Faculty
Lindsay Tusche – Artistic Director
Lindsay along with Barb Stokes opened Dance Unlimited in 1993 with the intent to offer a studio where students could build a passion for dance by learning in a positive and enjoyable environment. Starting at the age of 3, Lindsay trained with those such as Bebe Eversfield, Maureen Eastick, Sherry Black and Sylvia Hosie. She studied Musical Theatre, Tap, Jazz, Voice and R.A.D. Ballet, completing several exams with outstanding results. In addition to her dance training, Lindsay figure skated and completed her B.C.R.P.A. Fitness course. She continues to train by attending conventions here in Canada and in the US. She has performed with the UVIC Air Canada Cheerleaders, at the David Foster Celebrity Baseball game, Expo ’86 World Fair and with the children’s singer Bob Schneider. She performed in the productions of “Grease’” and “Something in the Air” and choreographed for “Fievel, Lost in America”, “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast”. She has been teaching and inspiring dancers in Victoria since 1989 for those such as the Greater Victoria School District, Island Catholic Schools, Saanich and Juan de Fuca Parks & Recreation and the Jazzercise Fitness Centre. Under Lindsay’s direction, the Performing Companies have travelled to attend conventions and master classes and performed in places such as Disneyland, DisneyWorld, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix and Edmonton.
Deborah James R.A.D.
Deborah is a locally trained dancer who has studied dance for over 35 years and has been teaching Ballet, Tap and Musical Theatre in Victoria for over 25 years. She has trained in Ballet, Jazz and Tap and has completed her Royal Academy of Dance examinations with high success. Deborah went on to achieve her R.A.D. Teacher status and presently her students have achieved outstanding marks in their examinations and assessments. Deborah is a passionate teacher who continues to encourage, motivate and inspire her students to achieve their personal best. She applies this philosophy for herself as well, consisitently attending R.A.D. seminars and courses to keep herself updated and in the know. Deborah is also an accredited Montessori School educator (IAPM) and applies this training into her dance classes.
Jasmyn Evered
Jasmyn started dancing at the young age of three at The Coast Academy of Dance in her hometown on the Sunshine Coast. Over her many years of dancing, she has trained in numerous styles including Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Hip-Hop, Tap, Acro, and Pointe. Jasmyn has completed her ISTD Modern exams from Grade One up to Advanced One and successfully completed her ISTD Modern Theatre Teachers Associate exam in November 2020, earning her ISTD Modern Teaching Diploma. Jasmyn has had many performance opportunities throughout her dance career. She has played numerous roles in the Sunshine Coast’s local production of the Nutcracker, starting with party girl at the age of 9, then progressing to Clara, Mirliton, Snow, Flower, Ballerina Doll, and Arabian Lead. Jasmyn started dancing competitively at the age of 11 when she travelled to Poland to dance for Team Canada. Since then, she has competed in many competitions achieving high awards for her group pieces, duets, solos, and choreography. Once graduated, she moved to Victoria where she started her post-secondary education at the University of Victoria. She is entering her third year of the University of Victoria’s BSc Kinesiology program in hopes of becoming a physiotherapist. She took a break from dance during her first year of school to allow herself time to adapt to the new experiences that come with university but missed dance immensely. Jasmyn has been incredibly grateful to be able to bring dance back into her life through teaching. She has had a love for dance ever since she can remember and is excited to continue to share her passion while incorporating her current and future knowledge into her classes as she continues her education at the University of Victoria.
Brooklyn Tusche A.A.C
Brooklyn was dancing before she could walk and was on stage performing for the first time before she was 2. Throughout her 18 years of dance education, Brooklyn trained in RAD Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Acro, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, and Tap. In addition, she trained in Aerial Arts, including Lyra and Silks. As part of her studio’s Performing Companies, Brooklyn was invited, and has travelled to perform in Disneyland and Disney World. She most recently was chosen by industry professionals to attend the, by invitation only, Hollywood Summer Tour and was awarded a full scholarship to Harbour Dance. In her many years of competing, she has been recognized by judges for her breathtaking emotion and outstanding performance qualities, earning her multiple first places, numerous awards, and special recognition. Brooklyn began assisting at the at the studio at the age of 9, was one of the first assistants in the Assistant Teacher Training Program at 12, and then 5 years later began training dancers in Jazz, Lyrical and the Performing Companies. During her many years of assistant teaching, she developed a love for the creative process of choreography and quickly discovered her desire to share her love of dance and performing with her students. Brooklyn is Acrobatic Arts Module 1 certified and is currently working on her PBT certification. She continues to maintain her strong passion for the arts by training at conventions and teacher conferences in Canada and the US. Brooklyn strives to encourage confidence, respect, and a love of dance in her students.
