Valentina Polanco

Valentina Polanco grew up in Colombia, where she began her dance training with a focus on ballet. Valentina is pursuing a career in dance performance and arts education. This Toronto-based artist has performed various roles in neoclassical works and classical ballets - Gisselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère and Don Quixote. She has trained under recognized artists such as Andrea Wolff, Geta Constantinescu, Olivier Pardina, Laetitia Clement, and Derek Sangster. Valentina was a finalist in both, World Ballet Competition (USA) and Addicted 2 Dance Competition (Colombia). A graduate in Dance Performance from George Brown College, Valentina has trained at Andrea Wolff Ballet in Colombia and under scholarship at Miami City Ballet, Ballet Austin, Joffrey Ballet School and Ballet Hispanico in the United States; currently she is a Mentee with the recognized company Canada’s Ballet Jorgen. Valentina has also completed the Dance Teaching Certification with IDTS and the Barre Instructor Certification with IBBFA. In her home country, Valentina taught ballet, pointe, classical variations and creative movement to dancers of all ages at IJR Ballet School and MIA Dance Academy; after moving to Canada, she continued teaching ballet private lessons.