Dance Studios of Thunder Bay

The Dance Studios of Thunder Bay have been run by pioneering dance teachers from both Port Arthur and Fort William, teaching in several styles, including Ukrainian and Finnish folk dance.

List of Studios

Name	Start	End	Founder(s)	Address	Link(s)	Notes
Dance Centre of Northwestern Ontario	~1935	~2001	Amelia Jackson			Run by Leslie and/or Gina Almgren in the 1990s after Amelia died in 1989
Sylvia Horn School of Dancing	Before 1958	Before 2005	Sylvia Horn	Fort William and Port Arthur	[1]	(taught Laura Pascolo-McRury and Lisa Fedoruk and others)
Betty Goodings Ballet	?	On or before 1975	Betty Goodings	?		Betty moved to BC in about 1975 [2]
?	Before 1957	After 1958	Sandra Purdy		4 articles in Port-Arthur News-Chronicle from 1957-58
?	Before 1958	After 1958	Lillian McGuire (1919 - 2008)		Article in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 24 June 1958 page 3. [2]
?	1954	1954	Walter Marks		Article in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 15 February 1954, page 3	Walter Marks "manager of dance studio"
Dolores Niskanen School of Dance	1950s	mid-2000s	Dolores Niskanen
Markall's School of Dance	?	2000	Edith Markall			Later owned by her son and granddaughter Wendy Homquist, until 2000 when Wendy started Dance Dynamics
?	1950s	1959	Rhodella Achtenberg (1936 - 2018)		[3]	Rhodella was a student at Sylvia Horn's dance school, entertaining locally in the 1950s as a dancer and acrobat, and later opening her own dance school. Many women still share fond memories of dancing with Rhodella or being a pupil. When she married and moved to Toronto, she left the school in the hands of her talented sister-in-law Fay Gleeson (Steadwell). Epoynm of a memorial scholarship at Lakehead Festival of Music and the Arts.
Fay Gleeson Dance Centre	1959	present	Rhodella Achtenberg (1936 - 2017), Fay Gleeson (circa 1943 - )		[4] [5]	Founded by Sylvia Horn student Rhodella Achtenberg. Since 1959 run by Rhodella's sister-in-law Fay Gleeson and later, by Rhodella's daughter Cindy Kennedy.
Morgan's School of Highland Dance	1979	Open as of 2016	Wendy Morgan	135 Glendale Crescent, and from 2019: 117 Cumberland Street	[6] [7]	Wendy (B.A.T.D. Member Highland & National) received her training in Winnipeg and Toronto through teacher Mary Pitche… moved to former Dream Dance facilities in the former Cumberland Cinema [8] 117 Cumberland Street North. “As soon as I walked in I just fell in love with it,” said Morgan. “It’s beyond my dreams. I’ve always dreamed of having . . . a real studio. For the first 37 years we were in church basements and eventually my mom’s basement had quite a nice studio, but it was small and had low ceilings.”
Chaban Ukranian Dance	circa 1980	present	Cathy Paroschy Harris	211 Robertson Street	[9]	over a hundred dancers as of 2020
International Dance Academy	1982	present	Laura Pascolo-McRury		[10] [11]	Laura was taught by Betty Goodings and Sylvia Horn.
Le Stelle Alpine Dancers	1982	present	Laura Pascolo-McRury	Likely colocated with International Dance Academy	[12]	Established in 1982 by founder Laura Pascolo McRury (also founder of International Dance Academy) to represent and share Italian culture within Thunder Bay. Le Steele has a board of directors as of 2000.
Zorya Ukranian Dance	1997	present	14 founders		[13]	The Zorya Ukrainian dance Ensemble was established in 1997, by the initiative of 14 passionate individuals who built the foundation for our organization. The name “Zorya” was chosen because, when translated, it means “Stars”
Spirit of Dance	1999	present	Lori Ann Nelson	179 South Algoma Street, 2nd Floor	[14] [15]	The studio hosts 4 spacious studios, a private party room for birthdays, a waiting room for parents and students, a kitchen and tuck shop.
Dance Dynamics	2000	present	Wendy Holmquist		[16] [17]	In its 12th season as of July 2011, Dance Dynamics Studio is full of local talent that spans back through generations. Owner/Director Wendy Holmquist trained under the direction of her grandmother Ethel Markall before co-owning Markall’s School of Dance with her uncle. Upon the closure of Markall’s, Wendy opened Dance Dynamics hoping to become as respected and successful as her grandmother was.
Studio One Dance	2001	present	Lisa Fedoruk	38 Court Street South	[18]
Legacy Dance Co	?	present		263 Park Avenue	[19]
Dream Dance Company	Sep-06	Jun-19	Heather Appell	117 Cumberland Street North, The former Cumberland Cineplex [20]		Heather died of cancer in 2016; the studio was carried on by Heather's daughter Harmony (born ~1997) from 2016 to 2019
Art in Motion	?	present	Rachel Elgie	115 Johnson Avenue	[21] [22] [23]
Applauze Productions	?	Open as of 2016	Denise Krawczuk
World Dance Centre	Open in 2016	closed as of 2020		178 Algoma Street South (or 96 High St N?)
Slightly Off Broadway Performance Arts Studio	?	2018	Jacqueline McMahon and Connie		[24]
Body Barre	Open as of 2016	Before 2020	?			No online presence as of 2020
Stephanie's Performance Company	Aug-14	present	Stephanie DePiero		[25]
Army of Sass	Jun-15	present	Stephanie DePiero	320 Bay Street	[26]	Aimed at adults; A franchise studio (dozens in Canada)
The Dance Room	Jul-15	present	Stephanie DePiero	320 Bay Street	[27]	A dance studio for rent and instruction space
Experience Dance	?	Open as of 2016	?	179 Algoma Street South		No website [28]. Actually in the same address as Spirit of Dance
Vibe Dance Centre	?	?	?	?	[1]	no evidence this exists except the article [1]

Ranking

Walleye Magazine ranked the best studios in 2020: [29]

1. Army of Sass
2. Art in Motion
3. Legacy Dance Co.

Organizations

• Thunder Bay Society of Ballet and Dance (members: Sylvia Horn, President in 2016, Shannon Young; award scholarships at the Lakehead Festival of Music and Arts) [30]
• CDTA (Canadian Dance Teachers' Association)
• Imperial Society
• British Association of Teachers of Dancing (members: Sylvia Horn)
• Lakehead Ballet Guild (active in 1967 with Betty Goodings)
• Thunder Bay Highland Dance Association (president: Wendy Morgan as of 2020)

Festivals

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• Lakehead Festival of Music and Arts (LFMA) [31]
• Folklore Festival (run partly by Herman Hanschke) (each May)

Memorial Scholarships

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• Sylvia Horn at LFMA as of 2019
• Eva Sacchetti (1945 - 2018) at LFMA as of 2019 [32]
• Rhodella Zweep (1936 - 2018) at LFMA as of 2019

Dance Clothing Stores

• Flair dance (in the old Northwestern Ontario School of Dance building as of 2019)

Source

[1] Shannon Young of TBSBD in an interview with Karen Christie of Bayview Magazine Sep 2016 [http://www.bayviewmagazine.com/article/2016/09/dancing-bay

[2] Laura Pascolo-McRury, private telephone conversation, 13 March 2020.