Vitek Wincza
Founder/Artistic Director

Vitek Wincza graduated as a professional dancer from the State Ballet School in Gdansk, Poland. He has performed for the Musical Theatre of Gdynia, Poland; The Grand Opera; the Ballet Theatre of Lodz, Poland; and the National Dance Company “Mazowsze” where he toured throughout North America. After several successful performances in Hamilton Place, he decided to stay permanently in Canada. In 1982, after his defection, he ran and operated his own dance school in Burlington and Hamilton area. He is a dancer, choreographer, producer, and arts educator.
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Colleen Daniher
Faculty – Triple Threat

Colleen Daniher is a singer, actress, and teacher newly relocated to Hamilton.  A native of Windsor, Ontario, Colleen began singing and acting in school and local community productions at the age of eight.  Since then, she’s walked the boards in repertoire ranging from Shakespeare and Gilbert & Sullivan, to Lanford Wilson and Stephen Sondheim.  Select credits include Kate Mulligan in the Canadian premier of Titanic (Windsor Light Opera), Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Windsor Theatre Festival), and Louise in Gypsy (Theatre Western).

Colleen holds Bachelor’s degrees in English and Music (Voice) from the University of Western Ontario, a Master’s degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph, and a Grade 9 RCM certificate in piano.  With her unique blend of training in voice, stage acting, and piano, Colleen integrates her knowledge of different disciplines and musical genres to teach general musicianship, vocal mechanics, and performance stylistics to her voice students.  Colleen’s approach to teaching is holistic; she believes that singing is an act that requires technical, musical, and emotional intelligence, and she is committed to creating a safe learning environment in which these skills can be developed.  Also an experienced ESL teacher, Colleen believes in meeting her students at the point of his/her skill-level, and welcomes a range of learning styles into her classroom.

Stephanie Byfield
Faculty - Jazz/Tap/Lyrical/Combo

Stephanie Byfield has been dancing since the age of three and started choreographing at the age of sixteen. Professionally, she had the pleasure of learning, growing, and performing with Kitchener-Waterloo Musical Productions, and for choreographers such as Tiffany McLean, Allan Lupien, Karen Prior-Cashin, Scott Kufske, and Joanne Chapman. Stephanie spent most of her dance years training in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, and lyrical, and has won scholarships and awards as a soloist and as a choreographer. Stephanie now spends her time adjudicating dance competitions, choreographing fitness routines for Fitness Canada, and is pursuing her Masters in Applied Disability Studies. She also has a passion for the health and fitness industry as she's a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer who specializes in developing programs for dances, gymnasts, and skaters.

Julia Garlisi
Faculty – Modern/ Education Programs

Julia is a native of Dundas, Ontario and began dancing under the direction of Tara Silvaggio. Julia is a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre Professional Training Program. Professionally, she has the pleasure of learning, growing, and performing with Dancetheatre David Earle. This opportunity has led to performing roles in Court of Miracles, Cantata, Miserere, A Farther Shore, and Youth from Maelstrom. Additionally, Julia is proud to be part of Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, where she performed the world premiere of L’amour en silence. Independently, she has worked with Janet Johnson for the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival Fundraiser Performances and appeared in Vivid 2003. Coinciding with the performance aspect of dance, she also loves being able to teach and choreograph for many students in the Hamilton and Burlington area. Future endeavours include a collaboration of Hip-Hop and Contemporary Dance through film and other artistic mediums.

Nicole Jessome
Faculty - Yoga

Trained in the Hatha tradition, Nicole brings an athletic look at Yoga and has been teaching for 5 years and practicing Yoga for 12 years.  A long time distance runner and athlete, she has worked specifically with other athletes to improve their performance as well as injury prevention and treatment. Nicole has also developed a "Go with the Flow" class that combines a flow Yoga with modern music like rock, pop, and even some disco.

Holly Kovac
Faculty – Baby Ballet/Creative Ballet/Jazz/ Education Programs

Holly has studied dance for over 19 years. Her early training in Disco, Latin American and Jazz encouraged her to pursue modern dance in Secondary school. Holly went on to study contemporary dance at Advanced Level at Lewes Tertiary College in the UK. After graduating with distinction, Holly went on to audition and gain a full scholarship to attend the World renowned Laban Centre London, where she studied Dance Theatre, training in Graham and Cunningham techniques.

