Turning Pointe Dance Studio

Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Hip Hop

Instructor Profiles

Tara was born and raised in Lethbridge, Alberta, where her passion for dance began at the age of five.  Tara trained at the Alberta Ballet School and the Royal Academy of Dancing where she earned her Teacher's Certificate with Distinction.

Tara has trained in various locations including London, England, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Vancouver.  Tara has developed and taught many dance programs and summer dance workshops in a number of Southern Alberta studios.  She has earned various choreography awards in Dance Festivals, has performed in many productions including Cabaret, La Mancha and West Side Story, and has choreographed two musicals — Bye Bye Birdie and Nunsense for Lethbridge Musical Theatre. 

Tara’s passion for dance has spanned over 20 years.  She opened the Turning Pointe Dance studio in the Crowsnest Pass in 2001 which has proven to be a tremendous success. 

Tara Fenton Groves

Since graduating from Concordia University with a BFA in Theatre Performance, Rebecca has been working as a Professional Actor, Dancer & Choreographer, and ActingTeacher & Coach.  She has over 25 years experience performing on stage, film and television.  As a dancer, she toured with Celine Dion as a feature performer in ‘Celine Dion World Tour’ and appeared in numerous TV series, specials and commercials.  Her film credits include Eternal Revenge/Allegro, The Hunger/Telescene, Dead Silent/Blackwatch, Education of Little Tree/Paramount, Out of Control/Kinsboro to name a few.  She has appeared on stage in M. Butterfly, Karla and Griff, Italian American Reconciliation, 1984, Midsummer Night’s Dream and wrote and performed ‘Babelicious’, a one woman show presented at the Studio On The Main.  She has coached Professional Actors for both television and film and has been training young performers for the past four years at ‘The Dynamic Theatre Company’ in Montreal.  Many of these students have gone on to have careers in the industry: Emily Van Camp — Series regular on Warner Brothers and CTV’s Everwood, feature film The Ring II, Jay Baruchel — Clint Eastwood’s award winning film, Million Dollar Baby, Meaghan Rath — series regular on YTV’s 15-Love, Jesse Camacho opposite James Wood in Rudy, and Ricky Mabe—feature film Isn’t She Great opposite Bette Middler and Nathan Lane, lead on YTV’s Seriously Weird.

 

Currently, Rebecca has been engaged in writing such projects as an animated Web show, a sitcom for television, and is the Production Assistant, Script Consultant and Acting Coach for the production company Viking Films.  Their third short film titled ‘Hero by Nature’ starring Frederick De Grandpre and scheduled for release in November of 2006.  Since 1992, Rebecca has studied with Warren Robertson, formerly from the Actor’s Studio in New York, who has been a major influence on her approach to acting…...and life. 

 

Rebecca Dewey

Christina has been dancing for over 25 years in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre.  She studied dance in Lethbridge, Las Vegas, Coaldale, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Arizona and Chicago. 

Christina has appeared in numerous musical productions including Oklahoma, Anything Goes, Finian’s Rainbow and A Chorus Line.  She choreographed the 2003 production of A Music Man for Lethbridge Musical Theatre. 

Christina has been teaching for over 10 years in various Southern Alberta communities.  She owed the Gotta Dance studio in the Crowsnest Pass and has taught at Medicine Hat College Conservatory of Music and Dance.  Currently, she teaches at her own studio — Gotta Dance Medicine Hat — and at Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Crowsnest Pass.

Christina Samson

Kanis began her dance training in Taber, Alberta at the young age of four.  She has been studying various forms of dance such as tap, jazz, contemporary, ballet, lyrical, hip hop and musical theatre for the past 20 years.  Kandis has also had training with various acrobatics such as the web, hoops, silks and bungee.   She has been awarded numerous scholarships that have taken her around North America to places such as Vancouver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York. 

Kandis’ credits include training with the Royal Winnepeg Ballet School as well as being featured in a production of Nutcracked.  She then began working with Jean Ann Ryan Productions, a company based out of Miami, on various cruise ships such as the M/S Norwegian Dawn, Star and Crown for just over three years touring around numerous countries. 

Kandis Span