Genevieve Anne
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ms Genevieve began her journey into the world of dance studying at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at the tiny age of three. She began her training in Ballet and then further extended her repertoire by adding Jazz, Tap, Lyrical and Musical Theatre through the Winnipeg School of Performing Arts. During her time at WSPA, she performed in several musicals including, Anne of Green Gables, Annie, Wizard of Oz and Bye Bye Berdie. She also workshopped and competed extensively throughout Canada and the USA, taking home several top awards for both solo and group performances, including at the Canadian National Dance Championship in Toronto. Ms Genevieve has also had the privilege to workshop with such Tap Masters as Savion Glover, Regio the Hoofer and Brenda Bufalino. After graduation, Ms Genevieve began teaching at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and in Portage La Prairie, MB, managing their Outreach Dance Programs. After a couple of years teaching in Manitoba, her desire to open her own studio grew. Before taking on this endeavor, she went on to further expand her Dance and Theatre training at the University of Calgary. Through the Drama department, Ms Genevieve studied everything from Theatre Design and History to Make Up and Costume Design. However, her main focus was completing the Advanced Acting Program, where she had the opportunity to perform in several plays including The True Life Fiction of the Mata Hari, Twelfth Night, The American Dream, Neruda Nude, The Midlife Crises of Dionysus, and performed in a Children’s Theatre Company all over Calgary through Wagonstage Productions. Double majoring in the Dance department, Ms Genevieve's other main focus was training through their Contemporary Dance program, expanding her knowledge in everything from Dance History and Conditioning for Dancers to Choreography, where her true passion grew. She found a particular love of combining Theatre and Dance while working on projects for the High Performance Rodeo. Upon graduation, the desire to be in a smaller town and closer to family brought her to Medicine Hat. Ms Genevieve opened the Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts in 2008 and while running the business has been teaching and choreographing ever since! During this time she has also worked on choreography for the Olympic Torch Ceremony (2010), the Alberta Winter Games (2016), the Mini Pops Tour (2018) and has worked extensively with the Medicine Hat Musical Theatre Playhouse, both as a Performer and Choreographer for such musicals as, Grease, Clue, Little Shop Of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Picture Shows, Rock Of Ages and Mamma Mia. Most recently she was also cast in a lead role for the production of The Dingdong. Ms Genevieve looks forward to performing and choreographing for future productions and is grateful to continue sharing her passion, education and training with her students, while nurturing dance as an art form!
Anne-Marie Roset
Ms Anne-Marie was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, and has been dancing for over 30 years. She is trained in both Cecchetti and Balanchine. She has danced professionally throughout Quebec and South America with Ballet Ouest de Montreal, under the tutelage of Margaret Mehuys, former soloist of George Balanchine. Ms Anne-Marie has performed in numerous classics such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Copelia. She began her teaching career in Montreal, where she had the responsibility of preparing over 150 children to perform in The Nutcracker. 15 years ago, Ms Anne-Marie moved to Medicine Hat. Miss Anne Marie has had the privilege of being MHSPA’s ballet teacher for over a decade and during this time has also ran a successful Summer Ballet Intensive which continues to grow. Over the years, she has won Choreography and High Score awards for both her group and solo work at various dance competitions and festivals. She is very proud of the success of all her students at MHSPA and is looking forward to many more years enjoying the art of dance together!
Marnie Zeller
Ms Marnie is a graduate of George Brown College's dance program (Toronto, Ontario). She has earned a Dance Performance Preparation Certificate with honours (April 2016), Dance Performance Diploma with honours (April 2018) and a Certificate of Professional Development from Canada's Ballet Jorgen. Ms Marnie has also studied with Dance Teachers International (Toronto, Ontario). She is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique, Alixa Flexibility Module 1 & 2, Acrobatic Arts Module 1 and is a Barre Intensity® Instructor. Aside from teaching at Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts, Ms Marnie has choreographed musicals for Crescent Heights High School, Medicine Hat Musical Theatre & Firehall Musical Theatre Productions. In 2018 she organized the local participants to dance alongside the Mini Pop Kids touring show and the following year, prepared 52 local dancers to dance alongside The Moscow Ballet in “The Nutcracker”. Ms Marnie has also recently taught on faculty for Canada Ballet Jorgen’s virtual summer intensive and virtual dance academy. Ms Marnie teaches with a passion for strong technical training while instilling a positive atmosphere for her dancers to learn and grow!
