Dance Science Educator, Ballet Teacher & Choreographer

 

Astrid Sherman is an acknowledged leader in the field of dance science education and performing arts, Ms. Sherman graduated from the Pretoria Technikon School for the Performing Arts in South Africa before dancing professionally with the NAPAC Ballet Company in South Africa.  She performed in all the traditional ballet repertoire classics as well as working with many of the innovators of South African modern, contemporary and neoclassical dance. Her own passion to dance and the desire to invest in and empower others prompted her to pursue advanced teaching studies and she was awarded the highly regarded advanced level teaching qualification of “Fellowship” from the Imperial Society for Teachers of Dance (ISTD) after immigrating to Canada in 1997.

 

In 2003, she co-opened the Pro Arté Centre in North Vancouver which evolved into a major dance centre that included on-site academics from Grades 5-12, on-site physiotherapy, and a Pilates rehab gym.  Pro Arté Centre became known for this commitment to providing a holistic inspired training to young dancers intending to pursue a career in dance.  Ms. Sherman’s graduates were accepted into numerous companies and prestigious post-graduate programs within Canada, the United States and Europe including to name a few: Juilliard, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Ballet BC, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Alberta Ballet, Philadanco, Ballet Theatre UK, Ballet Jorgen, Twyla Tharpe Dance, Joffrey Ballet, Rudra Bejart, Hungarian National Ballet, NBS Canada Graduate Program and Mark Morris Dance. Her students were awarded BC Provincial titles and often recognized for outstanding artistry and technical ability as finalists in internationally acclaimed competitions such as YAGP (New York), the Genée International, ADC IBC (USA), Ballet Beyond Borders and Tanzolymp (Germany).

 

Ms. Sherman’s keen interest in dance science and holistic training for healthier and stronger dancers took her back to university to study Kinesiology. Since then, she has presented dance research at many International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) and Healthy Dancer Canada conferences and has had research published in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science and the IADMS Dance Teacher’s Bulletin. Ms. Sherman is currently serving on the Dance Educators’ Committee for IADMS and was the organizer for regional IADMS conferences for teachers in Vancouver, Johannesburg and Cape Town.