Sponsored by:

Cst. Andy Dunstan – Victoria Police Department

Andy Dunstan was born in England quite a long time ago and on leaving school at 16 joined Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. After 11 years he left and joined Her Majesty’s Constabulary of Devon and Cornwall, proving if you have a good boss you should stick with her. He immigrated to Canada in 2000 and settled in Calgary continuing his police career there. He was then fortunate enough to obtain similar employment in Victoria and is now serving on the Traffic section. In 2003 he was team captain for the Tour de Rock of that year and has remained involved as a fundraiser and team cycling trainer. A life long rugby player, he still plays for the Victoria-based over 40’s Ebb Tide. Playing for them in November 2006, he suffered a “catastrophic” (according to the physio!!!) knee injury involving two surgeries, months on crutches, and a damn fine excuse if his dancing is horrendous.

Nicole Steeves – Lynda Raino Dance: Hip Hop Instructor

Born in Victoria, Nicole Steeves is a high-energy teacher and choreographer who started dancing when she was eleven. Having taught Hip Hop for more than six years – including four at the Lynda Raino Dance Studio – Nicole has trained in ballet, modern, jazz and Hip Hop from top instructors from Victoria, Vancouver and New York City. In addition, Nicole runs the dance program and choreographs musicals at Reynolds Secondary School. Her award-winning choreography has been described as “a blend of old school funk with a contemporary street flavour.”  Nicole believes that anyone can dance if they have the will, the spirit and the determination. 

Sponsored by:

Kaj Fulton – Victoria Fire Department

Kaj was born in Victoria in 1970. He graduated from Spectrum community School in 1992. A life time love of soccer allowed him to play at a high level throughout his school career, as a Division 1 player for the Gorge Soccer Association, and, for three years, for the University of Victoria "Vikes". Kaj has travelled across Canada, as well as to Japan and Thailand. He attended the Justice Institute in Vancouver to further his dream of becoming a Fire Fighter. He has worked in a variety of industries and, since April 2007, works proudly as a Fire Fighter for the City of Victoria. He loves his work and being part of a hard working team. Kaj is a friendly,  outgoing man who loves to have fun. He enjoys spending his spare time volunteering as a member of the City's finest, staying fit, hiking, boating, biking with family and friends, and  now.....participating in Stars on Stage

Monique Salez – Flamenco Rebelde: Artistic Director

Monique Salez is a multi-talented performer based in Victoria. A student of modern, jazz, ballet, theatre, voice, percussion and improvisation, Monique found her deepest passion in the art of flamenco. Monique has had the opportunity to study flamenco dance locally and internationally with Carmen Romero, Maria Bermudez, Concha Vargas, Yaelisa, Oscar Nieto, Belen Maya, Ana Maria Lopez, Israel Galvan, La Truco, Maruja Palacio and Marco Flores, as well as cante (singing) with Coral de Los Reyes and El Talegon. She has performed extensively as a singer and dancer with her own troupe, Flamenco Rebelde (Butchart Gardens and Symphony Splash) and as a soloist (Queen of Hearts, Ballet Victoria’s Alice in Wonderland & Bella Canto Texas tour as a solo dancer to an 8-piece rock band from L.A.) As well, Monique teaches a thriving flamenco program at Lynda Raino Dance and most recently she has begun working on a music project with three fine musicians.
CONTACT:  msalez@telus.net

Sponsored by:

Michael O'Connor –  Partner, McConnan Bion O'Connor & Peterson

Michael has been a senior partner at McConnan Bion O’Connor & Peterson since 1976. Michael’s preferred areas of practice include wills, estates and conveyancing, as well as all forms of civil litigation, including personal injuries claims, expropriation, property tax assessment appeals and contract disputes. Michael chaired the highly successful Capital Campaign of the Greater Victoria Hospital Foundation, Together We Care, raising 17 million dollars for the hospitals on Southern Vancouver Island. He is a member of the CH Channel 6 Community Advisory Board and a Trustee of the British Columbia Government House Foundation. He has held several executive positions with a number of sports bodies at the local, provincial and national levels. He is the Vice Past Chairman of the 1994 Commonwealth Games held at Victoria, BC. Michael has always loved to dance at parties, but Stars on Stage is his first shot at training for the real thing. Look out Dancing with the Stars!

