About us

Committed to encouraging excellence, Port City Dance Academy is a community arts organization and a registered charity. With an emphasis on the educational value of dance classes, the academy's well-qualified teachers offer an exceptional dance education for pre-professional and recreational students; encouraging the development of strong technique, artistry and creativity, and helping each student to realize his or her greatest potential and personal goals.

With ongoing efforts to increase scholarship and bursary funds, the academy encourages enrolment from any sector of our diverse population. PCDA is a vibrant, creative, and collaborative organization, and an active member of the arts community in our city, province, and region.

As the performing arm of the organization, Felicità is closely affiliated with but distinct from Port City Dance Academy. Felicità exists to promote dance as an expressive performing art, and to encourage pursuit of the art form on a professional level. To this end, Felicità provides opportunities for our aspiring professionals to perform, to experience a broad range of choreographers, teachers, and dancers, and to choreograph their own works.

Felicità also exists to help build and educate an audience for the art of dance, by presenting performances of classical and contemporary ballet and modern dance to the widest possible audience; engaging established professional Canadian and international artists, emerging dancers, and student dance ensembles to perform in a variety of venues. As an active member and a leader within the local arts community, Felicità continually cooperates and collaborates with other local artists and arts groups.

ANDREA WEBSTER SCOTT

A graduate of The National Ballet School's prestigious Teacher Training Program, Andrea Webster Scott has studied with, worked with, and observed some of Canada's finest teachers. Andrea holds an Honours B.A. from the University of Waterloo (Major in Dance, Minor in Philosophy), and is an Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (Cecchetti Society Classical Ballet Faculty and National Dance Faculty).

Mrs. Scott began her teaching career in 1990 at The Dancers' Studio in Mississauga, Ontario, under the directorship of Kathleen Duffy, and in 1994 accepted the position of Assistant Director. In 1995 Mrs. Scott returned to Saint John, NB, becoming the founder of Port City Dance Academy and Felicità, its student performing ensemble. Under her artistic direction, both are extremely vibrant organizations which contribute greatly to their community. Mrs. Scott’s students have been accepted to study professionally at The National Ballet School, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and the schools of Alberta Ballet, Ballet Jörgen and Quinte. Mrs. Scott has also entered students from Port City Dance Academy’s Intensive Program for professional level Cecchetti exams, and they have received marks of distinction.

Mrs. Scott has been a teacher and choreographer for a number of schools and festivals, including in Toronto: The Katerina Evanoff School of Ballet, Interplay School of Dance, and The Pia Bauman School of Ballet and Creative Dance; in Mississauga: The Dancers Studio, The Mississauga Ballet Association, and Music 'N Motion; in Aurora, Ontario: The Somerville Dance Academy; in New Brunswick: The Studio, DanceAbility, Dance Fredericton, and The Festival of the Arts in St. Andrews; in Nova Scotia: the Ballet Society's Celebration of Ballet, and the Studio to Stage Dance Academy. Mrs. Scott is also an Associate Staff Member of the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts in Halifax. Mrs. Scott has worked with a number of musical and theatrical groups in Saint John including The New City Theatre Company, The Saint John Theatre Company, Fourth Avenue, The Friends of Music, the KV Players, Dansing, and Opera New Brunswick.

Voted one of Saint John’s top ten most interesting people, Mrs. Scott is a member of the Saint John Community Arts Board, and a former member of the board for P.R.O. Kids. Mrs. Scott has been a juror for the New Brunswick Arts Board (NBAB), and is honoured by her recent nomination to be a member of the NBAB. In 2005, Mrs. Scott received The New Brunswick Day Merit Award for Arts and Culture, and she was also nominated for the NBAB’s Award for Excellence in Dance.

GEORGIA RONDOS

Originally from Montreal, performer/ choreographer Georgia Rondos lived and worked in Toronto until 1994, when she and her family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick.

