Instructors

Patsy Newman (Jansen)

Following in her Mom’s footsteps, Patsy began teaching dance at the age of 12 to the neighborhood kids in their family’s basement for free. Combining her love for children, dance and teaching, she attended Red River Community College and pursued her career as an Early Childhood Educator after High School as well as getting certified as a dance educator with the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association and ADAPT Dance Syllabus (Associated Dance Arts Professional Training).

Patsy, along with her sister Connie took over the family business and has taught dance for the past 45 years. As Director of Jansen School of Dance, she continues to mentor her daughters and other young teachers as they share their knowledge and love of dance with new students.

Connie Prichodko

Connie is one of the original members of the Jansen School of Dance and started training with her mom, Connie Jansen, when she was twelve years old. Along with her sister Jackie, they trained in Tap, Jazz and Acro as they moved from country to country, and province to province, growing up with a father in the military.

Connie has carried on sharing her love of dance to numerous children over the years. She has entered award winning groups in competitions throughout Canada and the U.S.A. Several of her own students have gone on to open studios of their own.

We are also very fortunate to have Connie on board as our own seamstress. She continues to sew the most amazing costumes for all our youngest and tiniest dancers at Jansen School of Dance.

Paige Newman

Paige began her dancing as soon as she could walk. With her Mom, Auntie and sister as her teachers she really had no choice. She spent much of her childhood at the studio with her sister and the older students and fostering a lifelong love for dance. Along with becoming an accomplished gymnast, she studied jazz, tap and ballet until grade 12. Throughout her life she competed in festivals and competitions in Winnipeg and the U.S.

Paige began teaching dance and gained her training in teaching at Jansen School of Dance along with her mom. She is now a busy mom of a 2 yr. old and balances teaching with a full time career as a lab technologist. Paige continues to love to share her knowledge of dance with the students of Jansen School of Dance.

Carly Rae

Carly began her dance training at age 3 with her Mom as her teacher. She spent much of her childhood at the studio idolizing her Mother and the older students and fostering a lifelong passion for dance. At 10, she danced in Brigadoon at Rainbow Stage, and at 16 she danced in the Winnie the Pooh Friendship day shows at Assiniboine Park for Disney/Jungle Entertainment.

She continued her training at Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Decidedly Jazz in Calgary, and with Brian Foley from ADAPT. She trained with Manhattan Tap Company, Alvin Ailey, Steps, and Broadway Dance Centre in New York.

Carly began her dance teaching and gained her training in teaching at Jansen School of Dance before leaving to pursue her own dance career. She toured Western Canada teaching workshops and setting choreography for provincial competitions as well as running workshops in contemporary Jazz at Pineapple Dance Studios in London, UK. She later organized and set costumes and dancers in major West End Night Clubs in London.

For 5 years, Carly toured the World with Jean Anne Ryan Productions dancing in their many production shows on several Norwegian Cruise ships. She danced for the Goldeyes baseball team and in Sonia’s music video Ft. Apache as well as many corporate shows in London, England. She was in Make it Happen, Everybody’s Doing it and the Three’s Company movies, as well as the Falcon Beach TV series.

Recently Carly has gone back to school to study Amatsu to be able to rehabilitate dancers from injuries and help them maintain proper body alignment. She is eagerly involved in continuing to share her knowledge and love of dance with the students of Jansen School of Dance.

Rebecca SpenceVoth

Rebecca started dancing at Jansen School of Dance at the age of 4 and yes, Patsy was her first teacher. When Jansen Studio closed in Winnipeg, she was forced to move to another studio to continue her dance training. She spent many hours studying jazz, ballet, lyrical and tap throughout her childhood and competing in numerous festivals and competitions in Winnipeg and the U.S.

In 2010 she joined the team, becoming one of the family and currently teaches lyrical and jazz. She is also an accomplished Massage Therapist specializing in Osteopathy. She is passionate about dance (especially lyrical) and brings that forth in all her classes. Her goal is to inspire her students to strive to be their best and create a sense of community and friendship through dance.

Madison Spence

Madison has been dancing for over fifteen years. She is Rebecca’s sister and also began her dancing at Jansen School of Dance. She has studied jazz, ballet, lyrical, tap, modern and hip-hop. Madison has danced competitively for 13 years throughout Canada and the United States.

In 2012, she performed in front of thousands of people at the inspirational WE Day here in Winnipeg. In 2013, she performed with the famous pop artist Vita Chambers at the Winnipeg Pride Festival. For the past six years, she has been teaching ballet, jazz, hip-hop and many other styles of dance in Winnipeg. We are very happy and fortunate to have her join our team teaching ballet and lyrical.

Ava Zillman

Ava knew she had a love for dance since she took her first class at the age of 2. Since then she has trained in many styles including tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, pointe, modern, and musical theatre. Ava has 15 years of dance training and still dances today. Ava has danced with many studios throughout her life including Jansen School of Dance, Exhale Dance Studio, and Kickit Dance Studio. Ava has been dancing competitively since the age 5 and has received many scholarships, first place prizes and travel opportunities.

In 2015 Ava had the opportunity to dance on the main stage in downtown Disney and take master classes with Disney choreographers. Ava has participated in countless conventions and master classes throughout her career with some of the biggest names in the industry. In 2020 Ava was apart of the Pre-professional tap program, Language of Rhythm directed by Ella Steele. Ava has volunteered lots of her time dancing in charity events, performing at local events, dancing at competitions and performances. Dance has always been a big part of Ava’s life and she hopes she can pass down her love and passion of dance to her students!

Madison Hildebrand

Madison started dancing at the age of 5. By age 8 she joined Jansen School of Dance taking tap and hip hop classes. With Patsy’s encouragement, she soon started taking jazz, lyrical, contemporary and ballet. By 2015, Madison was competing at Dance Manitoba and Rockwood Festival, later on she would compete at Dance Canada and The View. In 2016 and 2017, Madison received the Interlake Dance Award and had the opportunity to perform at the Rockwood Festival Showcase. Madison would continue to dance as well as assist preschool classes before 2018 when she started teaching. Up until the 2022 season when she competed one last time, she is now studying at the University of Winnipeg and is continuing to teach to keep her passion close to her, shareingit with her students.