MANITOBA PROVINCIAL DANCE FESTIVAL 2026
✨ FDMT AWARDS ✨
🌟 SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS
• Senior Scholarship — Chelsea Jiménez
• Adjudicators’ Choice — Bugalu Team / Rumberos
• Gala Invitation — Salsa Team LATINHEATS
💎 GOLD HONOURS
• Under 13 – Salsa Solo – Valentina Ciro — 96.5
• Under 13 – Salsa Solo – Chelsea Jiménez — 96.0
🥇 GOLD
• Under 13 – Salsa Solo – Isabella Meneses — 93.0
• Under 13 – Salsa Duo – Julian Rodriguez & Isabella Meneses — 90.5
• Under 10 – Salsa Solo – Luciana Bernal — 90.2
• Under 13 – Salsa Duo – Valentina Ciro & Isabella Meneses — 90.0
• Under 15 – Carnaval/Mapalé – Bailadoras + Rumberos — 90.0
🌟 HIGH SILVER
• Under 14 – Salsa Duo – Chelsea Jiménez & Isabella Meneses — 89.5
• Under 15 – Bugalu Team / Rumberos — 87.0
• Under 11 – Salsa Solo – María Paula Rodriguez — 86.0
🥈 SILVER
• Under 13 – Salsa Solo – Valentina Pazmiño — 85.5
• Under 11 – Salsa Solo – Raphaela Naranjo — 85.5
• Under 11 – Salsa Solo – Valeria Ramirez — 82.0
• Under 11 – Salsa Team – LATINHEATS — 81.5
Congratulations to all our dancers, families, teachers, and supporters for your dedication, hard work, and passion on stage.
We are incredibly proud of every single one of you!
Thank you, @dancemb_ , for an incredible Festival. We had a blast at the competition and Gala.#fdmtdancegroup #colombianosenwinnipeg #salsacaleña #latinosenwinnipeg #familiafdmt
We made festival HISTORY last night - our first ever year including Acro as a category. A huge thank you and congratulations to our adjudicator Dr. Leisha Strachan and the students for being our inaugural Acro Category participants!
#dancemanitoba #MBPDF26
**Reposted for a spelling error**
Sofia Costantini is renowned for her high-intensity, challenging, and transformative dance classes. A celebrated choreographer and performer, she has contributed to television specials, feature films, and professional theatre, working alongside top Canadian and American actors and dancers. Notably, she was personally invited by Patrick Swayze to jam in a studio during the filming of One Last Dance and has danced in films such as Shall We Dance and Make It Happen with Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She has also appeared on the beloved Treehouse series The Toy Castle.
A respected leader in the dance community, Sofia conducts seminars, adjudicates competitions, and serves as a guest master teacher across Canada. She has consulted with dance organizations on curriculum design and quality standards and previously led the jazz curriculum at the prestigious Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, while working extensively with the school’s professional division, Aspirant programs, and the RWB Company.
Sofia served as Program Lead for the Winnipeg School Division, overseeing Arts programming, and currently supports schools as a learning support teacher. She directed Dance Tec Company at Tec Voc High School for eighteen years and previously led Sisler’s Most Wanted at Sisler High School for five years.
Her dedication to the craft is also captured in two upcoming manuscripts: The Complete Dance Guide: A Teacher’s Manual on Class Structure, Instruction, Technique, Choreography & Performance and Leaders Empowering Learners: A Holistic Guide on Assessing Needs, Building Relationships, Communicating Effectively & Inspiring Excellence.
Today, Sofia runs Hyperformance Lab, offering 1:1 personal training sessions for dancers seeking to elevate their technique and cultivate a powerful, positive mindset—preparing them for success both in practice and on stage.
Passionate and inspiring, Sofia’s teaching goes beyond technique—she creates an exhilarating environment where every dancer can thrive, grow, and reach their full potential.
#dancemanitoba #MBPDF26
We need Volunteers! Could you give us a hand during Festival next week? We would love to have you! Experience with theatre and/or dance is an asset, but all that’s required is a positive attitude and the ability to learn quickly. :)
Please follow the link in our bio or on our website under the “Festival 26” tab.
#MBPDF26 #dancemanitoba
Please meet our Musical Theatre adjudicator!
Victoria Exconde (she/her) is a Canadian-Filipino theatre performer, choreographer, and dance instructor based in Winnipeg, MB. A graduate of the School of Contemporary Dancers, Victoria has since established herself as a versatile performer across theatre, dance, and film. She has danced with Nafro Dance Productions, The Winnipeg Blue Bomber Cheer and Dance Team, and hip hop crew, BOSS Dance Team. Theatre credits include: Elf and Waitress (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Rock of Ages, Frozen, Ma-Buhay! and Mary Poppins (Rainbow Stage), Fame (Winnipeg Studio Theatre), and Saplings (One Trunk Theatre). She has also appeared dancing in Litos’ music video “Te Olvide” and leading as Maria Mendoza Friesen in the sitcom Maria and the Mennos on YESTV.
