For the past 58 years, Nancy has taught dancing in Windsor and Essex County. Now with the help of her daughter Cindy, they have classes in 4 different locations, instructing children of all ages and levels in various styles of dance. Many students have pursued professional careers in fields such as medicine, law, school teaching, designing, business, opened their own dance schools and many others are dancing professionally throughout Canada and the United States. She has been a member of the Cecchetti Council of America since 1966. Nancy was honoured with the title of the "Dance Teacher of the Year 1997" by the Joe Tremaine Conventions Inc. of Los Angeles California. Nancy is also the Artistic Director of the Essex County Dancers Competition Team, and Principal of the Encore Performing Arts Company.
Cindy Pattison-Rivard
Cindy holds an honours degree from the University of Windsor in the Faculty of Human Kinetics. As a member of the Cecchetti Council of America since 1983, she holds her Teachers Intermediate Certificate (Grade VI). Cindy also figure skated for 20 years, and taught private lessons for a short time. Fourteen (14) years ago, Cindy co-founded the Encore Performing Arts Company and is presently a teacher and choreographer of the ECDI Competition Team.
Together, Nancy and Cindy are committed to excellence in dance and are compelled to "give back" what so many others have given to them. The staff at Nancy Pattison's Dance World welcomes you to our studio. A new world is opening up to you as you begin to study the art of dance. We hope that your experience with us is a memorable and meaningful one. All assisting teachers are specially trained in all disciplines by Nancy and Cindy.
We strive to provide quality instruction for the development of co-ordination, poise and perfection, as well as physical and mental discipline that will last a lifetime.
Since moving to Los Angeles, California, Kraig has kept very busy. He has been an assistant teacher and a guest judge for many dance conventions, notably Tremaine Dance Convention, and Star Systems. Kraig performs regularly including six seasons with the famous Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and appearances on "Your Big Break", "Miss America Pageant", the "Academy Awards", and most recently, "Days of Our Lives". This past year he danced and sang in "Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Chicago", in stage shows for Disney's "Finding Nemo" and "Brother Bear" and is currently in rehearsal for "Snow White". Besides his own costume design business, "Klothes by Kraig", he also designs for Dance Co, Inc, a leading dancewear catalogue house. Still more costumes were created for a show at the Belagio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.
Kraig continues to design and create stunning original, unique costumes and 'one-of-a-kind'pieces for competitions and special performances throughout the US and Canada.
julie Walmsley
Julie was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario Canada. It was there that she took her first dance steps at Nancy Pattison’s Dance World. During her time with NPDW, Julie was a member of the Essex County Dancers Competition Team, and was also part of the faculty.
For the past several years, Julie has been performing professionally on the high seas. Cruising around the world, she has entertained on such ships as the Grand Princess, Sun Princess, Grandeur of the Seas, NCL Sea, NCL Majesty, and on the NCL Sun where she performed in Encore Mr. Producer, a show directed and choreographed by Cameron Mackintosh. In addition to performing, Julie has assumed responsibilities of Dance Captain and Company Manager.
Julie would like to thank Nancy Pattison’s Dance World for giving her a place to grow and learn as both a dancer and a person.
tammy Laframboise
Tammy Laframboise began her career in dance as a student with Nancy Pattison’s Dance World. Soon she was competing and performing with the Essex County Dancers Inc. (E.C.D.I), and the Encore Performing Arts Company. It didn’t take long before Tammy was teaching and choreographing for all three entities. And as if she wasn’t getting enough dancing in, Tammy also began to dancing professionally for CASINO WINDSOR.
Since making the move to California, Tammy has appeared on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, and MTV’S BECOMING. She toured Australia with ELVIS TO THE MAX. She has appeared in an exercise video with fitness guru JEFF COSTA, a music video with teen sensation ANTEL, and DISNEY’S production of SPRINGTACULAR at the EL CAPITAN THEATRE in Hollywood. Tammy is currently working with her husband Jayme to create their own original shows to be performed all over the United States and Canada.
Tammy loves to return to her home town to perform at CASINO WINDSOR and take a class at NPDW, so if you keep you eyes open you may spot her. She also wants to thank her teachers at Nancy Pattison’s Dance World for giving her the gift of dance, and for always being such an amazing support system!
lori MacDonald
Lori began lessons with Nancy Pattison's at the rather late age of ten. Her love of Tap was evident from day one, and continues to be her favourite discipline. Lori became a member or the faculty at Nancy Pattison's during her high school years, and she enjoyed competing with the "early" competition team. When Al Gilbert honoured her with a scholarship, she and Al began a very special relationship. Working with Al was a complete joy, as many of you know, but having Al at her wedding in 2001 was very special for her.
Upon graduation from high school, Lori attended the University of Guelph, where she was responsible for running the Performing Dance Group on campus, and teaching many dance courses for staff and students in Guelph. Upon her return to Windsor, she worked for a few years coaching the Competitive team at Nancy's.
Lori currently works as an elementary school teacher in the Greater Essex County District School Board. Aside from spending time with her young son Jack, her daughter Kate, and husband Scott, Lori keeps busy coaching sports and volunteering her time at Nancy Pattison's Dance World.
janice Hanlan
Janice started dancing with Nancy Pattison when she was three, where she was eventually Nancy's assistant and then a teacher. She got her BFA in dance from York University in 1992 where she performed with many renowned choreographers in modern. She has performed at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, EFX in Las Vegas with Michael Crawford, as Belle and Cinderella in Tokyo Disneyland's Feel the Magic, among others. She also did work on cruise ships where she was dance captain and also director of some new shows. Currently she is living in Panama, where she is teaching Jazz and Tap for the Academia de Danza Steps. In Panama she has choreographed and performed in many shows including nationally televised ones, such as Miss Panama and the opening ceremony for the new Cruise ship port in Colon, among others. She has performed in and choreographed industrials for Sony, Bulgari, RCA, Nissan, among others, as well as two full length tap dance theatre shows, called Tap Night 1 and 2. She performs with a modern company called Momentum also. She has also worked with a Spanish choreographer to present a modern dance version of the Wizard of Oz.
