CATIA ANGELINI – Owner & Artistic Director
Catia has been dancing for 4 decades in jazz, tap, ballet (CDTA), hip hop/breakdance and musical theatre. Throughout the years she has added lyrical, contemporary and Latin to her list. Her most prominent form of dance is tap and has created a style all her own combining many different elements from rhythm and hoofing. Catia has had the opportunity to dance alongside such tap dance legends as Gregory Hines, Savion Glover and Jimmy Slyde.
Catia was a competitive dancer for 15 years, achieving many awards and scholarships from around the world. These achievements include many high scores, unbeaten records and 2 silver medals at the World Tap Dance Championships in 1999 and 2000.
Along with being a champion dancer, Catia has also accomplished much with her choreography. She has led many of her students to achieve “champion” status in North America and around the world, including some silver and gold medals at the World Dance Championships. Catia has been the choreographer and costume designer for many half-time shows for professional sports teams. She has also been the exclusive choreographer for various musical productions and vocal artists for music videos and concerts. Catia has had the honour to spread her knowledge of dance by teaching workshops and adjudicating at various dance competitions across the globe over the decades.
Catia is the proud and successful owner and artistic director of Xklusiv Dance Productions Ltd. In only her first year in business, she has managed to bring her students to achieve overall awards and National and World Titles! You may have also seen her and her students perform and appear on television and at many cultural festivals and Black History Productions across Ontario.
DAYNA GAMELIN, CDTA – Ballet Director
Dayna Gamelin started her dance career in 1994 at a local dance studio where she had continued to train as both a dancer and teacher for many years. Dayna has trained in such genres as jazz, ballet, musical theater, tap and acro. She was a member of the performing Company Ensemble at an early age. Performing for this company has allowed her to accept many opportunities to travel and perform for such companies as Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Dayna has been teaching since 2006 in ballet, jazz, and musical theater, and is also trained in tap and acro. She has completed her student ballet and jazz exams with the C.D.T.A and P.A.E.C. She has spent many years working with children in the dance studio, helping them develop their technique and love for dance.
Dayna has recently graduated from The University of Toronto and Sheridan College with an Honours Bachelor Degree in the Fine Arts and Art History. Her passion for dance stems from an interest in the visual arts. Her dance career was a major influence on her artwork while studying for her undergrad.
DUSTIN WOOD CDMA, DMA – Acro Director
Dustin is a competitively trained gymnast and dancer. Beginning his acrobatic career in men’s gymnastics at age 9, he won many 1st, 2nd & 3rd Overall Awards and TOP Scores on Bar, Vault and Floor at competitions across Ontario. Dustin started his dance training when he was 13 In Brantford, Ontario at various schools. He is highly trained in Acrobatics, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical & Tap. Dustin holds the titles of Senior Mr. Dance of Western N.Y. DMA Chapter 8 (1996) and Mr. Dance Canada CDMA Chapter 38 (2000).
He started dancing professionally when he was 17 and has performed around the globe with Carnival Cruise Lines, Canada’s Wonderland, Panda Dance Company’s The Nutcracker, Opening Ceremonies of the Ontario Summer Games, Electric Circus, Academy Award Winning Actress Shirley Jones, Music Videos, Industrial’s, Corporate Events, Much Music and Television shows. As a Coach and Educator for the past 21 years Dustin has seen his students go on to perform on Cruise Ships, Music Videos, Television, Movies, Dance Companies, Cirque du Soleil and performed at Blake McGrath’s I AM BLAKE MCGRATH TOUR 2018 Toronto. His choreography and creative concepts have Won him and his students many Special Awards, Overall High Score Awards, Judges Choice Awards Choreography Awards. Most Entertaing. TOP Acro Score Awards & National Top 10 Winners. Over the years, Dustin has been on staff at various renowned schools across Canada, spreading his love of dance. During the Summer, Dustin keeps busy by teaching at MANY Workshops & Intensives at various dance studios and is on Faculty with Dance Attack Acro Workshops.
Dustin has been an active member of Canadian Dance Masters of America Chapter #38’s Pageants and Performing Arts Competition. He has taken the role of Emcee, Photographer, Adjudicator and certified acrobatic instructor “Live, Love, Breathe, Dance”
AMAYA ANGELINI-NELSON – Hip Hop Director
Amaya began dancing at 2 years old, enrolling in jazz, tap, ballet and acro. As soon as she could, Amaya added hip hop, lyrical, flamenco and latin to her classes. She has had such a passion for dance and music possibly since she was born as her mother owns a dance studio. Amaya has been a competitive dancer since she was 5 years old, winning many awards and overall titles. In 2013, she was chosen to represent Canada at “Dance The World” with her team mates in Orlando, Florida. Just recently, Amaya was also asked to represent Canada at the world Tap Dance and World Hip Hop Championships in Europe. On Many Occasions, Amaya has been awarded 1st overall soloist in her genres and age divisions. During her last year of competing, she also consistently obtained the highest of the whole competition at every competition!
