Faculty
Yuliia Shevchenko
PRINCIPAL
Ballet/Dance DIVISION
Yuliia Shevchenko was born in Kiev, Ukraine. She began her dance training at the age of five and continued her ballet studies at the Kiev State Ballet Academy. After graduation, she joined the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet for Children and Youth in Kiev.
Yullia worked throughout Europe as a professional ballet dancer. Her extensive contemporary, classical and character dance repertoire included: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Harlequinade, Romeo and Juliet, Sacred Spring, Pushkin, Casanova, Carmina Burana, Carmen, Four Seasons, Giselle, and Rasputin, in which she had leading and solo roles.
In 2002, after giving birth to her daughter Nikita, she joined the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada
Following her extensive professional ballet career, Yuliia has dedicated her time to teaching and youth development. She has been a ballet teacher and choreographer at ballet schools and instructor and artistic consultant for rhythmic gymnastics groups in Europe and Canada. As well, she has offered ballet master classes, workshops and summer schools in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick.
Barb Longaphie
Drama
Riverview native Barbara Longaphie earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Mount Allison University, as well as her Bachelor of Education at Crandall University. She has been a singer all her life, and her chosen career has led to travels and performances in Canada, the United States and Europe. She spent 15 years in Toronto as a performer in movies, television and on stage, and she has also taught private voice and art lessons. Her teaching philosophy is that singers should be comfortable in all styles, and so she teaches and performs choral, classical, musical theatre, solo, pop, rock and country music. Barb is the visual arts instructor for the Arts After School Program and a music instructor with the Musical Theatre program.
Justin Guignard
Music
Justin is one of New Brunswick’s up-and-coming singers and composers. Having won the New Brunswick Provincial Music Festival in 2009 and again in 2012, his career has led him to perform for the French Consulate and in such prestigious performance venues as Carnegie Hall. Having studied composition with Dr. Glenn Buhr, Justin’s compositions have been performed by orchestras from Canada, the Dominican Republic, as well as the United Kingdom. After a year of studying Voice Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University with Daniel Lichti and Victor Martens, Justin is currently studying Music Education at the Université de Moncton.