Marie has been teaching and choreographing in St. John’s for nearly 30 years. She is a graduate of The London College of Dance Professional Program – UK – (1st class with Distinction + Most Promising Teacher award – 2nd& 3rd year)
Marie has taught thousands of students over her career, many having gone into the profession themselves and even more having found a lifelong love of dance and the performing arts.
Marie has extensive training and knowledge and still attends events and conferences both nationally and internationally to stay abreast of the current trends and ideas.
Marie is also a well-known choreographer having worked on many of St. John’s largest shows. Most recently “Little Mermaid”, “Sister Act,” “Billy Elliot,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “9 to 5” 2020
Alicia is an experienced performer and teacher and has been active in the local musical theatre and dance scene for over 20 years. In most recent years, Alicia has transitioned from the role of “dancer” to “choreographer” working on musical productions, independent dance show and musical tributes. Credits include: Phantom of the Opera (PWC), the Frosty Festival Opening Ceremonies (Red Dress Entertainment), Torbay Hillside Festival Opening Ceremonies (Red Dress Entertainment), Les Miserables (PWC), NSO: Kelly Ann Feature, Legends: Michael Jackson (Red Dress Entertainment), and Fame: The Musical (PWC), Mary Poppins (PWC) and 9 to 5 (Atlantic Light Theatre: Assistant Choreographer).
Alicia has been a teacher in the St. John’s dance community for over 10 years. Alicia focusing her teaching in jazz, latin, modern, hip hop and acro jazz. She still actively pursues outside educational opportunities and keeps up to date on pedagogical methods. She most recently completely her certification in the Acrobatic Arts program. She focuses her teaching in goal driven work, pushing dancers beyond their personal expectations to achieve their goals. For her, there is nothing more fulfilling as a teacher than seeing a dancer reach their individual goals both in the classroom and onstage and the dancer seeing how much they can really accomplish.
Pamela has been dancing her heart out since she was a young child and obtained professional dance teacher accreditation in various genres including Associate Diplomas with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in both Tap and Modern Theatre dance. She has been sharing her love of dance to students for 25+ years in studios in St. John’s as well as studios in Ontario, British Columbia and Norway. Many of her students have gone on to flourish in dance careers themselves.
Pamela is known to have a distinct, versatile teaching style which is strong on silly accents and humour but with an emphasis on hard work and achieving one’s best. Pamela has the ability to instruct various levels at once and is keen to identify individual strengths in each student who she then nourishes to realize his or her fullest potential.
Currently, Pamela is focusing mostly on motherhood, choreographic projects and still teaches when she can.
Pamela and Marie have a long history in dance and friendship, so she is always delighted when opportunity allows them to work together.
Hilary began training and then teaching under the direction of Marie Steffen and her staff, focusing on Contemporary, Jazz, Latin, Ballet (Cecchetti), and Tap. The stage became her second home, and she was continuously involved in local theatre and dance festivals.
Apart from her solid training from local studios, Hilary has trained in both New York and Toronto, with studios and schools such as Broadway Dance Centre, Toronto Dance Theatre, and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Hilary fell in love with the unique niche of circus, while dancing in a Wonderbolt circus show. After years of dancing on the ground, she took her dancing into the air and began teaching with iFly Aerial Arts. Currently she is teaching as an outreach teacher with the National Ballet School.
Hilary enjoys working with people of all ages and abilities. She holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and Master in Public Health. Her goal has been to integrate dance into her practice as a health care practitioner. She has completed multiple trainings in adaptive dance including training from the National Centre for Dance Therapy in Montreal where her focus was movement within a psychotherapeutic practice.
Anna can’t imagine her life without dance. As one of her first dance teachers, Anna believes that Marie Steffen played a large role in shaping her into the dancer and teacher she is today. Anna began her teaching path when she joined the Teaching Assistant program.
Anna has been trained in numerous styles of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Broadway, Modern, and Latin Jazz. She has also been performing since 2010. Some of her credits include “Hairspray” (PMP), “Jesus Christ Superstar” (TaDa! Events), “Our Divas Do Christmas” (TaDa! Events) and “9 to 5” Atlantic Light.
Anna is currently completing a Bachelor of Nursing degree at Memorial University with a strong interest in working with children.
