Our Instructors

Angela Gilbert

Director of the Sabor Dance School

Miss Angela Hayward started dancing

ballet at the young age of 5 at the

Russian School of Ballet where she continued dancing ballet and

modern dance with the school and with the Civic Ballet until leaving for

university in 1992.  When she returned from studying and working

abroad, her desire to dance again lead her to salsa where she took

her first salsa class in 2002.  Nurtured by Travis Gilbert, her dancing

quickly took off and through taking classes with international

instructors, including Moris Alvarenga, Roberto Arenas, Juan Calderon

and Mark Anthony Sheppard, to name a few, she was able to co-found

the Sabor Dance School in 2003 and develop into the role of Artistic

Director in 2004.  In continuing her quest to provide quality and

expanding Latin dance programs, she continues to work with these

and other internationally recognized dancers to provide salsa, cha cha,

merengue, bachata and Tango instruction at the Sabor Dance School.

Angela has performed internationally in New Jersey, Toronto and

Montreal and has instructed at the international salsa convention in

Montreal. She has also assisted in producing and has performed in

many local Latin dance showcases.  Angela consistently is able to

travel to several international events each year with her Senior Dance

Company and the Sabor student group to perform and teach where

they are always well received.

Angela specializes in salsa, casino de rueda, bachata, merengue, cha

cha, ladies styling, spinning technique and tango.

Book a Private Lesson with Angela

Sophie Dier - Assistant Director (Operations)

Miss Sophie Dier started dancing at the age of 3 at Jackson School of Dance, Bermuda where she studied ballet, jazz, modern and pointe.

Sophie has worked as a teacher’s assistant, choreographer and has

performed extensively in Bermuda and overseas. 

She was a member of the National Dance Theater, Bermuda and

studied contemporary, modern and Ballroom dance while attending the prestigious Boston University, USA. Upon returning to Bermuda, after graduating from Boston University in 2005, she began salsa dancing in January of 2006 at the Sabor Dance School and was immediately identified as a rising star.

Sophie is now a senior instructor and member of the professional dance company at Sabor Dance School. She is also the Director of the school’s semi-professional dance team. Her technical abilities and passion for dance have resulted in her becoming a welcomed and valued addition to the Sabor family. Sophie is a very talented and thoughtful instructor and serves as a tremendous resource for anyone wanting to learn or improve their dancing.

Sophie specializes in salsa, cha cha, casino de rueda, merengue, bachata and dance technique.

Book a Private Lesson with Sophie

Travis Gilbert – Instructor

Mr. Travis Gilbert has been dancing and teaching Latin dance for over

10 years and was first introduced to salsa while studying in the UK.  He

was immediately drawn to the music and found that it resonated within

him and from this the dance came naturally.  He came back home to

Bermuda in 1999 and played a key role in the development of the salsa

community on the Island.  He quickly became involved by starting to

play music for classes which were taught at Club 40 on Front Street in

the City of Hamilton and soon after began teaching.  Travis initially

traveled to Cuba, New Orleans and Los Angeles to develop his dancing

technique before co-founding the Sabor Dance School in 2003 an

institution that has seen hundreds of students pass through its doors.

Since the formation of the Sabor Dance School, Travis has traveled

extensively and performed and studied dance in many places which

include Athens, New Jersey, Toronto and Montréal.

Travis has performed internationally in New Jersey, Toronto and

Montreal and taught dance at the international salsa convention in

Montreal.  He has also produced and performed in many local Latin

dance showcases where he is know for his vivacious energy on stage.

As manager of the BermudaSalsa.com Group, he has raised the profile

of Latin dance entertainment by having an extraordinary vision for this

art form and through his passionate leadership he has been able to

transform this vision into reality.

Travis specializes in salsa, casino de rueda, bachata, merengue, cha

cha and tango.

