Lori Hall Brown - Artistic Director

Lori had been dancing, teaching and choreographing for thirteen years before starting Can Dance Academy.  As well as producing and directing the recital each year she teaches classes in ballet, jazz, modern, acro and musical theatre.  She has trained in Royal Academy of Dance, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, Canadian Dance Teachers Association and Acro Dance Certification. Lori is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School and continues to train with Dance Life Teachers Conference.

Lori has won many choreography and performance awards in both competitions and community theatre and has adjudicated at competitions.

Lori is very proud of how the students have been resilient during this pandemic learning their dances on Zoom, performing in an amazing recital and having outstanding competition results!

Charlotte Driscoll - Recreational Director

Charlotte began dancing at the age of 3. She is a proud CDA alumni herself - she began dancing at Can Dance Academy at the age of 5, until her graduation at the age of 18. She trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and musical theatre. She began competing at the age of 8 and had the opportunity to participate in competitions across Ontario. By competing, she was able to learn lots about the dance world, and was honoured with a number of overalls, scholarships, and special awards. She also had her first opportunity to teach during her time at CDA, and instantly loved sharing her passion for dance with the next generation! She also was able to teach and choreograph for the competitive dance team at St Martin Secondary School, guiding the team to a successful competitive season. She continued to dance during her time at Queen’s University, where she danced, organized, and choreographed for a number of dance clubs and teams. She recently graduated from Queen’s with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Charlotte is thrilled to be back at her home studio for the upcoming season, and she can’t wait to share her knowledge and love for dance with the Can Dance family!

Sara Black - Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary

Sara is a recently graduated CDA alumni who is thrilled to be at the beginning of her teaching career. She began dancing at Can Dance in her early teenage years and trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary and musical theatre. She loves teaching and helping others reach towards success, as well always acts as an amazing support system to her students and peers. She is in her first year at the University of Toronto aiming to obtain her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and plans on continuing her education for her masters and doctoral degrees. She can’t wait to share her passion for dance with all of her students!

Laura Colasanti - Pilates

Laura dance competitively for most of her life, starting at the age of 3. Continuing her love for movement, she expanded her practice in Traditional Mat Pilates as well as Hot HIIT Pilates. Studying interior design, her eye for detail and thoughtful curation shines through her practice. She loves a great challenge, and encourages her students to challenge themselves on and off the Mat. Laura loves to leave you sweating and embracing the burn!

Sarah Gryniewski - Acro, Tap

Sarah has been dancing since the age of 2 and fell madly in love with the art form. She spent 13 years competing in jazz, tap, ballet, acro, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary. Currently, she’s competing with UTM Dance Team while completing her Honours Bachelor of Science in biology. Sarah has her Intermediate certification in ballet from RAD and many years of teaching jazz, tap, acro, ballet and hip hop. Sarah aims to make dance class a fun and memorable experience and to always give the kids a goal to strive towards and the tools to do so. Sarah can’t wait to share her love for dance and pass on all her tips and tricks!

Kirsten LeGrand - Hip Hop

Kirsten LeGrand has spent all her life dancing in the studio. She has worked with and choreographed for new up-and-coming Toronto Pop, R&B and Rap artists. She has been teaching Hip-Hop for over 5 years and is well trained in jazz, tap, contemporary, musical theatre, Hip-Hop and other street styles. She graduated with honours from the Humber Comedy: Writing and Performance program (2017). In addition, Kirsten also graduated with honours from Sheridan College's Performing Arts Preparation program (2015) where she was trained by some of the best people in the industry. At Sheridan College Kirsten co-directed, choreographed, co-created and performed in her sketch show "Sketches Against Humanity". Following her post secondary education she has been instructing multiple theatre programs as well as teaching dance in the studio. Kirsten is certified with HIGHFIVE training and is currently working towards her B.A in Early Childhood Education. Kirsten’s main passions are grooving, teaching, children and learning. Kirsten’s main motto is “WHEN IN DOUBT? GROOVE IT OUT”!

Milica Mrkonjic - Acro, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical

Milica started dancing at the age of 5 training in many genres such as ballet, jazz, tap, hiphop, lyrical and modern. She holds a Bachelor of Education specializing in the primary/junior division. In 2003, Milica was a part of the Nutcracker and performed for the University of North Bay's hockey team home opener in 2010. Milica has taught dance for the past eight years and is currently in her sixth year teaching at Can Dance. Teaching for Milica has always been about building confidence, technique and allowing movement to help dancers navigate through everyday life. Milica is proud to be a part of the CDA family and cannot wait for another successful year!

Stephanie Truman - Acro, Ballet, Jazz

Stephanie has been dancing for more than twenty years and has studied many styles, including ballet, jazz, modern, acro, pointe, lyrical, and musical theatre. Stephanie graduated from the dance program at York University in 2014 and now holds a BFA with honours. She is also a certified teacher with the Society of Classical Ballet - Vaganova Method, and with Acrobatic Arts. During her training, Stephanie achieved great success in dance competitions, most notably becoming a World Champion in the Ballet Duo category in 2007 and 2009. Stephanie is the co-founder/director of Forma Contemporary Dance, an online-based dance project. She has been teaching for more than ten years and her students have won numerous overall and special awards at dance competitions throughout Ontario. Stephanie has been part of the Can Dance team for the past six years and is excited to continue to share her passion for dance with her students.