Dance Images Productions and as a member of the Dance Images Company. Dancing competitively at Winnipeg’s Provincial Dance Festival and Brandon Festival of the Arts for several years has brought honors and awards to Brittany and her fellow dancers. Teaching became a hobby in both her hometown of Souris and at Dance Images Studio. She has had a lot of fun choreographing for the Souris Collegiate Institute Theatrical Player’s Drama Productions such as Grease, Aladdin, and Anne of Green Gables.

Melanie Tremeer

Child Ballet, Jazz, Tap

Hailing from Manitou, MB, Melanie has been involved with DanceWorks since its original inception in Manitou taking numerous classes including involvement with DanceWorks' Performance Troupe and Teacher's Training Program. Melanie has been teaching with the studio for over two years. Melanie has excelled in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, and Tap and has taken additional training with Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Kickit (Wpg), as well as Teacher's Training with A.D.A.P.T. in Moose Jaw during the summer of 2009. Melanie has continued to successfully send students to Jazz exams during her past years of instruction and she continues to pursue her education in dance as she works with our students.

Kara Carkner

Child Ballet, Dance Exploration, Jazz, Tap

Kara moved to the Carman area just recently from Kingston, Ontario. She is a certified high school teacher teaching English Language Arts in Elie during the 2011-2012 school year. Kara has danced for many years at I’ve Got Rhythm School of Dance in Amherstview, and Dream Dance Company in Thunder Bay. She has finished her training in BATD ballet, pointe, and jazz, and has many years experience teaching ballet, tap, and jazz. She is also trained in the ADAPT syllabus. Travelling all over Ontario, Kara danced competitively for 6 years and as a result has participated in scholarship programs, and won various awards and recognitions. Kara is enthusiastic to continue her dancing career in Manitoba and is looking forward to joining the DanceWorks staff

Tristan Klassen

Street Dance

Tristan has been involved with the studio for over 8 years. He has taken Ballet, Celtic, Jazz (successfully completing exams), Hip Hop, Street, and Theatre. Over the last number of years, Tristan has been involved with numerous productions including playing such roles as "LeFou" in Beauty and the Beast, "Inspector Clouseau" in The Pink Panther Strike Back, "Mr. Bingley" in Pride and Prejudice, "Algy" in The Importance of Being Earnest, amongst many others. Tristan was also a performer with X-Company for the Manitoba Winter Games and is actively involved with DanceWorks' Performance Troupe. He is a member of the Central Manitoba Youth Choir along with other musical interests. He has been involved with the Teacher's Training Program and has been involved with assisting in a number of classes. Tristan looks forward to teaching this year in Manitou.

Bretton Selent

Street Dance, Theatre, Music, XDC, Trained Fitness Instructor (FIS), Camp Supervisor, Director of Urban Studies - Xcompany

As Xcompany's Senior instructor, Bretton has a lot under his belt. Bretton is a touring performer and choreographer with 'ONE' Performance Collective, for its “Book of Angels” (2007), “Five Animals” (2008) and “Shadow of the dragon” (2009) productions in Manitoba and British Columbia. Other stage performances include features in “Guys & Dolls,” "Grease Lightning", "Beauty and the Beast." and “Sussical the Musical”. Bretton's classes have placed gold in the Southeastern Manitoba Dance Festivals, his choreography has also been seen at the opening/closing ceremonies for the “2010 power-smart MB Winter Games”. Bretton is a Director of Steinbach's “Mo'mentum Performance Team” and has just been given the position of Xcompany's “Director of Urban studies”. Although Bretton loves teaching he is always eager to learn new street styles. Bretton is currently dancing and performing with central Canada’s top Hip Hop dance crew “SIKAT”. Taking first at MB and Toronto street competitions and trains with Bob “Boobjester” Vuerula of Dangerous Goods Bboy Crew.

Bretton also knows what really matters. He currently is also a signed artist with "Kingdom Music" record label, working with 3 time juno nominee "Fresh IE" as his concert choreographer and as a recording artist. working with Fresh IE, Bretton helps bring encouragement to todays youth. Bretton's involvement with “Heartstrings World Mission”, a Christian organization that works to support african orphans is still in the works.

Theatre

Ruth Barker

Administrative Assistant, Xplor Drama,
Theatrical Costuming

Originally from MacGregor, MB, Ruth spent a number of years teaching at a private school in Pine Falls before moving to La Riviere to engage in a Theatre Internship through Candlewick and Steinbach Bible College. Ruth brings with her several years of on-stage experience with Manitoba's Passion Play and other theatrical productions. Ruth has demonstrated her artistic abilities both on stage with accomplishment in a number of roles as well as in the Costume Coordinator position for Candlewick. Her costume expertise has been noted in numerous productions including: "The Christmas Post", "The Robe", "Fiddler on the Roof / Fidla oppan Dak", "Appointment with Death", and "Moses". Ruth has been involved with the Xplor Drama program for a few years as she assisted and gave assistant direction with: "Importance of Being Earnest", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Nutcracker", "The Long Red Herring", "The Worst Highschool Play in the World", and "The Clumsy Custard."

Richard J. Klassen

DW Studio Producer, Xplor Drama
B.Th. / Exec. Producer (Candlewick)
Theatre Prof. (Steinbach Bible College)

Native of La Riviere, MB, Richard has had a passion for drama and the arts originating early on in life. Acting his way through High School and College, Richard continued to develop his theatre and leadership working a number of years as a Youth Pastor in Arborg and Morden before eventually founding Oak Valley Productions (with the outdoor theatre in La Riviere and Manitoba's Passion Play), as well as Candlewick Productions. Richard's numerous activities with Candlewick include being on contract as Drama Professor at Steinbach Bible College (for over 11 years), teaching children's theatre classes, providing technical theatre rentals and assistance, directing and producing various theatrical productions (including the most recent summer production of "Moses: Prince of Egypt"), continuing his role as Executive Producer for Manitoba's Passion Play, and as of 2007 giving direction and administration to DanceWorks along with his wife as studio owners/coordinators. Over the past 16 years Richard has acted or given direction in well over 100 plays as well as technical assistance to dozens of others. Acting, directing, and working with youth and adults alike are his love and joy second only to his family.