As a competitive choreographer, Amaya has already achieved so many titles with her pieces at such a young age. These accolades include Choreography of the session, Top 3 overall marks of the weekend, just to name a couple.
In high school, Amaya was a member of the Athletic Council and was the Captain and Co-ordinator of the dance team. She consistently performed in her school’s talent shows, Public Speaking contests and other various events over the years.
Amaya is currently in her second year of University studying Human Rights and Human Diversity, obtaining honours. She is on the school dance team and loves to share her knowledge of dance with her peers. Her goal is to become a lawyer.
AMANDA JAMES – Musical Theatre Director
Amanda began her dance journey at just 3 years old, exploring a variety of styles but finding her true passion in tap and musical theatre. By the age of 12, she was already choreographing for competitions, where her work quickly stood out, earning her early recognition and numerous awards.
With over 2 decades of experience as a competitive dance teacher and choreographer in the Greater Toronto Area, Amanda became a respected and sought-after figure in the dance community. Her students are known to excel, capturing top honours and many going on to successful careers on stage, television and film.
Beyond the studio, Amanda spent three seasons as a member of the Toronto Rock Dance Team and earned the role of choreographer for five seasons before she “retired” to focus on her day job. Her creative vision and dynamic routines brought a new level of energy and polish to the team’s performances, solidifying her reputation as a talented and influential choreographer.
Amanda is so excited to join our Xklusiv dance family and we can’t wait see what she has in store for our dancers!
LESLIE BYERS – Dance Instructor
Le
slie began her dance career at the age of three. She first started dancing in Jazz, Tap and Ballet and competed in various styles of dance winning many awards through out the years. Leslie also auditioned for many musicals and was fortunate to be cast in Camelot.
At the age of 17, she found a new passion for Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country Line Dancing. She began her training to compete throughout the Niagara and Toronto Ballroom circuit, winning several awards in all styles of dance including Cha-cha, salsa, Rhumba, Merengue, East and West Coast Swing, the Hustle, Foxtrot, Tango and Waltz. During this time, she started her teacher training and quickly began inspiring singles and couples to start learning how to dance.
Leslie has performed East Coast Swing at the Juno Awards and and many local festivals around the region. Aside from her performances, Leslie also focuses on Choreography for weddings. From wedding parties, father-daughter dance, surprise dances and of course the special first dance with the Bride and Groom. One of Leslie’s couples was featured on Four Wedding’s Canada where she debut teaching Waltz to her lovely couple that won 2nd place.
Leslie also stumbled across her love for the art of Egyptian Style Bellydance. Leslie trained with various instructors within Canada and the United States. Leslie began teaching Bellydance and choreographing belly dance routines for performances. She performed at the Niagara Greek Festival for many years, at local restaurants, weddings, and a variety of special occasion parties.
Continuing her love for dance, she furthered her passion in the World of Zumba. Receiving her certification for Zumba Instruction, Leslie teaches a very unique dance based style of Zumba Fitness thanks to her Ballroom and Latin background.
Leslie is fortunate to share her passion for all styles of dance with Xklusiv Dance Productions and is looking forward to continuing being part of the Xklusiv Family.
ANIA YURKOV – Dance Instructor
Ania started dance at age 11 at Xklusiv Dance Productions. She first began studying Jazz expanded into Lyrical dance for the first time later that year. After about a year Ania was dancing on the competitive team. To improve her technique for competitive dance, Ania started taking Ballet. It was then that she realized that ballet would be her passion and she focussed on it the most.
After about 4 years of dancing competitively in all genres, Ania decided to solely focus on ballet. So she was to a Ballet Academy which focused on the Russian Vaganova style and trained with teachers who were once professional dancers themselves. During her time at the Academy she has performed principle roles in ballets such as the Sugarplum Fairy from The Nutcracker and Swanhilda from the ballet, Coppelia.
Ania is excited to be back at Xklusiv, teaching various genres of dance. She is also thrilled to have the chance to share the knowledge she has gained throughout her dance career.
