Melissa Lipkowski - Instructor
Melissa has been dancing since the age of 5, and has been trained in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, stage, and hip hop. Throughout her competition experience she has gained many awards and scholarships, including "Most Promising Tap and Stage Choreographer," on two separate occasions. Melissa has traveled to many places throughout the US and Canada, in order to train and perform with some of the biggest tap "Masters" in the world, including Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Dianne Walker, Robert Reed, Jason Samuels, and has worked extensively with Van "The Man" Porter, including most recently taking part in the taping of his instructional tap DVD. In 2004, Melissa traveled to China with the "Transcendance Company," to represent Canada in the "Macau International Dance Festival," including groups from 12 different countries. She has performed with local groups "The Urban Tap Squad," "Tap Co," and the "Ruckus Company," which broke attendance records at the 2006 Vancouver International Dance Festival with their original show "77 Minutes," and followed it up in 2007 with “Ricochet.”
Aside from teaching, Melissa has been an administrative/convention assistant for “Triple Threat Dance Convention,” trophy coordinator for the CDMF Performing Arts Festival, and the Dance, Speech Arts, and Tri-Disciplinary Coordinator for the BC Provincial Arts Festival. She is excited to bring her passion for teaching to her own studio.