OUR FAMILY:

MIKE KAYLA // @lifewith_mikekayla

Executive Director / Drop-in Instructor, Choreography

Founder and creator of O.N.E Dance Centre (originally O.N.E Hip Hop Studio before its expansion). Mike's dance education began at a late age with Western University dance teams such as WOOF and Hip Hop Western. His upbringing and selfless core values inspire his desire to provide affordable and accessible dance education to the community of London, ON. Mike's involvement in London's dance community goes beyond his popular beginner adult classes and competitive post-secondary dance.

Alicia Raphael // @_licia.xo_

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography, Booty Work

Alicia began training in various dance styles starting at a young age. After a long hiatus, she returned to dancing after completing her career, competing nationally and internationally in track and field . She always had a passion for dancing. Since starting at O.N.E in 2019, Alicia has sought to improve her craft by participating in various workshops, performances, and training in different styles, including Choreography Movement and Commercial Dance.

She has recently had the opportunity to become a member of La Compagnie de Danse (directed by Cynthia Aguiar). Alicia has her Bachelor of Education, Master of Arts in Management and Leadership with a specialization in coaching, and seeks to further her dance education.

She is passionate about physical literacy and believes that everyone can dance and express themselves through movement. Alicia is incredibly grateful to have been welcomed into the O.N.E family. She is honored to share her passion for dance in such an open, warm, and inclusive environment.

Allan Pao // @allankapao

Social Media Lead / Drop-in Instructor, Choreography

Allan has been dancing since grade 2 and found a passion for dance that carried on through high school. He completed all 4 years of the dance course at JP II learning and performing various genres. His journey continued and he was a part of Dynamic Dozen a local flash mob group, then began dancing/teaching at O.N.E and is now currently a dancer for La Compagnie De Danse. Allan performed in multiple showcase with the studio and other associated company’s which included the 19 plus showcase, Leap (Breath in Mvmt), Cleanse.Heal.Bookend, London dance festival and got the opportunity to perform for a local artist by the name of BigLou. “I hope to evolve as a dancer and constantly improve to better myself. Being at O.N.E Dance Centre gives me that outlet to learn and share my knowledge and skills in dance. Forever grateful for the studio and the people there. I can definitely say it’s a place I call “home.”

Clara gharibo // CYouMove @cyoumove

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary, Jazz, Commercial Dance, Heels

Clara is the owner of CYouMove offering kids yoga, private dance lessons and specialized wedding/partner dances. 

She has trained at the competitive level in various dance styles from a young age. She studied at York University, where she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with honours in Dance and a double major with her Bachelor of Education. Clara studied at the Pavlova International Ballet School in Bergamo, Italy on scholarship for a summer and took classes in LA with choreographers such as Stacey Tookey. She has trained and completed examinations in both RAD and Cecchetti ballet syllabi.

Clara has many years of performance and choreography experience. She toured with Ballet Jorgen Canada for three years, playing the lead role Klara in their version of the Nutcracker. She has both performed in and choreographed various dance pieces throughout her studies at York University, primarily contemporary and modern. Clara has continued her training at O.N.E since 2017 and enjoys performing with ONE’s sister company, La Compagnie De Danse. Clara is a committee member for the Pulse Ontario Dance Conference which is held bi-annually and aims to support dance education in Ontario schools. She has over 10 years of teaching experience in both school and studio settings. Clara is thrilled to be a part of the O.N.E family to share her love and passion for creative expression and movement. 

