All lead teachers at Little Feet Little Faces hold their ECE (Early Childhood Education) and are registered with the College of Early Childhood Educators as RECE’s, or are educated in Childhood Education and completed their Bachelor of Elementary Education. In addition, we have staff registered with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). These are highly respected professional organisations which ensure that the teachers dealing with your child are working to their professional standards. We also have specialised teachers in French, Dance and Music. These specialised teachers help us decrease the teacher/child ratios from 1:8 to 1:4 during these specialised lesson class times. In addition to being education specialists many of our staff have experience and training in a spectrum of Dance, RAD Ballet, Gymnastics, and Music/Piano as well as Performance Experience including Dance, Music, and Theatre.
There are 8 languages spoken by our Little Feet Little Faces staff including English, French, Spanish, Slovak, German, Hindi, Filipino, and Korean. All of our staff have a passion for the arts and amazing abilities in the various areas of the arts. As per the Ministry requirements, all staff members have their Standard First Aid including infant and child CPR, issued by a training agency recognised by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Our Staff are also trained and experienced inEPI Pen training. In addition, as per Ontario government stipulations all staff have undergone a Police Reference Check with the Toronto Police Services.
With our extensive spectrum of educational concepts, guided by some of our city’s finest, our children’s minds will be stimulated, their souls will be inspired and they will learn to effortlessly embrace the wonder and beauty of the world around them.
Little Feet Little Faces Staff
Little Feet Little Faces is growing! Our enrolments are expanding along with our staff. At Little Feet Little Faces we believe that your child deserves the highest quality of care and education. This is why we employ accomplished teachers that are highly educated and passionate about your child's learning and well being. Below you will find a preview of the personalised bios of each teacher to help you get to know our amazing LFLF teaching staff:
Administrative Director
OCT
Ms Judie is certified with The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) as well as being a Kindermusik educator, teaching music & movement programs with children from birth to 7 years of age. After attending Branksome Hall School during her high school years, Ms Judie attended the University of Toronto where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and then continued her studies in Information Technology before pursuing a post-graduate degree in Education from D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY. During her distinguished time in the IT industry, she did not have children of her own but after being surrounded by children of her family members and close friends as well as at the suggestion of a work colleague, she started to consider a career that would allow her to work with children. Since she believed that the role of an IT support specialist and that of a teacher both involved patience, education and understanding the needs of others, she decided to leave the IT field and join the education industry.
In addition to her formal training and experience in the education field, she also studied piano through The Royal Conservatory of Music method during her elementary years which helped build the foundation for her love of music. This love consequently led her to also love moving and dancing to music as one of her favourite passions. She is constantly looking for creative ways to teach children so that learning is always fun! She also believes that young children are little sponges of knowledge at this age and is a big advocate of taking advantage of educating children at an early age through the use of the Arts. The Arts are no longer considered as important in the public curriculum and always seem to be the first programs eliminated during school budget cuts, hence why she loves the integrated curriculum provided at LFLF as children have much to gain academically through learning through the Arts.
Now, with two children of her own, Ms Judie is ready to experience education from the administrative side of things, which will allow her the flexibility to continue working in an environment dedicated to educating young minds as well as enjoying the growth of her own children during off-school hours. Everyday Ms Judie is always excited to bring her 11 years of experience working with children from infancy to grade 5 to Little Feet Little Faces. She knows that her passion for teaching and love of children is a strong asset to the wonderful community at LFLF.
