MEET THE DIRECTOR

XBa was started in 1999 by my mom Nela as a Dryland Training Centre for local, national, international and Olympic-level Figure Skaters who needed to incorporate the gracefulness of dance into their training programs to round out their artistic presentations.

As a child, I grew up at XBa surrounded by highly successful and driven athletes at the top of their game. That environment instilled in me a hunger to learn, progress and to be the best. I was the kid who desperately wanted to be in the Senior level classes and learned all their choreography! None of my peers worked as hard as I did, and no one wanted it more than me.

Before I could fully commit to XBa training due to an inability to separate “Mom” from “Teacher”, I took Ballet and Jazz classes at another local studio. But the reason I was able to fully participate at XBa happened due to an unfortunate incident; at age 8 I was told by my teacher at the other studio, who I adored, that I “would never be a dancer” and that I was “built all wrong”. This teacher made this horrible judgement of a child simply because I wasn’t as flexible as the other girls and my feet weren’t as strong. I was 8 and obviously nowhere near done growing or developing. My mom thanked her for her feedback and I never returned.

Always in layers

When I started dancing competitively at 9, all I wanted to do was win. While some of my peers were nervous, and even losing their lunches before and after (and during once!), I was full of adrenaline and I wanted nothing more than to get on that stage and make them remember me. Dance competitions were always a strenuous environment to say the least, and I have an equal amount of good and awful memories from them. We competed because at that time (2002-2010), there were no other performance opportunities for amateur dancers besides our year end shows. We don’t participate anymore, and haven’t since 2014. I had a fairly successful competitive run overall, but I’m very glad we don’t do dance competitions anymore.

I did it first...IYKYK

As I mentioned above, none of my peers had the work ethic that I did. But I did have structural challenges that made it more difficult for me to progress. I have naturally tight hamstrings and a tight back (thanks Dad!), and I grew in spurts, so my height wouldn’t change for weeks to months, then I would shoot up overnight, lose all my progress, and get covered in stretch marks. Even though I was the hardest worker and one of the best performers, I was one of the weakest dancers technically. I would go perform and think I absolutely killed it, then I would watch the video back and be in shock as to how bad I was. Now some kids would see that, get discouraged and quit, I used that as “fuel for the fire” and pushed myself even harder. At 16, it clicked, and finally my body was doing what my mind was seeing. It took 7 years of intensive training for my body and mind to finally come together, and it was worth every drop of sweat, every injury, and every party I didn’t go to.

Last dance competition at 17 that I won

Unlike many of my peers, my dance training increased after graduating high school and I gained professional status at the age of 19 while completing my post-secondary education at the University of British Columbia, and I have not slowed down since. When I was going through mental health issues in my early 20s, dance and XBa were the only things that kept me together. I have recently undergone life-changing health issues, and once again, dance and XBa were the only things that kept me fighting every single day.

One of the few times I've danced in a nightclub, being 100% honest

Being a part of highly competitive environments, from Figure Skating to competitive dance to UBC, was never a choice for me, it was simply where I thrived. As the new Director of the XBa Centre of Dance, my goal is to share my drive and passion for dance with the school and to continue the legacy of creating well-rounded people. We just don’t build dancers, we build careers.

Whether you sign up for one class, or spend a good part of your life here, be ready to open your mind because we are not your average dance school.

Welcome to XBa.

- Amadea H

Director