Lindsay Roden - Owner, Director
In 2013 Lindsay opened the doors to Lindsay Roden Dance Academy (LRDA) with the goal of owning and operating a studio where children walk through the doors and immediately feel at home. Lindsay is a highly trained dancer, performer and choreographer. She holds an Honours Degree from York University, majoring in dance.
Prior to opening LRDA she taught and choreographed for many studio’s and their competitive teams. With Lindsay’s versatile dance background and her infectious energy, that pours into each class that she instructs. Her students learn in an environment that is rich with technique, in a creative and inspiring atmosphere.
As the studio has grown Lindsay has selected faculty that are passionate, professional and committed to helping students learn in an engaging, creative, family friendly environment.
Lexie Stavro
is a performing artist based in Toronto. She has received training in various dance styles including Tap, Jazz, Ballet, and Pointe. She has also learned Acrobatics and Tumbling, Musical Theatre, Lyrical/Contemporary, and Hip Hop. Lexie has achieved the Advanced Foundation level in RAD exams.
In terms of qualifications, Lexie is an Associate member of the British Association Teachers of Dancing in Stage. She is also a graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts.
Lexie has performed in several productions at The Lower Ossington Theatre, such as Newsies, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and Anne of Green Gables. In these productions, she had different roles ranging from ensemble to understudy and dance captain.
When it comes to teaching, Lexie has previously taught tap and jazz at The Debra-Lynne School of Dance from 2014 to 2018. She has also worked as a guest choreographer at Iona Catholic Secondary School and conducted summer sessions for Adult Absolute Beginner Acro at City Dance Corps.
Lexie is excited to return to Lindsay Roden Dance Academy in the fall and share her passion for dance with all her students.
Madie Brown
Madie is a freelance dance artist, teacher and choreographer in Toronto who trained as a competitive dancer and graduated from Thomas A Stewart Integrated Arts Program. She also trained with Dark Dance Company before moving on to post secondary education graduating with honours from the Centennial College Dance Performance Diploma Program earning the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence. Madie is now a member of Lianne Tammi's Mission Vision Purpose Professional Company.
Madie has extensive training in styles such as contemporary, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, ballet, jazz funk and musical theatre. She has also trained in cultural styles, tap and pas de deux. Madie has developed strong improvisational skills and has brought her creativity through choreography for various competitions and shows including Strive Dance Competition earning first place awards, as well as top overall senior large group for hip hop choreography at Bedazzled Dance Champions.
Lucy Birrell
Lucy has been a part of LRDA since it first opened in 2013. She has trained extensively in acro, jazz, contemporary and lyrical. She danced competitively dance from 2015 up until 2019. Lucy is a recent graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University, since graduating Lucy has returned to LRDA and has been teaching and assisting many of our classes!
Lucy has a passion for working with kids, and shares her love of dance and creativity with each and every student.
Lucy is thrilled to back at LRDA this season!
Liyah Simbulan
Liyah is a young Canadian dance artist and choreographer. She began dancing at the age of six and has been dancing ever since. Liyah had danced at the Sean Boutilier Academy of Dance for twelve years and competed full-time for ten of those years. Liyah is intensively trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and acro. Liyah has competed across North America and has won two national titles and various other awards. She also attended Etobicoke School of the Arts (High School) for their dance program. This program gave her the opportunity to develop her love for choreography and teaching and pushed Liyah into various leadership roles. Some of these roles include Head of contemporary dance for multiple productions three years in a row and other choreographic opportunities. Her passion for dance has carried her into post-secondary where she is currently enrolled in the performance dance program at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Liyah is thrilled to be part of the LRDA teaching staff and can't wait to start in September 2023!
Portia Sked
Born in Toronto, Portia started dancing when she was four years old. At twelve, she began to train pre-professionally in modern, contemporary, and most of all, ballet.
Portia has attended the summer intensives at several renowned ballet schools around the world, such as Ellison Ballet in New York City, where she was accepted on a scholarship, the Royal Ballet School in England, where she was accepted on full scholarship and won the Award of Commendation for talent and commitment, the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, the School of American Ballet in New York City, and the Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City. She has competed in the international dance competition, the Youth American Grand Prix, and the well-known American Dance Awards competition, where she was awarded Dancer of the Year. She has trained with master teachers Evelyn Hart, Peter O’Brien, Kay Mazzo, Edward Ellison, and Calvin Kitten, to name a few. Portia has also danced for the Artistic Director of the New York City Ballet, Peter Martins, the Artistic Director of Ballet West, Adam Sklute, and the Artistic Director of Ballet Creole, Patrick Parson.
Currently, Portia teaches dance across the GTA to youth of all ages. She believes dancing should always be fun, inspiring, and engaging.