The Teachers

	Sara Hodgins (Ioannou MacNeil), A.B.A.T.D., Director Sara has been dancing into the spotlight since 1990. After achieving recognition for her performances in Canada, the United States and Europe, she is now earning a reputation for striking choreography. As a certified teacher (A.B.A.T.D.) and choreographer she has had the pleasure of watching her own students carry on her success, winning scholarships and overall high mark trophies in modern, hip hop, jazz, tap, lyrical, acro and musical theatre. A dedicated teacher, Sara thoroughly enjoys working with children of all ages and levels of experience. She is also proud of the accomplishments of her recreational dancers. Sara trained at studios in Southern Ontario and New York state and is well versed in all forms of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, pointe, modern, musical theatre and song and dance. She has also studied singing for a number of years. During her competitive career, Sara was named overall Senior Performer four times and was also awarded Outstanding Professional Dancer. She is the recipient of many scholarships and high mark trophies. In 1999/2000 she was the B.A.T.D. Senior Tap Champion and tapping out a rhythm is certainly in her blood. She is a three-time member of the Canadian National Tap Team, traveling to Germany to go toe to toe with the world’s top tappers. In her last year on the team she was dance captain. Training with dance greats Mathew Clark and Kevin Pugh and participating in workshops at the National Ballet School and George Brown College (in association with Ballet Jorgen) are just some highlights of her dance career. In 2001 Sara went on to study at Toronto’s prestigious Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, enhancing her dancing, singing and dramatic skills. While at Randolph, she had the opportunity to participate in workshops with the Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson dancers, as well as dancers from the Broadway Tour of Fosse. She honed her choreographic skills with artists such as Mark Cassius of the Nylons. Sara has demonstrated her triple threat techniques in community theatre productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Kiss Me Kate, The Wizard of Oz and Crazy for You. On top of a gruelling dance and performance schedule, Sara also found time to provide dance instruction for public school programs as well as teach dance to special needs children in the community. During summer 2002, Sara taught dance for the City of Toronto's Arts Discovery Summer Camp. Sara is a native of Durham Region and the Kawartha Lakes district and is proud to call Bowmanville her home.
	Ami Johnson, Level Three Coach, Instructor Ami has competed as a gymnast at the provincial level for six years. She has coached provincial and national level gymnastics for twelve years. Ami’s certification qualifies her as a level three gymnastics coach. Another one of Ami's accomplishments was performing in Cirque Sublime. She has been choreographing floor routines since 1998 and enjoys working with kids of all ages and skill levels. Last year Ami developed and launched our aerial straps program. With such great success last year we are looking forward to her growing this program in the years to come. We are excited to welcome Ami back to the Spotlight teaching team this year.
	Jacalyn Cook, A.B.A.T.D., Instructor Jackie was the 2006 dancer of the year at Spotlight and has now been an instructor with Spotlight for over 4 years. She has completed her teaching certificates in Ballet, Jazz & Tap with excellent scores on all exams. Her students have won many overall and special awards at competitions all over Ontario. She is balancing a career in teaching at Spotlight with her completion of legal administration and mortgage agent diplomas. Although corporate life now occupies a large part of her life, Dance will always be Jackie’s true passion.
	Kelly Brown Monson, Instructor Kelly has been involved in highland dancing since the age of 3. She has enjoyed a successful competitive career in dance taking her across Canada, the United States and Scotland. She is the professional member of the Durham Region Highland Dancer's Association and the Past President of Scotdance Ontario. She has served on the executive of Scotdance Ontario for the past 8 years. Kelly is a Fellow member of the B.A.T.D. in the Highland and National Branches of Dance. She is also a member of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dance (SOBHD) Judge's Panel.
	Becky Graham, A.B.A.T.D. ,Instructor Becky is an award winning competitive dancer for 10 years in ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. She has been trained and taken exams in B.A.T.D. for Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. Becky is exited at working with Sara and Spotlight now that she is back in the Kawartha region.
	Abi Duke, Level 1 Coach, Instructor Abi started Gymnastics at age 5. She has had a number of top 10 provincial rankings, between 2006 - 2008, including Provincial Vault Champion. In 2009-10, Abi competed in the provincial finals with the Clarington Coyotes Cheerleading Team as well as Ultimate cheer in Pickering. We look forward to the growth of the Cheer program at Spotlight. Abi has been dancing at Spotlight since 2008 where she has won a number of awards. She was our 2010-2011 Dancer of the Year.
	Alexis Andrew , Instructor Alexis joins the teaching team in 2010. She is a former winner of the Dancer of the Year award as well a winner of numerous awards and scholarships, including a scholarship to dance in L.A., N. Y. C. and Toronto. Alexis is also very active in her school dance program with special performances and theatre productions in addition to her teaching duties.
	Kiarah Shchepanik , Instructor Kiarah has been part of Spotlight since 2005. She has won many awards and scholarships. Kiarah recently attended the Dance America finals along with Abi & Alexis, where they placed overall for their self-choreographed trio, which not only won awards at the finals but at every competition the studio attended in 2010-2011. It is now time for Kiarah to add Choreography and Teaching to her repertoire. Kiarah is very active in the community as she just passed her assistant water safety instructor course with the lifesaving society while juggling, tutoring students in math and French and actively participating in her high school dance program.
	Karen MacNeil, Instructor Karen has been part of Spotlight from the beginning. She has occupied many positions including Instructor for Ballet and Jazz classes.
	Brian Hodgins, BBA, Office Manager Brian is thrilled to join the Spotlight staff as our Office Manager. In addition to his regular job he keeps the studio office and registrations in line. Please stop by and visit him if you have any questions or concerns.