Supervisor
RECE
Ms Krysten is a registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) who graduated from Humber College obtaining honour roll semester after semester and has worked at LFLF as a lead teacher prior to obtaining her Supervisor role. She brings with her many years of experience working with children from different backgrounds, home environments and capabilities. During her role as a lead teacher, Ms Krysten implemented policies and procedures that coincide with the standards required by the Ministry of Education, as well as following the high standards of the Public Health Department. She has worked with children ranging in age from two to twelve years old in afterschool programs, toddler daycare programs, and summer camps as well as a volunteer in the TDSB working with diagnostic kindergartens and a special education class of children with various special needs. Her love of being around children started when she began attending summer camp that focused on the Dramatic Arts from the age of 7 which she continued every year up until she was 18. Even from a young age, Ms Krysten was such a helpful child with the camp staff that after a few years, she was noticed by the camp director who picked up on Ms Krysten’s passion for fellow children and camp life, then engaged her around the camp as an extra set of hands for the staff, eventually asking her to be a camp counselor when she was old enough. While attending camp for many years, she came to the conclusion that her true passion was working with children. Her first job after graduating from Humber College was with preschool children where she stayed over a year. This is where she found her love of the preschool age and is excited that she is able to continue it here at Little Feet Little Faces. All of her experiences have helped develop Ms Krysten’s personal philosophy: “Children learn best through shared experiences of empathy and they should be taught in a nurturing, secure environment through age appropriate, hands-on, play-based learning.” Her development of curriculum strongly focuses on expression of self awareness through the Arts, and exploring age appropriate elements of Science. It is her desire as an educator to motivate, inspire, guide and teach children based on their own uniqueness.
Throughout grade school and into high school Ms Krysten studied the amazing world of Dramatic Arts. She remembers being a child and watching the Wizard Of Oz, and learning all the words and knowing them all by heart. Roll playing the character of Dorothy and her special journey through Oz greatly inspired Ms Krysten to allow herself to start her love and development of the Arts. She has been an active participant in drama clubs throughout her life, acted in many school plays and even starred in her own creation of The Wizard of Oz. It is safe to say that this movie has shaped her love for the Dramatic Arts and Dance. During her elementary years, she also participated in Jazz classes and she experimented in her exposure to a wide spectrum of dance classes in high school which included hip-hop classes. Ever since then, creating dances, wearing colourful outfits and being cheerfully playful around all ages of children has always been a daily fun and joyful experience for her.
There are many parts to Ms Krysten’s day at LFLF as Supervisor but her favourite part is being able to make a difference to a little one’s day whether it is turning a frown upside down into a smile, getting excited when she sees the masterpieces that the children have completed or helping a little one find a lost stuffie around the school. Allowing all of the LFLF children to feel safe yet free to flourish and recognize their fullest potential has always been an important element of her teaching style and now as a Supervisor, she can ensure all the children at LFLF that every cloud has a silver lining during their days at Preschool and loves to remind everyone that rainbows are the best part of every rainy day. She is also a huge believer in the magical world of fairy tales with all of its uplifting and positive messages. She always believes there’s going to be a happy ending to everyone’s story. This is why she is truly excited to be a part of the amazing staff at Little Feet Little Faces so she can help bring that joy to LFLF children and remind them to tap their heels 3 times and they will always find their way home.
Lead Teacher
RECE/OCT
Ms Aneika is a dual-qualified RECE and OCT Educator who has worked at LFLF since the summer of 2011. She obtained her Early Childhood Education (ECE) degree after graduating from George Brown College and had gone back to further her love of education at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to obtain her primary/junior qualifications, leading to her OCT certification. Ms Aneika has also studied piano with the Hamel School of Music and danced throughout her childhood as well as trained in gymnastics and acrobatics. She remembers at an early age how important it is to have both structure and freedom to explore different mediums of the Arts. She continues her dance training in the areas of Ballet, Jazz, Modern and Hip Hop at City Dance Corps. Ms Aneika has been teaching for 8 years in a variety of Early Childhood settings and has brought with her a wealth of experience and a caring attitude of patience and nurture. With her love of the Arts and education she has a strong belief that every child deserves an opportunity to fulfill their own personal love for learning.
Ms Aneika looks forward to every day at LFLF as she brings her wealth of knowledge for education and love of the Arts to her children. Her personal charm and infectious giggles fill up the school with an energy that attracts both children and adults. You will often find Ms Aneika creating extra play activities for the LFLF children, as they always know that she will come up with elaborate, creative ideas showing her artistic side!
