Sherry
Tovell - Sherry's history
in dance started in the year 1987, teaching dance classes with her husband
Rob Tovell at local country and swing nightclubs, as well as Metro College
in Edmonton, AB. After forming their dance company, River City Dancers,
she has continued with her dance education extensively from Ballroom,
Swing, Country, Latin and Jazz. Sherry has become a well known dance
professional, teacher and choregrapher for couples and teams. Presently
she serves as an active judge for all levels on the international country
and swing dance circuit.
Rob and Sherry also produce River City Dance Festival in September each year. This labour of love has offered the community a wonderful dance event combining competitive country and swing dancing with social interaction of all forms of dance.
In 1999 Sherry was nominated as a "Woman of Distinction" for her volunteer work and community contribution. Her initiative, commitment and strength of character have provided inspiration to others.
Sherry was the first woman and first Canadian to be elected President of the interational dance assocation United Country Western Dance Council and was the first certified judge in Canada for competitive country dance. During her 4 year tenure as President she secured Worlds Country Dance Championships for Edmonton in 2001, the first time this event was held outside the United States. At Worlds Sweden 2006 Sherry was inducted into the UCWDC Hall of Fame.
In 2005 Sherry organized and choreographed the dance scenes for two television movies - "The Christmas Wish" and "For Love of a Child" . As the owner of Dance With Me Studio, she continues to teach, coach and dance with her Pro-Am students at festivals throughout the country.
Rob
Tovell - Bio coming soon
Kim
Bateman - Kim started dancing in the country/western nightclubs
and taking group lessons there very soon after she moved to the big
city of Edmonton from Vegreville. She then joined the country dance
group Silver Spurs in 1993 whom she performed many demos with. In 1994,
she moved on to join the River City Dancers led by Rob & Sherry Tovell.
Practices with the River City Dancers mainly took place at Cook County
Saloon and then Ranchman's where Kim & the group spent many hours dancing
the night away on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. While performing
demos and competing with the River City Dancers she began training with
Rob Tovell and competed on & off over the next years at River City Dance
Festival in Edmonton, Calgary Dance Stampede and The Red Hot Dance Festival
in Red Deer. Kim began serious training in West Coast Swing & Hustle
in 2006. She started teaching at Dance With Me Studio in 2007.
Kim is a huge fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" (Canada & U.S.) and "Dancing With the Stars". She also danced as an extra in the Christmas T.V. movie "The Christmas Blessing" in 2005.
Jay
Leipert - Spanning a period of almost 38 years, there are few
people in the dance community in North America with the depth and breadth
of experience that Jay brings to the world of Dance. A seasoned instructor,
coach, and competitor, Jay started his career as an instructor in the
franchise studio system. Jay is a WDF accredited Master Adjudicator
and master level instructor. He is member of the Canadian DanceSport
Federation as a registered competitor and Instructor. For the last six
years he has adopted the “DVIDA Dance syllabus” and uses it as a benchmark,
and guide in creating his lesson plans. Jay and his students have won
many top student and top teacher awards at competitions across North
America. In the 2007 & 2008 a top teacher and Student awards at
the DVIDA National Dancesport Championships in Las Vegas.
A consummate professional, Jay is equally at home competing with his adult students at international competitions as well as designing programs and curriculum for Social Ballroom group classes and private lessons.
John Tribiger - Bio and picture coming soon.
Marissa
Johanson – Marissa’s passion for dance started before she could
even walk. Her first form of dance was Cecchetti Ballet, later she branched
into other styles of dance; such as, jazz, modern, lyrical, character,
hip hop, and tap. She grew up dancing in Camrose, Alberta from 1989
to 2004. In 2002, she took her Cecchetti Ballet Juniors teaching course
through the Edmonton School of Ballet. After completing her Cecchetti
Ballet Advanced course, she took some time off from dancing to start
her university degree.
In 2005, Marissa started her university experience in Camrose at Augustana University. The following year she moved to Edmonton to complete her schooling at the University of Alberta. Taking time away from dance was difficult, as she felt like part of her was missing. In 2009, she found out about a new style of dance fitness called Zumba. Missing dance so much, this was an excellent opportunity for her to bring dance back into her life. She took Basic 1 Zumba Certification in September 2009. Marissa has been doing Zumba ever since. She has found her passion for dance again.
In April 2010, Marissa graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nutrition in Food Science and a minor in Physical Activity. She is very involved in health and fitness and plans to pursue this field of interest. Marissa plans on learning other styles of dance in the future. As well, she will be taking her Basics 2 Zumba certification at the end of October 2010.
Dance With Me Studio has many friendly, talented and qualified instructors. Meet them here right now!
Sherry Tovell - Owner/Head Instructor
Rob Tovell - Owner/Head Instructor
Kim Bateman - Country, Swing
Jay Leipert - Ballroom, Latin
John Tribiger - All Styles
Marissa Johanson - Zumba