Rachel began dancing at the age of 3 in Beaumont where she trained in RAD ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary while dabbling in Ukrainian dance with various Edmonton groups along the way, including Shumka School. She was an assistant instructor for tap and ballet classes where she was able to share her passion with younger dancers. Being a part of the children’s cast in Alberta Ballet’s Nutcracker sparked Rachel’s interest in dancing professionally later in life. Her love of ballet and Ukrainian dance, combined with a desire to continue dancing at a high calibre after high school lead her to pursue the steps that lead to Shumka. In 2020, she joined Shumka School on a full-time basis, then in 2021 joined Studia Shumka while successfully completing RAD Advanced 2 exam in the spring of 2022. Rachel anticipates there will be many great adventures in store for her with Shumka and is looking forward to being a part of it all.