NAIYAH REECE – Dance Instructor
Naiyah started dancing at the age of 3, training in Ballet, Jazz, and Tap. Over the years her love for dance grew and she started dancing competitively at Xklusiv Dance Productions when she was 10. Becoming a competitive dancer at a new studio encouraged Naiyah to step out of her comfort zone and participate in new dance styles such as Lyrical, Contemporary, Acro, and Hip-hop. Expanding her knowledge in dance styles made Naiyah’s love for dance grow even stronger, pushing her to continue competitive dancing years later. Naiyah has recently decided to take a break from various dance styles to focus on Ballet and Pointe.
In addition to dance, Naiyah has a love for musical arts. When she was 9, she took vocal and piano lessons allowing her to participate in many performances over the years. This only furthered her love for the arts. Naiyah also loves playing competitive volleyball and running track. During her spare time Naiyah enjoys listening to music, hanging out with friends, and spending quality time with family.
Naiyah is currently in high school and does exceptionally well academically. She is a member of her school dance team and vocal group and is consistently performing in her school’s showcases.
Naiyah’s future goals are to further her training in athletics and to continue her studies to become an anesthesiologist.
MADISSON ZONTA – Dance Instructor
Madisson began dancing in 2005 at the age of 2 and has since then trained in a wide variety of styles including Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap, Acro, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, and Aerial Silks. She began competing at the age of 9 and has had the opportunity to participate in International Competitions across North America, including Virginia Beach and Atlanta. She has received many overall awards and scholarships that provided her with opportunities to train under professional dancers, as well as partaking in many workshops to broaden her dance skills by being introduced to cultural styles such as African Fusion, Highland Dance, Irish Dance, Salsa and Ballroom Dancing. For many years, she was a member of the Canadian Dance Awards Junior Members program where she learnt important skills that go into running a dance competition, including planning, promoting, and adjudicating.
Along with her many years of studio dance training, she also graduated from Glendale Secondary School’s Audition-Based Performing Arts program as a dance major, where she was able to expose herself to many other performing arts, advancing her into a triple-threat. Here is where she was able to take part in many large-scale productions including William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (2018) as an Aerialist, Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2018) in the ensemble, Brott Music Festival: Imagine (2018) as an Aerialist, Into the Woods (2019) as Cinderella’s Step-Sister, as well as being cast as Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde (2020).
Madisson’s love of teaching was sparked when she began assisting 7 years ago at the age of 13. Through her teaching she hopes to share her knowledge and love of dance with younger generations, hoping to provide them with an appreciation for the art form that has played such a significant role throughout her life.
DANTE ANGELINI-NELSON – Dance Instructor
Dante began dancing at 2 years old, enrolling in jazz, tap, ballet and acro. Shortly following, Dante enrolled in hip hop, lyrical and contemporary to his dance training. His love of Dance and Music is not surprising as he has grown up in the studio, with his mom being the director. Dante has been a competitive dancer since he was 4 years old, winning many awards and overall titles throughout the years. Some of those titles include “First overall Soloist”, “Performer of the weekend”, “Standout Performer”, Solo Title Holder. Recently, Dante has decided to focus mostly on hip hop as that is where his passion lies.
In addition to dance, Dante loves playing football, soccer and basketball. Dante is a starting defensive player on his school’s football team. He is also the High School representative for the HWCDSB Anti-Racism Committee and the grade 10 representative for the Black Student Services Committee. He takes these roles very seriously as he would like to see more inclusivity and love spread around the world.
Dante is honoured to be able to teach his students all the skills he’s learned over the years!
LUCY BYERS-McKEE – Dance Instructor
Lucy started her dance training of Tap, Jazz and Ballet at the early age of 2 ½. Throughout the years she has blossomed with her rhythm, musicality, and her love for dance. Lucy has received her level two certification with the Acrobatic Arts Training program and passed with achievement her Grade One Classical ballet exam. Lucy has also completed the Red Cross Babysitting course as well as standard first aid.
Lucy has been a competitive dancer since she was 5 years old. She has completed in various competitions and received various levels of awards including Diamond, Platinum, High Gold, and Gold. She has received special awards from the judges and has received an invitation to perform and complete at Dance Canada Solo Finalists Championship.
Lucy has enjoyed her roles in many musical theater productions with Studio E in Stoney Creek. She performed in Wicked as a singer/dancer, in Annie as a police officer and an orphan. In Hairspray she played the role of Thelma and she held the role of “Lucy” in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.
Along with vocal and piano lessons, Lucy loves to sing, dance and perform. She is eager to grow and develop her skills as a dancer, performer and eventually instructor as she continues to study Tap, Jazz and Ballet with Xklusiv Dance Productions. She is excited to be a part of the dance family.