Our Instructors

Artistic Director

Birkley Wisniewski

Lindy Hop, Balboa, Jazz, Tap

Birkley has a deep and strong appreciation of jazz music and dance, dating back to 2001. His affection for the art has spurred him to travel far and study voraciously, gaining a reliable foundation of vernacular jazz dance. Birkley invests into the values of discovery and creativity in his choreography, dancing, and teaching philosophy. At the same time, he understands the needs of beginners to receive sufficient challenge, ample repetition, and fun, clear instruction.

His study of dance include stronger influences come from Chester Whitmore, Lennart Westerlund, Eva Burak, having spent more time with them. This is in conjunction with many brief encounters learning from the masters; Norma Miller, Sugar Sullivan, Barbara Billups, Frankie Manning, Skip Cunningham, Heather Cornell. Birkley started in the early 2000’s, and founded Sugar Swing in 2005. He has taught dance workshops across Western Canada, and as a professional deejay, worked for Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden for 5 summers. He has choreographed and performed for a variety of shows for Symphony Under the Sky, the Winspear Center, Fort Edmonton Park, and the Alberta Legislature. Birkley produced the jazz dance show “Swing Showcase” for the Edmonton Fringe, featuring Mad Cat Swing in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. Presently, Birkley directs & coaches Mad Cat Swing and Mad Kittens and teaches a variety of weekly classes.

Swing & Jazz Dance

Lindy Hop, Solo Jazz, Balboa

We are incredibly grateful to our weekly swing dance instructors! They each possess years of teaching, performance, and dance experience. We only hire the best and brightest!

Czarina Ramos, Lindy Hop

Arta Seify, Lindy Hop

Paige Grant, Lindy Hop

Luke Dion, Lindy Hop & Solo Jazz

Maggie Wilson, Lindy Hop

Tanzi Reule, Balboa

Tap

Janae Davies

Sarisa Figueroa de Toledo

House

Thato X Pilane

Thato has trained in many styles of Hip-Hop dance from popping, tutting, house, locking and break dancing. As one of the original members of Edmonton’s own White Chocolate Dance crew, Thato has opened and performed for artists such as: Chris Brown, Ludacris, Ne-Yo, Ashanti, Ginuwine, Sean Paul, Kreesha Turner, The Game, Nelly Furtado, Obie Trice, 112, Boyz II Men, Fabolous, K-Ci & JoJo, Chingy, Sean Desmond, Massari, Gary Beals, Rochester, and Snoop Dogg! The Crew was featured as the only Hip-Hop group set to perform at Alberta’s Centenniel event where the Queen of England was in attendance. He has also performed alongside Jabbawockeez, Supreme Soul, Fanny Pak, and Super Crew from America’s Best Dance Crew. Thato has trained from such choreographers/dancers as The Electric Boogaloos, Sho-Tyme, Kabba Modern, Brad Rapier, Caleaf Sellers, JoJo Diggs and many more. He was also a part of the production “Hip-Hop Saved My Life,” which toured all over China for a month during the summer of 2010 as Alberta’s 1st Hip-Hop Dance production to tour internationally. Thato has earned several dance awards and has been part of a major driving force behind the growing hip-hop scene in Edmonton and across Canada. He continues to grow and share his love and talent for hip-hop and house while empowering his students to be knowledgeable, respectful, and self-confident through dance.

Flamenco

Jane Ogilvie

Known for her rhythmic experimentation and precision, Jane has performed for decades with professional flamenco artists from across Canada. For over 25 years she has trained extensively with prominent Spanish artists giving her an in-depth understanding of flamenco song, dance, rhythm, and musical structure. Notable mentors include: Juana Amaya, Jairo Barrull, the Farruco family, Ismael Fernández, Juan del Gastor, Javier Heredia, Carmen Ledesma, Juan Murube, Sonia Olla, el Oruco and Manuela Rios among others. Her focus is on dance, song, and rhythm but also includes flamenco history, percussion, and piano.

Jane was the Edmonton Flamenco Festival’s co-founder and Artistic Director, bringing Spanish artists to the Winspear stage, and featuring workshops, flashmobs, and guest Canadian artists for fundraiser performances. She is a founding member of the Flamenco Society of Edmonton. Jane is a 2023 recipient of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund Award.

Jane’s classes focus on proper dance technique and the understanding of the rhythmic and musical structure of flamenco so the dance can be approached with an improvisational attitude and an understanding of where dance fits with song, rhythm and guitar. She sings for her classes and has regularly hosted guitarists and student singers for accompaniment as well as guest teachers from Canada and Spain for workshops in both song and dance.