Christina Morrison – Salsa Caliente Dance Company: Director

Christina Morrison, is a professional salsa instructor and the director of the internationally touring dance company, Salsa Caliente.  With over 15 years of salsa dance experience and a background in ballet, jazz and ballroom, she is the only instructor in Canada certified to teach three different styles by the World Salsa University in Puerto Rico. Christina has performed and taught across Canada and the USA as well as in Italy, Puerto Rico, and Cancun.  She has competed for Canada at the World Salsa Open Championships in Puerto Rico and is a judge for the World Salsa Championship qualifying rounds. Her choreographies have been featured at Salsa Congresses around the world, in music videos and on stage with top salsa bands. Christina is based in Victoria and currently runs youth & adult, group and private classes for beginners to professionals and has four Victoria based performance groups.
CONTACT:  www.calientedance.com

Sponsored by:

Sarah Petrescu– Times Colonist: Features Reporter

Sarah Petrescu covers arts and fashion for the Times Colonist newspaper. She grew up on the Sunshine Coast and has lived in New York, Vancouver and Toronto. Before finding her passion for journalism as an undergraduate student at the University of Victoria, Sarah studied music and theatre. She received a graduate degree in Journalism from Ryerson University in 2006, has written for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and, this spring, will report for the TC from Rwanda and Mozambique – as a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation “Seeing the World through New Eyes” fellowship.

Kevin "Sav" Savage - Red Hot Swing

Sav's light-hearted approach to teaching and dancing is enjoyed by people from all walks of life.  He originally started dancing to meet girls, and he continues to dance to this day because of the sheer fun of swing dancing.
Superpowers: uncanny ability to make puns, anti-gravity hair, shirts that can be heard miles away.
CONTACT:  website: http://www.redhotswing.com/

Sponsored by:

Linda Rogers– Poet

Linda Rogers is not known for her physical bravery, even though she went para-gliding off a Turkish mountain in the summer of 2007. She will probably remember Stars on Stage as her other suicidal moment. This "trepid" mother of three, grandmother of almost four, and wife of mandolinist Rick Van Krugel is left-handed. Draw your own conclusions about her other appendages. Happy when stationary, she writes features for Focus Magazine, book reviews, poetry, songs and novels, the most recent of which is The Empress Letters, the first in her Victoria trilogy. Although Rogers' writing has attracted international attention, she hopes this reckless experience will not add to her notoriety.

John de Pfyffer – Dance Victoria: Ballroom Instructor

John de Pfyffer is a full-time, professional dance instructor who has taught Ballroom, Latin and Swing dance in Victoria for over 20 years. He is a Licentiate Member of the Canadian Dance Teacher's Association in both Ballroom Standard and Latin dancing, and an A class Judge. His professional career started when he formed and began teaching for the University of Victoria Jive & Ballroom Dance Club in 1986. The dance club soon became the largest club on campus and is responsible for starting most of the Social Dance scene (Swing, Salsa, Argentine Tango) and reviving the Ballroom Dance community in Victoria. John teaches group classes and private lessons for everyone from beginners to championship level dancers. He also hosts dances and dance cruises. His personal philosophy is that, at all levels, dancing, and learning to dance, should be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience.
CONTACT:  dancevictoria@telus.net

Sponsored by:

Joelle St.Clair– 107.3 KOOL FM

Joelle has been working in radio for nearly six years and savours the fact that she can be herself, read celebrity gossip, and play the music she loves every day… as a JOB!  However, being alone in a studio can be dangerous. Especially when she hears a song and can’t resist dancing…never fails, someone always walks in catches her. Their reaction is never “Hey, nice dance moves!”  It’s more like “Joelle….WHAT are you doing??”  Other than embarrassing moments like that and dancing at the odd wedding, Joelle never really had a chance to master the art of dance.  Hoping to change that, she’s thrilled to be a part of Stars on Stage!

Robert Creese – Lynda Raino Dance: Tango Instructor

Robert Creese’s varied background in movement gives him a deep understanding of how intent and motion is conveyed between dance partners. After training in ballet, mime, tai chi and karate, Robert did ballroom and Latin dancing for 10 years. He began Argentine Tango in 2000 and has studied with numerous teachers in North America and Europe. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Victoria and continued with two years of Media Studies before working in the Vancouver film industry for more than 20 years. As a First Assistant Cameraman, he worked on numerous productions including Needful Things, Charleton Heston Presents the Bible, The Beachcombers, and on hundreds of television commercials. As Camera Operator, Robert has done network series and movies, including Dark Angel, Lone Gunman, DaVinci’s Inquest, and operated Technocrane for major television commercials.
Robert is passionate about wind and gravity based sports, including kitesurfing and skiing, is an award-winning photographer and avid writer.