Book a Private Lesson with Travis

Jermiko Dillas - Instructor

Mr. Jermiko Dillas is the youngest member of staff, but he has

committed himself to being one of the best. Jermiko started dancing

approximately three years ago, in 2004 by taking private lessons with

Sabor’s director, Angela Hayward and quickly developed his technical

abilities. Jermiko was later invited to train as an assistant instructor

one year later.  Jermiko was then promoted to junior instructor the

following year, in 2006, as has become an integral part of Sabor’s

instructor team. Jermiko is also a member of the student company and

has performed locally and internationally.

Jermiko specializes in salsa, casino de rueda, bachata, and merengue.

Book a Private Lesson with Jermiko

Kieran Bradshaw - Instructor

Kieran specializes in teaching salsa and dance choreography classes at Sabor. Kieran began to study salsa in 2006 at Sabor Dance school and then at other salsa schools in Bermuda. In 2008 he began performing as a member of the Sabor Performance team. He frequently travels to train with international salsa schools such as City Dance Corps (Toronto) and Masacote (Boston) . In 2011 he and his performing partner performed solo at the 9th annual Canada Salsa Congress.

Kieran is an enthusiastic salsa teacher and particularly encourages the focus on technique. His true passion however is for social dancing and he rarely misses an opportunity enjoy the local salsa scene.

Book a Private Lesson with Kieran

Donovin Seymour - Instructor

Donovin came to Sabor Dance School with ballroom training, and quickly rose to become one of Sabor's lead Tango instructors.

His smooth manner and passion for Tango leaves his students inspired and ready for the next level.

Book a Private Lesson with Donovin

April Lindell - Instructor

Prior to Latin dance, April began her performing arts life in musical theatre. She studied for two years at the Conservatory of Arts for musical theatre, in tap, jazz, ballet and theatre dance, along with singin and acting. She continued on to study jazz at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City. She has participated in three national tours in the United States as a featured performer, and once as a dance captain.

It was after moving to Bermuda that April discovered her love for salsa, and an obsession with Argentine Tango. She joined the Sabor team for the school's first student group Tango performance during August Mambo Nights in 2006. She then became an instructor in 2009.

She continues to feed her obsession with regular visits to NYC to sharpen her dancing skills.

Book a Private Lesson with April

Magic Boyles - Instructor

Originally not a fan of salsa dancing, Magic decided to start classes in 2009 as a surprise for a friend studying overseas. Little did he know he was about to embark on a journey that has so far placed him onstage and alongside the best dancers and instructors on the island.

He breathes new life and injects an extraodinary amount of energy into his roles as dancer, performer, producer of SalsaMania's Latin Flavours radio show, and now in 2012, instructor at Sabor Dance School (after becoming Assistant Instructor in 2010). Magic can often be seen (and heard) calling the Rueda, sending the ladies into head-spinning dips, and dancing Bachata as smoothly as the pros.

Kyria Evans - Instructor

Kyria’s dedication to yoga began over a decade ago when she grew her spiritual practice to include yoga postures (asanas) and sequences using Rodney Yee’s series of yoga DVD’s. In 2009, Kyria recognized her calling to expand her yoga practice to include teaching and mentoring others in the ways of yoga through its understanding of personal growth and development. That year she elected to study under Quantum Yoga founder Lara Baumann for six weeks in Goa, India, where she achieved her Yoga Alliance teacher certification. Quantum Yoga is based upon ancient Eastern wisdom of human growth and development in light of the 8 limbs of yoga and the 3 doshas. In 2010, Kyria attended Yoga Journal’s annual Yoga Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. She intuitively recognized the benefit of integrating western approaches to teaching yoga with her understanding and teaching experience with Quantum Yoga’s more eastern focus. Subsequently, she completed the yoga teacher training at Corepower Yoga in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Kyria has developed a practice and teaching method that gently fuses eastern yoga philosophy with western pragmatism. Various meditation techniques, chanting,
asanas and heart to heart dialogue are all part of Kyria’s teaching and practice. Whether it is one on one, small groups or larger groups, challenging physical form
or simply finding ways to relieve stress and allow peace to preside, she is dedicated to guiding people to establish and reach their personal goals for mind, body and spiritual wellness. Contact Kyria today to discover ways she may be able to help you develop and expand your yoga practice.