#MBPDF26 #dancemanitoba
Son de Negros is a vibrant traditional dance from Colombia’s Caribbean coast, associated with the region of Santa Lucía. With strong roots in Afro-Colombian traditions, it is prominently featured in the Carnaval de Barranquilla.
Folklore de mi Tierra Dance Group (FDMT) has performed this dance in various venues, proudly representing Colombia and the richness of its cultural diversity. In this video, we performed at the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre, having had the honour of being selected by the cultural adjudicator of the Dance Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival to present at the 2025 Closing Gala. We are excited and ready for this year’s competitions with Dance Manitoba.
Credits:
Choreographer: Luis Medina @luchomedinapinto
Artistic & Production Director: @Nancy Jimenez
Photo: @mmz_khan
Video by @k.s.esthetics
Come and celebrate with us! Gala is a night to showcase our fabulous and hardworking festival participants, in addition to awarding our scholarship and other festival award winners.
May 10th 2026, 7:30 pm @ Desautels Concert Hall.
For further event details and to purchase tickets, check the link in our bio :)
#dancemanitoba #MBPDF26
We are excited to introduce to you our Hip-Hop adjudicator!
From the streets of Mexico City, Rico Martínez discovered hip-hop at just five years old, spinning on cardboard and turning sidewalks into his first stage. He quickly made a name for himself in the city’s legendary street dance scene, earning respect through countless battle victories and becoming a recognized force in the culture.
By age 15, he had co-founded the crew Black Tendency and won Mexico’s biggest televised talent show El Club, launching him into national recognition. His early career included major commercial work, with appearances in Disney films and a Super Bowl commercial for the New England Patriots. He also voiced Ron Stoppable in the Spanish-language version of Disney’s Kim Possible.
Rico’s international breakthrough came when Latin pop star Belinda selected him as one of her lead dancers. He toured globally, performing across the USA, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama, and beyond. His performances have been featured on major platforms including the MTV Latin Music Awards, Nickelodeon Argentina, and Fox Sports Miami.
Now based in Red Deer, Alberta, Rico is the founder and owner of Pound It Hip Hop Studio. Through his work, he is dedicated to building and nurturing the hip-hop community from the ground up. He brings in world-renowned pioneers and legends as guest instructors, leads school programs across the region, and creates opportunities for his students to train and compete in cities like New York, Toronto, and Vancouver, ensuring the next generation learns directly from the roots of the culture.
As a Lululemon Ambassador, Rico continues to bridge movement, community, and culture, using dance as a tool to inspire, connect, and give back. He is deeply committed to honouring the culture that raised him and instilling in his students the importance of respect, mentorship, and giving back to the community.
Introducing our Tap adjudicator!
Roxanne is a Winnipeg-based dance educator and adjudicator with a lifelong passion for the performing arts. She began dancing at age 3 and trained extensively in ballet, jazz, tap, musical theatre, modern, and hip hop, completing examinations in ballet, jazz, and tap. As a competitive dancer, Roxanne performed across North America, including Minneapolis, New York, and Vancouver, earning numerous accolades, including “Best Rhythm Tapper.” Her professional credits include appearances in Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s The Miracle Worker and the opening ceremonies of the Pan Am Games.
Since discovering her love for teaching in 2005, Roxanne has worked with dancers of all ages in both recreational and competitive settings. She teaches in the competitive program at Shelley Shearer School of Dance, leads workshops across Canada, and is certified through the Tap Dance Centre’s teacher syllabus program. Her teaching emphasizes musicality, discipline, and a deep respect for the historical roots of the art form.
Roxanne is a Certified Adjudicator through the Dance Leadership Institute and adjudicates at competitions across Canada. She is committed to helping dancers develop confidence and artistry, while encouraging them to express themselves fully through the language of dance.
#Festival26 #MPDF26 #dance #dancemanitoba
Please meet our Ballet adjudicator!
Elizabeth Lamont is a Principal Artist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company. Born in
Waterloo, Ontario, Elizabeth began dancing at the age of four, and joined the RWB School Professional Division at the age of 14. She graduated from the RWB School Professional Division in 2010 and immediately joined the company as an Apprentice. She was featured in two Bravo documentary series “Ballet Girls” and “Ballet High” during her time in the RWB School.
Elizabeth made her principal role debut as Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale while in the corps de ballet. Other major roles include Clara in the Nutcracker, Odette/ Odile in Swan Lake, Nathalie in Moulin Rouge® – The Ballet, The Lilac Fairy and Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Edith in La Bayadère, and Glinda the Good Witch in the 2019 Canadian premiere of Septime Webre’s The Wizard of Oz. Elizabeth has danced the role of Juliet while in each rank of the company and has enjoyed evolving in her character and the deep emotional commitment dancing this role takes.
Career highlights include working with Evelyn Hart on creating her own adaptation of the legendary “The Dying Swan” solo and dancing the dream role of Giselle while pregnant with her daughte
#Festival26 #MPDF26 #dance #dancemanitoba