Sponsored by:

Charlayne Thornton-Joe– Victoria City Councilor

Never afraid of making a fool of herself for a good cause, Charlayne Thornton-Joe is looking forward to learning a new skill, fulfilling a New Year's resolution of loosing a few pounds, supporting the initiative, and having some fun! Charlayne loves music of all types and is excited for this opportunity. She is a born and raised Victorian and is a City Councillor for our Capital City of Victoria, and is Councillor liaison for Downtown, Heritage, and Tourism. She thanks her instructor for his courage in being her teacher.

Roman Yue – Victoria Ballroom Dance Society: Instructor

Roman fell in love in ballroom dancing since his teen years. He particularly loved international folk dance, where he met his wife through partnering in dance performances. After getting married, they subsequently they stopped dancing and raised their family. However, Roman came back to dance about fifteen years ago and started to compete in dance competitions around B.C. for about three years. He then diverted his passion into teaching and a became certified professional ballroom dance instructor. Roman has taught for the last twelve years. He is one of the instructors for Victoria Ballroom Dance Society.

Sponsored by:

Stephen White – Producer, Dance Victoria

Stephen White completed his professional dance training at the National Ballet of Canada before moving to New York to work with Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp. Despite a very promising international career, Stephen decided that living in Victoria and producing Dance Victoria appealed to him more than constantly unpacking suitcases in tired cities like Paris, Rome, Beijing and London. He also grew weary of chasing away paparazzi, signing endless autographs and all that damn work every day at the barre. Enough with the stretching, already! But the opportunity to appear in Stars on Stage 2008 awakened a part of him that he had thrust into a corner of his heart and, after all these years, he’s ready to stomp on the competition and leave them in a puddle of tears on the stage at the Mac so he, and only he can take home the championship trophy!

Wanda Kivitt – Wanda Kivitt Ballroom Dance Instruction

Wanda currently teaches Ballroom, Latin and Swing in a variety of locations including the Victoria Arts Connection and for the Victoria Ballroom Dance Society (VBDS). She has been dancing, teaching, competing, and performing for over 20 years in Canada and the United States of America, and had her early training in London, England. Wanda teaches both International and American styles of Ballroom and Latin Dance and is involved in the “Dancing in the Schools” project with the VBDS (check out the movie Mad Hot Ballroom). She has a B.A. Recreation Administration (Arts & Culture) and is a Canadian Dance Teachers' Association (CDTA) Licentiate Member - Ballroom & Latin. Wanda states, "I am passionate about ballroom dance as art, as sport, as recreation, and as a compelling and universal form of emotional expression and communication between two people. Dance is for everyone – it doesn't matter if you are 8 or 80, getting ready for a wedding or pursuing a new hobby, and it's a whole lot of fun!"
CONTACT:  website: http://members.shaw.ca/classicballroom

Al Ferraby - C-FAX 1070 Host

Al hosts the C-FAX 1070 Wake Up Team. It is the most listened to morning radio show in Victoria. Every weekday morning Al (along with Frank Stanford, Steve Duffy and Dawn Kelly) delivers a great blend of news, sports, buisness, information, entertainment and fun from 5am to 8am.

He has been a radio broadcaster for over 20 years and has been with C-FAX 1070 since 1994. You also hear him on our sister station 107.3 KOOL FM!

Diane Dakers – Dance Victoria Board of Directors, RBCM Communications Manager

Diane started her stage career as a dancing mushroom, at age six. Soon, she progressed to meatier parts, including a snowflake, gingerbread boy and soldier girl. More recently, Diane has danced the roles of a waitress, a doll and a cow. For Pacific Opera Victoria, she has performed as a parlour maid, geisha and woodland spirit, among others – but that’s another art form. By day, Diane plays the role of RBCM Communications Manager for the Royal BC Museum, but she is best known in Victoria for her performances as arts writer/reviewer for the Times Colonist and cultural reporter for both local TV stations. Diane is Vice President of Dance Victoria’s Board of Directors, and continues to dance with Lynda Raino and Constance Cooke.

