Joanna Perlus, BFArts (Concordia) and BEd (York), continues with more than 20 years in the classroom to bring her enthusiasm, creativity, leadership and love of dance and visual art to students. Her past experiences as a professional dancer and commissioned artist have fueled her passion to advocate actively for the arts in education. Joanna is the Dance Liaison for the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE), and theTeacher’s Council Coordinator for the Ontario Secondary School Dance Festival (OSSDF), and a long-term member of the Newtonbrook Secondary School family where she teachers dance, drama and visual arts and is both the assistant lead of the Arts & Culture SHSM, and the Head Coach for the competitive dance team. Joanna's practice is deeply embedded with a "dance for all students" educational approach emphasizing the creative process, critical thinking, safely strong technique, and the embodiment of thoughts, feelings, and insights in student compositions.