OCT (in process)
Class 5/Jk-Sk
Ms. Andrea finished her degree of Bachelor of Elementary Education with a Specialization in Special Education from Southville International School and College in the Philippines. Her first course was Psychology however she decided later on that her heart belongs to teaching and thus pursued education. Ms Andrea has currently returned from a three-month trip furthering her education studies in the Philippines where she completed her licensing test that will allow her to register with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). As a student of education, Ms. Andrea has experiences teaching children in public and private schools as well as children with additional needs. She also has experience with Montessori teaching from her practicum and her first job in Canada.
Throughout her childhood, Ms Andrea loved dancing around the house using tables as platform stages when her parents weren't looking. Thanks to the influence of the great music of Michael Jackson, she loved imitating his dance moves which led to her interest in Hip-Hop. It was from the early age of 12 that she began her journey into formal Hip-Hop dance classes. During her years in high school, Ms. Andrea was very active in extracurricular activities in school. She was an active member in the choir, cheerleading and especially dancing with her dance troupe that won many championships, also competing yearly in the biggest street dance competitions in the Philippines. She regularly auditioned for annual school plays, while performing up front and center in many of them. Not only did Ms Andrea have a love of dancing, she also loved the Visual Arts, drawing Animé pictures when she was just a child before taking formal art classes was a regular pass time for her in high school. Ms Andrea truly believes that being active in the Performing Arts separates you from being just a student. Being active in the Performing Arts means knowing your passion, living your passion, having fun with your passion and feeling a sense of fulfillment with your accomplishments. It is sharing what you really love to do with others and knowing that they love to do it with you.
Right now, aside from teaching at LFLF, Ms Andrea volunteers with a child with autism on weekends and also attends as many dance classes as she is able to. She presently loves her dance classes at the Underground Centre where she regularly joins their Hip-Hop classes where many of our city's top dancers meet for a jam session weekly. Her enthusiasm is apparent within LFLF as she is always caught singing and dancing her way throughout the school with her little ones.
RECE
Class 3/4 - Intermediate Pre Ks
Ms.Prachiti is a registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) who earned her Early Childhood Care & Education diploma in 2005. Soon after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, she developed an interest in the field of education. She pursued a Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Management and additional Certifications in Counseling to equip herself with different skills to excel in the delivery of pre-school education. Ms.Prachiti also has more than 8 years of experience as an ECE Supervisor/ Deputy Director from Mumbai, India with a focus on innovations for learning and development in pre-school education and administration. Before moving to Canada, Ms.Prachiti was in charge of her family-run and operated Pre-school & Kindergarten school known as “Little Angels Eco-School” that has evolved through 28 years, and was responsible for directing and synchronizing activities for 40 teachers, 400+ children and their parents/guardians. Little Angels Eco-school is especially known for its distinctive method of education integrated with environmental awareness, music, arts & culture, yoga and sports. This unique approach was officially appreciated by the President of India Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in his letter to the school. Little Angels Eco-School is widely acknowledged to be the best pre-school by principals of various schools in Mumbai. Having worked as an Administrator and a co-ordinator over the years, she is most proud of her ability to connect with each and every child, and to identify each child’s learning requirements to develop innovations in curriculum. Also, her meticulous planning with strong communication skills has helped to cultivate cordial relationships with the school staff and parent community.