For fifteen years, Georgia studied a variety of dance disciplines. In Montreal she studied at Linda Rabin, L'Ecole de Danse Pointepienu, Les Ballets Jazz, and Arte Contexte; in Toronto, Georgia studied at Dancemakers and Toronto dance Theatre; and in New York, at the Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey Schools. She has also taken workshops with Merce Cunningham Company, Trisha Brown Company, Second Strike, and Muteka Sha.

Since 1987, Georgia has been a choreographer/performer for Tightrope Productions Ltd., a Montreal theatre company. Georgia worked with a number of independent choreographers in Montreal and Toronto, and co-founded the dance theatre company, Out of Proportion. Georgia’s work premiered in Toronto in 1990, and in 1991 she choreographed and performed in Marrakech for the Montreal Fringe Festival. In 1992 Georgia premiered two new works for fFIDA, Toronto, Pedestal and Virtuoso. In 1993 she performed with Collective Journey and fFIDA. Georgia’s work, An Encounter in Parts, was work-shopped at Theatre Resource Centre and Dance Talks in 1994. In 1995, Georgia’s work was featured at Tengente in Montreal.

In 1996 Georgia co-founded Saint John Dance and Theatre Works and presented Wrapped, a work in Progress. Since then, Georgia has been teaching at Port City Dance Academy, and working as Choreographer in Residence with Felicità, creating Falling (1996), Seeing Circles (1997), Dancing with a Bowl of Pasta (1998), Desert Walk (1999), The Coat (2000), H20 (2001), Untitled (2001), Rendezvous (2003), Ballerina And Clown (2003), Urban Rush (2004), Eights (2004), and Allegro Moderato (2006). In New Brunswick, Georgia has also done choreography for St. Thomas University theatre productions and she has been a juror for the New Brunswick Arts Board

PIPPA WENNBERG

Pippa Wennberg began her dance training at Port City Dance Academy in 1995. Miss Wennberg was one of only a few applicants accepted into a joint ballet/kinesiology program at the Alberta Ballet School and the University of Calgary. Injury and fate led her instead to the University of Toronto, where she received an Honours B.A. degree with a specialty in Linguistics. After working for a few years as a communication assistant for individuals with physical disabilities, Miss Wennberg completed some graduate courses in Dance Studies at York University.

Miss Wennberg is now very happy to be back in Saint John, working as an EAL tutor in School District 6, and teaching private piano lessons. She is also currently pursuing her certification as a Dalcroze Eurhythmics instructor through summer study at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Port City Dance Academy is extremely lucky, and positively thrilled that Miss Wennberg will also weave her special magic at Port City Dance Academy.

MEDIA

Logos for media

Port City Dance Academy logo (TIFF, 780k)

Felicità logo (TIFF, 250k)

KAREN GALBRAITH

Karen Galbraith studied at Port City Dance Academy for 12 years, during which time she performed with the student ensemble, Felicità, and earned her I.S.T.D. Cecchetti Advanced 1 qualification.

After graduating from Saint John High School with high honours in 2007, Miss Galbraith went on to study in the Teacher Training Program at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts (Halifax), where she pursued further studies in the Cecchetti, Russian, and CDTA methods of classical ballet, as well as CDTA jazz, modern, national and character dancing, and continued to dance with the Conservatory Ballet Ensemble. Following her graduation in 2010, Miss Galbraith continued to pursue an honours degree at The Conservatory in 2011.

Miss Galbriath is an Associate Member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association, and she has also successfully completed the Royal Academy of Dancing Advanced 2 exam, and Elementary Russian.

Miss Galbraith is loving life, and is happy to be back in New Brunswick to teach at Port City Dance Academy in Saint John and St. Andrews. And Port City Dance Academy is happy to welcome her home!

Felicità graphic

Felicità graphic & text

Mallory

Monet & Mallory

Monet, Emma, and Gina

Kleis & Mallory

Monet, Kleis, Emma, Mallory, and Gina

OUR STUDENTS IN ACTION...