CODIE PRIMEAU // @codieprimeau

Drop-in Instructor, Commercial Dance

Codie grew up in Cornwall, Ontario and is currently a student at Western University in the combined Physical Therapy and PhD program. He began his dance training at O.N.E (2014) in Choreography Movement and has since been working to diversify his style by training in other dance genres such as contemporary, jazz funk, and movement. He has competed with the O.N.E Competitive Team at various competitions and showcases (including Culture Shock Ottawa’s International Showcase, Urban Rumble Dance Competition and Gadfly’s Cincotrybe Hip Hop Choreo Championship), and with Hip Hop Western's competitive team The IX at O.U.C.H. University Dance Competition. He has also been working on improving his craft through training intensives such as the Creative Rebels Collective (Ken Pham), dance conventions such as MONSTERS (Luther Brown, Luam Keflezgy, Rhapsody James & Ysabelle Capitulé), R2D Dance Camp (Reet Roy) and the Build-Up Program (Jerome Esplana), and workshops such as YGTG (Melanie Mah - SYTYCD: Canada). He has also performed in showcases such as Toronto’s Choreographer's Ball (Scott Fordham) and co-choreographed (with Dana Hambly) Canadian country music band Runaway Angel’s music video for “Hard To Get”. He is also a co-director for the O.N.E Contemporary Company, which has performed in the London Fringe Festival (2019) and the London Dance Festival (2019), where he was also a co-choreographer (with Cynthia Nakeyar) for the festival Flash Mob. He is the Administrative Manager for the Creative Rebels Collective. Codie draws from his experiences as a student to challenge himself in creating pieces that incorporate movement from various dance genres. His goals are to provide a positive learning environment for dancers of all levels to self-express through movement and have fun.

crescent jin // @crescentjzy

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography

Crescent started dancing when he was eighteen. He began at various Chinese dance studios, Western University, and numerous other Chinese activities in London. He began training seriously in 2017 through O.N.E’s drop-in Choreography Movement classes, where he has been focusing on improving his dancing skills under other O.N.E choreographers. He currently runs and choreographs O.N.E’s Chinese Training Team, CTT (along with Mike Kayla and Sherry Zhang).

He has previously traveled to South Korea, Japan and China to train at different dance studios, such as 1 Million Dance Studio, EN Dance Studio, and Beijing Kinjaz X Sinostage. He not only teaches and performs at ONE, but frequently dances on stage in Chinese dance circles. He has been one of the choreographers and leaders of CCGC dance crew for 2 years, which performs every Chinese New Year and at talent shows. He has also participated in the global Chinese Spring Festival Gala in 2017 and performed at SONY Center. Crescent aims to never forget his original intentions in dancing and share his love for dance and choreography with everyone.

CYNTHIA Aguiar // @ceemargaret @lacompagnie.dedanse

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary, Booty Work

Cynthia is the owner and artistic director of La Compagnie de danse, a sister dance company that provides creative experiences and professional performance opportunities to its company members.

Cynthia began her dance training at the age of 4. She has trained formally at a competitive level in styles such as Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Acro, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Contemporary other forms of choreography. She has had the honour of collaborating with artists and groups such as Be Discovered, Creative Rebels Collective, Breath In Movement, and Andrea Nann. She has choreographed and presented work for London Dance Festival, London Art’s council, Fringe Festival, and most recently, was the choreographer for, and one of the dancers in the music video “As a Crew”. She also served as co-director of O.N.E Contemporary Company (alongside Dana Hambly, Codie Primeau and Nicola Popp).

Cynthia has her Bachelor of Education and is a qualified Dance Educator and Dance Education advocate. She has attended many Dance Education conferences such as CODE and Le Festival de Danse where she was able to work with directors of companies such as ODD and School of Dance. She is the founder and creator of the past francophone dance competition Aimes-tu Danser.

Cynthia has been dancing at O.N.E Dance Centre since 2015 and teaching since 2016. She is so grateful for her O.N.E family and the safe space the studio creates for everyone that walks through the door.

DANA HAMBLY // @dana.hambly

Studio Manager / Drop-in Instructor, Choreography, Contemporary, Commercial Dance

Dana began her dance journey at age 10, formally training in styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary. She studied at the University of Waterloo, where she completed a Bachelor of Science. Most importantly to her dance journey, it was here that she was introduced to hip hop culture through the UW Hip Hop Club (UWHH) and began training informally in hip hop, commercial dance, and choreography movement. During her time at UW, she represented the school in post-secondary competitions such as The Academy (with DNC) and BYOB Post-Secondary (with FemiNINE) and was a member of Origins training team. She also served UWHH in many executive roles such as President, Membership Director, and Performance Director.

Dana found her way to O.N.E in 2016 after completing her studies and moving back to London. She has been fortunate to collaborate with artists and groups such as Creative Rebels Collective, Breath In Movement, Public Displays of Art, and Andrea Nann. She served as co-director of O.N.E Contemporary Company (alongside Cynthia Aguiar, Codie Primeau and Nicola Popp), and co-choreographed Canadian country music band Runaway Angel's music video for "Hard To Get" with Codie Primeau. She is a current member of O.N.E's sister company, La Compagnie de Danse.