Janice would like to thank Nancy Pattison for introducing her to the world of dance and teaching her to love all types of dance. She plans on staying in Panama with her husband, Edwin and her two children, Patrick and Emma.
christian Vincent
Christian is definitely on the list of Hollywood’s “most working!” He appeared in the movies Rent,Starsky & Hutch and Miss Congeniality 2; performed with Madonna, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Prince. He has also worked as an assistant-choreographer and choreographer on dozens of national commercials including the now infamous Target ads.
You can see Christian in the film “Work Hard.” He has also played the parts of Lex Luthor's bodyguard in "Smallville" and the Arch Angel Michael on the ABC show "Fallen".
erica Meyer
Erica followed in her mother’s footsteps and began dancing with Nancy Pattison’s Dance World at the young age of 3. Dancing soon became a passion and a very important aspect of her life for 20 years. Throughout her dancing years, Erica pursued many disciplines of dance and successfully completed exams in each genre. At the age of 7 she joined the Essex County Dancers Competition Team and spent 10 years competing across Canada and the United States. Erica has also had the honour to take classes with many well known choreographers across North America. She also joined the Encore Performing Arts Company where she studied ballet and performed for many charity groups throughout the community. Erica went on to teach and share her love of dance with many young children.
The discipline, commitment and team work Erica learned through dance transpired to her education. After completing a Bachelor of Science degree with honours at the University of Windsor, Erica entered medical school and is now currently completing her fourth and final year in hopes of pursing a residency in pediatrics next year. Being a part of the Nancy Pattison’s Dance World family shaped and influenced Erica and has helped her achieve her personal and professional goals in life.
amy Richardson
Amy Richardson made her Off-Broadway debut in For Christ’s Sake. Her credits also include A Chorus Line (Val), Cinderella (The Wicked Stepmother), La Cage Aux Folles (Anne) and Dracula (Mina). She has performed The Nutcracker Ballet (Flowers, Chinese & Pages) with Dance Detroit at the Fox Theater in Detroit and John Ross Dance Magic at Paramount Canada's Wonderland in Toronto. She played the recurring role of Samantha, the diner waitress on As The World Turns and a biker chick on All My Children.
As a member of the ECDI Competition Team, Amy received scholarships to the Joffrey Ballet School, Steps on Broadway and the Retter Dance Academy in Los Angeles. Amy is a member of The Cecchetti Council of America, holding the Associate II Certification, an Al Gilbert Accredited Teacher with Jazz IV and Tap VIII and a Zena Rommett Certified Floor-Barre Instructor. She has also received numerous fitness and nutrition certifications. She is a graduate of the University of Windsor with an honours degree in Human Kinetics and an alumna of American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
chrissie McLean
Chrissie began taking classes at Nancy’s Pattison’s Dance World at the age of three and later went on to compete with the Essex County Dancers for seven years. During that time she had the privilege of not only working with Nancy & Cindy and all the amazing people at NPDW but also attended many conventions where she took classes from some of the top choreographers and teachers in the dance world.
Chrissie then relocated to Toronto for school and ended up working at B&M Talent Management, an agency representing models and actors for fashion, film and TV. After that she made the big move to Los Angeles to follow her dream of a career in film. She studied in Santa Monica, California and soon after was very lucky to land a job at Tom Cruise’s production company. Chrissie then transitioned with the company as it morphed into United Artists Film Studio where she continues to work in Film Development and Production. In her time working in Hollywood, she has had the pleasure of working on such films as MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, THE EYE, DEATH RACE, LIONS FOR LAMBS, VALKYRIE and the UA/MGM joint productions of CABIN IN THE WOODS and FAME.
Chrissie would like to thank Nancy and Cindy and everyone at NPDW for their guidance and support throughout the years and for the many lessons she learned through dancing that have helped her achieve many goals and chase her dreams!!
jocelyne Levesque
Jocelyne Levesque was born and raised in Windsor Ontario and began her dance training at the age of three. She quickly fell in love with the art and began dancing competitively with the Nancy Pattison’s team, the Essex County Dancers, at the age of nine. She was also part of the Encore Performing Arts Company for six years. Jocelyne had the privilege of being part of the Nancy Pattison staff for eight years, three of those coaching the Essex County Dancers. She has choreographed many competitive dance routines for studios throughout Southwestern Ontario, and has also choreographed pieces for the Miss Universe Ontario Pageant and the Windsor Annual Freedom Festival.
Jocelyne’s professional credentials include performing with the Radio City Rockettes for the past 7 years in New York, Toronto, Florida, and Detroit, as well as dancing onboard Holland America’s M.S. Oosterdam in 2007. She is very excited to announce that she will once again be performing with the Rockettes this year at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Apart from her dance career, Jocelyne attended University of Windsor between contracts. She has a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Advertising.
Jocelyne would like to thank Nancy Pattison’s Dance World for the wonderful training she has received helping her achieve her dream of becoming a professional dancer.
