Mariah-Jane
Background
Music
Mariah-Jane has a background as a paid musician and touring artist, as well as a teacher.
Dance
Mariah-Jane has been a dance teacher in multiple genres, stage performer and dance studio owner.
Speaking
Mariah-Jane has spoken at conferences around the world and on the biggest stage in the world: the TED stage.
Music Background
Mariah-Jane began piano lessons at age 7 by request after becoming intrigued by the pianist at the dance studio playing for her ballet classes.
When her piano teacher retired from the dance studio after 8 years, Mariah-Jane took over her job and played 5 days a week at the dance studio after school, including playing for ballet exams.
Moving into Grade 6, she joined the band programme and chose the clarinet since her sister had already chosen the flute. Between the ages of 11-17 Mariah-Jane studied the clarinet reaching Grade 10 in Royal Conservatory of Music exams. Mariah-Jane performed as a soloist extensively, including at 16 performing Weber's Concertino with a live orchestra. She was a founding member of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra and toured Europe right after graduation as a requested member of the Canadian Youth Wind Band.
Mariah-Jane's teaching career began teaching clarinet privately.
She does still own her clarinets but has not played in decades after switching her focus to dance. She does still have a piano and plays for pleasure.
Mariah-Jane is forever grateful that she spent so much time in the wonderful music world.
Dance Background
Mariah-Jane has loved performing and dancing all her life, beginning with putting on show's her in childhood basement alongside her sister.
Along with all the training in ballet, tap, and jazz, Mariah-Jane loved bringing together her love of both music and dance in musical theatre. A highlight was performing in a local production of Sweet Charity!
After discovering her sassy side during the Sweet Charity run, Mariah-Jane began a unique adult programme at her studio, Prism Dance Centre which she ran from 1999-2009. Helping other women to find their sassy and sultry side in The Radiant Woman programme and performing group, Dangerous Curves.
Mariah-Jane's association with dance has experience from all sides. She has been a studio owner, dance teacher, dance student, presenter at dance conferences and award winner.
The highlight of her dance background was receiving the award for Innovation in Dance. This award has steeled her to continue to be a pioneer in working to shift so many of the dangerous and entrenched paradigms in the dance community that are the cause of such unnecessary physical, mental and spiritual pain in both students and professionals.
Speaking Background
Mariah-Jane was a shy teenager until a pivotal oral report teaching a subject she loved. It was in Earth Sciences and she spoke for the whole class on plate tectonics!
In that moment she realized that when she was teaching no crowd could scare her, so when it came time to speak as the studio owner to an audience of 700 at her recitals she simply put on her "teacher hat" and confidently went on stage. She had been confidently sharing on stages ever since, culminating in a TED talk in November 2021.
Five years in Toastmasters gave her lots of experience speaking both prepared speeches and off the cuff mini-speeches, called Table Topics. She has now coached others on their speeches and table topic speaking.
Mariah-Jane has presented worldwide at all the big dance teacher conferences, Toastmasters district conferences and Educational Kinesiology Conferences.
Conferences and Presentations
TEDxSFU, Vancouver, (Nov. 2021) “Your Movement Habits Create your Life”
RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) Melbourne 2020, online 2022, Sydney 2024
IADMS (International Association of Dance Medicine Science), Helsinki, Finland ,2018
NDEO (National Dance Educators Organization), New York City, 2019
DSSE: Dance Science and Somatics, Buffalo, NY 2018
International Educational Kinesiology Conference, Damme, Germany, 2018
Breakthroughs International Conference, San Diego, California, 2018, online 2023
Healthy Dancer Canada, Toronto, Ontario & Vancouver, BC, 2014, 2019, 2021
Body-Mind Centering North American Conference, Montreal, Quebec, 2016
World Congress of Dance, Whistler, BC, 2015
International Somatics Conference, New York & New Mexico, 2013, 2017
CANASK Inter. Conference (Canadian Association of Specialized Kinesiology) Banff, AB, 2015
BC Teachers Federation Conference, Vancouver, BC, 2014
Toastmasters International: District Conference presentation, 2020, 2021, 2022
The Radiant Dance Teacher Social Links
