Vanessa Zullo (BA, BEd, OCT)

Certified Competition Adjudicator: Ballet; Jazz; Tap; Acro Dance; Hip Hop; Lyrical; Contemporary; Modern; Musical Theatre

An accomplished dancer, teacher, choreographer, and adjudicator, Vanessa Zullo has over 20 years of training in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip hop, acrobatics, and ballroom styles. She has also trained in several world dance styles, including African, Philippine, Middle Eastern, and Indian dance genres. She is the former artistic director of her own studio, Vanessa Zullo’s School of Dance, Inc., which operated successfully in Bolton, ON for 13 years. A graduate of the Mayfield Regional Arts program, she majored in Dance and Concurrent Education at York University on a scholarship. Vanessa has also directed numerous lunchtime and after school dance programs for the Dufferin, Peel, York, Simcoe, and Toronto Boards of Education.

Over the course of her 28-year teaching career, Vanessa, her students and her choreography have won numerous awards and scholarships at both the regional and national levels. Several students have won major titles including DMA Junior Miss Dance and CanDance Junior Miss Dance, just to name a few.  Past students have also danced with the Toronto Raptors Junior Dance Pak, Toronto Blue Jays Dancers, and have been featured in several commercials, movies, and TV shows, including SYTYCD and Family Channels’ The Next Step. Miss Zullo has students who were privileged enough to be accepted to the Quinte and National Ballet Schools. In addition, Vanessa is tremendously proud that several of her former students are presently embarking on successful teaching careers themselves.

Vanessa believes strongly in continuous learning and makes attending teachers’ workshops and classes a priority to keep up with the latest teaching techniques and choreographic styles. Miss Zullos’ educational goal is to provide her students with a solid foundation in dance in a safe, caring, and positive learning environment. Both her recreational and competitive classes are fun and challenging for students of any age. She teachers all of her classes with boundless energy, enthusiasm, mixed with a wacky sense of humour.

Vanessa has been providing dancers with helpful and encouraging feedback motivating them to develop their passion and success as dancers as a professional, bilingual adjudicator for over 10 years across Canada. She is sought out consistently by many esteemed competitions to be on their judging panels, where she takes great pride in celebrating and creating special moments with the wonderful dancers she is privileged to watch and communicate with.  Vanessa is a member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance.

Currently, Miss Zullo feels lucky to be inspiring and sharing her love and knowledge of dance to children at several schools in the GTA, and in her own high school classroom in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board where she has been fortunate to direct her own dance program since September 2018. Vanessa remains forever dedicated and passionate about offering her students the opportunity to explore, perfect, and share their talents both at school and various events in the local community.

Vanessa nurtures and supports every dancer to share her core values, “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.”