Sherry Black (RAD, AAPHERD) – BroadStreet Dance: Celebrating her 40th Year as Artistic Director/Owner!

Born and raised in Victoria, Sherry studied and performed all forms of Studio dance here with Florence Clough, Wynn Shaw, and Bebe Eversfield; and with teachers Michael McBain, Tony Copolla, and Roland Dupree in Los Angeles. As well as dancing at The Butchart Gardens in the 60s, Sherry performed in the famous Jerry Gosley “Smile Show” for six seasons, and choreographed the 1974 show. Choreography credits include Admiral Cruise Lines, shows for UVIC and the Victoria Operatic Society, as well as hundreds for students at BroadStreet Dance. Currently Sherry is on faculty at The Canadian College of Performing Arts, Sherry was Director of Dance at Central Junior Secondary School from 1986 until 2001, a UVIC sessional instructor in the Music Education and Theatre Departments, and the director of The Air Canada Dancers. Believing that Dance Education is a never-ending process, Sherry and her faculty attend annual conventions, taking classes with world-class choreographers such as Brenda Bufalino, Dianne Walker, and Heather Cornell; Frank Hatchett of Broadway Dance Center in New York, Debbie Dee of Bush Gardens in Florida, Bill deRicco of New York, Gus Giordanno, and Charles McGowan of A Chorus Line fame. Sherry's students have won international competitions, danced with New York's Tap Kids, worked in the cruise ship, industrial and commercial industry as well as TV and Movies. Many are on faculty at BroadStreet Dance and teaching in Studios throughout North America.  Sherry believes that “Dance is a Life Skill!”

Kim Breiland – STAGES Dance: Artistic Director/Owner

Born and raised in Victoria and with an extensive background in ballet, tap, musical theatre, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, gymnastics, partner and flight harness work, Kim Breiland opened STAGES Performing Arts School in 1980…continuing each year to teach “all ages and abilities” the love of dance. Kim has performed extensively throughout Canada, the United States, the Middle East and Germany having worked along side the likes of Karen Kain, Evelyn Hart, Rex Harrington, Laura Alonso, Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, Dick Clark, Decidedly Jazz Dancworks, Stephanie Mills, the David Foster Foundation, Cirque Du Soliel, members of Tap Dogs, Long John Baldry, Weird Al Yankovich, Leslie Neilson and Olympia Dukakis and was delighted to perform for the Prince of Whales. Kim is most proud of her students. Not only the ones that she has the pleasure of teaching on a daily basis, but the many that have gone off to work in the industry.

Paul Destrooper – Ballet Victoria: Artistic Director

Newly appointed Artistic Director of Ballet Victoria, Paul DeStrooper is bringing to the company his experience of an international successful dance career spanning two decades. He joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company in 1993 and he danced all over the world with them for almost ten years before joining Alberta Ballet for two seasons, and then Oregon Ballet Theater from 2003 until 2007 both as a Principal Dancer. Paul has performed internationally many lead roles to rave reviews in both the classical and contemporary repertoire. He had many lead roles created on him by prominent choreographers and has several film credits.

Paul has choreographed works on both professional ballet schools and companies in North America and has taught and coached extensively. Paul is committed to produce innovative and excellent dance performances for Ballet Victoria and to cultivate and promote the talents of the company’s artists.

Lynda Raino – Lynda Raino Dance: Artistic Director

Lynda Raino has been teaching dance, choreographing works, and delighting audiences as a modern dance performer for 35 years now. Whether it was her solo Mother Moon, which she performed seven months pregnant, or dancing with Bobby McFerrin, or with a giant body builder, or dancing her naked protest about Hiroshima, Raino has always been an innovator. Her works are so diverse that two of her dances appeared simultaneously in Montreal, but one was at the Just for Laughs comedy festival while the other, her dance drama about AIDS was being shown at the Fifth International Conference on Aids. Best known for her solo performances, she has performed in Brazil, Japan, across Canada and the US, and has been dubbed the “accessible choreographer” because her works are always about the human condition that touches us all. She is the founder of Big Dance, her groundbreaking dance troupe for large people. Her school, Lynda Raino Dance, is now in its 28th year in Victoria, and although she did try to retire in 2004, she threatens that her next company will be a white-haired seniors group dancing with canes and walkers.

website: www.lyndaraino.com