She/Her Ava began dancing in Fort McMurray at the age of three, taking ballet and tap lessons. After going to see her first Shumka show that year, she fell in love with Ukrainian dance. She then enrolled with the Avrora dance school in 2007, taking Ukrainian lessons there for seven years. Her family eventually moved to Edmonton so that she could enroll in Shumka School of Dance to reach her dance dreams. Joining the Intensive Division in 2015, Ava began to take more dance lessons, including R.A.D ballet and contemporary dance. After graduating from the School in 2019, Ava auditioned for Studia Shumka and became one of the newest members. Her love for teaching began when she taught her first class back in 2017. Ava is currently in her first year of university at Concordia, with aspirations of becoming an elementary school teacher one day to continue the passion of teaching that she was able to find through the L.I.T. program at SSD. Ava will also be continuing her dance career with Shumka for her second year and is looking forward to all the amazing things the year offers. Ava’s favourite regions of Ukraine are Volyn and Buko.