Class Instructor: Elite Competitive Program & Contemporary
Rachael Poirier has been a renowned dance instructor and award-winning choreographer since 1991. Originally from the Sunshine Coast, Rachael has trained in a myriad of styles with some of the best and brightest instructors including Bonnie Lee Haus, Kay Armstrong and Anna Wyman among many others in Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto and Vancouver. Rachael’s choreography has captivated audiences across the world and has won numerous awards for their innovative style and originality. She has choreographed for many industrial shows such as the opening acts for the B.C. Country Music Awards, Michael Bublé, and the world-renowned magician, Juliana Chen. Rachael founded Danzmode Productions in 1994, which quickly established itself as one of Vancouver’s elite dance institutions where she remained as Artistic Director until 2017. Many of her students have had a dominant presence at local and international competitions including the B.C. Provincials. Many of her dancers moved on to professional careers in world tours and music videos with artists such as Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Mia Michaels and Jennifer Lopez. Several of her students have been seen in the Top 40 of So You Think You Can Dance, The Emmy Awards, The Grammy Awards, and the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Many have gone on to train at world-renowned institutions such as The Julliard School, Point Park University, Jacob’s Pillow and The Ailey School. Others have moved on to dance for prestigious companies including San Francisco Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC (Los Angeles), Ballet BC, Alberta Ballet, Cirque du Soleil, Washington D.C. Ballet Company, Houston Ballet, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and the National Ballet of Canada, In 2004, Alex Wong became the first Canadian winner of the international dance competition Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland with Rachael’s groundbreaking choreography for the solo “Capture of the Tiger”. This piece has also been performed with ABT Studio Company, Miami City Ballet and on So You Think You Can Dance. Rachael’s inventive pas de deux “Innocence” set on Fei Fei Ye and Kostya Keshyshev helped lead to a Bronze Medal for Fei Fei in the Varna International Ballet Competition in Russia. This piece was later restaged and performed by Shanghai Ballet Company in China. Rachael has been awarded several Choreographer Awards at Youth American Grand Prix including for Melissa Ong’s performance of “Attitude with Strings” in North Carolina and Alyssa Steven’s performance of “Womb” in Los Angeles, both in 2007. In 2011, nine-year old Martina Prefontaine received The Hope Award at YAGP in Seattle, WA where she performed Rachael’s piece “Humming Bird”. Her students have won runner-up several times at New York City Dance Alliance. In 2006, Kirsten Wicklund won the National Teen Outstanding Dancer title at NYCDA and in 2007, Bynh Ho was awarded second runner-up National Senior Outstanding Dancer at NYCDA. In 2008, Miguel Nguyen and Rina Watanabe won the Gold Medal at the World Championships (International Dance Organization) in Norway for modern dance. One of Rachael’s most successful commercial dancers, Stephanie Moseley was known for her works in the TV series Hellcats and Hit the Floor.
Rachel is thrilled to share her time and talent for a second season with the students at GDC.