Our faculty
Denise Vitali
Owner, Instructor
Denise began her training with Sudbury School of Ballet and completed her dance education with Tini Pel at the Arts Guild Dance Studio in Sudbury, graduating from the three year apprenticeship program for professionals. She furthered her studies in dance with courses in Halifax, Toronto and Copenhagen.
Denise has been teaching in Sudbury for 45 years, opening her own studio in 1984. She performed liturgical dance as part of a Huntington University lecture series and went on to perform and choreograph liturgical dance for many churches in the Sudbury area. Starting in 1984, Denise choreographed numerous musical theatre productions for Jamie Bourget at Theatre Cambrian, including Hair, West Side Story and My Fair Lady. In 2005 Denise received Northern Life's Community Builder's Award for the Arts and in 2009 she was awarded the Champions for Children award by Our Children, Our Future. In 2012 Denise received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee award from the Sudbury Multicultural Society, and in 2017 she was honoured by the Sudbury Theatre Centre with the STC Honours award for her lifetime contribution to the arts in Sudbury. Denise holds an Advanced Teacher's certificate from The Society of Russian Ballet (now the Society of Classical Ballet - Vaganova Method) and is currently an executive member and examiner for the Society.
sandy lanz
Instructor, ballet
Sandy started dancing at 5 years old and continued right through high school. She then attended Ryerson University in the Dance program. There she received her Royal Academy of Dance certificate at the Advanced level.
Sandy returned to Sudbury and taught for 3 years at the Arts Guild with Mrs. Tini Pel. Then, after an absence of 20 years, she rediscovered her LOVE OF DANCE. She has been taking classes and teaching in the Russian style since 2006. Although she has studied in many different disciplines (jazz, modern and national dances), her first love has always been ballet!
Sandy's hobbies include gardening, spending time with her large dog and reading.
april-marie machum
Instructor, ballet and jazz
April began dancing at a young age and has grown to love all aspects of the art... classwork, performance and teaching. She is currently teaching and dancing at Sudbury School of Dance as well as completing her Bachelor of Architectural Studies at the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University. April has been training at the Sudbury School of Dance for many years. She has trained with Denise Vitali, Lauren Perl, Sarah Kallio and Sandy Lanz in ballet, modern and jazz.
April is also passionate about performing with the earthdancers where she has been a strong presence for many years as a dancer, production coordinator (2012-2014) and now choreographer (since 2013).
April is currently assisting and teaching ballet and jazz classes at Sudbury School of Dance. She has completed the Student Teacher exam and continues working towards her teaching certificate in ballet through the Society of Russian Ballet as well as her jazz teaching certification through the ADAPT syllabus teacher training program.
Hannah Pilon
Instructor, modern
Hannah Pilon grew up in Sudbury, ON, and started dancing when they were three years old at Sudbury School of Dance with Denise Vitali, training there until the age of eighteen. Hannah also participated in earthdancers for about six years, as a part of the production crew, a dancer, and a choreographer. Following graduation from high school, Hannah moved to Toronto and enrolled at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre for the three year Professional Training Program. Hannah has also participated in workshops with Branch, a Northern Ontario Dance Collective. Following graduation from STDT Hannah has been pursuing further opportunities for dance, including teaching in Toronto, and now teaching modern here at home at SSD, as well as expanding their skills in other forms of art, such as writing, drawing, and film. Hannah plans on exploring more mixed-media projects in the future.