Known as one of Canada’s premier step dance champions, Chanda Leahy (née Gibson) is in a class of her own. She comes from Cobden Ontario and has been stepdancing since the age of 4. Throughout the years, she has won many awards on the contest circuit and is sought after for her teaching and direction by many; so much so that she opened her own school of dance in Orangeville, On. Chanda’s School of Dance
In May 1998, Chanda was the principal Stepdancer in Needfire; a Mirvish Production presented at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. She travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland in July that same year to star as the principal stepdancer in a large production Rhythms of the Celts. Chanda was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for outstanding choreography in a play or musical for Needfire. Awards took place in June 1999.
Chanda conducted workshops for three consecutive years at the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp in Nashville, Tennessee and is enthusiastically involved as a stepdance instructor for the Orangeville Fiddle and Step Dance Camp.
Chanda graduated in 1998 from the University of Waterloo, and right away set up her own dance school in Orangeville, ON where she teaches people of all ages. She has also produced two instructional videos for people to learn stepdancing at their leisure.
Her desire to showcase Canadian Stepdancing to the rest of the world led to the formation of PULSE, an energetic group formed of Canadian stepdancers and musicians. Chanda continues to share and feed this passion for stepdancing with the many students who attend her School of Dance. She brings this passion to Music Camp every year and transforms those with whom she works.
To learn more about Chanda and her School of Dance, visit her website here.