The Factory

A mainly black & white graffiti piece in the secondary studio space in The Flava Factory

We are the only dance studio in Ottawa dedicated to teaching and promoting the urban dance styles of Popping, Breaking, House, Locking, Hip Hop, and Dancehall.

Our goals are to provide the best dance education to our students, promote a healthy and positive atmosphere for creative expression, and be a hub space for street dancing in the Capital City!

Established in 2011

The Flava Factory (formerly The Flavor Factory Urban Dance School) has been providing dance classes for all levels and ages in a variety of dance styles that had not been offered in the city before. We continue to support the community by offering space for people to share their dance with one another. Our Studio is dedicated to not only supporting dancers from Ottawa, but also in supporting the careers of Canadian Street Dancers. We continue to hire street dancers from all over Canada to judge our events, and facilitate workshops to our students and greater community.

Our goal

To provide experiences for emerging dancers in Ottawa to learn about the foundation, history, and proper technique of the street dance styles.

Our studio prides itself on its artistic integrity, and we aim to provide each dancer with the tools and techniques they need to develop their own style and character, while understanding the history and culture of each dance style.

Crew

GFreezy

Instructor

Chelsea Turcotte

Instructor

Madeline Hiscocks

Abria Bonnar

Instructor

TWrecks

Youth, Adult, and Crew Breaking Instrcuctor

Mia Weeks

Inter Choreo Instrcutor

Brando Vo

Instructor

Helen Saharok

House Dance Instructor

Vanessa “Vlove” Lovell

Instructor

Armel Shindano

Popping Instructor

Self Led Session

Laura & Madeline

Rotating Instrcutors!

Armel & Twrecks

Sami “Slynks” Elkout

Studio Owner & Instrcutor

Laura Bacic

Inter/ Adv Drop in Instrcutor

Simon “Klassic” Xavier

Locking and Popping Instructor

Styles

Breakin

Often referred to as “breakdancing” in the media, breakin (or b-boying/b-girling) is a popular style of street dance that is considered one of the original 4 Hip Hop Elements. It was created in the “Boogie Down” Bronx in New York City in the 1970s. The dance consists of Top Rock, Go Downs, Footwork, Power Moves and Freezes. It is danced to both Hip-Hop and Break Beats (samples remixed from popular funk tracks). Breakin is often done in a battle, (formal or informal dance competitions), or danced in a Cypher (dance circle).

instructors

Twrecks & Sami

House

A dance of the 1980s, house dance originated in Chicago and grew up in New York City. The name House comes from, “The Warehouse”, a club in Chicago where seminal DJ-Producers began mixing drum machines with disco, funk and soul records, a combination which gave rise to the soulful electronic sound we now know as house. The dance style has evolved a lot over many years, incorporating moves from Jazz, Latin, HipHop, Breakin, Lindy Hop, Tap, and Capoeira, but its main elements: Jacking, Stomping, Skating, Footwork, and Lofting remain the foundation of the dance. House Dance is typical done in a “Cypher” (Dance Circle), where dancers share their moves with each other.

instructor

Rise & Sarah

Popping

Is one of the original funk styles of dance that came out of Fresno, California in the 1970s. It is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer’s body, referred to as a pop, tick or a hit. The pop is performed continuously to the rhythm of a song in combination with various movements and poses. Popping is also used as an umbrella term to refer to a group of closely related illusionary dance styles and techniques that are often integrated with popping to create a more varied performance. These styles include, Boogaloo, Animation, Ticking, Waving, and more. Popping is often danced in Cyphers (Dance Circles), battles(formal or informal dance competitions), or on stage.

instructor

Armel & Klassic

Hip Hop

This class will explore the more recent expressions of Hip Hop dance and the style that has evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes the Hip Hop party dance of the 80′s and 90′s and the more recent dance moves and choreographies.

Hip-hop dance as seen today is a broad category that incorporates a variety of old and new urban dance styles. (The older styles that were created in the 1970s include breaking, and the funk styles). Lyrical hip-hop is a fluid and more interpretive version of new-style hip-hop most often danced to down tempo hip-hop or R&B music. The dance is mainly showcased in “Cyphers” (Dance Circles) or set in choreographies often developed for the stage.

instructor

Vanessa & GFreezy

Choreo

This style of dance encompasses a is a mix of different dance styles. These classes combine a variety of moments in a choregraphy teacheing a new routine everyday. These classes are based on and inspired by hip hop or street dance classes with a mix of jazz or other movements. These classes will base more of their styles in the particular movements of the instrcturor but be closed to the style shown in music videos and as back up dancers on state.

instructor

Chelsea & Brandon & Laura & Mia & Abria

Locking

Locking is a style of funk dance. The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which means freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position,holding that position for a short while and then continuing at the same speed as before. It relies on fast and distinct arm and hand movements combined with more relaxed hips and legs. synced with The movements are generally large and exaggerated, and often very rhythmic and tightly the music. Locking is performance oriented,often interacting with the audience by smiling or giving them a high five, and some moves are quite comical.

instructor

Klassic