Our Students

Born and trained in Cuba at La ENA, Havana, Cuba, Arsenio gained a BFA and professional credentials in Modern Dance Performance and Teaching. He joined Compania Danza Teatro del Caribe as Principal Dancer and Tutor, and then the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, touring extensively internationally as a dancer and choreographer.

Currently, Arsenio teaches Cuban Modern Contemporary and traditional dance forms on the faculty at Ryerson University’s degree Dance Program, as well as with other companies and schools in Toronto. He is artist in residence in CoDanco Suriname, participated in Vanguardia Festival in 2016, choreographed for and performed in Dance Ontario 2017, was a 2018 Dora Mayor dance adjudicator and has participated as a presenter in On The Move 2018. In 2019, he re-mounted his work Congo Laye for Ballet Creole’s season.

Techniques: Cuban Modern & Contemporary, Afro-Cuban Traditional Dance Forms

Background:  Classical Ballet, Cuban Modern Technique and Afro Cuban, Contemporary Limon

Kaitlyn Seibold is an emerging artist and dance educator who recently received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Performance Degree from Ryerson University, During her training, she began to develop her choreographic voice and created a multitude of works that were chosen to be featured in EnChoreo 2017, Choreographic Works 2018, Choreographic Works 2019, and Springworks 2019. She was awarded the Lipson Family Endowment Award for the most promising emerging choreographer. Throughout her professional training, she was able to work with many prominent choreographers including Robert Glumbeck, Matjash Mrozewski, Vicki St. Denys, Angela Blumberg, Josh Beamish, Ryan Lee, Hanna Keil, and Apolonia Velasquez. Knowledgeable in many techniques and styles of dance, Seibold’s choreography respects the technique of classical training and the understanding of lines, clarity, movement quality, and rigor. Her studies pertain to discovering boundaries between physicalized theatre and contemporary movement while exploring the meaning of gesture and recognizing physical impulses. Her most recent work Birth of a B was featured in the Night Shift platform at the Citadel & Compagine, Toronto ON. This choreography was inspired by researcher Laurence Packer and the study of wild bees.

As a dancer, teacher and choreographer, Meera Kanageswaran continues to learn and experiment with Bharathanatyam. Meera’s unique vision is to use Bharathanatyam to tell contemporary, secular stories. Meera established her dance school Confidance Bharatham in 2006, where she teaches Bharathanatyam and provides a space for students to explore contemporary choreographies. In her performance career, Meera has danced in Germany, Switzerland, India, South Africa, the US and Canada. Her recent choreographic works include Destructive Desires and Balancing on the Hyphen. As a current student pursuing her MFA in dance at York University, she is interested in exploring Bharathanatyam in the Sri Lankan Tamil context, especially in the Tamil diaspora.

Michael Vintila is an emerging instructor, performer and choreographer. From a young age, he adapted his current artistic capabilities by drawing knowledge previously attained through various acclaimed fine art programs around Toronto such as Claude Watson School for the Arts. His love for movement creation and well-being practices continues to flourish by challenging himself with new and unique ways to manifest creative movement ideas. By investigating innovative methods through an integration of fundamentals such as fitness, politics and philosophy supported through the collective lens of dance, Michael wishes to enhance the overall experience of both non-dancers and dance professionals.

Paulo Alcedo was born and raised in the Philippines where he received extensive training in Philippine Folk Dance in the University of the Philippines’ Filipiniana Dance Group. He furthered his training in Contemporary Jazz and Modern Dance under Douglas Nierras’ Powerdance Company and toured with them in Asia and North America. Before moving to Toronto, Alcedo moved to Los Angeles California after being casted as the lead male dancer for the musical Judah Ben Hur in Singapore.

In 2002, he won a one-year dance scholarship at the Edge Performing Arts Centre in Hollywood, California. There he studied under noted choreographers, such as Ryan Heffington (Sia), Brian Friedman (Britney Spears), Mandy Moore (La La Land), Eddie Garcia (Michael Jackson), Tyce Diorio (So You Think You Can Dance), among many others. After graduating from the program, he performed at the Hollywood Bowl, San Francisco’s Monster Park, Hubbard Street Dance Theatre Dance Studio in Chicago Illinois, Araneta Colliseum Philippines, Mall of Asia Arena Philippines and Lincoln Centre in New York City.

For more than ten years, he served as the Associate Director of the scholarship program of the Athletic Garage Dance studio in Pasadena California and taught jazz/contemporary classes. Alcedo also danced with numerous dance companies and in television networks all over Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, Hysterica Dance Company, Commonality Dance Company, Collage Dance Theatre, Strange Company, Hi- Fashion Band, PBS Socal Channel and the Oprah Winfrey Show. In addition, he toured with the Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide. In 2016, he danced for the music video entitled “Free Drink Ticket” by Peaches. His commercial and movie credits include Coca Cola, American Apparel, and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Proud of his Filipino heritage, Alcedo accepted the artistic directorship of Culture Philippines of Ontario, a Filipino Folk and Contemporary dance group based in Mississauga. His area of research is contemporizing traditional dances.