About Us
Our Story
Establish in 2018, YMM DANCE COMPANY is built on many years of hard work, training, and a history rooted in our community. From the onset YMM DANCE COMPANY has been the talk of the dance community in the RMWB due to its incredibly diverse and talented faculty, the extensive programing, and its family atmosphere. We are all proud to say that YMM DANCE COMPANY is 100% indigenous owned and operated by our Studio Director Miss Melinda Richter.
Our Vision
believe – guide – inspire – unite
At YMM DANCE COMPANY we BELIEVE in the development of all our dancers. We take pride in celebrating the unique qualities and skills of each dancer. Our dance company has the passion to GUIDE each dancer to achieve their personal best while developing their love for dance. It is our mission to provide a positive, healthy and safe environment that will INSPIRE our dancers and our community. We hope they leave feeling a sense of accomplishment and always strive to become a better dancer and kinder human. At YMM DANCE our dancers, parents, and staff are all part of one big inclusive dance family that UNITE by working together to reach our shared goals.
Our Philosophy
At YMM Dance Company, we take the time to recognize every dancer. It doesn’t matter if you take one class or all the classes, everyone is a member of YMM Dance. It is our goal to make every dancer feel a part of our YMM Dance family.
“Make a difference.
Create a better world by being kind.
Kindness is enduring.
Kindness is Contagious.
Kindness makes everyone feel good.”
– Elsie Yanik
That is one of Miss Melinda’s favourite quotes and it is very fitting. She wants our studio to be a place of kindness. So, when you first step into our dance studio you will notice the Elsie Yanik Children’s Creative Corner. Our children’s corner is named after the late Mrs. Elise Yanik and is a place for our younger dancers to use before or after class to create art or play. Mrs. Yanik believed in a world where kindness makes a difference.
We hope that every time a parent, student, and staff member who looks at the corner they will be reminded that kindness is what makes YMM Dance so amazing; and sets us apart from the rest. We treat each other with kindness and with the power of kindness every dancer can succeed.
Our Studio Director
Melinda Richter is an award winning indigenous artist who has been professionally performing, choreographing and instructing dance for over a decade.
Melinda is an indigenous artist who has been professionally performing, choreographing, and instructing dance for over a decade.
Melinda started dancing at the age of eight years old and hasn’t stopped since. At the age of fifteen, she was one out of two Canadians chosen for a US National tour with Hoctors’ Dance Caravan. After graduation she moved to Vancouver where she became a member of The Source Dance Company; where she would later return to choreography for their show Conversations At The Station. She is a graduate of the Toronto Media and Film College with a Film Arts and Production Diploma and has worked two seasons as a producer trainee on the APTN television show called BlackStone.
Melinda is certified in ADAPT, Acrobatic Arts Level 1 &2, Progressing Ballet Technique, and Rhythm Works Integrative Dance. She is also an Associate Member of the Society Of Russian ballet, a member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance, and an Acro Dance Certified Adjudicator.
In 2018 she started YMM Dance Company. A 100% indigenous owned dance studio operating in the Treaty 8 Territory. The ancestral home of the Dene, Cree, and Métis people.
Certifications & Qualification
Melinda has extensive training in many genres of dance that includes Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theatre and Acro.
___________
Melinda is certified in ADAPT
Acrobatic Arts Level 1 & 2
A member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance
Acro Dance Certified Adjudicator
Progressing Ballet technique
Rhythm Works Integrative Dance
Associate Member of the Society of Classical Ballet
