Artistic Director/Instructor (Creative Movement, Ballet, Jazz, Modern Movement)

A professional dancer, choreographer and instructor in Toronto, Elizabeth is the Artistic Director and founder of Artists’ Play Dance Theatre school and company. Having curated a cabaret for five years consecutively, Elizabeth was introduced and artistically inspired by many artists of different disciplines.

As a performer/choreographer Elizabeth has created over thirty small works and produced four larger productions which premiered at festivals and showcases such as Series 8:08, Festival of Independent Dance Artists (fFida), Atlantic Fringe Festival, Squiggfest, Toronto Fringe Festival 2008 and 2009, LABCAB Festival and her own productions, Artists’ Play…a Cabaret!. Elizabeth has performed with Corpus, Parahumans Dance Theatre, The International Tango Festival, and with independent choreographers in the GTA. She has also acted in various theatre shows as well as independent films within Toronto. Elizabeth often draws on her ability to improvise in dance and storytelling as she performed with an improve comedy troupe for over two years.

Hailing from Manitoba, Elizabeth was trained classically at the Brandon School of Dance, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet and was mentored by Arnold Spohr. After training in Jazz, Modern and Contemporary at JazzArt, Grant MacEwan and the Banff Center of Fine Arts, she then went on to graduate from the George Brown Dance Diploma Program where she studied under Ballet Jorgen.

Elizabeth has toured England with Parahumans Dance Theatre, lead by Dave Wilson, where she facilitated workshops for children in public schools. She has also worked for Arts for Children in public schools and was the dance instructor in the AFC Arts Adventure camp in 2007, besides creating and directing her own performing arts summer school. She has choreographed many musicals in high-schools and created in-depth performances for her students to perform at community events such as public school fun fairs, the Riverside BIA’s events and large scale year end performances for her own school.

Having been in the Riverdale/Leslieville area for the past 6 years, she is thrilled to be sharing her love and knowledge of dance training and performance with children and adults alike. Elizabeth is excited to maintain working within various schools and communities aiding with the introduction of professional dance and creative movement to children and youth.

Co – Artistic Director/Instructor (Mighty Moves,  Hip Hop, Modern Movement)

A professional dancer, instructor and musician, Jason is the Co-Artistic Director of Artists’ Play Dance Theatre school and company.

Jason co-choreographed and performed with Artists’ Play at The Atlantic Fringe Festival, fFIDA, Toronto International Dance Festival and various cabaret improvisations and performances. Other performances include the Fritz Helder and the Phantoms and Parahumans Dance Theatre. In television, Jason was aired on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation as an opening credit hip hop dancer.

Jason studied jazz, ballet and modern at Ryerson University and had the opportunity to work with David Earle, D.A. Hoskins, Mark Christman, Stelio Calagias and Nadia Potts. He was chosen to show work in the Ryerson Choreographic Works 2002 with his piece “Lost & Calling”. Having trained at various schools in the west since the age of 5, Jason acquired many styles which lead him to flourish in contemporary, hip hop and jazz.

Musically, Jason writes, plays and produces his own music for dance productions and for his own band, Along the Lines. His first piece for stage, ‘A City Reflection’ was showcased as part of Artists’ Play’s “Love & Life” in the 2007 Atlantic Fringe Festival. Since then Jason has created music for larger productions such as “The Reservation and “HeartSurge”.

Jason has choreographed various musicals for high schools and communities across Canada and continues to create work for dancers of all ages. He has taught creative movement at various schools in the GTA. Jason is thrilled to be sharing dance with children and adults as the instructor of Mighty Moves, Hip Hop and Modern Movement at Artists’ Play Dance Theatre.

Instructor (Drama, Modern Movement)

Liz is a professional actor with a background in dance who is also certified Nia instructor, Drama teacher and acting coach. As an actor she has played leading roles at theatres throughout Canada, as well as appearing in numerous film and television productions. She has also taught drama with some of the leading theatre companies in Toronto: LKTYP, Soulpepper, Shakespearience and Words in Motion, to name a few, as well as running her own drama program Shakespeare’sCool. She has taught Nia for several years as well has having a background in modern and jazz dance. Liz is excited to have the opportunity to co- teach and help develop the modern movement class with Elizabeth, using skills from both her theatre and movement background.