Our Studios
Maple Leaf School of Russian Ballet’s studios are located in the old Parish Hall at the back of St. Saviour’s Historic Church. Built in 1888, this hall started out as the community's school house, but in 1891, it became the parish hall for The Church of the Holy Saviour. This heritage property offers wonderful examples of Gothic Revival architecture throughout the building's interior and has served many purposes throughout its history and today, is home to our wonderful ballet school.
The School has renovated the hall by painstakingly restoring the old wood interior and upgrading the lighting, adding 10′ mirrors, bringing in en-pointe portabarres™, and laying down genuine red Harlequin Cascade flooring to create an environment and ambience of tradition and history.
The School's second studio is inside St. Saviour's Church in what was once the choir room and part of the addition made by the Royal Army Engineers in 1896. The studio is 20'x25' with 10' mirrors, en-pointe portabarres™, and original hardwood flooring and is surrounded by stained glass windows and high vaulted ceilings.
A new 150 seat stage studio with En-pointe dance subflooring and Rosco dance floor also gives us the opportunity for intimate performances, demonstrations, and on-stage rehearsals
LOCATION
Maple Leaf School of Russian Ballet is located at 310 Henry Street at the corner of Henry Street and Catherine Street in Victoria, B.C. The School is a short 5-minute drive, or 20-minute walk from downtown Victoria, over the Johnson Street or Bay Street bridges. The School is also a 5-minute walk from the Westside Village Shopping Centre in Vic-West, the Songhees walkway, the Galloping Goose Trail, and Spinnakers BrewPub.
Our Team
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Ivana Matovina
BFA, TTP Dip. (NBS), LCSC-CICB (Cecchetti), A.I.S.T.D. (National)
Raised in Toronto but now proud to be on the West Coast, Ms. Matovina aims to positively engage her students by sharing her passion for dance through the artistry and physicality of dance. Ms. Matovina graduated from the joint degree/diploma program between York University and Canada’s National Ballet School. Her dance training and experience spans many years in a variety of disciplines including, Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), Cecchetti, Russian ballet styles, National (folk) dance, and Modern (Graham and Limon) / Contemporary dance.
She has performed and toured with the Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre in Dusseldorf, Germany, and with many other groups throughout Canada. Ms. Matovina has also taught ballet, tap, jazz and creative dance at various International schools in Tokyo, Japan.
Ms. Matovina is the current B.C. representative for the Cecchetti Society of Canada, which oversees the organization of ballet workshops, competitions, and exams for local students and teachers.
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Clare Gillese, Interim Artistic Director
Society of Classical Ballet Vaganova method S.T.T., Open World Dance Foundation Vaganova’s teacher certificate, P.B.T. Level 1
Clare graduated from the Comprehensive Professional Development Program at Maple Leaf School of Russian Ballet in 2018 after studying extensively in ballet, contemporary, jazz and character dance. Clare has had the opportunity to study under luminaries such as Irina Kolpkova (student of A.Vaganova, ABT ballet mistress), Evgenia Obratzova (Prima Ballerina Bolshoi, Mariinsky), and Daria Klimentova (English National Ballet) among others. She received her Vaganova teaching certificate through the Open World Dance Foundation in Riga, Latvia in 2017. Additionally, she is a member of The Society of Classical Ballet Vaganova Method and certified in Level 1 of Progressing Ballet Technique. She has performed internationally, most recently dancing with Ballet De Catalunya in Spain for the 2022-2023 season.
OUR PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED GREAT DISTINCTION IN THE SHORT TIME THAT OUR SCHOOL HAS BEEN IN OPERATION. THROUGH HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION FROM BOTH STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS, OUR STUDENTS HAVE FOUND PLACEMENT IN SOME VERY WELL-KMOWN INTERNATIONAL DANCE PROGRAMS.
2022 Ballet De Catalunya Dancer
2021-2023 Goh Ballet Academy Youth Ballet Ensemble
SFU BFA contemporary program
2019 Offered Trainee position at Charlottesville Ballet
2019 The Open World Dance Foundation’s summer intensive in St. Petersburg, Russia
2019 Technical Merit Award in the Ethnic Dance session of Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival
2019 Nomination to the New York Dance Prix, Contemporary Dance Track
2018 Offered Trainee position at the Central Illinois Ballet
2018 Best Group in the Ethnic Dance Session of Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival
2018 Gold Medal winner of the California Dance Classics Competition in the National Character Ensemble category
2018 Bronze Medal winner of the California Dance Classics Competition in the Classical Repertoire Ensemble, Age 13 – 15, category
2018 Ballet Heritage Summer Intensive (St. Petersburg, Russia)
2018 Arts Umbrella Summer Intensive (Contemporary)
2017 Formation Superieure du Danseur in Geneva, Switzerland, with scholarship
2017 Budapest Dance Theatre International Elite Program in Hungary
2017 International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague, at the Czech National Ballet in Prague, where Bolshoi Ballet’s prima ballerina, Evgenia Obraztsova, was one of the instructors.
2017 The Open World Dance Foundation’s summer intensive in Riga, Latvia, where luminary instructors and dancers from the Vaganova Ballet Academy and the Bolshoi were coaching.
2017 Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive in NYC.
2017 Randolph Academy of Performing Arts, Diploma Program (Toronto)
2017 Winter Open World Intensive in NYC where the legendary Irina Kolpakova was one of the instructors.
2017 Gelsey Kirkland Academy Summer Ballet Intensive in NYC.
2016 Our professional students were guest dancers in the Richter Academy of Classical Dance’s premiere production of The Nutcracker in Los Angeles, California,
2015 Summer Open World Intensive in NYC
2015 Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive in NYC