Allison is an experienced teacher and performer, having trained in various dance styles in Newfoundland and completing a certificate in performance studies from George Brown Dance in Toronto, Ontario (2014). Allison holds her Associate Diploma in tap with the International Society of teachers of Dance, and has achieved intermediate levels with Cecchetti Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance, and ISTD Modern.
Allison was the 2013 recipient of the Dance Teachers’ Association of Newfoundland Aspire Scholarship, and has attended conferences and workshops with the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (2014), Cecchetti Society of Newfoundland (2011), and the National Ballet School (2010). She has studied across Canada and internationally, having attended Teacher Training sessions with ISTD examiner Jackie Hayward in London England (2019), the ISTD Summer School in Chichester, United Kingdom (2013), and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Teacher Training Summer School in Winnipeg, Manitoba (2013).
Allison’s second passion is healthcare science, and she holds a Master of Science degree in Audiology from University College London in London, England (2019). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University (2017). She currently works at Beltone Hearing Service in St. John’s, NL as a registered audiologist.
Allison aims to foster a sense of confidence and dedication in her students, and finds no greater joy than watching them excel in all aspects of their dance training.
Sophie is a music student at Memorial University, and is excited to be teaching again at Steffen Dance this year. Sophie has been dancing at Marie Steffen’s studios since the age of three, and has worshipped every opportunity given to her.
Sophie began teaching assisting at the age of 9. Sophie has successfully completed Intermediate level in both Ceccetti Ballet exams, and ISTD tap exams. She is also trained in Jazz, Modern, Hip hop, Broadway Jazz, Latin Jazz, and Pointe. Sophie has completed RCM voice and piano exams, up to and including levels eight. She also teaches piano and voice to young children.
Sophie has worked with many local musical theatre companies, in productions such as Our Divas Do Christmas (Tada events), The Little Mermaid (Theatre St. John’s), Billy Elliot (Atlantic Light Theatre), Phantom of the Opera ( OOTA.) Sophie loves working with young children, and is excited to continue to share her love of dance with her students for many years to come!
Caitlin Harte began her dance training with Marie at the age of 3, and has since trained in many forms of dance including the Cecchetti Ballet method, training with Sandra Blackmore. She is in her 4th year of teaching at Steffen Dance, with much of her teacher hands on training coming from working directly with Marie as her teaching assistant for 6 years.
She is currently pursuing a Major in English with a specialization in Theatre/Drama at Memorial, and hopes to eventually hold a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She is no stranger to the St. John’s music and theatre scenes, having performed in and choreographed many shows produced by companies such as TaDa! Events, Best Kind Productions, Atlantic Light Theatre, and Rennie’s River Fall Musicals. She loves fostering her passion for dance and theatre with her students, and loves nothing more than to watch them as they grow into beautiful, confident dancers.
Amy graduated from The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, where she received her B.A. in dance.
While at Columbia she had the privilege of studying under renowned dance educators and choreographers such as Carrie Hanson, Darrell Jones, Jan Erkert, Krenly Guzman, Paige Cunningham, Jeff Hancock, Lisa Gonzales, and Liz Burrit as well as master classes with various national and international choreographers and dance companies.
Amy has spent summers in Israel studying Gaga technique with the world-renowned Batsheva Dance Company. Amy has performed with the Leopold Group, Thread Meddle Outfit, Johnathan Meyer/Khecari Dance Theater, and at Around the Coyote and Rebound Dance Festivals.
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Susan Lily to our team. Susan is a freelance teacher based in St. John’s but was born and raised in the UK. Susan is an ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) trained & fully certified dance teacher. She holds a B.A. Honors in Dance and Dance Science from Middlesex University along with DDI Cecchetti Ballet and Associate Modern Theatre & Tap Dance Teaching Qualifications.
In 2007, she moved to New York City to train at the Broadway Dance Centre & Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. There she gained significant exposure and training. She returned home to the UK and worked extensively in various theatre and commercial dance contracts along with teaching at the Weston School of Dance and Performing Arts in her home county of Essex.
Susan is a versatile teacher who is passionate about teaching and sharing her knowledge with her students in a safe, happy and joyous way. She is very excited to meet her new students at Steffen Dance and we are excited to collaborate with her.