Faculty

Christine Campbell - Director/CDTA Licentiate/Acrobatic Arts/Alixa Flexibility/PBT/PCT/ADE/RSD/RSM/RSA

Christine began dancing ballet at the age of 3 and quickly developed her love of dance. From there she began adding classes in tap and jazz. By the time she reached her teens she was fully engrossed with a full range of disciplines including modern, lyrical, hip hop, and musical theatre.

Christine has been teaching dance throughout various dance studios in Southern Ontario since 1999, and has been running her own studio since the summer of 2008.

Students she has taught over the past twenty years have received various recognitions such as, winning competitive overalls at Dance Attack, Starbeat, Starcatchers, Luv 2 Dance, Entertain Us, I Love Dance, Broadway Dreams, Kiwanis, Rhythm, Dance Canada, Ontario Dance Challenge, Bedazzled, Inspire, Kick It Up, Terpsichore/Dance Starz and Champions, and many choreography awards. Many of her students have also won the titles Jr. & Sr. Sweetheart/Hearthrob, Runner Up Miss Mini and Miss Dance Canada, along with numerous special awards and scholarships.

Christine also strongly believes in the importance of being an Exam based studio, and many of her students have successfully completed their Ballet, Jazz, and Tap exams, receiving the highest achievement of an Honours grade.

Many of the Ballare dancers have had the opportunity to perform in New York City, Los Angelas, Las Vegas, on Tiny Talent Time, in a Flash Mob, for the Hamilton Honey Badgers, and of course, be an opening act for the Blake McGrath Concert, here in Toronto, Ontario.

Christine is a Licentiate member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Associate member Modern. She also has her AAC1 membership with Acrobatic Arts, her Level Two with Alixa Flexibilty, and her Progressing Ballet & Contemporary Technique certification. Christine also has her International Dance Teaching Standards, Level One, and is a proud certified member with CLI studios in LA. Always continuing to educate herself, she has attended workshops and classes in Canada and the United States. Some choreographers Christine has worked with recently are Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Nick Lazzarini, Kenny Wormald, Teddy Forance, and Chaz Buzan. Christine also enjoys choreographing numbers in major productions and has worked on "A Night of Broadway" in Mississauga, ON, Keeping Time School of Dance "The Nutcracker" in Barrie, ON, Brantford Collegiate Institute's production of "Oklahoma", and Ballare Studio Dances recent productions of “Annie Jr.”, "Fame Jr.", Ballare on Broadway", and “Disney’s Cinderella Kids”.

Christine is currently a member of the Professional Adjudicator’s Alliance and A.C.E. , and continues her love of dance judging competitions.

Our Team

Column

Amelia Licatalosi - Tap & Musical Theatre - Alixa Flexibility/RSD/RSM

Amelia’s dance career began at the young age of 5 when she was enrolled in dance class. Since then, she has continued to train in various styles including ballet, jazz, production and theatre. Amelia’s true passion lies in tap, which she has trained in at a competitive level for many years. Amelia has strong musical comprehension, having studied piano through The Royal Conservatory of Music and uses this to her advantage in her tap choreography.

By day, Amelia is a certified teacher with the Ontario College of Teachers and works as a teacher with the HWCDSB. She is a graduate of McMaster University and Brock University. Amelia also completed her Dance Additional Qualification at York University, which enables her to bring her passion for the arts to school environments.

Amelia has been teaching at Ballare Studio Dance since 2011 and joined The Dance Ability Movement (a program designed to bring dance to students of all abilities) as an instructor in 2015. Her students and choreography have been recognized at various competitions, receiving numerous awards and accolades throughout the years. In 2021, Amelia also took on the role of Social Media Director at Ballare Studio Dance, managing the social media platforms and creating all the online advertisements.

Amelia is a very patient and creative teacher and enjoys working with young children. She is continually learning and growing as a teacher, attending many workshops and training classes. In 2018, she attended Dance Attack Teacher Expo and has recently attended the CDTA teacher training program. Amelia is a CDTA Pre-Associate in Tap and has her credentials in Level Two with Alixa Flexibility. She is also a certified member with CLI studios in LA. In 2022, Amelia was awarded the title of Diamond Winner at the Hamilton Community News Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Dance Instructor. Amelia is looking forward to her twelfth season at Ballare Studio Dance!

