About Us

Leanne Gillan

Leanne started her dance career at the age of 7 training in jazz and tap. Wanting a little more style, she joined Stars of Tomorrow in 2002, and was placed on their first competitive team in 2003. She has been on SOT’s competitive team to date! Leanne has since taken classes in lyrical, contemporary, tap, jazz, modern, cabaret, hip-hop and more. She loves each style in a different way but has developed a new love for tap as an adult! Through competitive dance she has received gold medals and top mark awards with the pleasure of meeting many professional choreographers including Mia Michaels, and team Tremaine in New York City. She has travelled for dance with SOT to different parts of Canada, Walt Disney World in Florida and New York City.

Leanne enjoys all aspects of dance in and outside of the classroom and has been demonstrating and teaching at Stars of Tomorrow since September 2005. She is thrilled to continue to be a part of SOT and share her wealth and love of dance to her students.

Elizabeth MacDonnell

Elizabeth MacDonnell has been a dance educator for over 15 years, obtaining teaching certifications in Jazz (CDTA), Ballet (Society of Russian Ballet, Assoc.) and Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT). As a dancer, she has trained recreationally, competitively and/or pre-professionally at The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Maritime Dance Academy, Halifax Dance, Broadstreet Dance (Victoria, BC) and summer intensives with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She has successfully entered students from the Primary-Elementary level student examinations through the Society of Russian Ballet and in addition to her choreography through Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy, she has also worked with Thirty-Something Dance Company and Saints Alive! Theatre Company (Assistant Choreographer). Elizabeth has been an instructor and choreographer at Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy for 8 years and continues to be passionate for the education and growth of the dancers at the school!

Isabelle LeFort

Isabelle LeFort started dancing at the young age of 3 years old in Belleville Ontario at The Leanne Ireland Academy of Dance. Training and examining in Russian ballet and tap, Isabelle quickly found her passion for dance. Later on, she moved to Nova Scotia and started dancing at Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy. At the age of 9 Isabelle started in ballet and tap and with the help from the teachers of Stars of Tomorrow Isabelle continued to add on different styles, now old Isabelle studies Russian ballet, pointe, lyrical, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern and acrobatics.

With Isabelle’s passion flourishing she put her efforts into finding new ways to develop as a dancer. Traveling to places such as New York City and Montreal. Isabelle was able to train with new choreographers in order to help her branch out her career. Once headed to New York in 2018 Isabelle attended the Joffrey Ballet School for 3 weeks. During those 3 weeks, ballet, pointe, jazz and Horton was learned. In 2019 she studied at Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal with specified training in hand balancing, lyra, power track and contortion.

Isabelle has always had a love for teaching. In 2016 Isabelle started in Stars of Tomorrows Teacher Assistant Training Program. Working with children from the ages of 2 to 8 for 4 years she demonstrated a knack for working with young children. In 2020 Isabelle was offered a teaching position for the preschool program as well as children ages 6-8. Teaching tap, jazz and ballet for young children, Isabelle was also offered the opportunity to teach in the Russian ballet program for level primary as well as studying in the ballet teacher training program provided by the Russian ballet syllabus to further develop methods towards teaching the Russian ballet syllabus.

Makayla Tomlin

Makayla began dancing at the age of three as a recreational dancer at Stars Of Tomorrow dance academy. She quickly fell in love with dancing and joined the competitive team at age 5. Since the start, Makayla has been training in ballet, jazz and tap but continued to add more styles, including; lyrical, contemporary, modern, acro, hip hop, and musical theatre. In 2015, Makayla was invited to the Elite Core Competitive Performance Troupe at SOT. In 2017, she joined the Assistant Teacher program and in 2020 she was very excited to be invited to start teaching .
Throughout her journey in dance, Makayla has studied and/or performed various summer programs including; Disney Performance, Paris dance tour, Ballet Jörgen in Toronto, Saint John’s International Circus Fest and Joffrey New York City. Makayla wishes to continue her training and teaching in dance throughout high school and post-secondary education.

