“Our experienced and certified instructors approach every class with professionalism and care.
Our faculty members are dedicated to teaching correct technique while instilling a love for dance at every age.
I am honoured to be surrounded with so much talent and commitment.“
– Miss Tyra Sergeant
Miss Tyra Sergeant began dancing at the age of three at the Delta Recreation Centre, “sneaking” into the class a year earlier than allowed. She connected with the art form immediately, as well as with her instructor, Miss Flora Pigeau. As she grew up, Tyra continued her training at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy, under Flora Pigeau’s direction. She danced in ballet, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, and modern, completed her Royal Academy of Dance examinations, and competed at local competitions.
Tyra was passionate about teaching at a very early age. She began assisting in ballet classes as the age eleven and continued to assist until Miss Pigeau hired her at age 17 to teach independently at the Academy and the Delta Recreation Centre. Directly after high school, Tyra attended the Simon Fraser University, pursuing a career as a school teacher while continuing to teach ballet at the Academy. As she approached university graduation, with a major in English and a minor in Psychology as well as extensive education courses, she realized that teaching dance was such an important part of her life that she did not want to give up. It perfectly paired her love for education and the arts. She decided to slightly switch her life plan and began pursuing teaching ballet full time.
With Flora Pigeau’s retirement in the near future, Tyra began preparing to buy the Academy that had become her second home. In 2010, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance teacher training program under R.A.D. examiner Lynnette Kelley’s mentorship. She bought the Academy in 2011 and began her new role as Artistic Director with Flora Pigeau’s blessing.
Under Miss Tyra’s direction and the legacy that was established many years ago by Flora Pigeau, the Academy continues to flourish. In 2016, Tyra expanded the Academy to offer even more classes and disciplines to her students. She is thankful to be surrounded every day by talented instructors, choreographers, and students who fill her days with inspiration and positivity.
She lives in Surrey with her husband and three daughters who all dance at the Academy. Tyra is passionate about dance and helping each of her dancers attain their personal best. She strongly believes that her dance training was instrumental in shaping her into the woman she is today and is passionate about sharing this with young people in the community. She is excited to direct the Academy to further success in the future by continuing to pair innovative ideas with the fundamentals of classical technique set out by her professional mentors.
Celina Booth was born and raised in Greater Vancouver. She began her dance career at the young age of four. Her passion continued to grow with age. At nine years old, she was training in all dance styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, musical theatre, hip hop and tap at various dance studios in the Lower Mainland. Some studios that Celina has trained at includes Spiral Dance Co., Dance In Motion, Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver, Movement Lifestyle, Millennium Dance Complex and Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in Los Angeles, California.
At 14, Celina started attending the Langley Fine Arts School in Fort Langley, where she majored in dance to consistently focus on her craft during the school day and found an interest in hip hop and contemporary choreography.
Upon high school graduation, Celina felt it was important to continue her training. Gravitating towards hip hop and street styles, she joined Vancouver based commercial hip hop dance company, “Kill The Lights” run out of Harbour Dance Centre under the direction of Ken Yung and Shauna Smith. While every aspect of KTL played a key role in Celina’s growth as a hip hop dancer, it was the teaching component that really sparked her interest and ultimately led to her pursuing a career in choreography and teaching.
Since completing two years of training with KTL, Celina has taught at multiple studios in the Lower Mainland including Street Kings Academy of Dance and Team Canada. She looks forward to building a career both in choreography and teaching while still continuing to train as a dancer herself.
Nicki Hobbis started her dance training at our Academy at the age of four. She trained extensively in ballet, completing her all Royal Academy of Dance Exams including Advanced 2 and was the Senior Ballet Provincial Champion. At age 17, Nicki was awarded an apprenticeship and then a professional contract at the Banff Festival Ballet. Nicki then went on to dance professionally at Ballet Jorgen in Toronto. She has worked and performed pieces by many world renowned coaches and choreographers such as Annette Av Paul, Arnold Spohr, Crystal Pite, Mark Godden and Bengt Jorgen.