Since childhood, Ms.Prachiti has been actively involved with learning drama, theatre as well as music and has always boasted that the Arts were an important part of her school and college curriculum. She cherishes all her childhood dance performances, dress up events and stage acts, and is extremely thankful to have studied in a school system that gave an equal importance to Arts as the Academics. Ms Prachiti feels that the Arts create a positive impact in shaping a child’s personality. She is trained in Indian classical music – vocals and plays the harmonium as well. She has been conducting Music and movement sessions for little children throughout the years. Ms Prachiti is also passionate about acting & the performing arts and has been fortunate to be a part of the Indian movie industry for a few years. She received the Best Debutante Award for her performance in a 200 episodes TV series and also has a National award winning movie to her credit. The film was also screen at Cannes Film Festival. As an Actor/Educator she used this skill to develop theatre and drama skills in little children and has directed and executed stage shows on various themes like ‘We are the world’, Colours, Animal Kingdom, Rain, Incredible India and many more for 200+ children every year.
Ms Prachiti moved to Toronto in August 2014, and got an opportunity to work in the Community Development and Family Programs at the University of Toronto. She enjoyed working with the multicultural society and wanted to further her knowledge in Early Education by working extensively in the field. While working at the University of Toronto Drop-In, Ms Prachiti interacted with children and their parents/guardians together all the time. Also, as a parent of a toddler herself, she observed that there is a need for concrete developmental activities to provide little children with rich learning experiences before the school age as they are like little sponges of knowledge at the preschool age. Ms Prachiti feels that parents often seem to be concerned about keeping their children occupied and providing for their learning needs. She therefore started short learning programs as an effort to meet the requirements of both children and parents in order to lead to quality and fun learning time together. Ms Prachiti has been conducting these sessions since Nov. 2014 and is delighted that along with the other children, her son enjoys these classes very much as well.
Ms.Prachiti believes that every child is unique and has innate gifts and talents. The role of an educator is to help the children discover and develop by encouraging self- expression, imagination and enhancing their talents. She believes that the Arts and approaches towards making learning fun and innovative in order to attain ‘Holistic’ development in children are very important. Ms Prachiti feels that LFLF would be an amazing platform to enrich her career as an educator in Canada. She is looking forward to bringing out the little “actors” & “actresses” in our little friends at LFLF as she develops their imaginative side of the drama world.
RECE
Class 2/Junior Pre K
Ms Irene is a registered ECE, completing the Early Childhood Education program at Centennial College. She has two years of experience in a few childcare settings that included infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children ages 6 and up. Her studies at school provided her with many opportunities to grow and nurture skills that enables her to help children in their most crucial developmental stages. Her practicums allowed her to obtain hands-on experiences and apply theoretical knowledge such as being able to pick up on children’s cues and create experiences based on their interests. She ignites children’s inquiry by initiating teachable moments that spark their natural curiosity and helps with the developmental needs of children through careful planning and observations. Irene enjoys enriching children’s experiences with modeling, praising and reinforcing affirmative behaviours.
While growing up, dance and music had always been a big part of Irene’s life. As a child, she grew up surrounded by Greek music, but as she grew older, she expanded her interests to music of other cultures which led her to grow a strong appreciation for music of all backgrounds. She especially loves jazz, techno and classical music. Accompanying her love of music, Irene has also enjoyed learning diverse forms of dance. She participated in a Greek dance class where they danced to traditional music and folk dances as well as joining ballet classes as a child. In high school, she even added hip hop dance classes to her repertoire.
Throughout the elementary grades, Visual Art was Irene’s favourite class because it allowed her to freely express herself in ways that words don’t necessarily allow. She loves providing children with that same type of opportunity. As a teacher, her goal is to provide children with the resources that will enable them to get in touch with their emotions and creativity to express themselves just as she was able to do which makes her a perfect addition to the LFLF family.
