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EHDA January 2026 Workshop Sessional Instructors
Sheryl Joyner
Sheryl Joyner has been a dancer, teacher, and judge in the Highland dance community for many years. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and brings both artistic and educational expertise to her work. In addition to her dance career, Sheryl has worked for the Toronto District School Board as an elementary teacher, arts specialist, and ESL specialist.
Her professional dance career includes extensive performing and choreographing with the Scottish Dance Company of Canada, as well as with the Celtic Dance Company. With these companies, she appeared in many performances including the Mirvish production The Needfire at the Princess of Wales Theatre and in Dancers for Life at the Hummingbird Centre.
Sheryl has made significant artistic contributions to ScotDance Canada, including co-choreographing The ScotDance Canada Suite in 2003 and serving as the lead choreographer for Canada’s virtual presentation in the RSOBHD 70th Anniversary Celebration in 2022. She is currently co-creating and choreographing for the Canadian Championship 50th Anniversary Gala Performance, scheduled for 2026.
As the Director of Joyner Highland Dance Studio—now in operation for over 30 years—Sheryl has trained many outstanding dancers who have earned titles at the Ontario, Canadian, North American, Commonwealth, and Scottish Championships. Several of her students have placed in the top six at the World Championships, including two who won the title of Junior World Champion. Her dancers have also performed extensively throughout Toronto including many years dancing for the Barra MacNeils Christmas Concert.
Sheryl also contributes to the broader dance community through her work on the ScotDance Ontario executive, where she is a past president.
Joseph Abrahart
Mental coaching for Sports Performance
With a diverse background spanning collegiate athletics, professional football, and academic study, I bring a unique perspective to mental performance. I began my journey in North America, competing as a collegiate athlete for five years—including a year as a semi-professional—before moving overseas to the UK. There, I continued my football career with Blyth Spartans and South Shields FC while completing a Master’s in Sport and Exercise Sciences with a specialization in Mental Performance.
I’ve since worked in mental performance with Sunderland Football Club, applying evidence-based strategies to help players thrive under pressure and develop psychological resilience.
Specialising in mental choking, I understand how emotions shape our responses—often hijacking control and leading to reactions we later regret. Without the right tools, our minds reinforce unhelpful patterns, making it tougher to manage anxiety, focus, stress, self-doubt or even fear.
My experience on the field, in the classroom, and in high-performance environments has shown me that success isn’t just physical—it's deeply mental. Whether in work, sports, or daily life, let's put you in the driver's seat of your mind, regaining control with strategies that work for you. Own your mind, own your success.
Jackie Smith
From the age of 3 Jacqueline was trained in ballet, jazz, and tap and began Highland, her true passion, at the age of 7. She had the pleasure of being taught by Helen Allison, Delma Wilson and Sandra Bald Jones. Throughout her competitive dancing career, she won numerous titles across Canada, the United States, Australia and Scotland. Highlights include being the Ontario Provincial Champion 7 times, Canadian Inter-provincial Champion 6 times, Juvenile World Champion (1988), Junior World Champion (1989), Adult World Champion (1993, 1996), Australian Champion of Champions and Grand Australasian Champion (1996). She was the first dancer in North America to win all 3 World Champion Sections held at Cowal, Scotland.
Jacqueline’s performing highlights include dancing with the Scottish Dance Company of Canada, Celtic Accent, and the Schiehallion Dance Group, as well as performing in the Mirvish production "Needfire" and in the “Down Under the Kilt” production in Australia.
Jacqueline is an adjudicator on the RSOBHD Judges’ Panel, a Fellow and Examiner with the SDTA, and a Member with the BATD. She has had the opportunity to adjudicate and conduct workshops throughout North America, Australia and Scotland. She opened her dance studio in 1998 in Milton, Ontario, Canada where she lives, has two children and works as a High School Finance Secretary. Over the years, studio dancers have won many awards internationally, including Provincial, Canadian, North American Championship Titles and runner up titles at the Commonwealth and World Championships. Her dancers have also performed in many Tattoos worldwide.
Jacqueline is extremely grateful to Highland Dancing for the places she has been, the lifelong skills she has learned and the friends she has met. She looks forward to continuing to teach, judge, and examine, passing on her passion to others for many years to come.