board - Dance Nova Scotia

Board of Directors

Dance Nova Scotia is governed by a Board of Directors made up of community members with a deep commitment to promoting dance in Nova Scotia.

Executive

Maeghan Taverner
President

Maeghan Taverner (she/they) is a disabled dancer, actor, choreographer, advocate, and teacher. They have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Sociology from Dalhousie University and currently teach inclusive dance classes online through Kate Stanforth Academy of Dance. Their goal is to create a more accessible dance industry by centreing disabled artists and educators and providing opportunities for disabled dancers to flourish in an often inaccessible industry. They are passionate about youth arts education and hope to share their love of dance with the next generation.

Hadear Marzooque
Vice President

Jen Cole
Treasurer

Miss Jen Cole (she/her) is the director of the GMB School of Dance in Hantsport, Nova Scotia. With over 20 years of experience in dance education, she is passionate about all things dance. Miss Jen continues to develop her expertise in providing opportunities for dancers of all ages to learn and perform. She is dedicated to offering welcoming classes and creating spaces where the arts and the artists can thrive. When not working, Miss Jen enjoys delving into dance-related media and getting distracted by cuddles with her cat, Walter, and dog, Ryker.

Elaine Mailman
Secretary

Elaine started her first introduction to dance class when she was four and danced full throttle until she was eighteen. She was trained using the British Association of Teachers of Dancing syllabus at Joseph Wallin School of Dance and enjoyed the competitive side of the dance world with Footnotes Dance Troupe for multiple years. In high school, Elaine took her dancing shoes to the other side of the harbour to Jackie Vacca’s Just Dancin’ and was a member of the group FreeZone. After a crisp 14-year hiatus from dancing, she returned to the competitive dance world as a member of the Strut Dance Collective reinvigorating her love for dance. Elaine has danced three seasons with Thirty Something Dance Cooperative and continues to enjoy learning choreography in all forms. Elaine takes every adult dance class she can (especially in Tap- her favorite discipline)!

After growing up in Dartmouth, Elaine lived the majority of her 20’s away from Nova Scotia (in Newfoundland for her Undergrad, in Thailand teaching English, and in Ontario (for multiple years) working after completing her Master’s degree). She was happy to move back to her hometown in 2016 to peruse a career as an Occupational Health and Safety Officer.

Directors

Chenlu Shao
Director

Lesley MacLean
Director

Lesley has been teaching dance in Nova Scotia, specifically Cape Breton, for over eight years. She is currently stepping back from teaching and choreographing to work full‐time in a public relations/communications role with the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia. She recently completed the Public Relation Graduate Program at NSCC, serving the past year on the Canadian Public Relations Society Nova Scotia Chapter as the student representative for NSCC. Lesley is anxious to be a representative voice for the Cape Breton dance community and knows that her passion and love for dance in our province will be a welcomed strength as a Dance Nova Scotia board member.

Robin Levy
Director

Sara Adams
Director

Sara is a high school teacher with more than 15 years experience teaching French immersion sciences, Yoga and a variety of fine arts including Dance 11. She also still competes and performs with Thirty-Something Dance Co and Strut Dance Collective. In her 30+ years of dancing, she has studied and/or taught ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, highland, African, belly dance, salsa, and social dance. Sara enjoys advocating dance for all ages and abilities, particularly in schools. She frequently offers professional development sessions for dance educators. She has served for 2 years on the Dance Education Advisory Committee for Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE) and has served many years as President of the Board of Directors for Dance Nova Scotia (DANS). Sara is happy to return to the board of DANS to further the arts in education. In addition, Sara is studying Expressive Arts Therapy — using the arts, including dance as a therapeutic modality. She resides in Middleton, NS with her husband and two children.

Sara Corkum
Director

Ever since she began dancing at age 3, dance has been an integral part of Sara’s life. She has studied and competed in a wide variety of styles including ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop and musical theatre. She completed her Associates level exam with the British Association of Teachers of Dance in 2008, her ADAPT Teacher Training in 2019, and is a Level 1 Certified Alixa Flexibility Instructor. Sara is also in the process of completing her Intellidance certification.

Sara attended Saint Mary’s University, where she received her Bachelor of Commerce, her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and her Certified Managerial Accounting (CMA) designation. She taught dance at many schools in the Maritimes throughout her studies, and was a member and choreographer of the award-winning Halifax based FUNKtion Dance Company, where Sara won her first choreographer’s award for her jazz piece.

Opening a dance school had been a dream of Sara’s for many years. After becoming a mom in 2014, she decided it was time to live out her dream so that she could one day show her daughter that if you work hard enough, you can make your dreams come true. Sara’s goal is to share the physical, mental and emotional benefits of dance, provide her students with a space to express themselves authentically and to inspire her students to never give up on their dream. At Motion Dance Centre, Sara and her staff believe that the soul of a dancer lives in bodies of all shapes, sizes, abilities and colours, and welcomes students of all ability levels and experience levels to use the lessons taught by the Motion staff to showcase their authentic movement.

In addition to being a studio director, Sara is the Director of Finance of Common Good Solutions and is the proud mama of one fierce little 6 year old. When not dancing, teaching, accounting or parenting, you can find Sara on a beach with a good book, dreaming up her next adventure.

Vacant
Director