MEET OUR CALGARY INSTRUCTORS
Meet Miss Liisa
Liisa was trained in many dance forms from an early age. Miss Liisa loves teaching people of all ages and showcasing how diverse dance can be with different styles of music and movement. Since moving to Calgary from Kelowna in 2018 Liisa has been teaching for Puddle of Mud Productions. Miss Liisa is also part of our line dance crew, our baby wearing dance instructor and our resident Belly dance expert! Her love of dance has offered her both performance and teaching opportunities.
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Meet Miss Claire
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Miss Claire truly is a jack of all trades! She can dance, act, sing, stage manage and organize anything!
Her love of sharing her craft with young minds was born from her internship with Quest Theatre; where she is still an active member of their Artist in Residency Program and Coordinator of their Summer Camps. Through her decade with Quest and her half a decade with Calgary Opera’s Let’s Create an Opera Program Claire has traveled the province and shared her love of theatre, dance, and music with young people. It is her passion and Puddle of Mud is a wonderful addition to her teaching life.
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Meet Miss Brianna
Miss Brianna has been teaching with Puddle of Mud since 2017, but she began dancing at the age 4! She has trained in ballet, jazz, tap and pointe. She has also recently taken an interest in modern and contemporary dance and she is currently working towards pursuing her Associate Diploma in Modern from ISTD.
Dance has always been an important creative outlet and form of expression for Brianna and she is excited to continue sharing her passion for the arts with the students that she teaches!
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Miss Brianna teaches Monday nights at Cranston.
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Meet Miss Karen
Miss Karen (AKA Miss Karebear or Karebelle) has been teaching, performing, choreographing dance - namely lyrical, urban contemporary and street styles- for over 20 years. She is AFLCA certified since 2004 and has been developing and leading my own certification dance fitness business; BassBurn Dance Fit: where play, discovery, fun and personal growth are priority.
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Miss Karen has had the great pleasure of traveling to teach and perform in countries across the continent and across the oceans, including in Mexico, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, and the USA. She truly believe dancing is essential to developing personal clarity and creativity through sensory expression, and is a powerful ally to a holistic and healthy life
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Meet Miss Erin
Erin has been an avid lover of the performing arts for as long as she can remember, specifically in the forms of singing & dance!
She has had the privilege of singing on stages across the East to the West & continues to train under Calgary’s own Jenn Beaupre & Johanna Sillanpaa to keep developing her craft.
Erin is a firm believer in the healing power of moving our bodies & giving ourselves permission to be silly, have fun & be authentically creative.
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Miss Erin is teaching Tuesday nights at the Tuscany Club and Monday nights at Livingston.
Meet Miss Mae
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Miss Mae has been dancing since her childhood, participating in RAD ballet exams, highland dance examinations and lyrical dance competitions. Through this time being involved in the dance community, she learned the importance of expression and developed a passion for sharing this with others. While studying at the University of Calgary Miss Mae had the opportunity to grow in her ballet education by participating in dance classes offered by the faculty of dance.
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Miss Mae has completed the Early Learning and Childcare Certificate with Red Deer Polytechic, and also works with children in a local daycare. Teaching dance to children combines two of Mae’s biggest passions in life and she loves working with Puddle of Mud!
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Meet Miss Chantel
Chantel has been dancing, singing and acting for as long as she can remember and is currently pursuing a degree in drama and education. She is also a karoake enthusiast who competes nationally!
On top of her career goals, she is a mother to two wonderful children and has been teaching for Puddle of Mud since 2018.
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Miss Chantel teaches Monday and Thursday evenings at New Brighton, Wednesdays at Mahogany and Saturdays at the Glencoe Club.
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Meet Miss Maddy
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Maddy Faunt is an aspiring Calgary based dance artist, dance educator, dance anthropologist, performer, choreographer, and dance filmmaker. She is currently a fourth-year student at the University of Calgary (U of C), pursuing both a BFA in Dance and a BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Aside from her training at U of C, she has pursued formal dance training at McDonald Wilson Dance Academy and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Hip Hop, West African and Contemporary. Her performance experiences are numerous, to name a few Maddy spent 4 seasons performing with Calaway Live and has had the opportunity to perform at Disney World and with Carnival Cruise lines.
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Alongside her passion for performing, Maddy is also completing the Healthy Dance Practice Certificate by Safe in Dance International. Maddy has a never-ending passion for working with children and sharing the arts through teaching and performing. She has been teaching Puddle of Mud since 2019.
