AMY GILLEN


"Miss Amy" Gillen hails from Sydney, Cape Breton, where she began dancing at the age of 3 years at the renowned MacDonald Dance Academy under the direction of Doris MacDonald. During her years as a student, Amy progressed through the grades of the N.A.T.D. syllabus (National Association of Teachers of Dancing), and went on to achieve her Associate (teaching) level with the N.A.T.D. in 1993. At that time she began teaching her own classes on the staff of M.D.A.
In 2000, when Doris retired, Amy became a full time faculty member and has been very active in directing their competition team to victory at many dance competitions over the course of her illustrious career. She currently teaches Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Contemporary and will be directing the newly formed Nova Dance Studio Competitive Team in 2008-2009.

Amy is dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of the dance scene and travels as far as L.A. to train with celebrity teachers such as Shane Sparks, Blake MacGrath and Mandy Moore. She has also observed first hand the teaching methods of Master Ballet teacher Robert "Ballet Bob" McCallum from the National Ballet of Canada.

Other teaching experiences have included off-ice training for the skaters of the Cape Breton Figure Skating Association and choreography for numerous events throughout the region.

Dance is Miss Amy's passion and she extends this love of the art form to the training and guidance of all of her students. We welcome "Miss Amy" to the staff of Nova Dance and look forward to another successful dance year.