GeNie Baffoe
Eugene Baffoe, known in the hip hop community as GeNie, is a freestyle battle dancer from Montreal, Quebec. He has been training in the field of Hip Hop for over a decade, teaching, choreographing, and directing at a professional level over the past 8 years. GeNie currently heads Hip Hop dance crew B.O.S.S Dance Team (Built On Self Success). He is also the co-creator and director of a non-profit Charity Dance Showcase Dance 4 MS which he began in 2009. The event raises money to cure Multiple Sclerosis by donating all proceeds to the Manitoba MS Society. The show has sold out every year since 2011, and has raised over $5,000 in the span of 4 years. His choreography has been showcased in the Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival, Showtime Productions, local musical theatre productions of "RENT", flashmobs, high school events, debuts, and hip hop dance teams over the past 7 years. In addition, he has choreographed performances for 2 Winnipeg Blue Bomber halftime shows in 2011 and 2015 as well as a performance for WE Day at the MTS Centre in 2015. He has worked with renowned choreographers such as "Lil C", Tucker Barkley, and Brian Friedman. GeNie is a featured dancer in the U.S feature film "Bravetown" and Canadian feature film "Lovesick". Honoured by the city of Winnipeg with the Youth Role Model Award in 2009, Eugene is a committed teacher/choreographer never forgetting that he remains a student of dance.
Eugene Baffoe, known in the hip hop community as GeNie, is a freestyle battle dancer from Montreal, Quebec. He has been training in the field of Hip Hop for over a decade, teaching, choreographing, and directing at a professional level over the past 8 years. GeNie currently heads Hip Hop dance crew B.O.S.S Dance Team (Built On Self Success). He is also the co-creator and director of a non-profit Charity Dance Showcase Dance 4 MS which he began in 2009. The event raises money to cure Multiple Sclerosis by donating all proceeds to the Manitoba MS Society. The show has sold out every year since 2011, and has raised over $5,000 in the span of 4 years. His choreography has been showcased in the Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival, Showtime Productions, local musical theatre productions of "RENT", flashmobs, high school events, debuts, and hip hop dance teams over the past 7 years. In addition, he has choreographed performances for 2 Winnipeg Blue Bomber halftime shows in 2011 and 2015 as well as a performance for WE Day at the MTS Centre in 2015. He has worked with renowned choreographers such as "Lil C", Tucker Barkley, and Brian Friedman. GeNie is a featured dancer in the U.S feature film "Bravetown" and Canadian feature film "Lovesick". Honoured by the city of Winnipeg with the Youth Role Model Award in 2009, Eugene is a committed teacher/choreographer never forgetting that he remains a student of dance.
Mark Dela Cruz - Mark Dela Cruz is a dance instructor and choreographer for the General Program of the School of Contemporary Dancers. He’s in his third year of contemporary dance training of the Senior Professional Program at SCD and he’s a two-time recipient of the Manitoba Arts Council Student Bursary. He was a guest performer for Drive Dance’s “Accelerate”, which was awarded “Best of Fest”, understudied for Paul-André Fortier’s “Misfit Blues” and performed with Stephanie Ballard and Dancers for the Grand Opening Gala of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. Most recently, he was invited to perform in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre for Robert Desrosier’s “50 Dancer Project: Timeframe”. He’s currently rehearsing for the annual Performance Series of the School of Contemporary Dancers; the next being the “Composition Showing” in February, along with the “Winnipeg Public School Tours”, and then “Dance Reflections” in May. He will also be performing in B.O.S.S. Dance Crew’s multi-style dance production “The Artist Within” in March.
Momentum Aerial and Acrobatic Troupe (Performers pictured above) - Momentum Aerial and Acrobatic Troupe was established in 2002, when dance and theatre met the Circus arts. We are acrobatic storytellers who seek to connect and inspire with each performance. Under the artistic direction of Monica Goermann, senior aerial artist Liz Cooper, and theatre coach Loc Lu, we develop original creations, from short, poignant pieces to full-length productions. Most recently, Momentum has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and at the Mercedes Benz Dealership Grand Opening; in 2015, we represented Canada in the FIG Gala at the World Gymnaestrada in Helsinki, Finland. This past summer, we took the Winnipeg Fringe Festival by storm in collaboration with the Flying Lion Dance Troupe, presenting our show Causin’ a Commotion to audiences of all ages. In December 2016, we presented Ten Thousand Prayers, a multidisciplinary show telling the stories of refugees.
Caitlynn Love - Caitlynn is in her junior year of high school. She has been dancing for twelve years. She has competed at various dance competitions such as the Canadian National Dance Competitions, the Manitoba Provinical Dance Festival, and MOVE Dance competition. Caitlynn teaches and dances at Industria Dance Centre, her experiences include ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theatre. She is excited to choreograph for Losing Tides since it is such a good cause that deserves awareness. Picture will be available soon
Jennifer Metelski - Jennifer Metelski has been an active dance teacher and choreographer for more than fifteen years. She has taught at studios across the province including Brandon School of Dance, Evolution Dance Company (Selkirk), Industria Dance Centre and Kickit Dance Studio. As the teacher of the Dance Major program at Westwood Collegiate, Jennifer also helped develop and pilot the new Manitoba dance curriuculum for public schools.
Katelyn Pemoeller - Katelyn Pemoeller is the owner and director of Industria Dance Centre. She has been dancing for 23 years and has trained on scholarship at EDGE Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles and Randolph Academy of Performing Arts in Toronto. She has achieved the coveted ISTD Advanced 2 Ballet exam and has won many awards and scholarships throughout her dance career. She toured as an apprentice with director Melissa Williams and choreographers Everett Smith, Gustavo Vargas, Bradley Rapier from So You Think You Can Dance US/ Canada for Xtreme Dance Convention. She has performed alongside two time Grammy nominated Hip Hop artist Fresh I.E. and Rap Pop artist Sketch Williams for his CD release party. She was a dancer and choreographer for Un1te Dance Company for two years. Katelyn has been teaching dance for 10 years now and wants nothing more than to inspire, educate and share her passion of dance with her students.
Brian Toms - Brian Toms is a Winnipeg born dancer and choreographer who studied at The School of Contemporary Dancers. Receiving his BA and BEd from The University of Winnipeg, Brian has been teaching and choreographing at Westwood Collegiate for a decade. Brian’s choreography has received awards internationally, known for his outstanding contemporary works. Brian recently completed choreographing “Evita” at Westwood Collegiate and his next upcoming project is “Joseph and The Technicolour Dream Coat”. Brian is proud to have been part of the creative team of Westwood’s musical theatre productions, which have received the Rainbow Stage Performance Award for the past five years. When he isn’t teaching and facilitating workshops around Manitoba, Brian also serves as the Vice President for Dance Manitoba.
Alyssa Doerksen (left), Maddy Prichodko (centre), Amy Brooks (right)
Amy, Maddy, and Alyssa are very excited to be presenting their work together in this show. They have been dancing together for the past four years with Westwood Collegiate's dance advanced program. They are humbled by the opportunity to help support and raise awareness for Canada's watersheds. They would like to thank their families and loved ones for all their love and support!
Amy, Maddy, and Alyssa are very excited to be presenting their work together in this show. They have been dancing together for the past four years with Westwood Collegiate's dance advanced program. They are humbled by the opportunity to help support and raise awareness for Canada's watersheds. They would like to thank their families and loved ones for all their love and support!