Book a Private Lesson with Kyria

Lizette Laing - Instructor

Since early childhood, Liz has been passionate about all things athletic, participating competitively in a wide range of sports. In 2002, she started practicing Pilates and Yoga along with a variety of other fitness regimens while studying at the University of Massachusetts. Liz quickly realized that Pilates seemed to bring the best results in the smallest amount of time. However, it was in 2010 that Liz experienced firsthand the life changing power of Pilates when a car accident left her injured and unable to do the traditional weight training and high impact fitness classes that she had always enjoyed. During her rehabilitation from the accident, Pilates helped her regain flexibility and movement, strengthened her core and changed her life is such a positive way that she wanted to share the benefits of Pilates with everyone around her. She especially loves how Pilates makes her feel energized and how it has reshaped her body. Liz is passionate about Pilates and its guiding principles and is excited about helping others achieve their fitness goals and to improve their daily lives through Pilates.
Liz is certified in Pilates through Balanced Body University in Boston, Massachusetts. Liz was also recently certified in Balanced Body Barre, which is a high energy workout based on Pilates movement principles.

Estelle Nicoladis - Visiting Instructor

Estelle Nicolaidis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of City Dance Corps, Toronto's #1 institution for dance instruction.
Estelle began dancing at the age of four, where she quickly realized that her love and passion was in classical ballet. She successfully completed major examinations with the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) and moved on to dance at the RAD International Summer School in Athens, Greece. Shortly thereafter, Estelle expanded her dance training and added Hip hop, Jazz, East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, African Dance, Cuban traditional and National Character Dance to her repertoire. She travelled to Cuba regularly to study Afro-Cuban and Salsa intensively. More recently, Estelle has been studying Argentine Tango intensively in Buenos Aires.
Estelle's teaching background is also extensive. Estelle has taught master classes at various Universities, Colleges, and international schools such as the International Dance Academy in Ireland. Her guest instruction has kept Estelle busy traveling to Miami, Greece, Italy, Ireland, UK and Bermuda. She has taught at various Salsa Congresses such as the Canada Salsa Congress, Montreal Salsa Convention, Puerto Rico World Salsa Congress, and the Irish Salsa Congress. She was also selected to be the choreographer for Salsa Team Canada, comprised of 30 dancers from Halifax, Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.

Estelle is passionate about her teaching and tries to inspire her students to get to the core of their expression. Her classes are guaranteed to be fulfilling and enjoyable.

Tina Nicoladis - Visiting Instructor

Tina is one of Toronto's most popular dance experts with a specialty in Latin dance. She is an accomplished choreographer and instructor, and has recently completed choreography for Nelly Furtado’s ‘Mi Plan’ live concert tour for Spring 2010. Tina also gained recognition for training lead actor Jake Simons for his role as the original “Johnny Castle” in North America’s fastest selling premier stage production of Dirty Dancing. Her credits also include instructing and choreographing on several television shows, appearing as a guest judge on American reality TV “6 Degrees of X” with Carmen Electra and choreographer on E! Network's reality show "Instant Beauty Pageant", and wedding SOS to name a few.

Tina has been featured in Fashion Magazine, Maclean’s, and continues to be a source for Toronto’s leading newspapers like Sunday Sun, National Post, the Metro and Toronto Star.

 Tina is the co-founder and Artistic Director of City Dance Corps, one of Toronto's leading dance schools. Along side her partners, Tina has been featured in numerous television shows and magazines including, CBC's Living in Toronto, Rogers Toronto Living, Elle Magazine, Dolce Magazine, Sun TV, Omni 1 Here and Now, and CH TV to name a few. Tina and her partner Estelle together developed a new and hip dance program called The Stiletto Dance Series where they teach women how to dance on heels. This dance program was featured on Slice TV Three Takes, City TV Breakfast Television, CTS Real Life, and National Post to name a few.