Makenna Pitre
Makenna started dancing at age three and it immediately became her passion. Over the years she has trained in many styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Acro and Musical Theatre. Makenna completed several ADAPT Jazz and Tap syllabus exams, receiving top marks and also received scholarships and bursaries. She started competing at age 10, and was awarded first place overalls, top ten overalls, adjudicator awards, cash prizes, and an invitation from Peak Invitational to attend Nationals. Makenna has always enjoyed helping and working with her peers in and out of the dance studio and has fallen in love with teaching. She continues to learn and grow as a teacher by attending conventions, taking classes and collaborating with her fellow dance teachers.
Carly Kennedy
Carly started dancing at three years old at the Coast Academy of Dance on the Sunshine Coast. Over the past 16 years, she has trained in various styles such as ISTD Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, ISTD Modern, ISTD Tap, Broadway, and Acro. She has completed all of her ISTD Modern and Tap exams from Grade 1 through to Advanced 2, along with the ISTD Modern Theatre Teachers Associate completed in May 2022, earning her ISTD Modern Teachers Diploma. Carly has had many performance and choreographing opportunities throughout her dance career. She started competing at the age of 12, attending many competitions in BC, entering solos, duets, trios, groups, and choreography of her own. She was selected to represent Canada in Germany in 2017 for the IDO Dance World Championships. Carly started experimenting with her own choreography at the age of 16, where she choreographed a solo for herself which was entered into competition receiving high achievement. Since then, she has choreographed numerous solos and duets to perform herself, and other dancers. Carly took her first year of post-secondary at the University of Victoria studying Biology when she discovered a passion for Nursing. She has continued teaching since graduating in 2022 teaching numerous summer camps, and working with students one one-on-one at the Coast Academy of Dance. She is absolutely thrilled to continue doing what she loves and share her passion with her students.
Taylor-Lyn Bruce
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Barb Stokes
Barb started her teaching career in 1978 through the Victoria school district. She continued to volunteer at a number of schools throughout the years where her students won top awards and were selected to perform in the Honors Performances. She has directed several productions including “Fievel, Lost In America”, “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast”. She has choreographed for musicals such as “Oliver” and “The Wizard Of Oz”. Over the years, Barb studied Jazz, Tap and Ballet. As well as director and an instructor at Dance Unlimited, Barb worked as a Special Student Assistant for the Victoria school district. Her amazing ability to work with and care for children can be seen through her dedication and respect she gives to the students of Dance Unlimited.
Chelsea Cofield A.A.C.
Chelsea is originally from Courtenay, B.C. and began her dance training at age three. She instantly fell in love with it and began expanding her knowledge in various forms of dance including Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern Stage, Ballet, Pointe, Irish, Contemporary, and Salsa. At the age of twelve, she started to compete with solos and received several bursaries and scholarships along the way, including the “Most Potential Dancer Award” at the Centre Stage competition. Chelsea has been the North Island representative at the Provincials both in 2005 and 2008. She has been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to train with many dancers and choreographers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Toronto, as well as all over B.C. Additionally, Chelsea was a member of the ARC Youth Dance Company and attended the Drive Dance Centre Scholarship program in Vancouver. In 2010, Chelsea was honoured to be chosen as the Extreme Dance Convention Apprentice which allowed her tour several Canadian cities with Melissa Williams (choreographer and judge for SYTYCDC). In 2011, she auditioned for ‘So You Think You Can Dance Canada’ and made it to the finals in Toronto. She is Acrobatic Arts Module 1 certified and co-teaches the studios Acrobatic Arts program.
Leticia Pang R.A.D.
A Victoria native, Leticia’s training took place at Pacific Dance Centre. She was also fortunate to receive training from the National Ballet School of Canada, the Banff Centre for Performing Arts, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Her professional dance career includes numerous summers at the Banff Festival Ballet and 10 years with Ballet Jörgen Canada. She has performed ballets such as Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, and works by Balanchine. She has also been privileged to work with and to perform the new works of great choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Wen Wei Wang, Mark Godden, Roberto Campanella, and many other talented Canadian choreographers. Leticia began her teaching career here in Victoria upon retiring from her professional dance career in 2002 and has taught at many schools both on Vancouver Island and on the mainland.
Chelsea Maskiewich
Chelsea has lived and breathed dance since she began training at Allegro Performing Arts Centre at the age of three. Her experience has taken her to some of the top studios in the world including the Millennium Dance Complex and the Edge Performing Arts Centre located in Hollywood, California. At the age of 11 she was selected by Rising Moments Talent Agency to be featured on their website and to get the opportunity to train and work one-on-one with top choreographers in California. She has had the privilege to take classes with choreographers such as Shane Sparks, Leslie Scott, Tabitha and Napolean, Dante, Jason Samuels, Twitch and many others. She received numerous awards and scholarships at festivals and competitions and was chosen to represent Victoria at the BC Provincial dance festival for eight consecutive years where she placed as Runner up in 2011. Chelsea’s commercial experience includes dancing in music videos such as “Brighter At Night” by Ash Koley, “Slave2Love” by Stef Lang and “Sunglasses” by Sophia Mock, as well as being chosen to act in numerous movies as a background performer. Chelsea has had experience teaching several disciplines of dance since the age of 16 including tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical and hip-hop at multiple dance studios. She has also completed and passed her Advanced 2 Tap and Advanced Modern exams with Honours.
