From a young age, Nick Saanto has always had a passion for performance. He started his journey through acting, working for Cinar and many other production companies. Attending Saint-Luc high school, he soon realigned his career path; starting to sing, play saxophone and clarinet. Once graduated, he then went on in Jazz voice performance at Vanier College. Through the years, he has played lead roles in over 20 musicals. Singing for the Metropolitan Orchestra at Wilfrid-Pelletier hall, and participating at the Classica festival as a featured act. He also was bandleader and singer for a show at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
However, he felt like something was missing. He decided to start training in dance, and grew very fast to become a professional, dancing for Just For Laughs, dancing as a back-up for many local artists, and participating in Sharing Dance’s celebration for Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Wanting to pursue a solo career, he recorded and launched his first album “PRDX”. This wasn’t enough; he wanted to share his knowledge and passion for arts. So he decided to start teaching, and bring forth a different pedagogy, where each student’s allowed to shine through their own groove. Always pushing for the best, and redefining limits, he asks of his students nothing but pure and real energy, hoping to change the future of performing arts.
Nicholas Saavedra
C
Teacher - Hip Hop, Musical theater, contemporary
Teacher - Jazz, ballet, tap
Ashley started dancing at the age of 3 at Danse501 Verdun and has trained in various styles such as ballet, tap, and musical theatre. At an early age she was given the opportunity to compete at dance competition across the country and more recently has had choreography win top prizes at various competitions including the Dance world cup.
She started to assist in dance class at the age of 9 and by the age of 16 was teaching the classes on her own. She has taught Ballet, Tap and Jazz to different age groups ranging from 2 to 16. She has completed her Al Gilbert tap exams and is working towards her Cecchetti Teacher certificate. She also competed with Danse501 Verdun at Disney World.
Ashley has a DEC in Special Care Counselling and a BA in Therapeutic Recreation and works full time with children with various disabilities at a special needs school in the Montreal area, as well as having private ABA clients.
She has taken all her education and work experience and combined it with her passion for dance.
Teacher- Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Acro
Kate Doucet
Born in the UK, Kate grew up with a passion for performance, starting both graded dance and singing lessons from a young age. As that love continued, she decided to take her training further and attended NAPA school of performing arts (UK) to not only develop her own skills but to gain qualifications as a teacher of dance. In 2007 she received her International FDI dance instruction completion certificates in ISTD Ballet, Tap and Modern/Jazz.
After college, she spent 10+ years working on cruise ships as a Singer/Dancer. Throughout this career, she held multiple positions within entertainment: Production singer, Playlist singer and dancer, Showband singer... and then some management roles: Vocal Captain, Entertainment Director, Musical Director... with each position held, she gained experience in different performance venues and shows onboard the ships.
After finally deciding to settle on land, Kate jumped back into dance classes and now, with the same passion she had for performing, she wants to teach and pass on her knowledge to the children and adults here at Danse 501 in hope that they too will pursue their dreams and follow their hearts in the wonderful world of Entertainment!
Teacher-Tap, Jazz, Musical theater
Ashley Allaire
Performing around the world as a professional classical ballet dancer, from corps de ballet to soloist and principal roles, Randall has gone the distance. Danced with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens. From there continued to the united states with the Oregon Ballet and Eugene Ballet. He graduated from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school with distinction but started it all with Linda Howell at Dance 501. He has competed and has been awarded in Ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop. This is not someone who is trying to teach after taking a few classes....this man is a professional who has performed in the greatest theater's. Locally you would recognize salle wilfred pelltier place des arts. Make no mistake, if you want to be taught from someone who has been among the greatest dancers in the world....this is it.