Joanna Swanson

Joanna SwansonJoanna’s dance career was almost over before it began at age three. After three years of tap dance lessons she begged her mother to quit and switched her focus to sports and music. Naturally coordinated, she excelled in track and field, including sprinting, discus, and shot put, as well as volleyball, soccer, and gymnastics. Joanna trained classically in the cello with the Royal Conservatory of Music and attended the University of Windsor to pursue a career teaching music.In 2003 she brought together her natural abilities in movement and music by returning to dance. She studied ballroom, Latin, swing, and hustle and leads and follows in all of these styles. Hard work and natural kinetic and musical talent enabled her to learn quickly. In 2005 she began teaching when an opportunity arose to take over the role at a community centre. She has since obtained her Canadian dance teacher’s Licentiate level teaching certificate for International Latin and a certificate in teaching West Coast Swing from the Global Professional Dance Teachers Association (GPDIA).WCS and Hustle are her favourite dances, and she travels to compete across Canada and the United States in these styles. Highlights of her competitions so far have included podium placements in both dances and the thrill of performing a Hustle routine. Joanna’s favourite part of competing is in Pro-Ams with her students and she frequently dominates Pro-Am divisions. Over the years, her many students have won innumerable awards in Pro-Am competitions. She is widely known as an honest coach and excellent communicator with a great eye for detail.