Pam Hensler
Co-DirectorMiss Pam has been co director for over 30 years. She is the daughter of Helen Peacock, the founder of the studio so dance has been in her blood since birth. Her early training was in tap, jazz and ballet but her love for ballet won out and she focused her training in that direction. During her university years at Western in London Ontario she studied at the Dorothy Carter School of Dance where she completed her years with full membership with the B.A.T.D ballet division. Returning back to the area she continued her training and received her Associate Diploma with Cecchetti Canada – CICB. Students under her tutelage take Cecchetti examinations up to the Advance 1 level. She is a full member in P.A.E.C ballet division and continues to attend workshops at the National Ballet School in Toronto and throughout Canada and the US. She tries to impart her love for ballet and carries on her mother’s tradition of wanting to put the joy of dance in the hearts of all of her students. She has a Hon. BA in Physical Education from the University of Western Ontario.
Lesley Krieger
Co-DirectorLesley began her dance training at PSD at the age of three. Here, Miss Helen inspired and encouraged her love for dance. As Miss Helen’s first competitive ballet soloist, she was trained in the Cecchetti method. Miss Lesley was a dance major at York University in Toronto where she studied both classical ballet and modern dance. During her career she has attended many conventions and competitions across North America. She has received recognition and awards for choreography in tap and ballet competitive pieces. Miss Lesley is a full member with PAEC in both tap and ballet divisions. She firmly believes in the importance of ongoing professional development and has attended summer teacher sessions at the NBS in Toronto, Gus Giordano studio in Chicago and Finis Jhung in NYC. Through her university work she has achieved Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees. She worked as an elementary teacher for 27 years. During this time she acted as an advocate for the Arts with a focus on dance education. As a member of the DSBN Arts Council (2008-2015), she worked with the Arts Consultant to plan and implement Arts initiatives: developing lesson plans and workshops to teach teachers how to develop a dance program based on the Arts Curriculum. Miss Lesley is happiest in the studio when she is teaching open ballet classes using choreography that inspires the student to feel the joy of movement. She is grateful to be co-director at PSD and is excited to continue watching her dancers grow in their passion for dance.
Derene Venturini
Co-DirectorDerene has been teaching for over 35 years and became a co- partner of Peacock School of Dance in 1990. She came to Peacock in her teens with a background of ballet. With Helen’s encouragement she was introduced to tap and jazz and that’s when the love for dance began. From student to teacher, Derene was happiest to be in a room full of kids learning and having a blast. She is currently the Past-President for the Performing Arts Educators of Canada and chairman of the Jazz division. As an examiner of the association she examines students across Canada in tap, jazz and urban. As part of the P.A.E.C. Jazz and Tap committee she shared the responsibility in creating & developing the jazz and tap syllabus that is currently being examined today in Southern Ontario, the Maritimes and Calgary. Derene has been involved in adjudicating various dance competitions internationally as well as choreographing for award winning precision skating teams, figure skaters and theatre groups. She has consulted as well as instructed student and teacher workshops within Elementary and Secondary School dance programs. Her choreography has won numerous prestigious awards across Canada and United States. She is most proud of the fact that students from Peacock have performed in such places as Spain, Mexico, California, Germany, New York City, Las Vegas, the Magic Kingdom at Disney and the Caribbean. Students have gone on to pursue careers in teaching or as professionals in both theatre and television.