Flora Pigeau has been classically trained in Royal Academy of Dance ballet, she also had extensive training in modern with Norbert Vesak and danced professionally with Vivaldi Concert Dancers.

Her professional teaching career began with Canadian Dance World. Flora developed a dance program for the Delta Parks and Recreation Department that is still being taught by graduates of the Academy today. She established The Flora Pigeau Dance Academy over 30 years ago. Graduates of the Academy have pursued professional dance careers with Les Grands Ballets Canadien, Ballets Jorgen, Ballet North, Banff Festival Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Alberta Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Montreal Modern Dance Companies, Cruise Lines, Theatre under the Stars, and B.C. Lions Dancers.

Many students have been accepted to dance with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, National Ballet School, Banff School of Fine Arts, New York City Ballet School and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Several graduates have pursued professional careers as dance teachers in Canada and the United States. Seven of the teachers on faculty are graduates of the academy. Since 1987 students have been B.C. Provincial Festival of the Arts winners and international finalists.

In 1993 Flora was awarded the “Women of Distinction award”. She holds the Royal Academy of Dance Teacher’s diploma and is currently teaching the Junior, Intermediate and Senior ballet division.

Michelle has been dancing with Flora Pigeau Dance Academy since the age of 3. Since becoming a graduate of the studio, she has taught the Junior Ballet program since 1993, with specialization in the Pre-School programs. In addition, she has a Bachelor of Arts and her teaching degree from Simon Fraser University and is currently teaching in the Surrey School district.

A graduate of the Academy, Colleen began dancing with Flora Pigeau at the age of four. Throughout her training she studied ballet and modern dance. She has taught at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy since 2001. In addition, Colleen has been very involved in the community, teaching numerous Parks and Recreation programs for children. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and teaching diploma from Simon Fraser University. She is currently teaching throughout the lower mainland.

Nicki is a graduate of the academy and former B.C. Festival of the Arts Provincial winner in the senior ballet category. Upon graduation she continued on to dance professionaly with The Banff Festival of the Arts, Ballet North, and Ballet Jorgen. Nicki has recently attained the Royal Academy of Dance Teaching Certificate with Distinction. This will be Nicki’s fifth season teaching at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy.

Tyra began dancing when she was three years old. Now as a graduate of the studio, her passion for dance is passed on to her students. Her repertoire includes training in ballet, modern, jazz, lyrical, and musical theatre. She has extensive experience working with children through various Parks and Recreation and volunteer programs. Currently she specializes in the Junior ballet program at the studio. She is also studying at Simon Fraser University working towards becoming an elementary school teacher.

At the young age of three, Kelly started her training at the FPDA and graduated from the Academy 14 years later. While completing her R.A.D. exams through to Advanced, she was accepted to train with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and the Banff Centre for Performing Arts. Her post-graduation training took place at Main Dance Projects Society where she fell in love with the art of modern dance. There she studied many forms of modern dance such as Graham, Labon Notation, Contact Improvisation and Bhuto. She was honoured to be able to work with many artists such as Helen Walkley, Margie Gillis, Barbara Bourget and Sylvain Brochu while performing around the City of Vancouver. During this time she also sought training at Toronto Dance Theatre where she had the opportunity to work with great artists such as David Earl and Christopher House. Kelly has been teaching at the FPDA since 1998 and is looking forward to many years to come.

Jessica was a student of the academy for sixteen years. She trained and competed in ballet, jazz and modern and graduated from the studio in 2000. She went on to dance for the BC Lions Pride Dance Team. She has continued to teach jazz at the studio since graduating.

Kristen began dancing at the age of four with the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy, and is trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, modern, tap and musical theatre. She recently returned from China, where she was touring with a professional dance company based out of Las Vegas, and has also performed through out the Caribbean, while dancing aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

She is currently a member of the Source Dance Company, based out of Vancouver, and is a member of the B.C Lions Dance Team. Kristen has been teaching at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy since 2003 and has also taught at various schools throughout Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Dancer since the age of three, Tiffannie Wong, has recently joined the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy’s faculty as an instructor of the Junior Ballet and Jazz programs. Tiffannie is a graduate of the Academy and was trained in ballet, jazz and lyrical. Although she is a new addition to the faculty, she is not a novice when it comes to aptly teaching, choreographing and working with dancers of all ages and abilities. Tiffannie’s sessional evaluations at the North Delta Recreation Centre over the past two years have been consistently superb. Her passion for working with children will continue to draw her to this teaching environment for years to come. Tiffannie’s personal dancing endeavors also continue as she is currently working through a dancing major at Simon Fraser University, which highlights contemporary dance.

Simone Orlando is a classically trained dance artist, working as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Her professional career began in 1991 and she has pursued and endured intense challenges in her discipline in an attempt to make a unique contribution to performance, choreography, and mentoring.

Born in Vancouver, Simone began her training at age 11 at the Carisbrooke School of Dance, the Vancouver Academy of Dance and the Goh Ballet Academy. She later graduated from the National Ballet School in Toronto, and went on to dance with the National Ballet of Canada (touring across Canada, to Europe and Asia), and Desrosiers Dance Theatre (touring to Brazil and Aruba). Simone has been with Ballet BC since 1998 where she has had the opportunity to work with acclaimed choreographers such as James Kudelka, Serge Bennathan, Mark Godden, Dominique Dumais, Jean Grand-Maître, and John Alleyne.

Simone’s part-time studies at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design prompted her to turn her creative energy toward choreography in 1997. Her choreographic credits include two commissioned group pieces for the Ballet BC Mentor Program (wake, 2000, and cart, 2003); a solo piece in collaboration with photo-based artist Mia Weinberg for which she received assistance from the BC Arts Council (the I unbound, 2000); a group piece for Arts Umbrella (Kinderlied, 2001); a piece for three Ballet BC dancers (blow away all this idleness, Dancing on the Edge Festival, 2001); and her first piece of choreography for film/TV, (Chimère, Moving Pictures Festival/Bravo!TV, 2000). In addition, Simone has created over 20 solos for students at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy, many of which have been performed at the annual BC Festival of the Arts.

In July of 2003, Simone attended workshops for emerging choreographers at the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna, Austria. Shortly after her return, she received a grant from the BC Arts Council to research and develop movement in order to further define her voice as a contemporary ballet choreographer. Simone was the inaugural recipient of the Performing Arts Commission at the Vancouver Arts Awards in March 2004. Simone is the recipient of the 2006 Clifford E. Lee award.

Shannon Moreno was born in Vancouver and studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Rudra Bejart Ballet. Upon graduation, she worked, as a professional dancer with the Goteborg Operan in Sweden under the direction of Robert North, Maurice Bejart at Rudra Bejart Ballet in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Deutsche Oper Am Rhein in Dusseldorf, Germany, under the direction of Youri Vamos.

She worked closely with international choreographers, such as Christopher Bruce, Mats Ek, Richard Wherlock, Judith Marcuse, Gail Lotenberg and Helen Walkley. She has adjudicated the dance section of the BC Festival of the Arts and The Performing Arts Festival in Quesnel, Naniamo and Courtney. She enjoys teaching and choreographing for private dance schools in British Columbia, Germany and England. Shannon has been a choreographer with the academy since 2003.