Tianne Allan | Sunrise Hatha, Restorative and Deep Sleep Series

Tianne’s passion for health and well-being began in competitive sport. As a high performance athlete and master coach for over 20 years, she learned first-hand the rewards of training the body and mind. Following a series of traumatic injuries, Tianne turned to yoga and meditation. The experience of profound healing was so powerfully transformative, she now devotes her time to sharing all she has been blessed to learn and come to understand through her journey. She is grateful and honoured to have been teaching for almost three decades, and thrilled to meet and teach so many incredible people around the world.

 

Christie Baumgartner | Vinyasa

Christie has been teaching yoga in Vancouver and abroad since 2008, when she completed her initial 200hr training, following her dance degree at Ryerson University. Her passion for movement has evolved over the years through continued education from the teachings of Schuyler Grant, Shiva Rae and Jill Miller, to name a few. On top of her passion to teach vinyasa, she also believes in yoga therapeutics and loves working with athletes. She has worked with the Vancouver Canucks, the Whitecaps, the UBC varsity teams, and has travelled to Europe and across BC with the BMC team and for BCBR. 

 

Kenzie Brousson | Vinyasa

Kenzie Brousson is a dance artist, movement researcher and 500hr certified Yoga instructor specializing in Vinyasa Yoga, Somatic and Restorative practices. Her aim as a teacher is to guide, support and share tools to help people attune their awareness, take ownership of their bodies and minds to ultimately find a sense of freedom and inner peace. She encourages her students to tap into their intuition and to be truthful to their own journey, and strives to make her classes a welcoming and inclusive safe space for all, finding a balance between physical challenge and the more subtle aspects of Yogic practice. Having lived the nomadic professional dancer life for several years, she is grateful to now live and work in her hometown on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and to work with Ballet BC as Class Administrator and MOVE instructor.

 

Niki Brown | Sunset Flow + Restore

Niki Brown’s yoga journey began with a childhood curiosity with Kundalini on TV. While pursuing a BFA in Acting at UBC, she deepened her practice to support her artistic endeavours, and has been teaching since 2012. 
Niki’s yoga roots are with Anusara, with further trainings in Restorative, Yin, Vinyasa, Therapeutics & Meditation. Niki’s influence extends globally, with workshops held throughout British Columbia, Ontario, the UK, and France, where her “Art of Rest: Restorative Yoga and Reiki” workshops were featured on My Little Paris’ Top 10 list. Niki’s teachings go beyond physical postures; she weaves in Ayurvedic daily habits and aligns her classes with the changing seasons to nurture balance year-round. Her love of yoga philosophy, mythology, and modern neuroscience is evident in her classes. Her commitment is to create a tranquil, playful, and enriching space for her students, allowing them to experience a sense of spaciousness and unhurried well-being.

 

Michael Garcia | Beginner Contemporary and Free Movement

Michael Garcia (he/they) was born in McAllen, Texas. His early passion and ambition for dance led him to Dallas, Texas where he trained at Dance Industry Performing Arts Center and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He received his BFA from The Juilliard School, under the direction of Alicia Graf Mack. After graduating, Michael was deeply grateful to have performed with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for their 44th season. He has been recognized as National YoungArts Winner, Alumni of the School at Jacob’s Pillow, and performed at iconic dance spaces such as The Joyce Theater. Beyond performing, Michael has many pursuits in teaching, choreography and modeling. He has received an Outstanding Choreography award from YAGP, travelled across the United States teaching, and appeared in campaigns for Bogner, FortyFiveTen, & photographer Mark Mann. This is Michael’s second season as a company artist with Ballet BC.

 

Kiera Hill | Beginner, All-Levels and Intro to Ballet

Kiera (she/her) completed her professional dance training at Arts Umbrella with ballet foundations in the Cecchetti method. Kiera’s ballet classes draw from these early teachings and her 10 year career as a professioal dancer. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge of ballet technique in a welcoming and lighthearted environment. Kiera danced with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal where she toured extensively for four years, performing internationally across Europe, Asia, South and North Americas. Kiera then joined Ballet BC where she had the privilege of performing the works of William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Johan Inger, Aszure Barton, Emily Molnar and Medhi Walerski among others. Kiera now works as an independent dance artist and teacher on the unceded and ancestral territories of of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She has recently performed in works by local creators Inverso Productions, Rachel Meyer and Dance//Novella. She is pursuing a degree in kinesiology at Simon Fraser University and is thrilled to be part of the MOVE team at Ballet BC.