In 2001, Nicki joined our staff and in 2005 achieved Distinction on her Royal Academy of Dance Teaching Certificate. Nicki is proud to be back where she found her love for dance. Her goal is to help each dancer realize their own passion and personal success in dance.
Elysia Matheson grew up dancing in North Vancouver, BC. At 16, Elysia was accepted into the Source Dance Company under the direction of Joanne Pesusich, offering many performance opportunities throughout Vancouver including the Vancouver International Dance Festival and Vancouver Fashion Week. Elysia was also a part of Ruckus Company Productions with Brock Jellison, for his premiere show, 77 Mins. In 2011, Elysia was one of 140 dancers to travel to Toronto, Ontario for the finals of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Season 4.
With much of her professional training coming from Harbour Dance Centre, Elysia has also had opportunities to travel for dance, including studying at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the Edge Performing Arts Centre in Los Angeles, as well as Broadway Dance Centre and Steps in New York City. Currently, Elysia is teaching and performing throughout Greater Vancouver, sharing her passion with local young artists.
Marissa Miller has had a passion for the performing arts since a very young age. She started training in gymnastics at the age of three, as well as years of training in jazz, musical theatre, lyrical, ballet, and modern dance, however, it wasn’t until she had a backstage tour of a Cirque Du Soleil show that she found her true passion for the circus arts. Marissa became a member of West Coast Contortion and Acrobatics where she began training and performing in the elite discipline of Contortion with Anne Lawton.
Over the years Marissa has had the privilege of training under world-renowned Mongolian contortionist, Otgo Waller, and Aerialist Kristi Toguchi of Las Vegas. She has performed in various private and corporate events throughout the lower mainland and has taken her A.F.S.A (Acrobatic Federation of South African) examinations. Marissa is now a Certified Flexibility Instructor through Deflying Fitness.
She is excited to share her passion of this beautiful art form through performing and teaching dancers how to accomplish their artistic goals.
Eliana McFarlane began dancing with our Academy at the age of three. She trained intensively in ballet, jazz, and lyrical. At the age of twelve, she was introduced to the world of hip hop and stage. Excelling in both, she particularly fell in love with hip hop and became the pioneer of the genre at our Academy. While continuing her training at the Academy, Eliana was the Senior Stage Representative for the Chilliwack Lions Club Festival and competed for hip hop internationally with PraiseTeens from PraiseTeam Studio.
Eliana became a student-teacher for preschool ballet when she was twelve years old. She trained for all her Royal Academy of Dance Examinations and gravitated towards the enthusiasm and energy that the little ones brought to every ballet class. Eliana is now teaching both ballet and hip hop at the Academy. Her goal as an instructor is to allow her students to feel free to express themselves through dance, as well as assist in the growth of each and every one of her students.
Jeanette Ostrom started ballet at the age of three at the North Delta Recreation Centre. After dancing for a year there, she moved to the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy and it has been her second home ever since. Jeanette trained in many styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, and modern, however she always had a special passion for ballet. She has completed ten Royal Academy of Dance exams, including Advanced 2, and graduated from the Academy in 2017.
Jeanette began assistant teaching when she was 12 years old, assisting specifically in the Grade 1 ballet class for six years. Her passion for teaching and choreography has continued to grow and she now teaches in the Ballet Program.
Jeanette is currently attending Simon Fraser University, studying sciences.
She is the main administrative assistant at the Academy.
Miss Lexi is an independent dance artist, maker, and educator who has the privilege of living and working on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She has interpreted and performed the works of companies and choreographers such as Shay Kuebler RSA, the response, Outinnerspace Dance Theatre, The Party, Theatre Replacement, Company 605, Kinesis Dance, plastic orchid factory, The Party, Delia Brett, Cindi Mochizuki, Sasha Kleinplatz, Daisy Thompson and Emmalena Frederiksson.
Her independent choreographies investigate alternative and peripheral spaces for choreography as well as collaborative creative practices. Lexi was also awarded the 2016 Mayor’s Arts Award for emerging dance artist.
