Paloma was born and raised in Mexico. She has danced professionally in Mexico, USA, Cuba, and Canada since 2008.

She holds a BA in dance. While living in Canada she discovered Dance for PD in August 2017 and finished her Introductory Training Course and the Advanced Training/ Professional Development Workshop in New York. Paloma resides in Houston, TX where she offers Dance classes to seniors from different mobilities in Assisted Living Facilities and community centers in the Houston area.

Nancy took the Dance for PD introductory teacher training course for the first time in April 2023. A graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School Teacher Training Program, and a life member of both Cecchetti Canada, and The Royal Academy of Dance, she has been actively teaching ballet for more than 45 years. The Dance for PD course inspired her to refocus her path, and it has led to many soulful moments. She is currently working as a Senior Outreach Coordinator in the Ottawa area, representing DWP at various PD events, and teaching classes.

Louise began her dance journey at age 5 and has trained in many dance styles. A certified Dance It Out instructor and Personal Trainer, Louise has also completed the Dance for Parkinson’s Training and is a certified TIME (Together in Movement and Exercise) instructor for Parkinson’s.

 Currently Louise is teaching classes for Dancing with Parkinson’s, Living Better with Parkinson’s and at many nursing homes in Georgian Bay. She was the 2019 recipient of the Corporation of the Municipality of Meaford’s Accessibility Recognition Award for “creating an inclusive environment and providing exceptional customer service.”

Julia Sauve, MA has been performing, teaching, and choreographing dance on P.E.I. and in the USA for the past 44 years. She co-founded Montage Dance Theatre and Dance Umbrella, performed with the Charlottetown Summer Festival, and has choreographed for numerous community, school and theatre organizations. In recent years she taught with the Holland College School of Performing Arts and several ArtsSmarts Programs in the P.E.I. School System. Presently, Julia teaches a class entitled “Dance for the Health of It”, and has developed a movement program for stroke survivors and their care partners called, “Moving Life Forward Through Movement and Music”. Dancing with Parkinson’s is such a wonderful gift to her next chapter!

Based in Vancouver BC, Kira completed the Dance for PD introductory teacher training course with Sarah Robichaud and David Leventhal. A freelance artist, she’s toured nationally and internationally after graduating from the LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco and Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance Program in BC. Kira loves dancing and is passionate about sharing movement and creative space with others.

Lesley Telford is a choreographer, educator and the Artistic Director of Inverso Productions based in Vancouver on Coast Salish Territory. Her dance career was with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, and Madrid's Compania Nacional de Danza and she has gone on to choreograph internationally for these companies and others such as Ballet Am Rhein, Bern Ballet, Ballet BC, Zfin Malta, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Ballet Vorpommern and more. 

Lesley was also a care giver for her mother with Parkinson's which brought her to connect with Dance With Parkinson's and explore themes of care, aging, and family in her choreography. She values intergenerational projects and highlights the beautiful life experience of older movers. She founded the LIFT Festival, celebrating sharing dance across generations with a mission of “lifting each other up”.   She has a Master of Arts in Cultural Production from the University of Salzburg and the Mozarteum and has furthered her studies in the field of Gerontology at SFU.

Cassie started with Dancing with Parkinson’s during an Intergenerational Project in 2017, and has been volunteering ever since. She’s a graduate of the Dance Performance Program at Holland College as well as the Triple Threat Program at Randolph College for the Performing Arts. Cassie is a singer, actor, dancer, choreographer whose performance credits include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and working with the Canadian Contemporary Dance Company Le Fils d’Adrien Danse. She completed her Dance for PD Teacher Training course in 2023, and has loved getting to share her passion for music and dance both online and in person.

Shana 愛 is a Japanese-Canadian freelance dance artist based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She has collaborated with local companies including Company 605, OURO Collective, and Inverso Productions, as well as independent artists such as Cindy Mochizuki, Raven Grenier, Anya Saugstad and Shion Skye Carter. Thanks to these amazing artists, she’s had the privilege to perform at festivals such as Dancing on the Edge, Vines Art Festival, Guelph Dance Festival, Dance Deck, Hold On Let Go, Dance In Vancouver, and Coastal Dance Festival. Internationally, she has performed at Sadler’s Wells (UK), the Autostadt Theatre in Wolfsburg, and the Tanzbiennale in Heidelberg (Germany). Shana has been a part of the What Lab team for 3 years as the Studio Operations Coordinator. She is also currently pursuing a degree in Kinesiology.

Claire is a graduate of the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School and holds an MA in Dance (York). She has taught at York University’s Department of Dance since 1990, specializing in contemporary ballet and dance education. Claire is also a certified instructor of 3-D Workout ™, an integrated fitness program based on the work of Bartenieff and Laban. In addition to her teaching, Claire is an experienced rehearsal director, an avid music student, and a passionate Argentine Tango student.

Claire joined the teaching roster of Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada in 2015 and is thrilled to be combining her love of movement and music in DWP classes!