 

Heather Myers | Creative Immersion

Heather (she/her) is a parent, expressive arts facilitator and dance artist with 25 years of experience performing, creating and teaching internationally. Her work engages embodied, intermodal arts approaches to empower creativity in individuals and connect communities. Heather danced with Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet and Netherlands Dance Theater, and has worked with Simon Fraser University, All Bodies Dance Project, TNUA Taipei, Inverso Productions, Rachel Meyer, Korzo Theater, The Vancouver Park Board Board, HCMA Architecture and Design, and The Banff Centre among others. Heather is a graduate of the Tamalpa Institute’s Teacher Training Program and an ISMETA registered Somatic Movement Educator. She is grateful to live and work on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

 

Benjamin Peralta | Intermediate Contemporary

Benjamin Peralta (he/him) grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where he danced competitively and trained at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. In 2018, Peralta left home to pursue a BFA in dance at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance as part of the Class of 2022. While studying at USC Kaufman, Peralta performed the works of artists such as William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Barak Marshall, Bret Easterling, and more. His additional passions for both yoga and photography influence his expression when executing choreography, as well as his creation process. With attention to mindfulness that is practiced in yoga and a hyper-fixation on the transitional moments that can be found in photography, Peralta’s approach to dance is an accumulation of multiple different mediums. Prior to joining Ballet BC, Ben’s most recent work experience includes staging William Forsythe’s ‘The Barre Project’ alongside Jodie Gates and William Forsythe at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York. This is his third season as company member with Ballet BC.

 

Sarah Pippin | Beginner Contemporary

Sarah Pippin (she/her) is from Raleigh, North Carolina. She completed her early dance training at CC & Company Dance Complex where she received a diverse dance education. In May 2020, Sarah graduated from The Juilliard School with a BFA in Dance. During her time there, Sarah performed repertoire works by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and José Limón, as well as new creations by Peter Chu, Gentian Doda, Stephen Petronio, and John Heginbotham. Additional performance opportunities include works by Sharon Eyal, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, and Jiri Pokorny, among many others. She is a National YoungArts winner as well as the recipient of the Irving B. and Joan W. Harris Endowed Scholarship and the 2020 Martha Hill Award from The Juilliard School. This is Sarah’s third season as company artist with Ballet BC.

 

Clara Roberts-Oss | Vinyasa

Clara has been a student of yoga for almost 23 years and a teacher for 20. Her roots are in vinyasa (Jivamukti, Prana Flow and Laughing Lotus). However, her curiosity for all things yoga has taken her to study many other lineages – iyengar, kundalini, restorative and Forrest yoga to name a few. She is also a lover of philosophy and have had the privilege to study with tantric scholars – Daniel Odier, Douglas Brooks and Paul Ortega. Clara’s classes are vinyasa based with a mixture of other styles to create a holistic practice that leaves you feeling grounded and strong. Her intention with each class is to nourish body, mind and spirit so that we can show up as better beings for the people and places in our lives.

 

Kaylin Sturtevant | Intermediate Ballet and Pilates 

Kaylin (she/her) is originally from Plano, Texas, and grew up training at Dance Industry Performing Arts Center and Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She achieved her BFA in Dance in 2020 from the USC Kaufman School of Dance in Los Angeles under the leadership of Jodie Gates. At USC, Kaylin had the opportunity to work closely with and perform works by artists such as William Forsythe, Barak Marshall, Aszure Barton, and Jodie Gates. She has also trained at summer intensives including Nederlands Dans Theater, Jacob’s Pillow, Arts Umbrella, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. In 2016, Kaylin was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts and National YoungArts Winner in Modern Dance, where she performed at the Kennedy Center in a multi-faceted arts show directed by Debbie Allen. This is Kaylin’s third season as a full company member at Ballet BC, and she previously worked professionally with The DASH Ensemble directed by Gregory Dolbashian. Additionally, Kaylin is a certified Pilates instructor through the BASI Comprehensive Program (Mat & Equipment), and she teaches Pilates classes and private lessons during her time off.