Meet Our Dance Teachers

MISSY MORRISON CHARKO is a 2004 Cum Laude graduate of Syracuse University (New York) with a BFA in Musical Theatre and minor in Political Science. A current proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association, she performed for four holiday seasons in Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” (Ordway Center in St. Paul, Sony Center in Toronto, Fox Theatre in Detroit and The Wang Center in Boston). She has performed across the United States in such shows as “Mack and Mabel” with Donna McKechnie (Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut); “The Wizard of Oz”, “Footloose”, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hello, Dolly!” with Michele Lee (Kansas City Starlight Theatre and on tour); and Syracuse Stage’s “West Side Story” and “The Wizard of Oz”. She was a featured dancer and singer at Busch Gardens Theme Park in Williamsburg, VA for five summer seasons; the 2004 “Miss Finger Lakes” and a 2004 Top Ten Finalist and Preliminary Winner in the Miss New York Pageant for Miss America. She has been an Adjudicator for United States Tournament of Dance both regionally and nationally, and other various dance competitions in both Canada and the United States.

​Missy trained in tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, musical theatre and voice since the age of five in Pennsylvania, New York City and across the United States with some of the country’s top choreographers and performers. She competed extensively across the United States, winning numerous awards and titles from competitions such as Dance Masters of America and Showstopper, and after college she settled into her performing career residing in New York City. She has taught dance in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York; at various studios, Busch Gardens Theme Park and Syracuse University. Prior to having her second child, she taught at Akimbo Dance Studio in Kamloops. Missy is a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and Owner of Say Yes To The Rest Pediatric Sleep Consulting. She resides in Blind Bay, BC with her husband and two young children.​

 Carrie Burton grew up dancing at a studio in the West Kootenays run by her mom, Lynette Lightfoot. Right from infancy she was among the dancers- in class and back stage-participating in ballet and modern classes from the age of 4, then later pointe, tap and lyrical. She competed in ballet and modern dance for over 10 years in the Kootenays and Okanagan and taught preschool ballet classes. 

During high school her dance group toured southern BC schools with the local high school band and designed costumes for local musical theatre performances. She has always loved the confidence, excitement and magic the fine arts bring to the performers and community. Since moving to the Okanagan and Shuswap,  Carrie has pursued  yoga, Pilates and dance.  

 Makayla Boyd grew up dancing at a studio in Kamloops starting at the age of four. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, lyrical and contemporary. She attended many dance competitions in the interior and okanogan winning many awards. She was also chosen to attend the provincials of BC performing arts numerous times. She attended many dance conventions such as Vancouver tap festival, triple threat, and participated in classes at Alvin Ailey dance school and Broadway dance center in New York. 

After highschool, Makayla was part of the dance company One Word Tours for 2 years in which she danced and did choreography. They performed and taught classes all over the world to places such as Pittsburg, Philadelphia, England, and many more. Their show was based on human trafficking to spread awareness and to raise money to retrieve children out of human trafficking and to send kids to school in Cambodia. They then travelled to Cambodia to perform and meet some of the children and spread their love of dance. 

Makayla has been teaching competitive dance for over 10 years at numerous different studios in the Kamloops and Shuswap area. She has her certification in Acrobatics Arts Module One. She is excited to now share her love of dance with the students at FACES. She also has a passion for animals and is a veterinary assistant at Uptown Animal Hospital. She resides in Sunnybrae with her husband and baby girl.

Bio coming soon.