Rhythm and Riff Dance Exchange
May 10, 2025
Ottawa Dance Directive, Arts Court
2 Daly Ave
Workshops
9:30 AM Doors open
10:00 AM Ghanaian Dance with Stacey
11:15 AM Break
11:30 AM Tap Dance with Carole Anne
12:45 PM Lunch
2:00 PM Solo Jazz with Kofi
3:15 PM Break
3:30 PM House with Arnaldo
5:00 PM Dinner break
Social Dancing
7:00 PM Social dance opens
8:30 PM Performance by the Ottawa Rhythm Initiative Ensemble
8:45 PM Social dance resumes
10:00 PM Dance ends
Arnaldo "Effect" Betancourt Silva
Arnaldo "Effect" Betancourt Silva is a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director with a distinct aesthetic rooting from his Afro-Cuban and Breaking background. He was born in Havana, Cuba, then grew up in Montreal, Canada and now lives in Ottawa with his wife and daughter. Although he has trained in many styles, he specializes in Breaking, House, Hip Hop and dabbles into Popping and social Latin dances like Salsa and Bachata. Through his career, he has been able to perform on major stages, including Cirque du Soleil for the Pan Am Games, Cirque Éloize in Montreal and Dammam, and the Juno Awards in Ottawa. He is also the co-founder and artistic director of Moov Ottawa Dance, a Canadian street dance company, and Moov Bouge Danza, a nonprofit organization dedicated to dance education and community engagement. Beyond performance, Effect is committed to cultural exchange and community-driven projects. In 2023, he traveled to Korea for a research and cultural connection project, deepening his understanding of global street dance culture. More recently, he completed two tours in Ontario within the Francophone arts scene. As a new father, he balances his artistic career with family life, drawing inspiration from both. Through workshops, mentorship, and collaborations, he continues to push creative boundaries while making a lasting impact on the Street Dance world.
Carole Anne Piccinin
Carole Anne Piccinin founded the Ottawa Rhythm Initiative (ORI) and the ORI Ensemble out of a life-long passion to explore and celebrate the art of tap dance as a percussive form in a musically authentic and community-focused way. She serves the ORI as an artist, educator, and producer. Carole Anne has created and taught rhythm tap dance and music programs for Ontario dance schools and school boards, developed the Canadian Children’s Museum long-running Music Works! program and is a guest tap dance instructor with Carleton University Music program. She is an active mentor for tap dancers and tap dance community leaders in Canada. She also owns ArtsSavvy, an arts management and creative consultancy, and teaches arts and culture marketing at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.
Kofi Arthiabah
Kofi Arthiabah is a Jazz dance performer, educator, and choreographer and will teach our Solo Jazz workshop. Born and raised in West Africa, Kofi participated in traditional African dance and drumming from childhood, and later studied and performed breakdancing while in secondary school and university. He has since studied Lindy Hop across the globe, including most notably from the original, first generation Savoy dancers Norma Miller and Dawn Hampton, and second generation Savoy dancers including Sugar Sullivan. In 2019-20 in honor of Norma Miller’s 100th birthday, Kofi enacted and performed his “100 days of Trickeration” arts project, which showcased her highly syncopated Trickeration routine around Ottawa and the world. He teaches weekly Jazz Dance and Lindy Hop classes with local dance school Dance with Alana and has travelled to teach workshops in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
Stacey Dela Can-Tamakloe
Stacey Dela Can-Tamakloe came to Canada as an international student from Ghana in 2021. She recently graduated with a master's degree in Music and Culture from Carleton University in Ottawa. Stacey’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Ghana in Legon where she focused on music and dance studies. While a student at Carleton, Stacey pursued her interest in gender roles in Ghanaian popular and traditional music and was a Graduate Research Assistant for the “Reimagining the Global Music Ensemble” project by Kathy Armstrong at the Research Centre for Music, Sound and Society in Canada. Stacey assisted in coaching Carleton’s West African Rhythm Ensemble and also works as a MASC teaching artist in the Ottawa community.