Dana is forever grateful to have found a second home and family at O.N.E. She is honoured to nurture the studio's safe, inclusive environment in her roles as instructor and studio manager.

JASMINE PAUL // @_jasminepaul

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography, Booty Work

Jasmine found her love for dance in 2012 after trying a drop-in Choreography Movement class at O.N.E Dance Centre. Since then she has enjoyed choreographing and performing in multiple showcases and competitions, training with Creative Rebels and the O.N.E Training Team, running her own program (As She Is), and teaching Choreography Movement drop-in classes. Jasmine strongly believes it is never too late to learn and enjoy dance.

Jordan lenz // @lenz.jordan

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography

Jordan trained in jazz, tap, and acrobatics from the age of 6 until graduating at age 18 and participated as an assistant instructor for many of these years. After university, Jordan moved to London to start her career at LHSC Children’s Hospital and simultaneously stumbled upon O.N.E Dance Centre. The drop-in, no-commitment studio format and wide variety of class styles were exactly what Jordan had been seeking, and she simply hasn’t looked back since.

Jordan began learning from various O.N.E. and guest choreographers, auditioned for in-studio training teams, and participated in many workshops, showcases, and community performances before beginning choreographing and teaching classes herself. During the COVID pandemic lockdowns, Jordan took advantage of the opportunity to train virtually under various non-London based choreographers, and has most recently joined the company members of La Compagnie de Danse for local performances to celebrate our return to in-person classes and events. Jordan is passionate about sharing her love for dance and hopes to create an energized and inclusive environment for all. She strongly believes that it is never too late to start dancing, and that the O.N.E Dance Centre family is the perfect place to get involved!

Julia St john // @julia.stjohn

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary

Julia began her love of dance at the age of four, training competitively in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Acro, Lyrical, Musical Theatre and Contemporary, participating in competitions all across North America and training in several workshops such as at the Broadway Dance Centre in New York City. During her training she completed her Cecchetti Ballet Grade Examinations, culminating in the completion of her Advanced Exam. She attended the Dance Master’s of America Teacher’s Training School at the University at Buffalo for two years and received both her Ballet and Jazz D.M.A Teacher’s Certification. During her studies at Western University, Julia began teaching both recreational and competitive training programs at a studio in London Ontario, where her students and choreography received several Overall and Special Awards. Julia then travelled to London England where she co-choreographed and danced in a piece at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. She has also performed in several local shows during the London Fringe Festival including “Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens”, “Legally Blonde” and Nuit Blanche. Julia has completed her Bachelor of Education and is currently pursing a PhD in Biochemistry at Western University. She is very excited to continue to share her passion for dance in such a welcoming environment with the O.N.E family. 

Justine // @justinestrokan

Drop-In Instructor, Choreography, Contemporary

Justine began dancing at the age of four, where she formally trained in various disciplines such as ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and acro. Along with completing several certifications via the BATD, she has studied RAD syllabus ballet, successfully completing up to Vocational Advanced level examinations. Justine studied with The Quinte Ballet School of Canada, and danced with Canada’s Ballet Jörgen for a season of The Nutcracker. More recently, she became a member of La Compagnie de Danse (director Cynthia Aguiar), which has been an incredible learning opportunity. Upon coming to O.N.E she discovered a love for hiphop and choreography movement, and has been taking class whenever she can fit it into her schedule. She is so thankful to have been welcomed into the O.N.E family, and for the safe space for lifelong learning that they foster.

karina tjew // @karinalalalarina

Drop-In Instructor, K-pop

Hi, my name is Karina and I am Kpop instructor at O.N.E! I was a figure skater for 14 years with a background in ballet and contemporary and I trained for 6 months in Korea for dance. I cofounded the Kpop dance group, KWNS ( Queens), with Sherry Zhang in 2019 to bring Kpop into the London community. We have since expanded into forming O.N.E's first Kpop training team, Solar, this year and we are super excited for our future activities.