Brittany Millard
Brittany started dancing before she was three. Over the past 16 years she has trained in RAD Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Street Jazz Musical Theater, Tap, acting classes, Vocal training and Theater She is active in the film Industry with background performance. She has been in numerous theater productions. Her most recent was with Cowichan Musical Society in Beauty and the Beast full Broadway version. Brittany has been fortunate to train with some of the Industries leading Choreographers in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Edmonton. She has had the privilege of taking classes with Michael Damenski, Twitch, Mia Michaels, Sumayah McRae – Jackson, Trix, Nijawwon Mathews, Maximilian Baud, Mathew Prescott, Alison Burke, Tiffany Baker, Stacy Tookey, and Gene Gabriel. Brittany spends her summers training with Joffrey Ballet, Joffrey Cirque Arts, and continues to train with Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, The Protégé Movement, and Millennium Dance Complex. In 2019 Brittany had the honour of representing Canada at the World Cup of Dance in Braga Portugal. She performed as a Lyrical soloist, as well as team Jazz, Contemporary, and Tap. Brittany has qualified and performed in the BC Dance Provincials four times She has won multiple awards, cash awards, and Judges choice awards giving her the opportunities to attend several conventions held in the UK and USA. Brittany has taught dance since she was 13 years old Ballet, Jazz, and Tap. She is continuing her training in Acting, Stage and Commercial Dance. Brittany enjoys teaching and spreading her love of performing with others She hopes to encourage and inspire other dancers to be their best self.
Erica Lalonde
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Alaya Conway
Alaya has always had a passion for performing arts and started dancing at the age of seven
years old. Born and raised on the Sunshine Coast, Alaya primarily grew up dancing at the Coast Academy of Dance but also consistently trained at the Gibsons Dance Centre in her younger years. Over her dance career she’s trained in many various styles of dance, including lyrical, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary, hip-hop, ISTD ballet, ISTD tap, and ISTD modern. She’s also succeeded in many ISTD modern exams, including her Advanced 1 and 2 modern exams. She adored the ISTD Modern syllabus so much that in her late teens, she proceeded to take on ISTD Associate training, which she completed the exam for, passed with top marks, and earned her ISTD Modern Teaching Diploma in May of 2021. Over the years Alaya has performed in many dance showcases and productions including the 2019 Production of “Becoming” Directed by Becky Izad, the 2020 NSAD Collaboration Showcase, The Vancity Project, and danced for several years in the Sunshine Coasts local Nutcracker Production directed by Kathleen Holms (2012-2017). Alaya started competing in competitions at the age of thirteen and has won many awards, including coming in top three for the best contemporary soloist in her age group at Peak Invitational 2019 and has also won several awards for her student choreography pieces. Currently Alaya is very excited to be attending the University of Victoria. She is majoring in Health and Wellness Education in the hopes of becoming a mentor and wellness consultant for competitive athletes, and eventually plans to start her own business in the field. She’s highly looking forward to joining our team, incorporating dance back into her everyday life, and is very excited to be creating more connections here in Victoria.
Catthy Nguyen
Catthy started her dance journey in Victoria, BC, began assisting studio dance classes at 12 years old, and started assisting convention classes at the age of 13 throughout Canada in Victoria, Vancouver, Jasper, & Whistler . Catthy has had the opportunity to assist the classes of amazing instructors, choreographers, & actors such as Victoria Baldesarra, Bree Wasylenko, Paul Becker, Zak Vran, Jennifer Pappas, Maria Wada, Jonnis Tannis, Darien Kujawai, & more. She’s worked with 5678 Showtime Competition/ Convention, iDance Convention, & Pure Dance Convention with the cast from the TV Show “The Next Step”. In 2018, Catthy qualified and competed in BC Dance Provincials (Jazz & Lyrical) in her hometown. Catthy has a passion for choreographing, she has choreographed her own solos that have placed 1st Overall Senior Solos multiple times, been awarded various Judge’s Choice Awards, Cash prizes, and Top Scoring awards. She is excited for future opportunities to advance her learning and experiences with teaching and choreographing. Throughout her competitive dance years, she has won multiple scholarships giving her opportunities to attend exclusive dance events in Disneyland, DisneyWorld, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Florida, Paris, & Europe! Catthy is an inspiration to all her students and is excited to share her passion with them.