Samantha Penner
Samantha is an Abbotsford born dancer, instructor, and choreographer, and has been training in dance since the age of 8. Since then, she has trained in contemporary, modern, ballet, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre/stage, and hip hop. After graduating high school, Samantha was accepted into the Simon Fraser University School for Contemporary Arts Dance Program. Samantha graduated in April 2018 and now holds a BFA with distinction with a major in Dance.
At SFU, Samantha studied contemporary and modern dance techniques, including Graham, Cunningham, and Limon, as well as an open ballet syllabus. In addition to the daily technique classes, Samantha also had the privilege of training and performing in works by Vanessa Goodman, Wen Wei Wang, Yossi & Oded Dance Theatre, Lesley Telford, and many more through the SFU dance program. Samantha has also studied improvisation, dance composition and choreography, movement analysis, and dance history.
Samantha’s teaching began as a devoted teacher’s assistant, and her love of teaching grew from there. Having taught students from age 2-19, both competitive and recreational, Samantha’s passion for dance shines through her students. In 2016, she had the opportunity to create a contemporary piece for the opening ceremonies of the BC Summer Games, which was performed for an audience of 8,000 spectators. Samantha believes that all dance teachers should be well educated and is certified through the International Dance Teaching Standards program. In addition, she also attends teacher-physiotherapist workshops to stay up to date on the current science behind flexibility, turnout, and injury prevention. This last spring, she attended the Sugarfoot Physical Therapy program for teachers and is certified in their dancer strengthening and injury prevention course!
Samantha is excited to work with the dancers of Xtreme Talent this season!
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