A dance teacher helps their students find the song in their heart and the beat in their feet and a passion for life.
Meet the faculty
Lacee Nakonechny
Lacee started dancing at the age of 3 at Kelly Waterman School of dance until the age of 14 where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, and Pointe. She began dancing at Diamond Dance Academy in the same disciplines as well as started student teaching and assisting in classes. At the age of 15 Lacee began teaching her own classes in the styles of ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop and lyrical. Lacee has successfully completed her exams in Jazz in the ADAPT syllabus, and is currently working to finish her Tap and Ballet exams through ADAPT. Lacee has achieved the ADAPT assistant training certificated through the ADAPT teaching program in 2014. Over the years Lacee has won many awards dancing in the competitive program, her most memorable have been winning Triple Threat Dance Conventions Intermediate Ultimate Threat in Winnipeg in 2012 and 2013. Lacee has found a new passion for choreography, and many of her routines have gone on to win special awards at competitions and festivals. In Aug 2015 Lacee had the opportunity traveled to Los Angeles to take part in Triple Threats Next Step for a 2 week dance intensive, she was one of the 40 chosen dancers to attend. Lacee is looking forward to another amazing year of dance at Diamond and working with new and returning dancers. This past summer in Toronto Lacee completed her first year of ADAPT teachers training.
Sydney Vallance
Sydney began dancing with Kelly Waterman School of Dance at the age of three. She later went on to dance at both Aurora Dance Academy and Diamond Dance Academy. She joined the competition team at the age of 9, and has competed in the local Arts Festival as well as numerous competitions across Canada and the United States where she has won various awards and scholarships. Sydney began with ballet however quickly immersed herself in other disciplines including jazz, tap, hiphop, musical theatre, lyrical/contemporary, acro and pointe. Under the ADAPT syllabus Sydney has completed up to her Class 4 ballet exam, Intermediate 3 Jazz Exam and Pre-Intermediate 2 Tap Exam. Her passion for dance continued year round as she often took private lessons and attended summer dance schools including Wade Dance Camp, RWB Summer Intensive and receiving a scholarship and attending Breaking Bounds Summer Intensive in Toronto. Sydney has attended multiple workshops including Triple Threat and Idance and has worked with talented choreographers such as Melissa Mitro, Wayne Santo, Damien Lavergne, and Blake McGrath.This past summer Sydney attended year 1 or the ADAPT teacher training in Toronto, and is looking forward to applying all the knowledge and skills she has learned, and sharing her love and dedication for dance with the students.
Kaidie Morris
Kaidie started dancing at the age of 5 at the Kelly Waterman School of Dance where she studied ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop and musical theatre. She has successfully completed exams with the Royal Academy of Dance Children and Vocational Syllabus, as well as ADAPT jazz and tap. Kaidie has participated in dance conventions and competitions throughout her dancing career. At the age of 11 Kelly Waterman began training Kaidie to assist classes and create choreography. She's been teaching ever since in a variety of styles. Kaidie looks forward to bring her passion of dance to Diamond Dance Academy this upcoming fall.
Jen Tretjak
Jen began dance at the age of 5 with Kelly Waterman School of Dance, where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Pointe, and Hip Hop. During her time with Kelly Waterman School of Dance she completed her exams with the Royal Academy of Dance Children's and Vocational Syllabus, as well as her exams in Adapt Jazz and Tap. Jen has attended various dance conventions as well as competitions receiving many awards. Jen began teaching for Kelly Waterman in 1997 where she taught Jazz, Tap and Hip Hop and also choreographed many of the year end recital pieces. Through Kelly Waterman School of Dance Jen submitted students in the ADAPT Jazz and Tap exams and through Diamond Dance Academy Ballet exams. Jen has attended Adapt Teachers Training program in 1998 in Winnipeg, MB, in 2000 in Lethbridge, AB. Jen began teaching with Diamond Dance in 2012 and completed her ADAPT certification in 2013. In 2014 Jen travelled to Moose Jaw to take the ADAPT teachers workshops. Jen is also certified Zumba, Zubatomic, Zumba Toning and Zumba Step instructor. As Diamond Dance Academy's principle teacher Jen has received special Judges awards for her choreography and strives to bring out the best out in each and every dancer she teaches.