Mikayla Madronich - Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Acro, & Hip Hop - PBT/Acrobatic Arts

Mikayla grew up dancing in Hamilton Ontario, where she quickly discovered it was her passion. She began competing at the age of 5, which opened up so many opportunities for her as a dancer. As a teenager Mikayla had won scholarships letting her perform and take classes from Top Industry Professionals in LA, Vegas, and New York, where she danced in concept videos, a live show at the Minskoff Theater in NYC, and in Times Square. Growing up she completed all of her CDTA Ballet Exams, and trained at Zacada Circus on Aerial Silks, Aerial Hoop, and Trapeze. After graduating she continued her training as a CLI trainee, where she was directed under her mentor, Teddy Forance. Mikayla then attended Intrepid Dance Company learning from Choreographers such as Derek Piquette, and Mitchell Jackson, and graduated in 2022. Mikayla has also had the opportunity to assist the well known choreographer Mitchell Jackson. She performed on Canada’s Got Talent Season 1 as a contestant with Intrepid Dance Company, she danced as an opening act for Blake Mcgraths Live Promo Tour, Back Up danced for REVE, and Local Toronto artist Nadia Stone, and danced in multiple music videos. On top of her love for performing she found a drive for Choreography, she first started choreographing competitive routines at the age of 16 and has since been awarded multiple choreography awards, and concept awards for her routines. Aside from the competitive industry Mikayla has choreographed Concept videos, Event performances, and multiple routines for a Nadia Stone virtual concert. She is Certified with “International Dance Teaching Standards”, “Progressing Ballet Technique”, “Acrobatic Arts”, and is a “Canadian Dance Teacher Association” Pre-Associate in Ballet.

Madeline Madronich - Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Acro Lyrical - Alixa Flexibility/PBT/Acrobatic Arts

Maddie has been dancing since she was 6 years old and competing since she was 8. She began her education at Dynamic Dancers followed by Ballare Studio Dance and has since completed ballet and jazz exams through the Canadian Dance Teachers Association (CDTA). Maddie started assisting at the age of 12 and has been teaching at multiple studios throughout southwestern Ontario for the past 6 years.

With her passion for teaching and determination she continues to expand her knowledge and build her teaching ability through a number of training courses and workshops. Attending the Toronto Teacher’s Expo and completing the level one CDTA teacher training in 2018 were two of the ways Maddie has expanded her knowledge. She is certified in Acrobatic Arts level 1, Alixa Flexibility Level One, Progressing Ballet Technique, and a Pre-Assocaite member in Ballet with the CDTA.

Niki Mendes - Acro - Acrobatic Arts/ADTA/IDTS

Niki boasts over 20 years of teaching experience and has been dancing since she was three. She trained under Trish Thompson at Rythum Plus, where her passion for acro dance was ignited and nurtured.
Niki began her dance training at a young age, studying various styles including jazz, exam ballet (CTDA), acro, and lyrical. As dance styles evolved, she continued to expand her training, taking classes in hip hop and contemporary to stay current.
Niki is a member of several accredited dance programs, including IDTS, ACRO DANCE TEACHER ASSOCIATION, ACROBATIC ARTS, and the PAA, and is certified as an Acro Dance Adjudicator.
Niki has had the pleasure of teaching young dancers to find their passion in acro, and she takes great satisfaction in seeing them achieve their goals, master new skills, and gain confidence.
Her training and choreography have earned numerous Choreography and concept awards, as well as overalls, and scholarships for her dancers. Niki's most fulfilling moments are when competition judges acknowledge the high quality of her dancers acro movements, which are executed safely with precise techniques under Niki's training.
Niki is very excited to join the Ballare team and see where this new chapter leads.

Amelia Benedict - Jazz - RSD/RSM

Amelia’s love for dance started at the age of 11, when she enrolled in a musical theatre class at Ballare Studio Dance. Her passion quickly grew, becoming part of the competitive level the following season. Since then, Amelia has trained in multiple styles such as jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, and acro. She has received recognition for her hard work through awards and scholarships from competitions like Dan

ce Canada, Purpose, Entertain Us, Inspire, Elevation and Starbeat. Amelia is currently continuing her dance education in the Audition-Based Program of the Arts at Glendale Secondary School. Through the program, she has trained in aerial silks and choreographic studies. Amelia has worked on numerous productions at Glendale as a dancer, dance captain, and actor. Amelia started assisting dance classes at the age of 14, and was ecstatic to start teaching at the age of 16. Amelia is also Ready, Set, Dance! Certified and Ready, Set, Move! Certified. She enjoys working with dancers of all ages to help them grow find their love for dance just as she did.

Emma Aitas - Jazz & Ballet - RSD/RSM

Emma has been dancing since the age of 2 and started dancing with Ballare at age 6. She started competing at the age of 10. Emma has competed in styles such as jazz, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, heels, and musical theatre. Over the years, Emma has attended numerous different workshops and classes to further her training. She has received multiple special awards for her solos and a scholarship from Five Star Dance Company to dance in Mexico. She also danced in the Nutcracker as the Snowflakes and Spanish Dolls. Emma plans to continue her training as a teacher with Ballare.

Ballare Studio Dance