In addition to teaching and choreographing at our Academy, Lexi teaches contemporary technique in various contexts such as the Training Society of Vancouver, Modus Operandi contemporary training program, and at Harbour Dance Centre. Throughout the last ten years, she has taught at local studios throughout the lower mainland and has enjoyed developing her teaching practices alongside her professional work.
Kristina Villanueva began dancing at our Academy at the age of three. She trained extensively in Ballet, Moodern, Jazz, Lyrical, and Contemporary. While attending the Academy, she also was as assistant teacher for five years.
She has now graduated from Simon Fraser University in the Contemporary Arts Program. At SFU, she has worked with many talented local artists such as Marla Eist, Rob Kitsos, former Martha Graham company member Judith Garay, former Merce Cunningham company member Megan Walker Straight, and Vancouver choreographer, Wen Wei Wang. She has also worked with international artists such as Sarah Chase, Yossi Berg and Oded Graf Dance Theatre.
Kristina is excited to be teaching and choreographing at the Academy. She continues to help her dancers reach their full potential while sharing her passion for dance.
Tiffannie Wong started dancing at the age of three at our Academy. She was classically trained in ballet by Flora Pigeau for fifteen years, completing her Royal Academy of Dance examinations and competing locally. Her studies focused mostly in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and modern. She balanced dancing competitively with teaching and studying piano throughout Elementary and High School.
After graduating from our Academy, she spent four years at Simon Fraser University continuing her focus in contemporary and ballet training under mentors such as Rob Kitsos, Judith Garay, and Edmond Kilpatrick. While training, she was simultaneously teaching at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy as well as the North Delta Recreation Centre. Through teaching, she discovered her passion for instilling a love of the arts in the next generation of artists. Tiffannie graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts majoring in Dance. She continues to pursue and refine her passion for teaching children in dance and piano, using her strengths: patience, musicality, and eye for detail.
She resides in North Delta with her husband and two sons. Every day, she strives to be a positive influence in her students’ lives.
Our Academy is honoured to partner with talented choreographers. Guest choreographers work with group dances and individual competitors to create new artistic pieces that follow current trends in dance.
Kitri is our Academy mascot and resident support animal. She was born on April 1st, 2021. From a little pup, she has spent most of her days at the studio. She was named after the soloist role from the classical ballet Don Quixote. In the ballet, Kitri is a feisty, independent and free-spirited daughter of a Spanish inn keeper. It is an energetic role, much like our Academy mascot!
Meet Kitri:
I hope to meet you soon because I absolutely love people! You may hear me bark sometimes, but it’s just to make sure everyone is safe or I am really excited to see you. I love to be around all of the dancers (but careful not to give me any of your food because I only have a very small stomach). My favourite part of the day is seeing the dancers at the studio. I like to cheer everyone up so feel free to give be a gentle pet or belly rub. I can even calm down Miss Tyra when she is a little stressed! And don’t worry, if you don’t like being around dogs, I am perfectly happy being in the office too.
Flora began dancing at 4 years of age with Canadian Dance World under the direction of Josephine Slater. Flora’s mother was a professional ballet dancer with La Scala in Milan, Italy and it was her wish to introduce her daughter to the life of dance. She continued her dance training, focussing on Royal Academy of Dance ballet and modern dance. At an early age, she began teaching with Canadian Dance World where her passion for teaching developed. She later branched out on her own and the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy was formed. She attained the RAD teachers diploma and trained numerous students over the years. Many went on to become dance teachers and professional dancers including her own two daughters Melanie and Amanda.
Flora has been extremely grateful for all of the loving connections she has made with her students and teachers over the 35 years with the Academy. Tyra Sergeant was one of those special students. It became evident to her as she was preparing to step down that Tyra was the one qualified and ready to step in. Tyra became Artistic Director and owner of the Academy, now know as the Central Dance Academy. Tyra continues to carry on the integrity and standard of the Academy and Flora is grateful to see her continuing to carry the torch to the highest of standards.
Flora continues to share her passion for dance adjudicating and coaching dancers. Since retiring, she has earned her black belt in Taekwondo, studies yoga, and enjoys travelling.