KARISHMA HOSEIN // @karhosein

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary

Karishma grew up in Mississauga, ON, and is currently pursing a PhD in Kinesiology at Western University. Karishma began her formal dance training at the age of three in ballet, jazz, and tap. Since then, she has completed training in Royal Academy of Dance ballet, Graham and Limón modern, jazz, tap, contemporary, and lyrical, and has performed for two seasons with The National Ballet of Canada in their production of The Nutcracker. She is also a canfitpro certified Fitness Instructor Specialist, with skills in resistance training and group fitness. Since joining O.N.E, Karishma has started training in Choreography Movement, as well as performing with the O.N.E Training Team and participating in the Creative Rebels Collective training intensive. She is excited to share her passion for movement, and to inspire creativity, growth, and excitement for dance in her classes at O.N.E. 

Michelle Kim // @michellekim93

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography, Booty Work

Michelle was born and raised in London, ON and currently works as a lab technician at Robarts Research Institute. She has had a lifelong love for dance and loved going to school dances and learning K-Pop dances in high school, but her regular dance training didn't begin until she stepped into her first class at O.N.E in January 2017. Since then, she has been at the studio almost every week, taking classes in a variety of styles including choreography classes, jazz funk, and contemporary. Michelle has been involved in a variety of O.N.E training programs, including Creative Rebels Collective, O.N.E Training Team, and the competitive team M.E.N. She is currently a part of La Compagnie de Danse (directed by Cynthia Nakeyar) with whom she has performed in several showcases (London Dance Festival, London Arts Council). Michelle enjoys opportunities to challenge herself and has participated in workshops through The Build Up Program (directed by Jerome Esplana), R2D Camp (directed by Reet Roy), and Kindred Culture (directed by Nathan Tiangson). She is grateful and honoured to be a part of the O.N.E faculty and is excited to keep learning and growing as a dancer and choreographer. She feels extremely blessed to have a second home in such a loving, inclusive, encouraging, and safe space as O.N.E.

Nicole Barnes // @nicole.v.mark

Drop-In Instructor, Contemporary

Nicole was born and raised in London, Ontario. At the age of 7, she began dancing and fell in love with the artform. She spent the next 11 years dancing recreationally and competitively in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, and Lyrical and Modern. After completing high school, Nicole began instructing at Dance Extreme Inc. where she shared her love of dance with her students for 9 years in the recreational, pre-competitive and competitive programs. Nicole has training in RAD, BATD, Cecchetti syllabi and completed her teaching examinations though Dance Masters of Canada. She has her Bachelor of Education and has had many opportunities to attend different conferences including Dance Education Canada and CODE. 

Currently, Nicole is a high school teacher and a qualified dance educator where she continues to pursue her passion for movement, creativity, and collaboration.  As a dance education advocate, she values and supports dance education that is accessible to all ages, levels, and abilities. Nicole is excited to be a part of the O.N.E family! Her objective is to create a fun and welcoming space for all dancers to feel confident expressing themselves and celebrating their own uniqueness. 

PAIGE KRIZAN // @paige.krizan

Drop-in Instructor, Choreography

Paige started her dance career at O.N.E in 2013 and has called the studio home ever since. Starting out by taking every class she could fit into her schedule, she has recently been training with programs such as Creative Rebels (run by Ken Pham) and a weekly program run by Reet Roy. In the past she has worked on a concept video project choreographed and directed by Tony Tzar, and was a part of a set in "Fever After Dark" choreographed by Shamar Ramsay. She began teaching with Kids Hip Hop after years of taking classes and now teaches Beginner and Intermediate Choreography Movement.

Shannon filson // @shannonfilson

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary, Jazz

Shannon was born and raised just outside of London in Ilderton, ON. She trained in ballet, tap and jazz at Errington-Graham Dance Studio located in downtown London since the age of 3. While completing her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Western University, she joined UWO Dance Force, performing in a yearly show. She also attended classes in the Western dance department in both modern and contemporary.

After finding O.N.E, she has continued training and learning a variety of styles and has performed in several showcases with the studio. She is a member of the sister company, La Compagnie de Danse (directed by Cynthia Nakeyar), preforming in the London Dance Festival and for the London Arts Council. Her favourite style of dance is contemporary, but her goal is to continue to grow and expand her movement, and share the joy that dance brings her.

