Barbara Vargas Co- Director
Barbara’s love for dance was discovered at the age of three, which has evolved into a passion that has allowed her to travel thorough out North America and Europe. Some of her credits include: Edmonton’s International Jazz Fest, Crazy for You, Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and the IDO: World Tap Dance Championships where she placed 5th for her tap solo in, Riesa Germany. She has also had the opportunity to work on projects with featured artists: Tommy Lee, Brett Kissel, William Joseph, The David Foster Band, Raul Gomez, Niles Landgren’s Funk Unit, and Will Campa.
Over the years she has had the chance to learn from world-renowned choreographers and teachers, many of them through interning. Her internships including: Tony Waag’s New York City Tap Festival, Jason Samuel’s Smith LA Tap Festival, and Bril Barrett’s Chicago Tap Summit. In 2006, she co-founded the “Tap Into A Cure Festival”, in Sherwood Park, Alberta, and is now co-founder of Breaking Barres, a newly formed dance company with a goal of “uniting dancer’s one step at a time”.
Barbara most recently had the honour of being part of the Canadian quartet “The Night Before Tomorrow”, choreographed by Matt Shields, which had won The Chicago Human Rhythm Projects (CHRP) first Virtual Rhythms Choreography online contest, giving her the opportunity to dance at CHRP’s 20th anniversary faculty show.
In the End Barbara believes that Dance is all about Love, and she feels truly blessed that she gets to share it on a daily basis.
Jamie Ausmus Co- Director
Growing up in Edmonton Alberta, Jamie has developed a well-rounded vocabulary in multiple disciplines, including tap, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and much more. Dance has taken her many places around the world and trained in such cities as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. She has interned at various tap festivals for the past four years, including the Chicago Tap Summit under MADD Rhythms’ director Bril Barrett.
She has choreographed a tap & percussion piece for Hip Hop Saved My Life that toured China this summer. Jamie has performed in numerous events in various disciplines, which include Soaring with Song, with artists such as Brett Kissel, William Joseph and the David Foster Band. She was a featured tap dancer in Feats Festival’s Vistas in a piece choreographed by Bril Barrett. And was most recently seen tap dancing at the Edmonton Jazz Festival, Feats Festival Currents and part of the featured quartet of Virtual Rhythms Winners for the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s 20th Anniversary.
Currently, Jamie and dance partner Barbara Vargas have founded Breaking Barres, a dance production company educating dancers through workshops and creating unique projects and opportunities for the arts community. The company has hosted such artists as Lisa LaTouche, Michelle Dorrance, Nicholas Young and Heather Cornell.
Jamie continues to build her career as a dancer and works towards building a prevalent spot for tap dance in the Canadian dance scene.
Company CV