RECE
Class 1/Mini Pre K
Ms Luna obtained her diploma from Mohawk Collage and has been working as an RECE for the last two years. She was inspired to go into childcare after having the fortunate opportunity of caring for her cousin full-time when her aunt returned to work. Her experiences with toddlers and preschoolers include the YMCA and YWCA in Hamilton as well as being the main teacher in a Toronto daycare’s preschool room before joining LFLF. Ms Luna loves all ages of preschool, however she treasures her days with the really little ones. Through her placement experience and work history with young children, Ms Luna has developed strong skills in planning and implementing age-appropriate learning activities that guide children towards positive behaviors, support children’s self-help and self-regulation skills. Her goal is to assist children to learn in a fun, creative and safe environment while contributing to their growth and well-being. Her greatest asset is calming the little ones that are transitioning into the preschool life, being away from their mommies and daddies for the first time, with her nurturing soul thanks to her own experience with her cousin. Ms Luna often becomes a second mom to our little ones, as all of the little ones at LFLF talk about Ms Luna all day long and love giving her lots of snuggles.
Growing up, Ms Luna loved to prance around her bedroom singing and dancing secretly, even putting on her own Broadway shows for her family. She would line up her animal stuffies to be her audience members and dress up in costumes as she performed her musical performances for them. Her mom realized that she was a natural performer so she enrolled her in Jazz classes when she was 6 years old. Taking the experience of her early dance classes, Ms Luna loved to mimic the style of her past teachers. Always playing with her stuffed animals and pretending to be their teacher was where her first love of teaching came to be. As Ms Luna got older, she took her love of teaching and her grace of patience and graduated to teaching her pets. As she grew up, Ms Luna’s family often saw her as a mother figure as she was a natural with her littlest cousins, and often was the first choice for babysitting amongst her family. This is where her love for animals and children grew into a realization that she was always meant to be a teacher. Ms Luna has been very fortunate in finding her true love of teaching at such a very young age. And in turn, LFLF little ones are very fortunate having Ms Luna as a teacher, her passion for teaching along with her love, understanding and patience for little ones is very clear to see when walking through her classroom at LFLF.
Support Staff
RECE
Ms Lydia is a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) who graduated from George Brown College with a diploma in Early Childhood Education in the year of 2011. After her graduation she went to Korea for 3 years to work as an ESL teacher. While Ms Lydia was in Korea she also volunteered in a church setting teaching children. During her mission trips (to Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Nova Scotia), she experienced many humbling opportunities which included organizing various programs and activities for underprivileged children. Ms Lydia came back to Toronto in the summer of 2014 and decided to work in the public school sector, where she realised very quickly that her true love was for children at a younger age in a smaller setting. Ms Lydia currently continues her love of volunteering as a teacher in a kindergarten setting on the weekends. However during her free time, she enjoys dance classes, rock climbing, softball, cycling, and snowboarding. She also has a strong passion for music and singing, and she knows a good book once in awhile is always a great opportunity to expand and refresh the mind.
Ms Lydia’s experiences with children in large group settings has graced her with the appreciation and knowledge of being able to find special teachable moments in all times of the day for the needs of every individual child in her care. Her patience, kindness and compassion, not to mention her love for music is evident every day at LFLF!
French Teacher
Ms Tary is our specialised French Teacher. She is fluent in French as well as Spanish. She has spent her entire education from Elementary to Secondary School in the French Education System, receiving her Bilingual Diploma in High School (French & English). Ms Tary has been a member of LFLF’s family for over 3 years and she also has over 5 years experience working in the Public School setting with children ages 4 - 14 years old. Ms Tary has also received many prestigious awards in the Arts, such as the Concours D'art Oratoire - Expression Dramatique during her elementary school years. Thus, she is very passionate about giving all children access to quality education of our Nation's Secondary Language through play based teaching experiences and high quality exposure to the Arts. Her belief is to always provide a positive teaching experience to little ones while learning our Nation’s Second Language as well as advocating for the importance of the Arts in our education system. Ms Tary can remember her days as early as ten years of age, when she started a clubhouse with her friends and her key make believe role was being the teacher. Teaching came naturally to Ms Tary, even at an early age as her childhood friends now remind her of all those memories and the positive role she played in their lives teaching them how easy it was to learn a new language. We have even been told by some parents of graduating LFLF children that they have noticed their children are able to converse in French after being in Ms Tary’s classes. These testimonies have been her inspiration to continue her love of teaching the French language.