Holly is thankful to have danced with The Random Dance Company in the collaborative piece Aeon and has performed in many choreographies, most notably a piece for Amnesty International which was performed at The Theatre Royal, London. Her travels as an independent dancer lead her to Canada where she performed for Zuka Dance in Vancouver and taught classes at The Whistler Dance Academy. She eventually landed here in Hamilton in 2003.

Through the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, Holly is now teaching Creative dance to young children as well as working in the CFKA programs and Field Trips. She recently began teaching pre-school. Holly is also on the Board of Directors for HCA Dance Theatre.

Olga Krymchanska
Faculty – Senior Classical Ballet

Olga graduated from the State Specialized Choreographic School in the Ukraine and studied at the Japanese National School of Ballet. She has danced for the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Moldavia, the Kiev National Theatre, The Kiev Classical Ballet Theatre in the Ukraine, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia. She has performed all classical repertoire for over 20 years throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

Lisa La Mantia
Faculty – Intermediate/Advanced Flamenco

Lisa’s flamenco training began in Hamilton, Ontario, under the tutelage of Canadian Flamenco dance pioneer, Paula Moreno. In 1997, Lisa began to intensify her studies with acclaimed performer and teacher, Esmeralda Enrique. In the past ten years, Lisa has studied with many of flamenco’s greatest artists including, Isabel Bayon, Andres Marin and Soledad Barrio.

In the past five years Lisa has performed with Toronto’s most prominent flamenco companies including the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company and Compañia Carmen Romero, at venues such as Dance Ontario Weekend, and the Canadian National Exhibition. Lisa can be seen performing regularly at Toronto’s most prominent flamenco venues, Embrujo Flamenco & Plaza Flamingo.

In 2003 and 2009, Lisa traveled to Spain to intensify her knowledge of flamenco and trained in the flamenco epicenters of Seville and Jerez with acclaimed flamenco masters such as Farruquito, Mercedes Ruiz and Juan Ogalla.

Lisa is one of the primary dancers/musicians for Canadian flamenco innovator Jorge Miguel and his flamenco ensemble.  She has worked extensively across Canada in venues such as the Michael J Fox Theatre in Burnaby BC, London’s Sunfest, Sanderson Centre for the Performing arts in Brantford and The Missisauga Living Arts Centre.

Lisa is the prominent flamenco presence in Hamilton. She teaches at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, where she has fostered and grown a flamenco community that is not only dedicated to flamenco dance, but takes pride in its knowledge in the art of flamenco as a way of life.

Vanessa was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. She began her dance training at age three with Sherry Walsh Academy of Dance Arts. She has studied a variety of dance styles: ballet, jazz/hip hop, tap, lyrical and modern. She received high honors on her British Association of Teachers of Dancing (B.A.T.D) examinations and has earned her teaching diploma with the B.A.T.D in ballet and jazz. She has attended both the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and was accepted into their full time curriculum. Vanessa had the privilege of attending a ballet workshop conducted by the prestigious Karen Kain. Vanessa currently resides in Ancaster working as a Registered Nurse at McMaster University in obstetrics. Vanessa is excited to share her love of dancing with her students.

Ilona Onodi
Faculty – Ballet

Ilona has studied ballet and other forms of dance for over twenty years. Her early training was in the Russian style of ballet. As a teenager she attended the Cecchetti based Lois Smith Dance School in Toronto. Upon completion of high school, Ilona was accepted into the dance program at York University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Degree in Dance. She studied ballet and Modern dance intensively as well as choreography and repertory. Ilona has performed in a number of pieces, the most memorable being Jose Limon’s classic work A Choreographic Offering. After deciding that teaching was her passion she enrolled at Seneca College to study Early Childhood Education.

In 1995 she traveled to Australia to attend Teacher’s College at the University of Western Sydney. During her stay in Australia she had the opportunity to implement a series of creative arts workshops for children. Ilona completed her year with a graduate Diploma in Education. Since graduating, she has taught a wide range of ages in Canada and South Korea, including preschool, middle school, high school and adults. Ilona has been employed by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board as an elementary school teacher since the year 2000.

Catherine Woodrich
Faculty – Yoga

Catherine Woodrich, B.A., B.Ed., has instructed gentle yoga classes, in Hamilton, for the last nine years. She began to seriously study yoga twelve years ago. Catherine has always made physical fitness a part of her lifestyle. Now she nurtures her entire self.