Mary Paterson

Owner & Director

Mary began dancing at the age of 6 and by 9, she was invited to join the Competitive Dance Team at Allegro. While training, Mary became a versatile dancer by focusing on Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, and Pointe. At the age of 12 she started as a teacher’s assistant, and quickly realized her passion for working with children in a dance setting. 

As a testament to her talent and work ethic as a dancer, Mary was accepted into the National Ballet School of Canada where she attended summer training under the direction of Mavis Staines. In addition to her time at Allegro and Canada’s National Ballet School, Mary has worked with a number of respected teachers and choreographers including Kevin Pugh, Vicki St. Denys, Karen Deuplisea, Tanya Evidente and Lourdes Hernandez, James Kudelka and Robert Glumbek. Over the years, Mary has won countless overall awards, dance pageant scholarships and special titles. As well, she has appeared on the Family Channel’s hit TV series “The Next Step”. Mary’s experience and determination led her to Toronto Metropolitan University (Ryerson University) where she studied and graduated with a BFA in Performance Dance. 

Mary continues to develop as a dancer but has focused her attention on her passion for working with kids and teaching.  Mary has been with Allegro for over 20 years, since the beginning, and has been teaching with Allegro for over 10 years.Since Mary’s first dance class at Allegro she knew Allegro was a very special place, through her dedication she strives to share that passion and love of dance with all her students.