MEET THE TEAM!
Owner & Principle Instructor
Emily Gordey
Emily has been dancing for 16 years in the Okanagan. She really fell in love with dance and performing at the age of six when she performed her tap solo “sugar,sugar” at Armstrong asparagus theatre. She has explored many different genres of dance through her years of training including tap, jazz, musical theatre, ballet, modern, lyrical, and hip hop. In the last 5 years Emily has traveled B.C for competitions as well as dance conventions including Groove street Vancouver, Triple Threat Vancouver and Shine Dance Convention Kelowna. She loves to attend these conventions as she feels it is important to keep exploring the dance world to better herself as a dancer and teacher. Emily loves having the opportunity for continued learning.
In 2018 at Shine Dance Convention Emily was awarded with a shine spirit award for her excellence in showcasing her passion for dance with every movement as well as being recognized by Michelle Dawley (dancer, choreographer, television, movie and music video performer.) Michelle shared with Emily how she felt about the potential in her dancing and the way she draws attention with each movement. Emily won gold at Shine Dance Competition for her contemporary solo in the student choreography category in 2019.
Emily attended Pleasant Valley Secondary School and was a huge part of the PVSS dance program for all four years of high school as well as being a part of the competition team (Adrenaline) for 3 years. Emily has also choreographed numerous dances for the high school dance program in the last 4 years. The school dance program is where she fell in love with and creating artistic choreography, but most importantly realized her passion for teaching and sharing her love for dance to others. In Emilys grad year she was the recipient of the “Susan Fenner Dance Scholarship” as well as the recipient of the “Overall Top Female Athlete Scholarship.”
She started working for Armstrong Dance Academy in the 2018/ 2019 as a substitute teacher and started teaching full time in the 2019/2020 season teaching tap and hip hop. Emily’s approach on teaching is through building strong connections and creating a safe environment for every student who steps foot into the studio. As owner of Artistry in Motion she feels that before training and improving an individual’s dance skills they must feel comfortable, accepted and appreciated in the class environment. Dancing comes hand in hand with being vulnerable and no dancer can reach their full potential without allowing themselves to let go and be vulnerable.
Emily encourages every dancer to A.I.M for the stars!
Rachel Zimmerman
Rachel has been dancing on and off for 16 years, really diving into competitive dancing at the age of 11.
Rachel’s favourite style of dance is Hip hop, but she enjoys and is trained in all styles of dance.
Before graduating, Rachel danced in Kelowna, where she was elected dancer of the year and best performer twice at her studio.
She’s taken classes at Offstage by GRV, had a class at Disneyland, and has attended the Velocity convention in Los Angeles, California.
Rachel has performed at galas and wineries in Kelowna to support local charities and businesses and has worked in film studios multiple times to professionally film the hip hop.
Rachel finds joy in teaching because she believes dance is a safe space where kids can discover their voices.
Dance empowers them to express themselves freely and confidently, fostering creativity and self-assurance. Rachel’s passion lies in guiding young dancers, helping them unlock their potential.
We are beyond lucky and excited to welcome Rachel Zimmerman to our A.I.M team!!
Georgia Rivers
Ballet Instructor
Georgia’s passion for dance started very young when she would go to pick up her sister from dance class and somehow always ended up on the sidelines dancing along with her sister and the rest of the class. She started her first dance class as a creative when she was 2 years old at Just for Kicks Dance Studio in Salmon Arm.
Georgia has been a competitive dancer since she was 5 years old when her team went to shine dance festival for the first time, and every year they went she loved dance even more!
In her grad year she won “Top Overall Dancer” for her age group with her lyrical solo and shared many other awards for her group dances with her teammates!
Georgia has been teaching dance classes for 4 years and has been a teachers assistant since she was 10.
Georgia loves teaching and watching her students improve throughout the year, helping them along the way to make them feel good about themselves and always encouraging them to try hard and to not give up on anything when it doesn’t come easy the first time.
office manager,dance Instructor & Kids Yoga
Gabrielle Cooke
Gabrielle’s love of dance began at the age of six. She attended many dance studios in the Okanagan training in jazz, hip hop, lyrical, ballet and tap. In her later years of training she taught jazz and hip hop as well as teaching dance at local elementary schools. Gabrielle fell in love with preforming at a very young age. She competed in numerous competitions throughout BC. In her early years of training she travelled to Vancouver to attend Triple Threat Dance Conventions.
In 2015 Gabrielle completed her Early Childhood Education Assistant certificate and has been working in the child care service for the last five years. She has a love for working with children and has a strong value on building connections with every individual who crosses her path.
While working in child care in the last five years Gabrielle has also been staying involved with dance by taking numerous classes in many different genres, including salsa, two step and waltz.
In Gabrielle’s adult years her love of artistry in dance has also flowed into Yoga and Pilates. Gabrielle is certified and has completed her 200 hour YTT yoga teacher training as well as her 50 hour kids yoga teacher training.
We are very happy to have Gabrielle as part of our wonderful team.