Welcome to the DCPA Family

A mother of two girls, both dancers, Shelly lives just outside of Grande Prairie on their family acreage. Shelly began dancing at 8 years old and fell in love with the art. Her passion for dance, and the training and development of strong dancers prompted her to start her own dance school that has grown from 90 students the first year to over 500 students today. Shelly and her business partner Lorraine have built a studio that values not only the technique but also life skills like self-confidence, teamwork, determination, resilience and perseverance. Shelly is an award-winning choreographer and her students regularly place at the top of their categories in Alberta dance competitions. These days she focuses most of her time on the management side of the studio, knowing that a strong studio is only as good as the systems that support curriculum delivery, business performance, and dancer excellence. She is a proven leader in the dance community, often sought out for advice and counsel to help like-minded studios move forward, while keeping youth happy, healthy and safe in dance class. She is a LifeLong learner and is alway seeking the latest information on dance and entrepreneurship. Shelly is a co-founder of Dance Safe Canada Council Inc., a national non-profit association that serves the mission to create and educate on safety, compliance, policy and procedural standards of excellence for dance studio owners and educators. DSCC originated as Dance Safe Alberta (www.dancesafealberta.com) which remains the active Alberta-based chapter of DSCC assisting all studios and educators.

Lorraine is the co-owner of DansConnection School of Performing Arts, where she has been sharing her passion of dance and dedication for inspiring and nurturing children for the last 18 years. Lorraine grew up in Kelowna B.C. where she studied dance at the Canadian School of Ballet. Her love of movement and rhythm started at the early age of 5 and was thankful that dance was a big part of her family's heritage. She quickly became proficient in all styles of dance and loves the diversity of all forms of the art. She has traveled to many places in North America to advance her abilities and knowledge, to learn from many well known dancers and choreographers. She found her passion for teaching after many years of performing and enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with both students and other dance teachers in the dance community. As a dance teacher, Lorraine feels that it is important for her students to feel confident and motivated at all times and that they are in a safe environment they feel comfortable and respected in. She is also an award winning choreographer and her students regularly place with high awards at many dance competitions across Alberta. She is a certified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and also mentors teachers to acquire their certification. She continues sharing her skills and training with her dance colleagues working together to grow, learn and discover new teaching strategies and best practices to bring into the classroom. Lorraine is a proud mother of 2 girls and has cherished watching them grow as confident young girls and competent dancers throughout the years.She values spending time with her family and friends making life long memories. Lorraine continues to dream big for her students, families and team members . She believes the strengths of the studio are built on teamwork, passion, professional development and community.

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon