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Jennifer Nichols

Founder

Tyler Gledhill

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Tyler Gledhill trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, The Pacific Northwest Ballet School and The Dutch National Ballet School. He began his career in The Netherlands, dancing for Introdans, followed by The Göteborg Ballet and Cullberg Ballet in Sweden.

Now a freelance performer in Toronto, Tyler dances on stage and in film. He is a regular collaborator with Citadel + Compagnie, Hit & Run Dance Productions, Opera Atelier, Stacey Tookey’s Still Motion Dance, and The Dietrich Group, to name a few.

Natasha Poon Woo

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Natasha Poon Woo began training and performing as a member of Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre in Toronto. She went on to graduate summa cum laude with a BFA and the President’s Award for Achievement from the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase (New York). Natasha has worked with companies and artists including Conny Janssen Danst, The Kevin Wynn Collection, The Dietrich Group, Roderick George, Benjamin Landsberg, Ryan Lee / The Platform, Gadfly, Little Pear Garden Dance Company, Hit & Run Dance Productions, and Rock Bottom Movement. She performed in RBM’s 2019 production of hollow mountain, which won two Dora Awards: Outstanding Production and Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Natasha is the Associate Artistic Director of CCDT, the Rehearsal Director for both CCDT and Human Body Expression, and a sought-after dance teacher and rehearsal director by many arts institutions and independent dance artists. As an enthusiastic instructor of the Extension Method™ since 2016, Natasha enjoys dancing and moving with the amazing members of the growing Extension Room community in every class!

Martha Hart

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Martha Hart is a freelance dance artist, choreographer and teacher. She graduated from Canada’s National Ballet School and trained at the Palucca Schule Dresden (Germany), L’ecole Superieure du Ballet de Quebec (Montreal), and Arts Umbrella Dance (Vancouver).

After an engagement with the Dresden Semperoper Ballet in Germany, Martha returned to Canada and has since worked with  dance companies across the country such as Human Body Expression (Hanna Kiel), TranscenDance Project (Julia Cratchley), The Garage, Ace Dance Theatre, Hit & Run Dance Productions, Mascall Dance and Project20.  From 2015-2016 she was a member of the International Metamorphosis Dance Collective under the direction of Iratxe Ansa, touring in Mexico and Spain.

Most recently in 2020. Martha started her own company, hART dance to house her choreographic projects. She is passionate about sharing dance and movement with a wide variety of audiences and students of all ages. She has been teaching Extension Method classes since 2011 and can’t wait to inspire, push and guide you through your next class!

Caryn Chappell

Caryn Chappell is a Toronto based contemporary dance artist. In 2014, she graduated from Ryerson’s BFA Performance Dance Program with Honours. She was the recipient of the Jack and Hedda Rothman Award at Ryerson and was chosen as a Scholar for the ‘Undergraduate Research Opportunity’ to study and perform at the first Women and War Conference in Hydra, Greece.

Caryn is a freelance artist and performs with a variety of companies in the city including Form Contemporary Dance Theatre, Half Second Echo, and I/O Movement. She has performed with Toronto Dance Theatre in the Pan Am 2015 Opening Ceremonies under the direction of Cirque du Soleil and is currently dancing with ProArteDanza in her third season with the company.

Ana Cukic

Ana has been an athlete for over 20 years. She is a former member of the Canadian National Synchronized Swimming Team where she earned a Junior Worlds Team Championship title and a full scholarship to The Ohio State University. She rounded off her swimming career as a professional synchronized swimmer for Cirque Du Soleil’s “O” show in Las Vegas.

Sport taught Ana about peak physical and mental conditioning, but it was in Las Vegas that she learned how to take care of her body. Pilates became the backbone of her injury prevention and recovery. Pilates has helped bring Ana a level of awareness and physical support that allows her to enjoy all that life has to offer. She became a Body Arts and Science International certified instructor in 2008 to help teach others how to “add more life to their years”.

Now a mother, Ana is reminded daily not take things too seriously. This adds a certain playfulness to her teaching style in group classes. Always a student, she continues to expand her knowledge of body through continuing education classes and the community of professionals around her. Appreciating everyone’s individuality and using her past experience in sport, she develops classes and personal training sessions that challenge the body, keep the mind engaged, and leave you feeling a little taller, stronger and more refreshed as you walk out the door.

Julia Cosentino

A contemporary-jazz artist from Toronto, ON, Julia received her BFA Honors Degree in Dance from York University in 2012. Since graduating, Julia has had the pleasure of training, collaborating, and performing with companies including Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Jasmyn Fyffe Dance, Rodney Diverlus, Rock Bottom Movement, Frog In Hand, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, Guetcha Guaritcha, Kylie Thompson Dance, ProArteDanza, Hit and Run Dance Productions, zdancemovement, TranscenDance Project, Seed9 and Debra Brown.

Julia spent four seasons with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary studying the art of jazz dance. This experience allowed her to foster a deeper understanding within herself, and her voice as an artist.  Julia’s vision is to marry all of the things she loves most about dance: music, rhythm, physical prowess, artistry, expression, healing and human connection–to ourselves and to one another. This is at the heart of her practice, and she is grateful to be deepning and solidifying her vision in Toronto.

Julia is also a fitness and yoga lover, and has been teaching at the Extension Room since 2014.  Julia believes that fitness training should be diverse and accessible to all levels. Not only does fitness improve physical health and longevity, but it also plays a huge role in encouraging emotional well-being and stability. For all of these reasons, Julia loves teaching The Extension Method and continues to integrate EM into her practice. Each class is unique, accessible to anyone, and creates JOY through music and community.

