From LakeshoreAdvance.com

As a former cheerleader with one NFL team (Buffalo Bills) and two CFL squads (Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats), dance instructor Elizabeth Morgan works hard to inspire her pupils of any age to follow their dreams.

Morgan has created a recreational dance program in Grand Bend in an 8-week introduction to movement for children ages 4-teens. Classes will focus on the basics of ballet, jazz and acrobatic dance. Some hip hop may be incorporated into the older class.

Morgan has danced since she was three as well as studied classical music, fitness and drama-in-education. She is a graduate of Western University, a certified teacher with the Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association and a member of the International Dance Council which is an official UNESCO world dance organization.

“Last November I lectured, as the sole Canadian delegate, at their world congress held in Russia, as well as voted on behalf of Canada on IDC world dance events for 2015,” she told the Lakeshore Advance.

She was a professional cheerleader with the NFL Buffalo Bills, CFL Toronto Argonauts and CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats for many years. She was selected as a Captain on each of those teams and was a Pro Bowl Finalist one year. “I still do guest choreography for the CFL and other pro and university teams, as well as coordinate my fellow alumni for the “Argos Alumni Cheerleaders’ Annual Halftime Show for Women’s Cancers” in Toronto every October. I am a competition judge and also teach guest workshops across North America.”

Currently, Morgan owns and operates Expressions Dance Arts Inc. This is their 22nd season in business.

She dropped into the Grand Bend Fitness Centre one day in December to check out their space. “They have a lovely expansive studio room with mirrors that is perfect for all sizes of dancers young or adult. I met a very friendly front desk staffer who recommended that I contact the Fitness Centre owners about getting a new dance program going at their facility. A few months later, voila! We are planning our first session,” she said adding this will be a trial session, “which means there is added benefit in that I can develop of the dance programs to meet the interests and skill levels of the children and youth in the community. This is a partnership between Expressions Dance Arts and the Grand Bend Fitness Centre. Our shared goal is to provide an inspiring new arts and fitness outlet for the community.”

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Students will learn basic terminology, steps and combinations in these forms. The emphasis will be on fitness, fun, creative expression and building self-confidence and teamwork skills. Boys and girls, beginners as well as those with prior movement experience are all welcome.

Following the completion of this spring session, we plan to host summer classes. We will then begin a fall session. We are open to adding additional levels and genres as needed, as time goes on, to meet the growing demand for classes in Grand Bend.

Fitness and Personal Artistic Expression are extremely important to the development of healthy young minds, bodies and therefore to the future development of communities. Dance and cheer in particular teach not only physical fitness, but these disciplines also utilize math, memory work, teamwork, problem solving, socialization and creative skills. These are elements that will benefit any young person well beyond their lesson years and far outside the boundaries of the studio classroom.