In addition to being Trilingual, Ms Tary also has a passion for both Music and Dance, and she has spent 10 years dancing Flamenco and Salsa as well as studying other forms of dance and movement. Ms Tary has also studied Music: learning to play the piano and singing was an important part of her life. When she is not teaching at LFLF she is often practicing with her steel drum band or in the dance studio rehearsing for another professional Flamenco or Salsa performance. Her parents always reminded her that Music was just like a second language, and to this day Ms Tary is a strong believer that music expands children’s minds, allowing them to learn with an inspirational skip in their step. Singing French songs with the LFLF children and conversing with all of her classes in French every morning, all while providing lots of love and cuddles, is how you will find Ms Tary spending her days at LFLF.
Piano Teacher
B.A.
Ms Ksenia received Honours in her Bachelor's Degree of Arts at the University of Toronto as well as completing her RCM Grade 8 Piano Examinations with First Class Honours. She also received her Rudiments Level 2 in Theory and then focused on teaching music appreciation, theory and piano instruction to children. She also took the opportunity to do an apprenticeship called “KRE-A-TIV U-TURN” with ‘Milkweed Collective’, which is a Toronto-based artist collective including painters, poets, installation artists, photographers, authors, therapists and educators. This group is dedicated to practicing the arts and promoting personal growth in a community context, inspiring children, youth and adults to discover their individual potential and celebrate their talents through the joy of making and appreciating art. Their ‘Exploring Creativity in Depth’ program for children engages the individual’s imagination in the Creative Art process. During this apprenticeship, Ms Ksenia designed and delivered summer arts programming to children and youth at several locations such as Arts Etobicoke, Richview Library and Mimico Library where they curated an arts exhibition of the children and youth’s artwork during Culture Days in Toronto. Ms Ksenia has adapted the ECiD program methodology to her own teaching practice, combining her love of the Creative Arts with her love of Music, encouraging her students to explore their own creative imagination and guiding them in understanding and voicing it through music. Her other experiences with children also include being a Camp Counselor at a Musical Arts Academy, participating in a project called “We Love the Arts: Multimodal Learning in the Arts”, Social Activities Committee Member at the Harbourfront Centre as well as integrating Arts with Music Program Director at Oliver Lodge Care Home.
Music has been an important part of Ms Ksenia’s life since childhood. For her and her family, music at home was always an integrated mix of exploring, learning, playing and expressing their musical interests. She was constantly surrounded by music in various formats: on the radio or television, on records or CDs at home and even live performances outdoors or at concerts. Growing up, her Mother would play beautiful music on the piano and the guitar for the whole family. Ms Ksenia would improvise a dance to express her thoughts and feelings to each of the musical pieces played by her mother. Many years later, Ms Ksenia would still know all her improvised dances by heart in addition to the musical pieces that her mom played, and now performs them herself on both the piano for her family’s enjoyment. Ms Ksenia also studied other musical instruments such as the guitar in addition to her piano training so that she could accompany her family as they sang together in their own mini-family band. However, piano was always the instrument that she cherished the most. Her beloved teacher, Rusudan, taught her that to make a beautiful sound she had to make the piano keys ‘sing’! She would practice a lot without any reminders to perform at her recitals, and even in-between, to play for her friends. Her Mother started a program she called ‘Life with Music’, a program that brought music to various groups and communities across her home city. Ms Ksenia’s whole family together with other children, adults and seniors in the community, all enjoyed listening, moving and making music to international tunes. Ms Ksenia also taught participants how to play various instruments or play songs on the piano, sing and dance for the various groups. Later on, Ms Ksenia created her own program ‘Art with Music’ where she played the piano accompanied to live painting classes for a creative group of seniors. Eventually, all these experiences led Ms Ksenia to start giving individual piano lessons to children and she never turned back. Today, you will easily find Ms Ksenia happily sitting next to her students in our private piano room, readily sharing her love and knowledge of music with a smile from ear to ear.