Stephanie Hibberd

Stephanie began dancing at the age of three. After years of dancing and examining through the Canadian Dance Teachers Association, she entered the competitive dance world with Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy (SOT), in 2002. Stephanie has been working with SOT for over fifteen years as a teacher in various styles. Dance, as a whole, is a huge part of her life; however, continuing her education in Tap and sharing her Tap knowledge with others has a special place in her heart.

In addition to teaching Stephanie loves working with all faculty and assistants through her role as Studio Manager. 

When Stephanie isn’t at the studio you can find her working in her role for Nova Scotia Health with Continuing Care. Her work life keeps her busy; however, she always finds time to spend with her friends and family!

Morganne Hartlen

Morganne Hartlen of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, began gymnastics at the young age of four, with Titans Gymnastics Club, having continued for the next seven years. This later transitioned into the beginning of her dance training at Stars of Tomorrow, at age nine, in hip hop and acrobatics. As her passion for dance grew, she quickly expanded her repertoire to include ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and more. 

The highlight of her dance career would be attending the National Circus School in the summer of 2019, or travelling to Paris, France with SDF dance tours in 2018. 

During her 8 (and counting) years as a competitive dancer, Morganne also participated in the Assistant Teacher Training program at SOT.  With the recent completion of her Student Teacher in Training program through the Society of Russian Ballet, and Module 1 certification through Acrobatic Arts, Morganne is now a certified teacher in both ballet and acrobatics. As her teaching journey begins, Morganne looks forward to working with students of all ages through the movement of dance!

Tirene Padget

B.A., B.H.K., R.T.S., T.T.D., C.B.T.S.

Originally from the Maritimes, Tirene received her first Teacher Training Diploma from the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. She then went on to complete her B.A. in Dance Science and Education at York University, B.H.K. in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, and her second Teacher Training Diploma with the Royal Academy of Dance. She has completed examinations in R.A.D., Cecchetti, C.D.T.A., and Russian styles of ballet and has gone on to teach and choreograph at both recreational and competitive levels.

As a Kinesiologist, her expertise extends into the world of Kinesiology where she focused her first degree on healthy practices and prevention of injuries among dancers. While completing her second degree, she developed her own method, Corrective Dance Training in an effort to help dancers better (and more safely) attain their goals. It is her belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their optimal abilities, regardless of age and training background.

Lauren Dexter

Lauren began dancing at Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy at the age of 3. Lauren’s main focus was ballet but later joined the competitive team and broaden her dance training in different styles. During her high school years, Lauren became an assistant teacher at Stars of Tomorrow. Once Lauren completed the Assistant Teacher Training Program, she went on to teach classes for the Summer Camp Programs. Lauren continued to dance competitively in many styles up until 2016 when she graduated high school and went away for university. During her summers home, Lauren continued to teach and dance. Their Lauren fell in love with Tap dancing and continues to this day tapping at Stars of Tomorrow. During the summer of 2020 Lauren wanted to learn more about the running of Stars of Tomorrow and joined the office staff. Lauren now works in the office multiple days a week and enjoys helping out the studio, dancers and parents.

Rebecca Swift

From Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Rebecca is a dancer and teacher at Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy. Her dance journey started at the age of 8 when she joined a recreational hip hop class at SOT.  Two years later, she joined the competitive team and began to train in contemporary, lyrical, jazz and also, ballet. Rebecca’s growing love for ballet flourished wile being an assistant for 4 years, in the assistant program at SOT. Later, in the summer of 2021, Rebecca became a certified ballet teacher after completing her student teacher-in-training program with The Society of Russian Ballet. In 2019 and 2021, she performed “The Nutcracker” with Halifax Dance and Symphony Nova Scotia. A highlight of Rebeccas would be attending the School of Toronto Dance Theatres 2019 summer intensive or completing her levels 3-elementary ballet exams through The Society of Russian Ballet. Rebecca is looking forward to a year of learning, growing and sharing her love of dance to younger dancers.