Elaine Young, Director

 

Elaine grew up in London, England, where she studied Classical Ballet, Jazz and Tap dancing. At the culmination of each year she attended the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), and took her examinations in all three disciplines. She taught Ballet and Tap in New Canaan for three years before opening the Academy  in 2001. Elaine lives in New Canaan with her husband and they have two children, and one grandson. Elaine is extremely excited about the start of the Academy’s eleventh year.

 

Katie Jackson

Katie graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, under the Elizabeth Ann Pulaski Memorial Scholarship.  Katie has trained at dance institutes throughout the US, Canada and Europe, including the Laban Dance Centre in London. Performance credits include The White Oak Dance Project, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, New Action Theater and The Barrymore Awards (SCRAP), and in works by Jose Limon, and by Paul Taylor.  Her own choreography has been seen at venues such as Rebound Dance Festival, The Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, National Dance Day in Philadelphia, and The Duke Studios on 42nd Street. Katie’s choreographic works have been commissioned by dance studios and companies in the United States and Canada, and have won awards on the regional and national level. Dance Company credits include Clark Dance Theater, Von Ussar Danceworks, Carver Entertainment, EmLink, and Salvatore LaRussa Dance Theatre. She has helped lead the NCDA Performance Companies to numerous festivals, competitions, workshops and events in the community and nationally. Katie has been with NCDA since 2003.
 

Chellamar Bernard

Chellamar is a graduate of the prestigious F.H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and also from SUNY Purchase Dance Conservatory.  Dance Company credits include Jennifer Muller/The Works, Dzul Dance Company, Genesis Dance Theater, the H.T. Chen Company, and the Philadanco Dance Company in Philadelphia. He has freelanced with Nathan Trice Rituals Dance, and the Opus Dance Company, as well as with Galdmans Dance Theatre. He has also worked as a Head Counselor for Ailey Camp, a summer dance camp in NYC for at-risk kids, founded by Alvin Ailey and sponsored by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Children’s Aid Society. Chellamar is also a dance and fitness instructor at Boys and Girls Harbor, an organization that provides education and character development to 2,500 children from the Harlem and South Bronx area. In addition to dance performance and teaching, Chellamar is a Professional Fusion Trainer at the Reebok Sports Club in Manhattan, and he has also competed in regional Golden Gloves boxing competitions. Chellamar has been with NCDA since 2005.

Amanda Lehman    

Amanda, originally from Mobile, Alabama, has been living and professionally working in New York City over the past 9 years. Her experience ranges across dance, acting, singing, Master Class instruction, and professional adjudicating. Performance credits include last season’s Radio City Christmas Spectacular in The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville Tennessee, the original cast of Disney's Finding Nemo The Musical in Orlando, FL., a U.S. National as well as an international tour in Moscow and Tokyo of 42nd Street, Footloose directed/choreographed by Emmy award-winning Broadway choreographer AC Ciulla, and touring with the critically acclaimed Irish International dance show Spirit of the Dance. Amanda's regional theater credits include A Chorus Line, Oliver, and Music Man, and she spent six months performing for Royal Caribbean cruise lines on their ship Adventure of the Seas. She is a recipient of the Richard Ellner Scholarship at the Broadway Dance Center Studio. Amanda serves on the faculty at the American  Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), the world-renowned conservatory and college of performing arts. She is also on faculty for several dance conventions and is a professional adjudicator for numerous dance competitions, as well as being a published columnist for Dancer Magazine's Year In Review  issue. Amanda hass been with NCDA since 2007.

 

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Dylan Smith

Dylan is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College in NYC with a B.A. in dance. His experience ranges from professional stage performances, to adjudicating at dance competitions, to teaching Master classes, as well as to staging award winning choreography. Performance credits include the Japan and North American tours of 42^nd Street, JUBILEE! at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the NFL Kick-Off Concert for MTV Productions, as guest host for TV’s Kids’ Party Box Show, Holland America Cruise Lines, Modern Dance’s Crowd Pleaser, in addition to other works in television, film, and in regional theaters across the nation. Dylan is a national adjudicator and Master Instructor for dance competitions such as Dancers Inc. and for Starpower. His teaching experience spans throughout the tri-state region, as well as Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Ohio, and Nevada, and his choreography has won acclaim and titles for his students. Dylan hass been with NCDA since 2009.

Tricia Olds

Tricia earned her BFA in Drama with Honors from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in May 2007. She is the co-founder of Tisch's Pulse Dance Project and was also a member of NYU's Purple and White Dance Team. As a young dancer, Tricia competed with DANCEAMERICA and as a national champion performed at Disney's Epcot Center. She has also performed pieces by Danny Buraczeski and Jack Hayes at the Boston Summer Dance Festival through Jeannette Neill's Dance Studio. She was featured in Christine Philion Dufour's show Shorts in Portland, Maine. At the Portland School of Ballet she performed in Adrienne Hawkins' piece Ta Ka Ta Da. Most recently she performed a collaborative movement and dance piece While We Were Waiting under the direction of Kate Hilliard at the Stella Adler Studio. While dancing, Tricia is also pursuing her acting career in New York City, with acting creiits includnhg a comedic solo show for the 2010 New York Fringe Festival, and commercial work for Keurig. Tricia joined NCDA in 2009.