SHANONN PHLONG // @nnonahs

Drop-in Instructor, Dance Hall Vibes

Born and raised in London, Ontario, Shanonn found her love of dance at the age of 16 as a self-taught dancer. After meeting Mike Kayla (O.N.E Dance Centre's studio owner) in 2014 working at Dynamic Dozen, a summer flash mob dance program, he gave her the opportunity to begin teaching at O.N.E. Shanonn's growth in dance flourished by learning teaching styles from other faculty at O.N.E and training in an intensive program called Creative Rebels Collective. She has also enjoyed competing and choreographing for dance competitions such as World of Dance Toronto, Gadfly's Cincotrybe Hip Hop Choreo Championship, and Urban Rumble Dance Competition. Shanonn is grateful to continue her passion and love for dance at a studio so known for being a safe and inclusive space as O.N.E Dance Centre. Her goal is to have everyone leave her class feeling happy and good about themselves.

sherry zhang // @sherry_jelly_jelly

Drop-in Instructor, K-Pop

Sherry started her dance journey at the age of 9 when she trained in Chinese classical and folk dance with Professor Jing Cao from Shanghai Theatre Academy. She has since discovered her passion for teaching dance and began as a classical dance teacher for children when she was 16. Sherry became a Certified Beijing Dance Academy CDGE (Chinese Dance Graded Examination) teacher in 2015. Her passion for K-pop music also motivated her to begin self-teaching K-pop covers, hosting workshops, and performing actively in her high school dance club scene. She then trained in a local urban dance studio in Suzhou, where she was able to compete with the team at the World of Dance Shanghai Qualifiers in 2016. 

Sherry has been training at O.N.E Dance Centre since 2018, where she has gained exposure to Choreography Movement, jazz funk, contemporary and various other street styles, as well as become involved in the London dance community. She was a member of the O.N.E’s competitive team all-girls team, M.E.N. She is also currently training with the O.N.E Training Team and in multiple dance intensives and conventions, such as mentorship and career development programs run by Reet Roy, Creative Rebels Collective (Ken Pham), the Build-up program, Monsters Dance convention, R2D Dance Camp, K9 Dance Camp and more.

She currently directs O.N.E’s Chinese Training Team (CTT) alongside Mike Kayla and Crescent Jin, where she focuses on bringing the young recreational dancers in London’s dance community together. This year, in the hopes of helping the growth of London’s K-pop dance scene, she founded a K-pop dance group called KWNS with Karina Tjew. She and Karina are thrilled to share their love for K-pop music by teaching and performing both covers and original choreography. 

Sherry is beyond grateful for the opportunity to be part of the O.N.E family. She hopes to give energy to her students in class and to celebrate the joy that dance brings.

so yoon kim // @soyoon99

Drop-in Instructor, K-Pop

So Yoon decided to try out a K-pop dance class at her elementary school. She knew right away that she fell in love with dancing. To further pursue her love for dance she enrolled in HDC dance studio in Seoul, South Korea. There she was exposed to a famous choreographer like Yung Joo Hong and trained with various dance genres like hip-hop, jazz, urban, and K-pop. Before coming to Canada she was training at DPOP studio in preparation for a K-pop idol audition.

Her enthusiasm for dance did not stop when she moved to London to start her degree at Western University. Right away she joined the university K-pop dance team club. And when she joined the O.N.E. dance studio she truly felt at home in London. She is grateful to be part of a team that is so positive and supportive.

Currently, she is part of a KWNS K-pop team teaching and leading a K-pop class and K-pop training program at O.N.E. dance studio. Her goal is to bring the K-pop community together in London.

Stephanie marentette

Drop-in Instructor, Contemporary, Ballet Technique

Stephanie has been dancing since the age of three. Originally from Windsor, Ontario, she started her dance training in ballet, but went on to include jazz, tap, lyrical/contemporary, musical theatre, Hawaiian, Acro and hip hop to her repertoire. She has attended numerous completions and conventions throughput Canada and the United States as well as the Cecchetti summer intensive program at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Stephanie has performed in ballets such as La Bayadere, Giselle and Harlequinade, and was also a member of Theatre Alive!, a musical theatre company in Windsor. She has had an opportunity to train with and attend various workshops and master classes from major companies such as the National Ballet of Canada and American Ballet Theatre. Stephanie is currently a competitive choreographer and instructor, as well as a company member of La Compagnie de Danse. She is also a classically trained pianist and avid runner.

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