Carrie Oke
Arriving from Huntsville, Ontario, Carrie has been in the dancing industry since the age of 6. She started dancing competitively right from the beginning performing and competing in all areas of dance throughout Canada, The U.S. And Europe. She has attended many national championships, workshops, and performed with Euro International throughout Spain. She won numerous awards and scholarships throughout her years including 1st runner up to “Teen Miss” and “Miss” Dance Canada.
Carrie began teaching at the age of 16 and has been teaching for 20+ years now. She is certified to teach through the Canadian Dance Masters of America and has also completed up to her Intermediate Major Ballet Exam through The Checchetti Ballet Society of Canada. Carrie has taken much pride in attending many teaching workshops and learning from such inspirations as Evelyn Hart of the the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Amy Wright and Allain Lupien of the Next Step, LA's Dance Guru Paula Morgan, and So You Think You Can Dance's Mia Michaels just to name a few.
She has taught numerous dance workshops for a number of dance studios in Ontario, and also works as a dance adjudicator/judge for dance competitions. Some of the competitions she has adjudicated for include Dancefest, Champions Dance and Luv 2 Dance. She is going into her 10th year as the Dance Director for the Olympia Sport Camps Dance Program in Ontario. Some of Carrie's Previous dance students have gone on to perform on Cruise Ships, in Dance Videos and movies. One previous student, Tanya Karn, is currently a main dancer for Victoria Duffield's tour and for numerous Luther Brown videos. She was also a main dancer in the movies Camp Rock 2 and Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure. She has also had many other students go into dance teaching careers and some even own their own studios now.
Carrie began teaching at the age of 16 and has been teaching for 20+ years now. She is certified to teach through the Canadian Dance Masters of America and has also completed up to her Intermediate Major Ballet Exam through The Checchetti Ballet Society of Canada. Carrie has taken much pride in attending many teaching workshops and learning from such inspirations as Evelyn Hart of the the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Amy Wright and Allain Lupien of the Next Step, LA's Dance Guru Paula Morgan, and So You Think You Can Dance's Mia Michaels just to name a few.
She has taught numerous dance workshops for a number of dance studios in Ontario, and also works as a dance adjudicator/judge for dance competitions. Some of the competitions she has adjudicated for include Dancefest, Champions Dance and Luv 2 Dance. She is going into her 10th year as the Dance Director for the Olympia Sport Camps Dance Program in Ontario. Some of Carrie's Previous dance students have gone on to perform on Cruise Ships, in Dance Videos and movies. One previous student, Tanya Karn, is currently a main dancer for Victoria Duffield's tour and for numerous Luther Brown videos. She was also a main dancer in the movies Camp Rock 2 and Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure. She has also had many other students go into dance teaching careers and some even own their own studios now.
Tessy McKay
Ms. Tessy began dancing at the age of three at Kelly Waterman School of Dance starting with ballet. Tessy began taking jazz and tap when she was six years old. Tessy completed ballet exams in the Royal Academy Dance Children’s and Vocational Syllabi, as well as ADAPT jazz and tap exams while attending Kelly Waterman School of Dance. Over the years Tessy attended various dance competitions within Canada where she received various awards. She began assisting and teaching with Kelly Waterman School of Dance at the age of thirteen years old. In 2013 Tessy received her ADAPT teachers training certificate. Tessy is eager to join the Diamond Dance Academy team and is looking forward to an amazing year at Diamond.
