Gina Almgren
Gina Marie Almgren (born 20 January 1967) is a former dance instructor and choreographer from Thunder Bay, Ontario, who ran the Dance Centre of Northwestern Ontario (DCNO) from approximately 1990 to 2000. She abruptly closed the studio in 2000 and relocated to California. Since 2009 she has been publicly affiliated with the Modern Mystery School, a controversial international spiritual organization.
Early life
Gina was born in Fort William, Ontario on 20 January 1967 to Wayne Almgren and Leslie Almgren (nee Niro). [1] She had a sister, Heather Lee Almgren, born 28 September 1969. [2]
Her mother Leslie was a long-serving faculty member at the Dance Centre of Northwestern Ontario, listed as staff alongside Don McKinnon as early as 1978 in the annual Dance Revue program. [3] Gina herself appears on the circa 1972 student list for DCNO, meaning she was enrolled at the studio from early childhood. [4]
Taking over the studio
On 19 November 1989, Don McKinnon, Amelia Jackson's star pupil and second-in-command at DCNO, died in a car crash. [5] Amelia herself, then 85 and teaching from a green leather armchair with a cane at her side, soldiered on. She died at age 86 on 20 December 1990. [6]
The studio was taken over by Leslie Almgren in the interim and Gina took over shortly thereafter. Leslie and Gina rallied the studio to finish the 1989-1990 season and continued to run it for nine additional seasons. [6]
The 1990s: Artistic peak
Gina, mentored by Al Gilbert of Hollywood, California—the legendary tap examiner who had administered exams at DCNO since at least the 1970s—"revolutionized the studio and provided us with countless opportunities to grow," recalled former student and company dancer Manuela Michelizzi. [6]
Under Gina's direction, the studio's dancers were trained in the Cecchetti method by elite teachers Carol Giddings of the UK and ballet mistress Chiara Richmond. They dominated in ballet categories in competitions across the United States. [6]
Gina choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies of the March 1995 Nordic World Ski Championships in Thunder Bay, which involved one hundred dancers from across the region. Following this, with Chiara she produced and directed high-profile Nutcracker performances at Thunder Bay Community Auditorium each Christmas from 1996 to 1999. [6,7]
The staff from this era included Michelizzi, Natalie Doyle, Kerri Gammond, Karen Kruger, Heather Syvitski, Cathy Wazinski, Shannon Creedon, Amanda Cervi, and Tina Viera. [6]
Closure of the studio
After Al Gilbert's final exams on 26 April 2000, and the May 2000 end-of-season recital, Gina, then aged 32, sent a letter to her students explaining that she had decided to close the studio and pursue her career in California, where she had spent many summers over the years. [6,8]
"The closure of the studio came as a complete shock," recalled Michelizzi. "I personally had a very hard time accepting it and grieved the loss of the studio." [6]
California and events career
After leaving Thunder Bay, Gina became an event planner based in California. She is listed on the website for an events company, Paisley Event Design, as the manager and director. The company lists many Thunder Bay and dance-related organizations as clients, including "Northwestern Ontario Dance Center" [sic] and "Northwestern Ontario Ballet Guild." [1]
Modern Mystery School
After abruptly closing her Thunder Bay dance studio in 2000 at age 32—a move former staff described as shocking—Gina Almgren vanished from the Canadian arts scene and later re-emerged with a radically different public identity. By her own account, her "true life's journey" did not begin with dance, choreography, or teaching, but with her initiation in 2009 into the Modern Mystery School, an international spiritual organization that has been the subject of extensive investigative reporting.
A 2021 VICE feature documented former members' allegations of financial exploitation, psychological manipulation, sexual coercion, and cult-like control mechanisms within the group, including extreme initiation rituals, pressure to recruit others, and the use of fear-based spiritual narratives.
Since at least 2026, Almgren publicly identifies as a "Senior Guide," "Healer," and "Instructor" in this system, adopting its internal language, cosmology, and hierarchical titles.
As of 2026, now 59, Almgren's public-facing persona is almost entirely defined by this affiliation. Her professional bios erase nearly all reference to the dance studio she once ran, the students she trained, or the legacy she inherited—reframing her pre-2009 life as merely a prelude to spiritual "awakening." Instead, she promotes metaphysical services, esoteric travel experiences, and the idea of "ancient lineage teachings" derived from the Mystery School's belief system.
Where there was once a local dance educator rooted in a real community, there is now a figure whose authority comes not from demonstrable work but from rank within a controversial spiritual hierarchy. Whether this transformation is sincere, ideological, or commercial, Gina Almgren disappeared from the community that she contributed so much to in the 1990s.
See also
Sources
[1] Fort William Daily Times-Journal, birth notices. 24 January 1967, page 16. [2]
[2] Fort William Daily Times-Journal, birth notices. 10 October 1969, page 20. [3]
[3] 11 June 1976; Selkirk Auditorium, Galaxy of Dance for '76, dance program.
[4] Karen Peltonen (nee Campbell), circa 1972 student and teacher list.
[5] Chronicle-Journal, 21 November 1989. Obituary, Don McKinnon.
[6] Currie, Michael B. "A life devoted to dance" (a biography of Thunder Bay's Amelia Jackson). Bayview Magazine, 23 September 2023.
[7] "Local dance centre to produce 'Nutcracker' this Christmas" Thunder Bay Post, 18 Jun 1996, p. 12. [4]
[8] Fort Frances News, 16 April 2000.