New Conservatory Instructor Bios: 

Kyle Spinder

US and World Open Professional Smooth Finalists with partner/wife Allie Spinder, member of the world renown BYU Dance company and Formation Team where they won first place at the British formation championships in Blackpool. Kyle and Allie are also 9-dance finalists and Amateur 10-dance finalists.

Stefan Badea

Stefan is originally from Romania, and has been dancing with his partner Madalina, since they were 6 and 7 years old, representing ballroom for 15 years now. They quickly became the top couple in Canada, winning seven undefeated Alberta Amateur Championships in Standard and 10-Dance. They have achieved high results by becoming Youth Canadian Finalists, Canadian 10 Dance Champions, Under 21 Standard Canadian Champions as well as Canadian Amateur Adult Standard Vice-Champions. On top of being strong in the competitive field, it has not stopped them from venturing into showcase performances and special events. They hope to inspire and encourage others to set and achieve their goals and are proud to continue to be great ambassadors for the sport.

Madalina Varlam

Madalina is originally from Romania, and has been dancing with her partner Stefan since they were 6 and 7 years old representing Canada for 15 years now. They quickly became the top couple, winning in Alberta and Canada, also being asked to perform in many showcases such as The Singing Christmas Tree. They have won seven undefeated Alberta Amateur Championships in Standard and 10-Dance. They have achieved high results by becoming Youth Canadian Finalists, Canadian 10 Dance Champions, Under 21 Standard Canadian Champions as well as Canadian Amateur Adult Standard Vice-Champions. They have developed their dancing skills throughout their career and they have worked hard to fulfill their dancing dreams and goals, as well as inspire and encourage others to set and achieve their goals too.   

*MANDATORY DATES FOR 2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR:*
This list is taken from the OCSA Ballroom Conservatory Handbook. These are the mandatory dates of the school year that are outside of Conservatory class hours (I will email the handbook to all Conservatory parents by the first week of Conservatory for you to sign and return to me): 

Ballroom Spring Showcase rehearsals:

March 18th - March 21st 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at OCSA

March 22nd 1:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at OCSA

March 25th - March 28th 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at OCSA

April 8th - April 11th 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at OCSA 

April 12th 1:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at OCSA

April 15th - April 17th 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (tech rehearsals) at the Margaret A. Webb Theater

April 18th 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (final dress rehearsal) at the Margaret A. Webb Theater

Spring Showcase Performances:

April 19th and April 20th 7:00p at the Margaret A. Webb Theater

Other Mandatory Ballroom Dates (by level) - 2018-19 Events and Competitions: 

• August 30th, Back to Conservatory Night 6:00p-7:00p in DMS 114 (Parents only)

• November 10th OCSA Ballroom's Team Match/Exhibition Fundraiser. Atomic Ballroom Fullerton, CA (Mandatory for all Conservatory levels)

• February 9th Sway Ballroom Showcase and OCSA Ballroom Fundraiser at the Webb Theater - (Mandatory for Junior Conservatory level only)
• February 15th-17th, 2019 - California Open. Costa Mesa, CA (Mandatory for Formation Teams & Senior 2 Conservatory level only)
• March 2nd, 2019 - Journey Dancesport State Championship - Junior Olympic Qualifier Long Beach, CA. (Mandatory for Junior & Senior 1 Conservatory levels only)

• March 6th-9th, 2019 - US National Amateur Dancesport Championships. BYU Campus, Provo UT. (Mandatory for Ballroom & Latin Formation Teams only)

• May 19th, 2019 - Hot Ballroom Dancesport Challenge. Location TBD (Mandatory for all conservatory levels and formation teams)

  ***Latin & Ballroom Formation Teams will compete in more competitions than the above. Those dates will be decided and announced by the coaches. 

  Optional Competition for all Conservatory levels -

  2019 AAU West Coast Junior Olympic - Dancesport. July 4th-6th in Garden Grove, CA.

  Other possible Performances:

  OCSA Gala

  Performance March 16th - Performers and rehearsals TBD by Director of Gala 

  Season Finale – Specific Piece TBD

  April/May 2019: Tech Rehearsal at OCSA – TBD
  May 4th & 5th, 2019: Tech/Dress rehearsal all day

  May 5th evening performance at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. *PLEASE TAKE NOTE, IT IS ON A SUNDAY NIGHT THIS YEAR.*

Thank you and let’s have a great year! 

Robert Porch, Director of Ballroom Conservatory