Patan Lee
Ms Patan has been dancing since the age of 2. She has trained in styles such as ballet, jazz, and modern but is most passionate about hip hop & breakdance. She started training hip hop at the age of 9 and since then, hip hop dancing and hip hop culture has impacted her life in many ways. Throughout her dance life, she has had the chance to train with many well known hip hop icons such as Luther Brown, Twitch Boss, B-boy Wicket, Keeley Kuakimoce, The Electric Boogaloos, Ian Eastwood and more, getting a taste of true hip hop culture and origins as to which the genres of hip hop were created. Ms Patan has also traveled many tours with a non for profit dance ministry named GX International for two years. During this time she travelled to places such as Kansas City, Chicago, Barbados and various parts of Brazil. During these tours she would perform for many local events, host shows in stadiums, teach in local schools, and even share her love of dance with government leaders. Since returning from her travels dancing abroad, she have taken over the hip hop department at the Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts, hoping to share her experience of hip hop culture with her students. Her hope is that her students remember their time at the studio as a positive impact on their life.
Cherise Heringer
Ms Cherise has been dancing since she was 3. Her dance journey brought her to Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts at the age of 10 and this is where she began to fall in love with dance and all the positive aspects of Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts! During her time as a student at the studio, Ms Cherise assisted with many mini bopper classes and was mentored by MHSPA’s own Genevieve Bourdon! Upon graduation, Ms Cherise focused her studies in post secondary, only to return to the studio two years later to become an integral part of the mini bopper program and office staff. Many years later, Ms Cherise continues to help her young dancers grow while fostering the early foundations of dance.
Erica Gallup
Ms Erica’s love for dance kicked off in gymnastics at the age of four. She was always so drawn to Floor routines and loved the musical aspect combined with the tricks and tumbling. In 2008, Ms Erica qualified for the Alberta Winter Games, placing second on Floor; and, at the Alberta Gymnastics Provincials later that season, she won first all-around in her Provincial Level 2 category. By the age of twelve, Ms Erica opted to switch over to dance completely. She trained competitively in Jazz, Musical Theatre, Lyrical/Contemporary, and Hip Hop, while beginning as a Junior Coach and Choreographer at the gymnastics club she grew up in. As her skills progressed, she completed her Alberta Gymnastics Federation Level 1 certification that allowed her to coach her own groups (both competitive and recreational) and choreograph her own Floor and Beam routines. Ms Erica was also involved in many Fine Arts school endeavours at the time. From a young age, she played piano, guitar, and alto saxophone, participated in her school choir, and even got the chance to choreograph and dance in the Monsignor McCoy High School performance of Clue The Musical alongside Ms Cherise. Ms Erica then temporarily left these creative worlds behind to pursue a Degree in Psychology (BA) from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Upon graduating in 2021, she returned and attended the Medicine Hat School of Performing Arts Spring Fever Recital, learning of the wonderful community Ms Genevieve has created with her studio. Ms Erica was honoured to join the team for the next season as an Administrative Assistant and the Acro Teacher’s Assistant. By the following year, she had taken on the duties of a full-time teacher. Having completed her certifications under Acrobatic Arts, Ms Erica is now running the Acro Program at MHSPA and gets to combine her speciality in gymnastics and dance training into one art form. She also teaches Jazz, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre, and is overjoyed to have the opportunity to pass on her love for each discipline to the next generation!