About Dance Den

Jamaica Fraser

Jamaica Fraser is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and performer based in Toronto, Ontario, working across dance, theatre, and film. She is a graduate of George Brown College’s Dance Performance Program and holds certifications from BATD and ADAPT, as well as her RAD Advanced 1 Ballet. With a strong foundation in ballet, contemporary, and jazz, Jamaica blends technical precision with expressive artistry in both performance and instruction.

Her professional credits span stage and screen, including Mr. Monks Las Case (Peacock), Holly Hobbie, and the Dora Award-Winning production BlueBeards Castle, for which she was also nominated for Outstanding Ensemble. She appeared in Swimmer, a short film directed by Duane Crichton, which was selected for the New York Shorts and Toronto Shorts International Film Festivals.

As an educator, Jamaica fosters a class environment that emphasizes musicality, storytelling, and discipline. She is passionate about guiding young dancers towards technical excellence and artistic confidence, preparing them to thrive as artists.

Da’Naysciah Neckles

Da’Naysciah Neckles, but everyone calls her Dani, is an emerging dancer/choreographer in Toronto. She is 22 years old from Montreal, Quebec. She began dancing at the age of 3 and fell in love right away. When she moved to Ontario it was no different and started dancing right away. She began dancing competitively and always admired the hustle and dedication that comes with the sport. As soon as she could, Dani jumped into the pre-professional world and knew that she would make dance a career in her life. “I knew from dancing in the competitive scene for so long that as fun as awards were, I genuinely loved to be on stage and share this art with people and that’s why I wanted to become a choreographer and continue dancing myself.” At the age of 18, Dani started taking classes in Toronto at a more professional level and was able to build such beautiful connections. She has been blessed to join companies like Kode Red and Muse, learning from so many talented professionals to help her elevate her career. She has gotten the chance to work on some amazing projects with different emerging artists in Toronto creating some beautiful work, also sharing her work on the competition stage as she will have a love for the youth. Dani looks forward to continuing her passion and getting to share that with the future generation.

Renee Smith

Ontario-based Renee Smith is a black and Metis female dancer, teacher, and choreographer, adjudicator. Dancing since she was 2, Renee trains, performs, teaches, and choreographs in many styles of dance: Contemporary, Modern, Improv, Ballet, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Hip Hop, Acro, Musical Theatre, Tap, and fusion styles. Versatility and positive practice is her main focus as an artist.

Since graduating with a Bachelor in Fine Arts Degree from the Performance Dance program at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson), Renee has experienced many choreographic and performance opportunities for stage, TV, and camera work including being a backup dancer for Rêve and Shawn Desman, featured in Toronto Summer Music: Echo Chambers, Fall for Dance North, Dance Ontario, Dance Made in Canada, featured and choreographed for On the Floor: Sick Kids Gala, performed among 5 other artists in an hour long piece titled, “Championess,” premiered for Dance Works in November 2023, and recently featured in a Snapchat commercial.

Renee also teaches and choreographs for dance conventions, intensives, competitive studios, drop-in programs, and high school dance programs. Renee’s choreographic resume involves all ages 2 years old to age 20+. Her choreographic process includes positively exploring with the dancer(s) to find their full potential - navigating their natural impulses to heighten their abilities while giving them creative challenges to help them grow as an artist. Renee is dedicated and passionate to continue her growth as a creator to share her knowledge with future generations.

Chelsea Gibbs

Chelsea Gibbs started her dance training at the young age of four at the Sandra Amodeo Dance Studio. At the age of six, she started competing and won numerous special and overall awards for her performances. At age eleven, she was the youngest to audition and become a member of the semi-professional tap company “iTap Youth Company,” based in Hamilton, Ontario, under the direction of, the late, Kimberly Timlock. She also successfully completed her B.A.T.D. Tap and Jazz exams, R.A.D. Ballet Exams and her P.A.E.C. Tap Exam. SHe is a fully certified teacher under Associated Dancer Arts for Professional Teachers (Tap and Jazz), Dance Masters of America, Chapter 38 (Tap), and Acrobatic Arts (Module 1). She is a certified Acro Dance Adjucdicator through the Acro Dance Teachers Association and a member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance. Chelsea obtained her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, her Master of Arts in Leadership degree from the University of Guelph, and her Doctor of Education in Leadership for Organizations from the University of Dayton.

Chelsea’s performing highlights include: the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) in New York (own choreography), the Olympic Torch Relay Performance Team, the Canadian National Tap Team, Chicago Human Rhythms Project, and Montreal Tap Fest. She has the opportunity to perform with professional tap companies such as Bringing Tap Back under the direction of Everett Smith and What’s On? Tap! under the direction of Kim Chalovich. In 2018, she was invited to perform with Andrew Prashad and Travis Knights at the Young People’s Theatre gala called, “Imaginarium: Jewel in the City.” She has also taken Master classes from tap enthusiasts such as Savion Glover, Jason Janas, Bril Barret, Starinah Dixon and Lisa La Touché. Chelsea’s mentors are Emmy award winner Ted Louis Levy, and sisters Chloe and Maud Arnold of the Syncopated Ladies. Most recently, Chelsea was hired as the Tap and one of the Jazz choreographers for the show “Snowed In for Christmas” that featured students in the Music and Dance Theatre Program at St. Lawrence College in Brockville, ON.

Over the years, Chelsea has appeared in numerous commercials and television shows such as “The Next Step,” “IIFA Awards,” “Breakfast Television,” “Motives and Murders,” and “Voice of a Child” to name a few. To further her professional development, Chelsea has attended workshops and conventions such as The Dance Teacher Summit (Long Beach, CA), Broadway Dance Center’s Dance Teacher Workshop in (Manhattan, New York), Toronto Teacher EXpo (Toronto, ON), and Jump Start Intensive: Radar Techniques with Rebecca Davies, and Krista & Autumn Miller (Toronto, ON).

Katerina Wu

Originally from Oakville, Ontario, Katerina Wu is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, passionate about sharing her art with others. As a Centennial College Dance Performance Diploma Program graduate, she has training in multiple dance styles, including contemporary, modern, lyrical, ballet, jazz, acrobatics, hip-hop, commercial, waacking, breaking, and house. Katerina is hard-working and dependable, with an ambitious mindset. She is a multi-talented and creative dancer, who pushes artistic boundaries with her energetic performance and detail-oriented choreography, which has won special awards and overall placements in dance competitions across Ontario. Katerina is passionate about teaching and aims to create an open and welcoming environment where dancers can push their creative limits. Constantly striving to be the best version of herself, she is always open to new opportunities that support her growth as an artist and a person.