Riley Skworoda is an accomplished international performer, dynamic and innovative dance educator, and a highly respected original choreographer with many awards to her credit. Riley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism from the University of Alberta, with an out of faculty focus in dance and drama. With over 10 years of dance instructing experience behind her Riley continues to maintain her reputation as a well respected and successful teacher and choreographer in many disciplines, but her true passion and focus is Tap.

Riley is originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada but has recently relocated to Vancouver and is on the Faculty at the Vancouver Tap Dance Society. Riley has always had a passion for travel. Combining that love of travel with the drive to always remain inspired and further her education, Riley first traveled to The Rhythm Summit by Tapmotif in Lefkada, Greece, to train with Heather Cornell, Max Pollak, and Thanos Daskalopoulos, which sparked an interest in working with live musicians. Riley then set her sights on the international tap dance scene and was accepted into the Escola Luthier Advanced Professional Tap Training Program under the direction of Guillem Alonso in Barcelona, Spain, where she spent 9 months living, training and performing. During her time in Spain, she also trained intensively with Roxane Butterfly at The Jimmy Slyde Institute. While living in Europe, Riley performed as part of an ensemble at many events, including a guest performance at the Montpellier Tap Festival in France. Immediately after her time in Barcelona, Riley attended Nicholas Young’s Institute for The Rhythmic Arts in Chicago, Illinois, where she studied in not only tap dance but also drumming and body percussion. For the past five years Riley has attended the Stockholm Tap Festival in Sweden and has been a theme class instructor for two years. Riley has spent spent the last two summers at Heather Cornell’s Tap Labs in Valley Cottage, NY studying with Antonio Vilchez (zapateo dancer), Andy Algire (musician), Jim Donica (musician), and Heather Cornell who continues to be one of main inspirations for Riley as she grows as a tap dance artist.

During her time in Edmonton Riley has had the opportunity to perform at many events and festivals including The Works Art & Design Festival, Feats Festival of Dance, Kinesis, and Nextfest. Riley has also had the pleasure of performing with The Don Berner Big Band and was in the show “Singin’ & Swingin’!” Featuring Ted Louis Levy & The Toronto Jazz Orchestra. Riley’s biggest project to date was in 2017 when she produced, choreographed, and performed in the well received multi-disciplinary dance show “A Dance Journey: Travelling in Time” for the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.

As her adventure continues, Riley is eager to stop along the way to share her passion and to inspire and be inspired by budding tap talent as they too become members of the global tap community.