Reese St. Pierre
Reese began dancing at the age of 6 in jazz at Kelly Waterman School of Dance. She continued her training in Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Lyrical at Diamond Dance Academy. Reese began student teaching at the age of 13 at Diamond Dance Academy and then began teaching her own classes by the age of 16. Over the years Reese has attended Triple Threat Dance Convention, competing in the Ultimate Threat Competition as well as other Dance conventions out of town and locally. Reese has completed her ADAPT Jazz Exams and has completed her Inter 2 Tap and Class 3 Ballet Exams with ADAPT. Reese has won numerous awards with Diamond Dance Academy competing at various competitions over the years. Reese had the opportunity to work with the following choreographers Blake McGrath, Wayne Santos, Damien Lavergne. Reese has found a new passion for choreography and looks forward to continuing to choreograph routines while she is away studying for her Bachelors in Psychology.
Hanna Lothian
Hanna started dancing at the age of 3 at Kelly Waterman School of Dance. Hanna has done her ADAPT Ballet, Jazz and Tap exams and started competing at the age of 8. At the age of 9, Hanna competed at Candance with her first Jazz solo where she walked away with the title of Little Miss Regina Candance. Hanna has competed for over years and has become a great passion of hers. Over the years Hanna has attended many conventions, such as Triple Threat Dance Convention, IDance, JUMP, Radix and World of Dance Canada. Hanna has won multiple scholarships from attending these various conventions that she has used to further her dance training. Hanna has worked with many well known choreographers around the world such as Blake McGrath, Wayne Santos, Megan Lawson, Kelly Kono, Nick Lazisera, Comfort Fedoke and many more. Hanna has a very strong love and passion for dance. She continues with it today and will continue with it for as long as she can, and looks forward to continuing with Diamond Dance Academy.
Lynn Nakonechny & Noelle St. Pierre
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Lynn Nakonechny and Noelle St.Pierre are the Co Owners and Directors of Diamond Dance Academy and founded the studio in April 2013. Their passion for dance grew from watching their children emerge themselves into the world of dance, giving them the opportunity to open the studio and to work with their amazing faculty. Noelle recently attended her Junior level Acrobatique in 2015 in Toronto. You can find both Lynn and Noelle working extremely hard to ensure that the studio runs smoothly with all the day to day operations. Along with their staff at Diamond Dance they are looking forward to an amazing year at Diamond Dance.
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PAST TEACHERS AT DIAMOND DANCE ACADEMY
Alaura Dudley
Ms. Alaura began dancing in all styles of dance from the age of five years old to thirteen years old at the Northern Ballet Academy and then began dancing at Kelly Waterman School of Dance at the age of thirteen, where she completed exams in the Royal Academy of Dance Children’s and Vocational Syllabi, as well as ADAPT jazz and tap exams. Alaura began assistant teaching at the Northern Ballet Academy, Kelly Waterman School of Dance and Siavyo Ukrainian Dancers. Alaura has prepared students for ADAPT ballet exams, and has choreographed dances for various competitions where she has won special judges awards for her choreography. She is very excited to begin teaching at Diamond Dance Academy and sharing her love for dance to all the students.
Breanna Mayor
Breanna began dancing with the Northern Ballet Academy at the age of three. She then danced with the Kelly Waterman School of Dance, and participated in her first competition in Niagara Falls, Ont. when she was nine years old. Breanna also has 4 years of gymnastics training and has now been competitively dancing for 7 years. Over the years she has completed RAD Ballet exams (Royal Academy of Dance) and has completed various levels in the ADAPT Syllabus in Jazz, Tap, and Ballet. She has studied various dance styles including Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary, Pointe, Musical Theatre and Acro with various teachers. She has competed in the local Arts Festival and in various competitions across Canada and has received numerous awards and recognition.
Breanna has attended multiple workshops including: Triple Threat, iDance, and RWB Dance Intensive. She completed her certification in the ADAPT Assistant Teacher’s Training program in Toronto in 2014 and is recognized as an ADAPT assistant teacher. This past summer Breanna attended the Junior Level Acrobatique course in Toronto and is looking forward to teaching this syllabus to the dancers as well as sharing her love of dance with other students and sharing her creativity through her love of choreographing this upcoming dance year.
