Vaughan’s Woodbridge School of Dance pirouetting into 40 years of excellence

Yorkreigon.com
May 17, 2023

From humble beginnings, the Woodbridge School of Dance (WSD) has become an institution.

Currently owned by the Filippo sisters, these former students have turned their passion into a career of teaching the next generation of female dancers in Vaughan.

Originally founded in 1983 by Gilly Chaplin as the Ballet School of Woodbridge on Woodbridge Avenue, the school moved from its original studio to a modest location under the clock tower in Market Lane after a few years. Now, the school has amassed a reputation for being one of the pre-eminent dance schools in Vaughan. It features a spacious mirrored studio located in Market Lane under a grocery store where the girls practise putting on shows -- everything from “The Nutcracker” to “Swan Lake.”

The two sisters were chosen by Chaplin as successors after serendipity struck.

“Yeah, we really enjoyed being under the directorship of Gilly. She was able to provide us with a wonderful faculty to learn from,” said co-owner and director Deandra Filippo.

After graduating from the school herself, Deandra worked on the set and props at WSD, eventually leading Deandra and her sister Olivia to pick Chaplin’s brain with her taking on a mentor role.

The sisters wanted to “get some guidance and see how we could kind of bring what we were looking to do to life,” said Deandra.

Eventually, Chaplin, seeing the sisters’ interest, decided to take a step back and pass the baton.

Under Chaplin’s leadership, the studio had expanded from a school focused on ballet and classical dance to a modern dance school offering contemporary, jazz, tap, acro-dance, hip hop and musical theatre.

An accredited institution since the ’90s, the school teaches the values of persistence and dedication over competition in mind and upholds these values to this day.

“Being driven by the love and passion for dance is what we value, as opposed to being driven by external trophies and competitions and things like that,” said Olivia Filippo, director and co-owner.

As dancers themselves, the sisters were hungry and ready to put in work. As teachers, they are still willing to learn and be patient.

Olivia recalls how she and Deandra had to learn how to use a camera and a gimbal as they could not do outdoor performances with an audience during the pandemic.

Deandra’s background in kinesiology has helped the school implement a more thorough breakdown of what is happening to the body.

Deandra says that the sisters are mindful when it comes to the health of their dancers, using her knowledge of the body to take a simple movement and make it a fun, educational game.

“It doesn't feel like they're just doing an exercise, but they're actually playing something and they're benefiting their technique along with the game,” said Deandra.

A success story, the school celebrates 40 years now teaching a newer generation.

“Something that we're really celebrating as we're reaching 40 years of the school, we're seeing a lot of second-generation students,” said Olivia.

Eighteen-year-old Adriana Cecatini, a current student at WSD, says the skills she learned at the school have helped her land a spot at York University’s dance program with a focus on performance and choreography.

“The Woodbridge School of Dance has made me a very versatile dancer. And I think that I learned a lot of teamwork as well as time management,” said Cecatini.

“Since we did a lot of group dances, you really had to know that everyone is participating and that you have to give your all and everyone has to give their all for a positive outcome,” she added.