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Meet Miss Arles
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Miss Arles began teaching with POM in 2024 but she started dancing at the age of 4 and has trained in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theater, Lyrical and Hip-Hop. She has completed ballet exams in Grades 1-8 and Vocational Syllabus. She has also attended Triple Threat Dance
Convention, International School of Ballet Summer School of Excellence and ADAPT TTSled by renowned Brian Foley. Outside of training, Miss Arles has had the privilege to perform
with Alberta Dance Theatre and prepare her students to perform with the Canmore Canada Day Parade and Disney Dance the Magic Show and Parade in California.
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Miss Arles began as a Student Teacher in the STEP Program, where she discovered her love of teaching dance to children. Since then, she has completed teaching certification and accreditation with Royal Academy of Dance, Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers and Acrobatic Arts and Performing Arts Education of Canada. Arles prides herself on creating a supportive teaching space based on the principles of respect and inclusion. She wants all her students to feel valued. 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.
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Miss Arles currently teaches Thursday evenings at Livingston and Saturdays in Tuscany.
Meet Miss Liberty
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Miss Liberty is performer, director, choreographer and teacher who hails from and is currently based in Calgary. She graduated from the University of the Arts with a BFA degree in musical theatre in 2019 and has performed all over the United States and Canada. She has directed, choreographed, and taught students of all ages at Yes, And… Collaborative Arts, Ballet Academy East, The University of the Arts, and Visionary Centre for the Performing Arts.
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Liberty has loved the performing arts for her entire life, and is happy to participate onstage, on creative teams, or sharing her passion with students in a teaching role. In her spare time she enjoys adult gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, and spending time with her pet rabbit, Mister Mistoffelees.
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Meet Miss Shayla
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Miss Shayla started dancing when she was 3 years old, and started dancing competitively when she was 6. She has always had a passion for dance, singing, movement and performing. As she got older, she started to realize she also loved musical theatre and decided to pursue that in her post secondary studies.
Miss Shayla attended & graduated from Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto in August 2019. After graduating, Shayla moved back to Alberta where she performed in shows with Jubilations Dinner Theatre JR and their mainstage shows in both Calgary and Edmonton. Since moving to Calgary, she has been lucky enough to share and teach her passion for dance and theatre to kids with Storybook Theatre, as well as teaching private voice lessons. Shayla cannot wait to share her love of dance with everyone at Puddle of Mud!
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Meet Miss Chantelle
Chantelle Marlatt grew up in Cranbrook BC for most of her life. There she started dancing and fell in love with it, especially ballet. After completing all her Royal Academy of Dance exams, she attended summer intensives with Ballet Jorgen and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
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Chantelle has performed lead roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Black Swan. She has also competed twice in BC Provincials as a ballet soloist.
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Currently Chantelle is a dance teacher with multiple studios, and a collective member of two organizations: Ballet Bodies and En Corps Dance Collective. Chantelle has a deep love for choreographing and teaching as well as performing herself. She wishes to teach and dance for as long as she can, inspiring those around her.
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Meet Miss Kim
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Kim is a born and raised Calgarian who grew up with a passion for gymnastics, dance, yoga and theatre.
Her passion for performing began at a very young age with her family’s involvement with Pumphouse Theatre.
Kim's love for all arts led her to leave the corporate world, where she worked for 10 years, to go back to school and pursue a degree in Drama and Education at the University of Calgary.
Kim has always loved leading, inspiring, and encouraging others and looks forward to where this next chapter takes her!
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Meet Miss Marlea
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Marlea began dancing at the age of four. Her love for dance quickly grew as she trained in the genres of ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, tap, and hip hop. After many years of dancing, her love for dance expanded into a passion for teaching. Marlea has been teaching for many years and is currently working towards her Associate Diploma in both Tap and Modern through the ISTD.
Marlea loves to inspire young minds to have fun and be creative through movement. She is excited to continue to share her love of dance in the Puddle of Mud classes.
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Miss Marlea has been teaching with Puddle of Mud since 2018 and is also our camp coordinator
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Meet Miss Calli
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Calisha’s passion for dance started from a young age of 3, and led her to train in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Bollywood, as well as dabbling in a few other styles.
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She started gaining experience teaching dance through her high school’s work experience program for extra credit more than 10 years ago. Miss Cally has been teaching for Puddle of Mud since 2013! In her spare time, she loves to take dance classes herself to keep in tune with today’s trending dance moves! When in class, it is important to Calisha to encourage her students to work as a team and make every class a safe, exciting, & memorable one!
