Amanda Murray aka mRae Grooves
Owner & Director of def SOL Productions
Lead Instructor & Choreographer
Since creating def SOL Productions in the summer of 2004, Amanda has remained a pivotal force in the growth and recognition of Saskatchewan’s street dance scene. With over 20 years of experience as an educator and performer, she has paved the way for street dancers from the 306 in addition to creating a greater public awareness of Hip Hop culture and its elements.
Amanda is the founder and choreographer of the def SOL Crew who has earned top standings and major awards at competitive events across Canada such as Artists Emerge, The REAL and In the Zone. They have opened for numerous acts including: NAS, Joe Budden, ABDC Live Tour, Jabbawockeez Tour, WE Day and the Harlem Globetrotters. In 2011, the def SOL Crew was showcased as a featured act in the ‘Love, Saskatchewan’ festival held at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. They were also featured as the main act for the 2014 Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant Governor’s Arts Awards.
With over 15 years of knowledge and experience in the dance industry, and a ‘fun yet professional’ teaching-style, Amanda is constantly requested by schools, studios and organizations across western Canada for instruction and choreography. In 2013 she completed a successful 4 – month Residency at two schools in Northern SK funded by Saskatchewan Arts Board. In October 2016 she was invited to join Edmonton’s QiCreative team to travel to Tacloban, Phillipines where she volunteered for two weeks as a workshop facilitator at StreetLight Phillipines Inc.
To remain ‘legit’ as an educator and performer, Amanda continues to pursue training opportunities across North America in numerous styles of street and cultural dance forms. She has trained with top choreographers and street dance originators from all over the world including the Electric Boogaloos, Elite Force, Dance Fusion NYC, M.A.W.U., House of Ninja, the Groovaloos, LA City Rockers and many more.
In 2013, Amanda moved to Edmonton, AB to pursue new opportunities and quickly began training with 3rd Street Beat Entertainment. She competed with 3SB pro Crew who won the 2014 Canadian Hip Hop Championships and went on to make semi-finals at the the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas. From 2014-2015 she also worked as a 3SB Faculty member providing training and choreography for top competitive teams (ProStars, 3SB Company).
In 2015, Amanda became an official member of the Fly Girlz, Edmonton’s most recognized and respected ‘all-female’ crew! Recent performances with the FGZ include Kaleido Fest (Edmonton 2015), opening for recording artists TLC (Calgary 2016) , Sean Paul (Edmonton 2016) and dancing for A Tribe Called Red (Edmonton & Saskatoon- 2017).
Not wanting to ‘abandon’ her Saskatchewan roots, Amanda decided it was essential to keep def SOL Productions operating in Saskatoon to ensure quality street dance training remains availalble to future generations! With the help of her crew, staff, and many return trips to Saskatoon, she has managed to kept def SOL alive and well for nearly 16 years! In 2018, she returned home to Saskatoon where she continues to work full time as an independent artist and entrepreneur.
Senyo Akakpo
Street Dance Foundations Instructor- Fall 2023 Teaching Breakin, Hip Hop & House techniques.
Senyo Akakpo is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He has worked and studied in multiple styles of dance like contemporary and modern movement, but specializes in the knowledge, history and techniques of hip-hop and other urban dance styles.
Working with all ages and levels, Senyo has choreographed and taught to children and adults over the last 5 years, but has been apart of the professional dance industry for over 10 years and is a member and contributor to the Professional Adjudicators Alliance. To bring knowledge and expertise to studios, he has studied hip hop culture and dance all over North America, as well as obtained a degree from Ryerson University in psychology, human biology and biophysics.
His choreography has been featured in festivals like the Juno’s and Culture Shock in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Senyo has taught for many companies like Dark Dance, Army of Sass, City Dance Corp, The Travelling Artist, Culture Shock Toronto, as well as being enlisted as the chosen representative of Canada by the Cuban government to teach hip hop at the Teade dance Festival in 2019. His knowledge and skill has allowed him the opportunity to work as a dancer for Feist, Jakhoy, the Arkells and organizations like the CFL’s Argonauts and Tigercats, and the Pan Am Games.
His work as a dancer choreographer and teacher has allowed him to travel to places all across North America and South America and his work in Saskatchewan has been to build up the Hip-Hop dance community, by working with others to host events, battles and provide paid professional opportunities for local emerging and established artists in the province. Senyo Akakpo is so grateful for every opportunity to work with aspiring dancers and to share his knowledge!
Brandon Ganuelas aka BrandZero
Breakin Program Instructor 2022 to present
Specializing in Breakin’ (aka B-Boying/B-Girling)
Brandon Ganuelas (AKA Brand Zero) was born in Vancouver, BC and raised In Calgary, Alberta. Starting his breaking journey over 10 years ago in Calgary, Brandon has traveled both nationally and internationally competing and teaching. Representing the Fall-in Brotherhood crew, he has competed all across Canada in 1vs1, 2vs2 and crew vs crew battles. His accomplishments and drive allowed him to coach a successful breaking team that won a competition called Battle City.
More recently he has traveled to Los Angeles, CA competing in the 2022 world-recognized Freestyle Session World Finals (FSS) and has attended a competition in NYC, and Boston in June 2023 called All City Rockers (ACR) 15 year anniversary. He has also been the breaking judge for Saskatoon’s Driven Car show competition since the car show travels across Canada. Following these events he will be competing and returning to Freestyle Sessions World Finals (FSS).
After moving to Saskatoon, Sk in 2021, he has fully assimilated himself into the local dancing community. He has been teaching as a break dance instructor for Def Sol studios. While traveling across Saskatchewan in small towns such as Arcola, Moosmin, Tisdale and more. He fluidly incorporates lessons about the foundations of breaking and personal development all throughout hip-hop culture.
Abhiroop Mookerjee aka PoppingRoop
Guest Instructor/ Choreographer 2022-present Specializing in Popping, Animation & Funk Styles.
Abhiroop started dancing when he was in high school around 10 years ago. His dance journey started with breakin’, then around 2015, his interest gradually shifted toward the style of Popping. He has attended more than 50 street dance events – he has performed and battled extensively in Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal. He was also highly requested as both an instructor and judge for various events in India.
Major events include: Keep On Dancing (India Qualifiers), Cloud Cypher(Montreal), The Flyest Jam(Calgary Qualifiers), One For the City (Edmonton).
Committed to his craft, Abhiroop continues to learn from many legends in the street dance scene. He has taken workshops from Poppers all over the world like Poppin DS (Korea), Firebac (Korea), Blondy (France), Megaman (Canada), Firelock and Locking Jay. One of his main mentors was FreakwenC (Moon Runners crew, Toronto). He have cyphered and trained with the Montreal poppers.
Abhiroop specializes in the style of Popping as well as all the sub forms within the popping umbrella which include: hard pop/hitting style, animation, electric boogaloo, tutting, toyman, filmore, strutting, waving, sliding, gliding, shadow boxing,etc.