Karen Musey

 

Karen received her dance training across Canada and the United States under scholarship at several globally-respected institutions including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Division, The Banff Center, The Edge. In addition, Karen is an American Ballet Theater (ABT) Certified Teacher, having completed ABT's Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of their National Training Curriculum. She is an accomplished performer in dance, theater, and film/TV and has served as an assistant choreographer and casting assistant on several children's TV/theater projects. She was an original member of Desiraeda Dance Company, a contemporary dance company in Toronto. Performance credits include the Canadian Opera Company’s world premiere of Das Rheingold; Rainbow Stage's West Side Story, Chicago, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; with PHISH at Madison Square Gardens; at the Broadway on Broadway concert; in the Ensemble for Renegade; the U.S. and Korea tours as a Dance Captain for KOBA Family Entertainment (a producer of live theater productions), and a European tour with The Young Americans, a group founded 50 years ago to provide national and international education in dance and music. Karen is also an adjudicator for several dance competitions including Shine Dance, Star Beat Dance, and Jump Shout Boogie. Karen joined NCDA in 2009.

Ashley Anderson

Ashley received her dance training at the Broadway Dance Center in NYC and at the Performance Arts Center in Stamford, CT. She is trained in a wide range of dance disciplines, including Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern, Contemporary, and tap. Performance credits include being a Company member of Locust Contemporary Dance Works, which has staged performances in several venues in southern Connecticut, a soloist in Dance of the Elements, staged at the SoNo Arts Festival, the Thanksgiving Parade Spectacular in Stamford, CT., as well as instructional Hip Hop videos. In addition, Ashley is studying Theater at studios in Connecticut and NYC, and played a leading role as Little Sally in PMT Productions’ staging of Urinetown: The Musical. Ashley hass been with NCDA since 2009.

Sharona D’Ornellas

Sharona D’Ornellas is originally from Ontario, Canada and is a graduate of Ryerson University with a BFA in the Theatre Performance Dance program, receiving training in ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop, and tap. Her performance experience spans across stage, film, television, and commercials, and she has trained with voice coaches Susan Eichorn and Gail Hakala. In 2010 Sharona had her Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning musical In The Heights. Sharona will be appearing on Broadway again in the April 2012 opening of the Ghost The Musical. Other stage credits include Together We Stand at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Duke Ellington’s Jazz Cracker, choreographed by Roberto Campanella, the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, on tour with soul artist Chaka Khan, and was a member/choreographer of the NBA Toronto Raptors Dance Pak. Sharona’s film and television credits include dance performances in the Walt Disney movie Ice Princess, and the feature film The Love Guru, choreographed by Emmy Award winner Marguerite Derricks, as well as in the Universal Pictures production of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Sharona has been with NCDA since 2010.

 

 

                                   
Stephanie Lo

Stephanie graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a BA in Dance as well as a BS in Biological Sciences. Her performing arts training covers acting, dancing and singing. Regional stage credits include A Chorus Line, Dido and Aeneas, and Flower Drum Song. She is currently a member of the 2011 NYC cast of Radio City's Christmas Spectacular. Her dance credits include Snow Pas in Nutcracker, Principal dancer for New Vision Cirque, Principal Dancer for the San Francisco Dance Mission Gala, Principal Dancer in the San Diego Dance Festival, and she has been a member of the Voci Modern Dance Company in Florida. Stephanie joined NCDA in 2010.

Alison Dambach

Alison Dambach, originally from Los Angeles, is a graduate of the Orange County High School of the Arts in Classical/Commercial Dance, and of Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. in Business Administration. Her performance credits include Grease the Musical (European Tour), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (New York), Joffrey Ballet of Chicago’s Nutcracker, Tokyo Disneyland Resort, an original member of BARE Dance Company, the Latin Music Awards, and Don Ho’s Las Vegas Review. In 2011, Alison created and directed Friends For Japan, a Broadway community concert, which raised funds to benefit victims and survivors of the Japan earthquake/tsunami. Alison has taught extensively for the past ten years on both the West and East Coast, winning choreography awards on regional and national levels. In addition to teaching regularly in the New York Metropolitan area, Alison adjudicates for an East Coast competition company, as well as teaches Master classes and sets choreography throughout the United States. Alison joined NCDA in 2011.

Sheena DiMatteo

Sheena, originally from Pittsburgh PA, studied with the Kalametdinov Youth Ballet Program, the Paula Scriva Dance Studio, and graduated from Point Park University with a B.A. in Dance and a minor in Musical Theater. Sheena was an award-winning soloist at age seven and went on to win several state and national titles throughout her youth, including Dance America's "Teen Miss Dance of America" and Dance Masters of America's "Petite", "Junior", and "Miss Dance" of Pensylvania divisions. Performance credits include international tours with Stiletto Entertainment, regional theater in West Side Story, The Producers, 42nd St., Will Rogers Follies, On The Town, and Contact, various New York City dance companies, music videos, TV shows, and national dance conventions. Sheena's projects for 2011 include choreographing a musical for Broadway Workshop, choreographing an installment of Mustache Man's Anti-Bullying and Suicide Prevention videos, and performing in a web-series choreographed by Adam Cates. She is currently hosting the weekly YouTube show Just Dance, and is also a certified Zumba instructor. Sheena joined NCDA in 2011.

Pamela Yasutake

Pamela Yasutake grew up in Seattle, Washington where she received her tap training from the influential Dr. Darrilyn Smith, who also encouraged her to expand her dance training to include Modern, Hip-Hop, and African. She performed on several occasions in Seattle Theatre Group's Dance This, which paired local teen talent with professional choreographers in a pre-pro setting. Through Dance This, Pamela had the opportunity to work under the guidance of renowned choreographers such as Savion Glover, Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo, Jamel Gaines, and Sonia Dawkins. Other performance credits include the Seattle production of Black Nativity, in which she danced the lead role of Mary in her fifth season, and being a featured dancer in Obama On My Mind, a musical comedy about a group of campaign workers in a small American town. Pamela is currently teaching and setting choreography for schools on both the East Coast and in the Pacific Northwest, and pursuing a career as a solo artist on stage, in video and in film. Pam joined NCDA in 2010.