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Meet Miss Caitlyn
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Miss Caitlyn O’Connor has been enjoying and exploring dance in a variety of forms including tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, West African, and contemporary from the time she was three years old. Caitlyn graduated Rosebud School of the Arts in 2018, and has has taught and choreographed for the Canadian Badlands Performing Arts Camp, Rosebud School of the Arts, and Rosebud Theatre, Stagecoach Calgary, and of course Puddle of Mud since 2018! She is happiest when teaching musical theatre, and other classes that combine her loves of dance, singing, and dancing!
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Meet Miss Alexa
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Alexa Elser trained as a competitive dancer for over 10 years. Along with holding her Royal Academy of Dance Grade 8 Ballet Certification and Al Gilbert Tap Syllabus Tap 9 Certification, she also trained in styles such as jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theatre.
Alexa’s love of performing began in dance and then grew into a career in theatre. She graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a BFA in Performance and now can be found working with many Calgary based organizations such as Evergreen Theatre, Theatre Calgary, and Bach Tots (to name a few).
Alexa loves to combine and share her passions for dancing, acting, and singing through performing and teaching, and is always ecstatic to do that with Puddle of Mud!
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Meet Miss Natasha
Natasha has been dancing since the age of three. Starting her dance journey in Ukrainian Dance she has since been trained in Hip hop, Jazz, Ballet, Belly Dance as well as numerous other forms of World dance. Having the opportunity to dance in New York, Ireland and Dubai has given Natasha an appreciation for numerous styles of dance, music and costumes. She recently moved back to Edmonton from Vancouver where she was dancing with the Ukrainian Dance Ensemble Tropak as well as a Latin Dance Company called Grupo America. Being back in Alberta she is getting back into the swing of things dancing with Volya and Vinok World Dance and loving teaching for Puddle of Mud Productions.
“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.”
Meet Miss Maggie
Miss Maggie recently completed her degree at the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Throughout her university career, she was featured as both a performer and choreographer. Maggie teaches dance and theatre around the city to ages three and up. Including teaching Barre Fitness and Jazz for adults at Free Spirit Dance, and recently choreographing Mary Poppins Junior at Storybook Theatre. Miss Maggie has a passion for movement and is very excited to share this with her students!
Performance Experience: Mary Poppins, Miscast, West Side Story, Seussical the Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Grease (Storybook Theatre) Mainstage Dance – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Dance Montage – 2016, West Side Story – 2015, Dance @ Noon – 2015, 2016, 2017, Dance @ Night – 2017, 2018 (School of Creative and Performing Arts, University of Calgary), The Addams Family Musical (The CAST Program), We Day (illFx Entertainment), Aurora (The Calgary Stampede Showband), Century, Century2, Barnburner (The Young Canadians of the Calgary Stampede, Grandstand shows – 2012, 2013, 2014).
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Meet Miss Kelly
Kelly grew up dancing in her hometown of Kelowna, BC at the Robb Card Dance Studio. She started ballet at the age of 4 and expanded her dance education to include, Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Pointe. She has been passionate about dance and performing her whole life.
Kelly began teaching in 2003, and has taught pre-school ballet, various levels of tap, jazz and hip-hop. She provided many years of help with the studio’s year end dance production, and always looked forward to seeing her students on stage performing.
After moving to Calgary, AB, Kelly continued to passion of dance by taking various classes at Decidedly Jazz.
She is thrilled to continue to develop the passion of dance with as many smiling faces as she can. “It is always so fulfilling to witness the transformation of a dancer into a performer”.
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Meet Miss Kendra
Kendra is a Calgary-based dancer, teacher and choreographer. Select performance credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and A Christmas Carol (Theatre Calgary), Beauty and the Beast (Citadel Theatre) and Guys and Dolls (Gateway Theatre). Recently she co-choreographed Seussical The Musical (Story Book Theater), as well as Crime Does Not Pay (Downstage). Kendra graduated from the Musical Theatre Performance Programme at Sheridan College, and has taken numerous courses at The Second City Toronto. Kendra loves teaching and is thrilled to be working with Puddle of Mud this season.
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Meet Miss Kristen
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Miss Kristen loves to dance, act, teach, laugh and have fun! She has been dancing since the age of 3 and has trained in various styles such as Ballet, Musical Theatre, Jazz, Hip Hop, African, Bollywood and Zumba.
Growing up, she spent 2 summers as a member of Calaway Live performing in live stage shows, and also attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts.
Miss. Kristen is currently a member of the Pro Team with 'Sparq Productions' as a Bollywood Dancer and teaches Grade4/5 at a Calgary elementary school. She runs a Dance Club at school for students in grade 4-6 and currently has 35 students enrolled.
Miss Kristen has been teaching for Puddle of Mud Productions for more than 5 years, and loves getting to work with all the fantastic students!