Let’s dance, let’s sweat, let’s crush goals, and let’s chase JOY together.

Samantha Grist

Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Samantha Grist followed her passion for dance to Toronto to attend the Ryerson University Performance Dance program, earning her BFA in 2013. She now works as a Toronto based contemporary dancer, performance artist, and teacher.

Since June 2012, Samantha has been a dancer for Toronto based company Rock Bottom Movement (Artistic Director, Alyssa Martin). Samantha has performed with the company at venues throughout Toronto, and has toured to cities across Southern Ontario, as well as Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Brooklyn, NY. Samantha, along with the cast of Rock Bottom Movement’s MANICPIXIEDREAMGIRLS, were honoured to be recognized with a nomination for “Outsatnding Performance – Ensemble” at the 2017 Dora Mavor Moore Awards.

As a freelance performer, she has worked with choreographers including Hanna Kiel, David Earle, Susie Burpee, Shannon Litzenberger, Julia Aplin, Anisa Tejpar, Jennifer Nichols, and has performed with companies including Rock Bottom Movement, Young Human Body Expression, Dance Theatre David Earle, Shannon Litzenberger Contemporary Dance, The Garage Collective, and Hit and Run Dance Productions.

Samantha is also a passionate teacher for students of all ages. She shares her love and knowledge of dance through workshops and master classes across Canada. Samantha was featured as a guest teacher in Hyra, Greece for VIEW Dance Challenge’s Greece Intensive, teaching Floor Work techniques to select elite dancers from across Canada. Samantha has been teaching the Extension Method™ since the Fall of 2015, and loves sharing the art of dance and fitness with this amazing community.

Eleanor Van Veen

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Eleanor van Veen is a young and powerful dance artist based out of Toronto. Eleanor received her professional training at The Conteur Academy under the direction of Eryn Waltman. Since then, she has worked with prominent educators and choreographers such as: Hanna Kiel with Human Body Expression, Alysa Pires with Alysa Pires Dance Projects, Roberto Campenella and Robert Glumbek with ProArteDanza, Igor Bacovich and Iratxe Ansa with The Metamorphosis Method, and Malgorzata Nowacka-May with The Chimera Project. She has been apart of performances presented by Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, Capezio Ace Awards, The Toronto Fringe Festival, and Dance Ontario DanceWeekend. Additionally, she performs with Toronto based companies Nostos Collectives and ACE Dance Theatre.

Emma Lund

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Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Emma Lund is a 23 year old emerging dance artist based in Toronto. She grew up training extensively and competing in a multitude of genres such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, tap and hip hop. After graduating, she had the opportunity to work closely with Sarah Dolan as a company member of the O2 Dance Company in Calgary, performing in its two most recent works; ‘Pieces’ and ‘Mind Games’. Emma furthered her professional training in Toronto, receiving her post-secondary training at The Conteur Academy and graduating in June 2018. Since moving to Toronto, she has had the opportunity to work with renowned dance artists and choreographers such as Ryan Lee, Kelly Shaw, Eryn Waltman, Roberto Campanella, and Robert Glumbek to name a few. Additionally, Emma has performed at The Capezio A.C.E. Awards, as well as making an appearance at the JUNOs (Alessia Cara). Aside from performing, has grown a passion for teaching and choreographing and has choreographed for multiple dance studios in Calgary. Her love for teaching has only continued to grow since she joined the Extension Method team in 2019. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to share her knowledge of both dance and fitness with the community, and is excited to break a SWEAT!

Danielle Denichaud

Danielle Denichaud started her dance career right here in Toronto with Desrosiers Dance Company and CCDT. She subsequently moved to Montreal where she toured internationally with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal for 4 years.

Returning to Toronto as a freelance artist, she worked with Pro Arte Danza and Dreamwalkers Dance Company. She subsequently returned to Montreal to dance with Ezdanza while pursuing a side career as a holistic nutritionist, health preservation educator, yoga instructor and personal trainer.

Though no longer a full time professional dancer, Danielle remains passionate about movement, and integrates modern, ballet, jazz, contemporary, yoga and functional training into her classes to give the body a balanced and deep work out: increasing coordination, endurance, agility and mobility without injury. Always ready with an abundance of smiles, she loves to see people caring for their body, mind and heart through conscious and enthusiastic training – sweating and laughing while they work it out!

Drew Berry

Performance Dance Program. Drew dances professionally with Rock Bottom Movement, Alias Dance Project, Nostos Collective, Hit & Run Dance Productions and many other independent artists in the city.

Drew has taught at Quinte Ballet School of Canada, Cornerstone Studio, and is currently assisting partnering and elevation technique classes with Kaeja d’Dance.

Drew is thrilled to be a part of the Extension Room team to be able to share her love of dance and fitness!

Zachary Cardwell

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Zachary Cardwell is a Toronto based dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer with a passion for ballet, modern, contemporary dance, barre fitness, and improvisation – which he is fortunate to be able to teach throughout the city and GTA. He is interested in how these techniques can inform one another to establish a rounded and healthy understanding of movement while connecting to the joy of embodying dance.

Zachary is a graduate of The Arts Umbrella Post-Secondary program in Vancouver, BC, where he had the pleasure of performing works and excerpts by choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Marie Chouinard, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Sharon Eyal, James Kudelka, and Aszure Barton, among others. During his tenure with the Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Zachary toured Holland performing in the ITS Dance Festival as well as Netherlands Dans Theater & Korzo’s Shortcuts XL In Toronto, he has worked with Toronto Dance Theater, Zata Omm Dance Projects, Dusk Dances, Re: Research (Adelheid), Jane Alison McKinney, and ACE Dance Theatre.