NBDS Workshop Instructors

Shiloh Durkee
My dance background started in 1981 when I took a year of baby gymnastics and it has only gone uphill from there. My twin sister and I enrolled in ballet when we were four but love of dance and commitment to it didn't really happen until our Mom signed us up for Polynesian dancing, which, of course, we had no idea what that was about. We remained in Polynesian dancing from the age of 5 to about 14 years of age, where we got a chance to perform in a myriad of situations (the PNE, restaurants, Kitsilano Showboat, etc), and also in the competition world. We were fortunate to dance with the Paul Latta Dance Troupe through our formative dancing/competing years. Under Latta's instruction, we often placed first in solo/duo/group divisions and learned through much hard work the value of practicing, focus on technique (sometimes dancing in bare feet on a gravel parking lot as punishment when we just weren't getting it!), and stage presence! If we didn't have stage presence, we didn't have anything, regardless of technique. Teen years and boys took over for the next few years and it wasn't until I was in University that I started testing out different dancing waters, taking beginner's Ballroom and Latin with an English instructor at the University. Of 20+ people who enrolled that year, I was the only one standing by the end, which meant valued one-on-one instruction. I would take classes here and there in between studies but again, commitment to truly learning this new style of dance didn't happen until I moved to Nanaimo and began taking group classes with Nelson Wong in September of 2008 and private classes in the Spring of 2009.
I can't imagine not dancing and I love performing! I look forward to instructing in June 2009 for the Hawaiian Workshop and I also look forward to honing my Ballroom and Latin dance abilities over the years to come.

Shiloh Durkee

My dance background started in 1981 when I took a year of baby gymnastics and it has only gone uphill from there. My twin sister and I enrolled in ballet when we were four but love of dance and commitment to it didn't really happen until our Mom signed us up for Polynesian dancing, which, of course, we had no idea what that was about. We remained in Polynesian dancing from the age of 5 to about 14 years of age, where we got a chance to perform in a myriad of situations (the PNE, restaurants, Kitsilano Showboat, etc), and also in the competition world. We were fortunate to dance with the Paul Latta Dance Troupe through our formative dancing/competing years. Under Latta's instruction, we often placed first in solo/duo/group divisions and learned through much hard work the value of practicing, focus on technique (sometimes dancing in bare feet on a gravel parking lot as punishment when we just weren't getting it!), and stage presence! If we didn't have stage presence, we didn't have anything, regardless of technique.

Teen years and boys took over for the next few years and it wasn't until I was in University that I started testing out different dancing waters, taking beginner's Ballroom and Latin with an English instructor at the University. Of 20+ people who enrolled that year, I was the only one standing by the end, which meant valued one-on-one instruction. I would take classes here and there in between studies but again, commitment to truly learning this new style of dance didn't happen until I moved to Nanaimo and began taking group classes with Nelson Wong in September of 2008 and private classes in the Spring of 2009.

I can't imagine not dancing and I love performing! I look forward to instructing in June 2009 for the Hawaiian Workshop and I also look forward to honing my Ballroom and Latin dance abilities over the years to come.