Support Piano Teacher
Ms Pamela is a music teacher with more than 10 years experience teaching a range of instruments to budding musicians 3 years to adult. She attended Queensland University in Brisbane, Australia and graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Industries, which provided a interdisciplinary approach to music and the arts. She began piano lessons at age 5, but really started to develop her love for music after picking up the violin at age 7. Ms Pamela was very petite as a child; during her concert performances her mom would tie a piece of sparkly tinsel to her high top pony tails so that everyone in her family could see her pop up and down at the back of the orchestra. During her youth she was considered a very serious student when it came to School and Music, and in the school years that followed she had acquired oboe and singing lessons as well as teaching herself the clarinet and guitar. Ms Pamela started teaching while at university, primarily focusing on students who may have fallen through the gaps of their school-based instrument programs.
Ms Pamela always believed that everyone had an ability and love for music if they were nurtured to find it. She enjoys guiding individuals to find this same passion of hers. Ms Pamela loves to inspire budding new musicians as well as seasoned ones to keep the music alive within their soul. Over the past 10 years, Ms Pamela has developed a teaching philosophy that has a musical place for everyone, and is always on the look-out for ways to guide young musicians to that magical place. Ms Pamela loves the musical jive environment at LFLF; you may even happen to hear her at times while she sings with the children during her travels from class to class!
Dance Teacher
Ms Deanne is our specialised Dance Teacher. She has been a dance teacher for the past eight years with various studios across Mississauga, Toronto and Montreal. Ms Deanne is a recent graduate of York University’s BFA dance program, with a focus in performance, choreography and world dances. Directly following her studies at York, she was accepted to intern and lived at the world’s oldest and largest dance festival – Jacob’s Pillow in Beckett, Massachusetts for the summer of 2014. She was afforded amazing opportunities there to take classes with some of the world’s top companies learning about arts administration and dance history through the extensive archives at the festival. While teaching, she continues her training with the Toronto B-Girl Movement, to learn break dancing from Canada’s top b-boys and b-girls. Her inspiration of music and dance came at the early age of 10 years old, when all she ever wanted to do was wear a top hat and dance with a cane. Her family and friends always knew that Ms Deanne was meant for a career in dance. Dancing her way thorough ballet, jazz and musical theater, the feeling of being able to express your emotions through dance came easily to Ms Deanne which made her committed to helping inspire a whole new generation to this wonderful world of the Arts.
As a freelance dance writer, Ms Deanne has been published in The Dance Current Magazine, and Dance International Magazine as well as some academic journals. She was one of the few selected to take part in The National Ballet of Canada’s Emerging Dance Critics program. Ms Deanne is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, writer and all-around dance addict. Her dance addiction is infectious at LFLF as the excited children run into her class knowing that she will turn up the music and dance in the LFLF dance studio as if no one is watching!
Preschool Chef
ECA
Ms Radha is our famous LFLF Preschool Chef who also has her ECA as well! Ms Radha comes from a Preschool background, graduating from the Xincon Technology College of Canada and also always has an updated food handlers certificate. She has over ten years of experience in a professional kitchen and over four years of experience teaching Toddlers and Preschoolers. Ms Radha’s experiences in child care settings and working at a retirement home have helped her expand her skills. Having a kind nature and an abundance of patience she has also volunteered her time with special needs children and is currently working with an autistic child, whom has become like one of her very own.
