A native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Hannah Mae began her dance training at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts School of Dance and the Leica Hardy School of Dance before joining Canada’s National Ballet School. While training, she was fortunate to receive various awards and scholarships, many of which were through the Nova Scotia Talent Trust. Hannah Mae is currently in her 11th season with Ballet Jörgen and has danced in many of Jörgen’s works including Anastasia and Coppélia (in the title roles), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet, Lady Capulet), Swan Lake (Pas de Trois), Cinderella (Lead Fairy), and had the opportunity to create the role of the Lilac Fairy in Jörgen’s Sleeping Beauty. In 2019, the title role of Anne of Green Gables – The Ballet® was created for Hannah Mae by Bengt Jörgen, C.M.. Hannah Mae has taught for Ballet Jörgen, Mocean Dance Company, DAREarts, and numerous dance schools across North and South America. She also acts as an ambassador of community engagement for Ballet Jörgen, running outreach programs for the Art Gallery of Ontario, Sick Kids, St. Michael’s Hospital, and more. For the past decade, she has toured with Ballet Jörgen, bringing dance to all corners of North America through outreach, masterclasses, and performances.

Gillian Seaward-Boone pursued professional dance training at l'Ecole de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM). Upon graduating, she worked with Sinha Danse, Pigeons International and Sasha Ivanochko before joining O Vertigo Danse as a full company member under the direction of Ginette Laurin. In 2013, Gillian returned to Halifax and has since performed with Mocean Dance for works by Serge Bennethan, Marie-Josée Chartier, Sara Coffin, Sharon Moore and Parts+Labour_Danse, and has served as Rehearsal Director for the creations of Danielle Desnoyers, Heidi Strauss and Lydia Zimmer. Gillian frequently collaborates with local artists Jacinte Armstrong, Alexis Cormier, Sarah Murphy, Lisa Phinney Langley, and Lydia Zimmer and is a founding member of the Home Ex Artist Collective. She is currently in creation for new works by Jacinte Armstrong, Liliona Quarmyne, Lisa Phinney-Langley, Sharon Moore and Rebecca Lazier. She is a senior member of the modern dance faculty of Halifax Dance's Intensive Training Program and regularly teaches technical training classes to the professional community of Halifax and beyond.

Sarah Prosper is a Mi’kmaq Womxn from Eskasoni First Nation. Sarah is a young dance artist, choreographer and director, and is currently attending her fourth year with Dalhousie University, where she is taking Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation. She began dancing at age 2 with Susan Gallop’s Cape Breton School of the Arts. With the community success of the NADACA dance program in Eskasoni, Sarah became a fixture in the group and began teaching dance at age 14. Sarah has taught many styles with the help of her mentors and ADAPT training. Today Sarah dances with many groups in the HRM and CBRM. She continues in providing opportunities for children and adults with varying abilities to build their connections with themselves through dance, through reconciliation, and all her relations. Sarah is officially affiliated with Board of Directors of Dance Nova Scotia, Kinetic Dance Studio Board, Dalhousie University Dance Society, East Coast Dance Academy, CEPI Youth, and affiliated in the past with Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources, and Sable Island National Park Reserve. Sarah has hopes and dreams but most of all she hopes to incorporate indigenous creativeness, be that in the dance world or in community health & wellness programs; this way reconciliation continues and grows.

Laurissa Manning is a creator, innovator and change-maker with a passion for building strategy and connections. She is a values-driven leader who can motivate and exceed business directives. She has experience in both the for profit and non-profit world with fund development, grant and proposal writing and government relations.

Laurissa believes in continuous learning, she is a multi-lingual, independent and confident entrepreneur with over 20+ years of event management and strategy planning. She has founded and operated businesses in the health wellness and event management sectors.

Laurissa works closely with leaders and their teams to understand their 'why'- ‘purpose’ and ‘values’ and develop a roadmap for success; creating the foundation for organizations and businesses to design spaces for every person to thrive.

Laurissa has over 30 years in the fitness industry from one-one- personal training, group training, to mentoring and coaching fitness professions. As the former owner of Core Fitness & Sport Conditioning, it was important to her to create a community for people- where you were more than just a card being scanned at the door.

She believes that fitness and wellbeing, just like growing and running a business is a journey, the destination is not so important, it's what we discover and learn along the way and how we put that to use. Teaching our leaders and our clients to cultivate a culture of diversity & self-responsibility creates a climate of inclusivity and belonging.

Laurissa has spent the last 5 years focusing on Essentrics® and teaching Barre, she is a Level 4 Certified Essentrics® Instructor and currently mentors level 1 Essentrics® Instructors.

A Community Builder. Her love for building community is evident throughout the course of her career.

Poppy was born in England and began dancing at the age of three. For many years Poppy was involved in jazz, contemporary and modern but her primary love was ballet. After graduating high school Poppy moved to Canada and completed the teacher training program at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing arts. She then went on to Mount Saint Vincent University where she completed a Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in accounting. Poppy graduated with high honours and on the Dean's list and began working in public accounting. She is very excited to be a part of The Dance Institute and bring her dance and accounting backgrounds together.