Hip Hop Lenny De La Pena Latin / Ballroom Tai Tsang Ballet Stella Chung Jazz TBD Chinese Dance Yan Lam Acrobatics Alan Tang & Chris Mark
Being raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lenny found himself B-Boying in the halls of school instead of eating lunch in the cafeteria with the rest of his classmates. He learned the art of B-Boying at the tender age of ten, and just grew to be a strong B-Boy in the Bay from which his hunger for music and dance grew with him. "My neighborhood was flourishing with talent; djs Q-Bert, MixMaster Mike, Apollo and them, I went to school with Shortkut! Hahaha! To B-boys Rocksteady and the 'OG' Renegade Rockers! Yo! Gideon and the Knucklenecks! The whole Bay was poppin' and nothing else mattered except the next jam or showcase...We would battle and vibe the hell out in malls 'till security would ban us from them!! We was dancin...The late 80’s into the 90’s was an incredible time for me to grow for sure. Represent the 'BAY' til I Croak!!..." Every weekend became playtime for Lenny as each cipher and performance became his sandbox of fun. From the Bay, to L.A. he showcased hiss soulful stride and rocked the cement every chance he could.
Now residing in Toronto Canada, Lenny has been under the mentorship of The Man: Luther Brown. "He’s MR. SOUL period." Lenny says: "Luther has been my mentor and has led me to discover so many things in this here dance: just meet him, you’ll see what I’m sayin...genius." As a result of the marriage with the legendary Do Dat, Lenny has been sharing his love for dance by teaching throughout Canada in as far as Hawaii and the UK. He has also worked with artists such as Rihanna, Esthero, Ron Sexsmith, Ray Robinson, Keshia Chante, Ivanna Santilli and many more. He just finished shooting the motion picture Steppin Up (Save the Last Dance pt.2) with the infamous duo Rich and Tone and continues to learn as much as he possibly can. "I’ll always be a b-boy in my heart, and a dancer in my soul...SuckaFree for life. Don’t Stop The Body Rock." The Music remains Lenny’s inspiration as he reaches new heights and fulfills all dreams as a youngster.
Tai Tsang is a professional dance teacher with well over fifteen years of dance experience in The Ten National Standard & Latin Ballroom Dance. He is famous for his innovation and creativity, and is responsible for creating the immensely popular Ballroom Line Dance. Tai is an associate member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association and is the founder and president of Tai Art Dance Studio - one of the largest in Toronto.
Now an experienced choreographer and instructor, Stella has been the principal Ballet instructor at the Hong Kong Aberdeen Studio since 1979. She also teaches at the Hong Kong Ballet Company (Education Unit), the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and she teaches a teacher's course at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Taiwan.
Stella Chung was born in Hong Kong. As an outstanding student, she was awarded a two-year full scholarship into the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet, training in Classical Ballet. She graduated with a teacher's certificate and she has been a registered teach of the Royal Academy of Dance.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Montreal, Ms. Lam received her training in Chinese dance from some of China's top teachers from the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy. Ms. Lam also studied ballet under Svea Eklof, former prima ballerina of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and modern dance under Robert Derosiers, internationally known dance wizard. Ms. Lam is a Certified senior teacher of the Beijing Dance Academy Chinese Dance Examination Syllabus, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Kiwanis Dance Festival of Toronto. She also holds Honours Bachelor degrees in Mathematics, and Combinatorics & Optimization from the University of Waterloo.
Over the years, Ms. Lam has devoted much of her time in promoting the Chinese dance art form in Canada. She has directed over 20 full-length dance productions and adjudicated at festivals. As a performer, Ms. Lam performed in many cities in Canada and US. She also actively teaches Chinese dance for the Toronto School Board, and works with other Canadian artists on multi-disciplinary, multi-media collaboration projects.
Alan Tang: Currently Alan is the National Team Coach for Canada and is one of a few certified IWuF coaches in Canada. Alan began his martial arts training at the age of 5 under his father. At the of 7 he began training in Hung Gar under the guidance of Glen Doyle and later Sifu James Lore of the Jing Mo Kung Fu Club in Toronto. His introduction to wushu came at age 12 under the tutoring of former Guang Dong and China National wushu team member Chan Wei Xiong. Thereafter, he furthered his studies with coach Fred Whiting, Grand Master Pan Qing Fu, Coach Huang Jian Gong of the China National Team in 1999, and most recently Coach Lu Tong Wei from the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education.
Alan Tang is a four time Canadian National all-round Champion, three time Pan American all-round Champion and World Championship Double Bronze Medalist. He is a certified IWuF coach and is a 1998 graduate from the University of Western Ontario.
Notes:
2005-2006 Canadian National Team Coach
Certifed IWuF International Coach
Four Time Canadian National All Round Champion
1995 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
1997 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
1999 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
2001 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Broad Sword -Silver
Three Time Pan American All Round Champion
1996 Nan Chuan-Silver, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
1998 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
2000 Nan Chuan-Gold, Spear-Gold, Straight Sword-Gold
World Wushu Championship Double Bronze Medallist
1995 Nan Chuan-5th, Spear-Bronze, Straight Sword-Bronze
1999 Spear-3rd (tie)
Chris Mark: Chris was first introduced to martial arts at age 14. He trained hard in karate for several years, competing at many different tournaments. It was in Fall 2002 he found out about Extreme Martial Arts and his drive for that sport took off. He joined Team Ryouko as an associate through his brother James. This helped him improve his skills faster than he expected. Soon enough he found himself as a full team member, and moved to Toronto to train and do school. His motivation to students and leadership abilities are an asset to the Sunny Tang Martial arts program.
Notes:
Training: Goshin Shio Karate Black belt
WTF Tae kwon do black belt, REC gymnastics, Trampoline coach
Team Canada Member
European World Martial Arts Game - 2001 (Kilarney Ireland)
Forms - Gold
Self-Defence - Gold
Weapons - Bronze
Images and profiles courtesy of the Sunny Tang Martial Arts Centre