Ms Radha is the perfect fit at LFLF as she has a magical way of keeping all of the little ones' bellies happy by using her creative ways in every dish! When you walk into LFLF during the late mornings just before lunch time, you will encounter a wonderful aroma in the air of lunch being prepared fresh for our little ones. You will smell chicken being baked, tofu burgers being prepared, beef being sautéed, macaroni made with freshly grated cheese, homemade chili simmering, soup being produced from scratch, fresh mashed potatoes being fluffed, homemade sauces created from her very own Mirepoix flavour base and many more recipes made with love. As a mother of two and a grandmother, Ms Radha can remember the days that she spent in the kitchen cooking and baking with her very own mother for the entire family, and looking forward to one day having a family of her own to cook for. Ms Radha’s mother is her inspiration, as she always told her that every dish should be filled with hearty fresh ingredients and lots of love. She often recalls her memories as a child making mud pies in the backyard with her four sisters. In her teenage years Ms Radha learned how to cook many different international dishes, so when she became a mother it was natural to make all of her children’s foods from scratch.
You can always find Ms Radha in the LFLF kitchen cooking up a storm while conversing with the little ones through her window overlooking the lunchroom. As the LFLF little ones often ask her what the lunch special for the day is, Ms Radha always knows to answer her captive audience with a creative story by adding a little fairy dust on to every meal, giving confidence to even the most finicky little eaters and placing a smile on all of our little ones' faces!
Support Teacher
OCT
Ms Vanessa is one of our support teachers and has a Bachelor of Education (Primary/Junior/Intermediate) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from York University. She decided to return to York University to complete her Masters in Fine Arts in Contemporary Choreography after working as a dancer and choreographer for two years. Ms Vanessa has worked with the City of Toronto, offering baby music and preschool programs that incorporated arts and craft, creative play, and movement education. Ms Vanessa has always attended schools such as The Etobicoke School of the Arts where she could be immersed in an artistic culture and exposed to a variety of courses including Visual Arts, Photography, Music Theory, Theatre, Piano, African drumming, Music for Dancers, and Dance on Film, to mention a few. In addition, she has taken up learning how to play the guitar. Over the years, Ms Vanessa has trained in modern, ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, break dancing, hustle and house dancing. Ms Vanessa has had close to 28 years of dance experience training with some of North America’s top professionals. She has performed in various festivals such as Summer works Festival, Toronto & Montreal Fringe Festivals, AGO Massive, Nuit Blanche, Rhubarb Festival and as a Power Plant Powerball performer. Ms Vanessa has also trained in Europe and performed in Dublin, Ireland for Janis Claxton’s “Sweet Love”. She returned to York University and taught dance classes that our very own dance teacher, Ms Deanne (LFLF's in house dance teacher), was fortunate to undertake in her tutelage - she talks very highly of her learning experiences with Ms Vanessa. Ms Vanessa has taught as a professional teacher and danced internationally throughout Ontario, in British Columbia, Hawaii, Brussels, Berlin and the Philippines. She is currently travelling back and forth to Europe to continue her training and work with international collaborators.
As a child, Ms Vanessa would watch her older sister in dance classes, pleaded to be able to join her so she could learn all the fancy dance moves that her sister was learning. She started in Ballet, then Tap, and Highland dancing and never looked back.
In partnership with Access Alliance, Ms Vanessa founded New Youth Toronto which is a free March Break arts programming for youth new to Canada. She currently is co-AD of “The Toronto Dance Community Love In” – an NGO that offers vital training and performance opportunities to local, national and international artists. With many years of experience teaching a wide range of levels and ages, Ms Vanessa has the ability to read a class and adjust material accordingly, allowing each student to have fun and still be challenged. Her progressive pedagogical approach encourages students to set independent goals throughout their training. This promotes a strong work ethic consisting of confidence, motivation and initiative. Ms Vanessa specializes in employing teaching methods that breakdown movement to their essentials, truly helping students to understand their own bodies and progress towards discovering a personal style of their own.
Ms Vanessa has such a passion for travel, laughter and movement, and she really just wants everyone to dance and share in the dance experience worldwide, as she believes that dance leads to all things great. LFLF is very fortunate to have Ms Vanessa join us when she stops in Toronto during her busy schedule as an independent dance artist, dance educator and part-time preschool teacher. During her time at LFLF, she can easily be seen dancing from room to room, leading the children on a musical journey that they never seem to forget!