Breanna has attended multiple workshops including: Triple Threat, iDance, and RWB Dance Intensive. She completed her certification in the ADAPT Assistant Teacher’s Training program in Toronto in 2014 and is recognized as an ADAPT assistant teacher. This past summer Breanna attended the Junior Level Acrobatique course in Toronto and is looking forward to teaching this syllabus to the dancers as well as sharing her love of dance with other students and sharing her creativity through her love of choreographing this upcoming dance year.
Bailey Oberdorfer
Bailey began her dance career at Kelly Waterman’s School of Dance at the age of six. She started with taking ballet. As the years went by, she also immersed herself in other dance disciplines (Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical/Contemporary, Pointe). Bailey has completed dance exams up to Class 1 in Ballet, Intermediate 3 in Jazz, and Pre-Intermediate 3 in Tap. Her passion for dance led her into doing many competitions (Candance, Thunderstruck, Dance Power). During dance competitions she received some special judges awards for 2 of her solos, one was “Hey Girl (I like Your Style) while the other one was for her fouetté turns in her jazz solo. Bailey has also won scholarships at our local Arts Festival. She has also completed her Adapt Assistant Teacher’s Training program in Toronto. Bailey has participated in many dance workshops in order to further enhance her skills and training (ex: Triple Threat, IDance, Soul Dance, Royal Winnipeg Ballet Summer Intensive). Bailey has also done some choreography for her students. In the past couple of years Bailey has loved being a student teacher at Diamond Dance Academy. As Bailey is still an active dancer she brings the ability to demonstrate to her students the level of flexibility and technique, and to role model the personal discipline needed for younger dancers to grow.
Andie Hendren
Andie started dancing at the age of 11 at the Kelly Waterman School of Dance. She began studying ballet, jazz and hip hop and then quickly started studying many other styles including tap, acro, lyrical and pointe. She danced competitively for more than 5 years and traveled around Canada dancing in several competitions and has qualified for Dance World Cup. She studied jazz under the ADAPT syllabus and completed numerous exams, as well as studied ballet and completed her class 1. Andie began teaching at Diamond Dance Academy in the fall of 2014 and shared her love for dance with her students.
Kelsi Hitch
Kelsi began dancing at the age of 6 in Thompson Manitoba. She began dancing at Northern Ballet Academy instructed by Sarah Baker-Kroll. Kelsi was first enrolled in ballet, and later was introduced to jazz and musical theatre. Kelsi was first enrolled in ballet, and later was introduced to jazz and musical theatre. Kelsi participated in Thompson festival of the arts and Dance power for multiple ballet and jazz group and solo dances. Later when Kelsi was about 10-11 she transferred over to Kelly Waterman School of Dance in Thompson where she was introduced to both tap, hip hop and lyrical. Kelsi became more serious with her dance career and engage in both RAD ballet exams and Adapt Tap and Jazz exams. Also she attended many workshops such as Triple Threat and iDance and travelled to Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver when she was 15. Kelsi has also competed in numerous dance competitions such as; Dance Power, 5678 Showtime, Can Dance and also competed in Dance World Cup in Vancouver 2008. Kelsi finished her dancing career at Diamond Dance back in 2012 and is excited to return back after being away from the dance world and hopes to have a great year.
Danielle Spence
Danielle's first dance lessons were in Ballet at the age of 4. She studied Ballet, Jazz and Tap at Kelly Waterman School of Dance from the age of 4 to the age of 7, where she took 3 years off from dance to pursue gymnastics and joined the competitive gymnastics team. Danielle soon realized that dance was her first love and returned back. She began taking Hip Hop classes at the Northern Ballet Academy and discovered that Hip Hop was her favorite style of dance. She returned to Kelly Waterman's School of dance the following year where over the next few years began studying progressive Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Pointe and Tap. Danielle soon joined the competitive dance team and competed for 3 years winning various awards. Danielle has attended various workshops, completed dance exams, and has had the opportunity to travel to Costal Dance Rage in Toronto, Harbor Dance School in Vancouver, along with IDance and Triple Threat Dance Conventions in Winnipeg. Danielle received her ADAPT teachers training certificate in 2015, and is excited to teach her passion to her students at Diamond Dance.