Our
Instructors
Seymour Dance prides itself on offering some of the best classes in the city with highly-trained faculty. From being an alumni of the the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to working on hit TV shows and productions like Riverdale and the Descendents, our staff are both working professionals in the arts industries and experienced in childhood education. We welcome you to explore our team with our interactive page, and get to know our teachers and their passions!
Marissa Heaven
Owner, Studio Director & Faculty: Samba, Latin
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Marissa has always loved to dance and grew up dancing with the Seymour Dance family since she was 3 years old. She trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, contemporary and lyrical. Marissa began dancing salsa when she turned 19 and her passion was ignited. Since then Marissa has trained, performed and competed across Canada, the U.S. and Latin America.
She currently dances with a Latin dance company called Dance Vancouver. With them she has earned 3 consecutive Canadian Amateaur Salsa Champion titles at the Canadian National competition.
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Marissa is also the Band & Strings Director at Windsor Secondary School next door where she teaches a multitude of Concert Bands, Jazz Bands and Chamber String Orchestra. Marissa also helped create and oversee the NVSD Dance Academy that we run with the North Vancouver School District.
Lauren Overholt
Owner, Artistic Director
Faculty: Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical, Stage, Ballet
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Lauren Overholt is a Choroegrapher, Dancer, and actor. Born and raised in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, and is a Seymour Dance Alumni! Lauren has been performing since the age of 2 in various styles of dance. She has recently trained at NYU Tisch and has performed all over Canada, Spain, and a 22 city touring show in China, with the Dragonfly Orchestra.
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Lauren ran her own boutique entertainment company Enfuse Entertainment, which specializes in mashing up different styles to create amazing performances for any audience. Lauren also has a passion for TV & Film as well, starring in shows such as Supernatural, Bates Motel, and recently finished dancing on a feature film with Steve Carall. Her dedication and love for the arts, keeps her constantly creating and learning.
Katie Gillett
Owner, Operations Director & Faculty: Lyrical, Jazz, Acro
Certified in Acrobatic Arts
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Katie began her dancing career at the age of 5 at Seymour Dance. She completed the RAD Ballet exams Pre Primary through Intermediate. She trained and competed in Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Musical Theatre and Singing as well as going through a pre-professional dancer program.
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Katie performed, competed, danced, sang and played the trumpet at numerous festivals across the lower mainland and throughout the province, including Canadian Idol in 2002. She also danced professionally with the BC Lions Felions Dance Team from 2006-2009 and performed at many Grey Cups and events across Canada!
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Jessica Heaven
Communications Director & NVSD Academy Coordinator
Faculty: Broadway Bound, Ballet, Stars
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Jessica is a jack-of-all-trades vocalist, actor, and dancer who has performed in a variety of genres, including oratorio, jazz, folk, rock, musical theatre, and much more. Studying under Kelly Nobles, Jennifer Scott, and Kate Hammett-Vaughan, she was honored to perform a world premiere work, "Museum Pieces" by Juno award-winning composer Jordan Nobles for Canada Music Week 2012 and has had the pleasure to play with artists Chad Makela, Dave Sikula, Bernie Arai, Mike Rud, John Stowell, Vince Mai, and Len Aruliah, to name a few.