Staff

Melissa Noventa is a multidisciplinary artist. Originally from Guelph, Ontario, she begandancing at the age of four with the Anna Marie Oliver School of Dance. In her twenty-six years of dance experience Melissa’s dossier demonstrates a wide-range of training,performing, and teaching experience, including ballet (R.A.D.), tap (C.D.T.A.), jazz(C.D.T.A.), hip hop, contemporary, West African, Latin and Afro-Caribbean danceforms. Since moving to Toronto in 2001, Melissa has studied and performed alongside aformidable list of distinguished artists from Canada and abroad. Her recent dance creditsinclude: The Dance Migration, IjoVudu West African Dance Co., IréOmó Afro CubanDrum and Dance Ensamble, Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, Samba Squad, Osunlade andthe Yoruba Records Orchestra, Los Rumberos de Cuba (Havana Cuba), Los Muñequitosde Matanzas (Matanzas, Cuba), Ocha Reo (Cienfuegos, Cuba), Kokoyé (Santiago deCuba), CUTUMBA (Santiago de Cuba), and Milagros Medina (Havana/Santo Domingo).She is currently the artistic director of Ilédè, Afrocuban Drum and Dance Ensemble, andalso conducts weekly Cuban classes at Gotta Dance with live drumming.

Melissa took a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours (Dance), at York University, with aminor in English Literature, and is completing her MA in dance ethnology, focusing onembodied knowledge and Afro-Cuban folkloric performance. Melissa is also an adjunctfaculty member in the dance department at York where she teaches various courses inLatin American dance.