Tina has been teaching Latin dance since 1997 and began her international guest instruction as the first international instructor to teach in Bermuda, 2001.  Since then she has taught in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Bermuda, across Ontario, and has participated as an instructor and performer in several Salsa conventions including Canada Salsa Congress, Puerto Rico Salsa Congress, Montreal Salsa Convention and Irish Salsa Congress and Bermuda Mambo Nights.  She has developed numerous dance conditioning programs for City Dance Corps and local public and private schools like Power Barre, and Ballet Boot Camp, both of which are featured as instructional fitness DVDs.

Vanesa Stay - Visiting Instructor

Vanesa started her dance training at the age of 5 at a private Ballet Institute in Argentina where she trained intensively for 7 years in Ballet, Flamenco, Jazz, Argentine Folk and Tango. By the age of 6, she was performing in Theatres.

After moving to Canada in '89, she continued dancing as a hobby. Vanesa discovered salsa dancing in January of '99 and fell in love with the dance. She began her training with local & international professional dance instructors such as (Tito & Tamara from Puerto Rico, Super Mario from UK, Al & Eddie from L.A. to name a few).

She has also trained in Argentine Tango with various instructors including Tango World Champion "Fabian Peralta" during her annual trips to Argentina.

Vanesa has traveled to many countries teaching, competing and performing. With each opportunity, she continued to improve her skills by taking lessons with world renowned instructors.

Vanesa has an extensive Latin dance training in salsa, Argentine Tango and International Latin Ballroom. She's also the 2003 Vice World Champion at the "World Salsa Federation" Championships.

She has been in TV shows, commercials & movies such as "Take the Lead" with Antonio Banderas; ”Mansions”, "Party Mamas" & "Style by Jury".

She has also worked along-side of "So you think you can dance" & "Dancing with the Stars" dancers & judges.

Victor Contreras - Visiting Instructor

Victor discovered his true calling during a trip to Brazil. In Bahia, he fell in love with the culture, the music and the people, but he also discovered the art of dancing. It made such an impression on him that he endeavored to learn many dance styles, such as Lambada, Forro, Samba and Capoeira.

Wishing to master his Latin dance technique and skills, Victor joined the Salsa community at the age of 18. To further perfect his craft and to share his passion with others, Victor became a certified Latin Dance Instructor. Given his creative talent, he has developed many of his own choreographies.  

His professional career has taken him to perform at numerous events and congresses, as well as on TV shows, such as Quebec’s very own “Match des Étoiles” on Radio-Canada. Along with his partner Katia Morales, Victor opened up his own dance company, ComoMango, in 2007.

Victor’s performances always leave a lasting impression. Victor has gained an exceptional reputation both as a dancer and as a teacher. His experience and skills are reflected by the accomplishments of his students, who have won dance competitions on a regular basis. 

Katia Morales - Visiting Instructor

Katia developed a passion for the artistic beauty of dancing at an early age. She studied Classical Ballet with Russian Prima Ballerina Helena Voronova for over ten years, and also performed with a Mexican folklore troupe directed by renowned Marcelo Juarez, himself a former student of Amalia Hernandez, one of the most renowned choreographers/ directors in Mexico. 

Katia proceeded to become a certified Latin Dance Instructor in 2005, reinforcing her commitment to dancing. Training children, teens and adults has given her the experience required to teach her students how to develop their skills and attain their goals.

Katia’s passion for Latin dance took a definite turn when she and her partner Victor Contreras opened up their own dance company ComoMango in 2007. They have won 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in numerous competitions around the globe, defining them amongst the best dancers in Montreal and in Canada.

It is when she joined the Hustle world that Katia refined her art both as a dancer and a performer, bringing her ballet technique into her dancing.