Faculty

Briana Lynch discovered her love of dance at the age of five in Fergus, Ontario, training at The Teresa Randall School of Dance. There, she focused primarily on ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, while also becoming skilled in Jazz (CDTA) and Modern (Graham and Limon techniques). She began assisting classes as a teen, soon moving into teaching, a passion she has pursued ever since.

After high school, Briana was accepted into the prestigious Dance Program at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) under the direction of Nadia Potts. Majoring in Pedagogy, the Royal Academy of Dance and Ryerson’s teacher training program for children’s dance, she honed her skills in both instruction and performance. During her four years at Ryerson, she had the privilege of working with many of Toronto’s most celebrated choreographers and instructors, further shaping her expertise as a teacher. Briana graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She immediately began teaching and choreographing across Toronto, collaborating with studios and art schools as well as co-founding the modern dance company Recoil.

In 2006 Briana brought her vision to Guelph, Ontario, founding The Guelph Academy of Dance. What began with 65 students has since grown into a vibrant community of more than 400 youth dancers and 100 adult dancers, offering programs in Creative Movement, Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Musical Theatre, Tap, Contemporary, and Pointe, as well as the popular summer camp The Dance Days of Summer.

Briana’s work has been widely recognized: she received the YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 2017, was voted “Favorite Dance Teacher” by the Guelph Mercury in 2010 and 2012, and has led her studio to multiple Platinum and Diamond “Best Dance Studio” and “Best Summer Camp” titles in the Guelph Mercury’s Reader’s Choice Awards and Guelph Today. TGAD has also won the Top Choice Award for best studio from 2019 to 2025.

Dedicated, passionate, and deeply committed to her students, Briana continues to inspire dancers of all ages to discover the joy, discipline, and artistry of dance.

Ulrika began dancing at the age of 10 at her local dance studio in her hometown of Karlstad, Sweden. Originally she studied Jazz dance, but quickly advanced into Ballet, Modern, Tap, and Hip Hop. She fell in love with the art form and immersed herself completely. Ulrika auditioned and was accepted into her studio’s Dance Company and had the opportunity to perform at trade shows, festivals and special events.

In 1994 she left home, moved to Gothenburg, Sweden and entered a four year dance program at the College for professional dance studies. At the Ballet Academy of Gothenburg she received intense training in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Modern, Tap, and Musical Theatre. As part of the program she also studied National Dancing, Flamenco, Pilates, Kinesiology, Dance History, Dance Repertoire, and Choreography. One of the many wonderful aspects about the program was the international faculty of teachers and choreographers such as Mr. Anthony Ferro, a dancer with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company and featured in the movie Hair from 1979.

Ulrika graduated with a Diploma in the spring of 1998 and was immediately hired as a dancer for an international cruise line. Her love for dancing and travelling combined brought her to Toronto a year later where she continued to pursue her dance career. She began teaching in the year 2000 and has taught at many of Toronto’s renowned dance schools such as The National Ballet School of Canada (Junior Division), City Dance Corps and The Martha Hicks School of Ballet. Ulrika joined the faculty at the Guelph Academy of Dance in the summer of 2007 and is since a much-loved teacher at the studio. In 2011 Ulrika and her family moved to Guelph and is now happy to call this wonderful city their home.

Ulrika feels very fortunate to be able to share her passion for dancing with her students and aspire to help them grown not only as dancers but as people. Ulrika is very excited for the new dance season to start at the Guelph Academy of dance and is looking forward to another amazing year at the studio.

Megan has been studying ballet for more than 30 years and is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance. Megan graduated with distinction in 2003 from Canada’s National Ballet School in their Teacher Training Program. This three year intensive program included studies in three styles of ballet, modern dance, national dances, anatomy, pedagogy, body conditioning, music, dance history, and Benesh Notation. After graduating, Megan taught at Canada’s National Ballet School in the unique role of History of Ballet Teacher until 2006.

Megan has long held an interest in education and is registered with the Ontario College of Teachers. In 2000, Megan graduated from the University of Waterloo in their Math Teaching Option program and also received her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University through their joint co-op program.

Since 2003, Megan has taught Mathematics, Computer Science, and Ballet at high schools and dance studios in Guelph, Toronto, Ottawa, and Waterloo.

Maddison Robinson is a graduate from The George Brown Dance program in Toronto. Maddison is well diverse in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Tap and Pointe. She has had the opportunity to train with renowned artist such as Hannah Keil, Ballet Jorgen, Frank Augustine, Ryan Lee, Kathleen Rea, and Nicole Pantin. She has also been training with Toronto dance Artists Danny Davalos and Chelsea Seward for the past year and will continue to dance apart of their shows around Toronto.

Maddison’s passion for dance first began in 2006, the inaugural year of The Guelph Academy of Dance.  Maddison trained under the tutalage of Briana Lynch, Ulrika Englund, Jenna Oxley and was a part of the very first graduating class. She has had the privilege to return after her studies in Toronto and begin her teaching career at the studio that she calls home. Maddison is very excited to share her love of dance with her students and for another year at The Guelph Academy of Dance.

Elona Love started dancing at the age of 3 in Guelph and felt at home onstage right away. She started out taking ballet and quickly started signing up for every type of dance she could. She trained as a competitive dancer at Backstage Dance studio, and competed in groups and solos in jazz, contemporary, acro, hip hop, tap and musical theatre.

She attended Brock University where she studied English Literature, but danced for the university competitive team and also taught some of the recreational classes there. After graduating, she returned to her home studio and continued teaching recreational classes for kids and adults in musical theatre, tap, jazz and contemporary. She then attended Niagara University where she earned her Masters in Education, and worked as a teacher in Glendale, California before returning to Canada.

She continued to dance competitively as an adult in both tap and hip hop and had an absolute blast dancing again with adults who had once been her own teachers as well as dancing with fellow students. In 2016 Elona made the squad for the Hamilton Tiger Cats Cheerleaders, and performed at all home games, as well as performing the half-time show at the 2016 Grey Cup, which was led by One Republic.

Also in 2016, Elona began taking the adult classes at The Guelph Academy of Dance and has been signing up for every class possible since then!

Outside of the dance world, Elona also has an acting background, including starring in an online web series sponsored by ABC, and making guest cameos in musicals put on by the online theatre company, Starkid.

Elona is extremely passionate about dance and is excited for the next season with The Guelph Academy of Dance!