Awards & Achievements

Canadian School of Dance has achieved many remarkable accomplishments since our opening in 1986, and we are so proud to share them with you. CSD dancers and teachers have been showcased across several media, including in newspapers, television, magazines, and social media, because of our achievements and reputation as a sophisticated studio in the Ottawa area.

Our soloists have been awarded countless regional titles at many prestigious competitions. Several have gone on to win national titles at American Dance Awards (ADA) and Candance competitions. We not only have strong soloists, but we also take pride in having strong groups of dancers as well. CSD has won the Gloria Jean Cuming Award of Excellence twice, in 2011 and 2016. This award goes to the highest scoring routine in the Junior (12 and under) division at the ADA national competition, out of thousands of entries from studios across Canada, the United States, South Africa, China, and Ecuador. CSD also took home the George Lon Memorial Award two years in a row, in 2016 and 2017. This award goes to the highest-ranked 13 & over group dance at the ADA national competition. We are the only studio in the Ottawa area to have received this honour and are among only four studios presented with this title consecutively. CSD also takes pride in being the single studio since 1988 to have received both the George Lon Memorial Award and the Gloria Jean Cuming Award of Excellence within the same year. This makes us one of only two studios throughout American Dance Awards history to have accomplished this feat.

Choreographers at CSD have also been recognized numerous times at regional and national competitions. Our talented choreographers have won awards such as Diamond Choreography, Young Choreographer of the Year, and Choreographer of the Year. The influence of these esteemed choreographers’ has pushed many of our dancers into successful careers in choreography, teaching, and work in prominent companies.

We are the sole studio in Ottawa to have had three successful Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Solo Seal participants, the highest ballet examination of the RAD. Few students qualify to take their Solo Seal because an impressive score is needed on the previous, demanding examination to qualify for this examination. Due to our quality dance training, dance schools such as the following have accepted many of our students: the National Ballet School, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Alberta Ballet School. Further, numerous dance programs at colleges and universities across North America have chosen CSD students to join them, such as Ryerson University’s dance program, Ballet Magnificat, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.