Mariana de Ezcurra is an award-winning Choreographer, recognized by some of the most renowned Competition Organizations in The USA, having presented hundreds of her Dance Routines before judges and well established Regional and National Competitions such as Nexstar, World Class Talent, Beyond the Stars, Elite Dance Challenge, On Point Dance Challenge, etc. She is a multiple Choreography Award winner, and her routines have consistently placed Top Scores, and Highest Overall Scores in many of the Competitions the Studio attends.

Mariana's choreography and teaching methods are unique due to her strong ties to the theatre. She performed for years in musicals, locally, in Boston and in her native Buenos Aires. She enjoys narrating stories though her dances, and using strong images to see her dancers come alive and make the audience an engaged participant. She has brought her students with fun, upbeat dance routines to many Showcase Performances, such as Relay for Life, TV Broadcasts, Art Shows, with one of the highlights being a trip to Disney World in Orlando for a live performance.

Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina (the Tango capital of the world), Mariana is now studying different Ballroom Styles like Salsa, Tango, Foxtrot, Meringue, Waltz, Rumba and Swing and will be a Certified Acrobatic Arts Teacher this Fall, as part of her outside studio studies. She is also certified in Zumba instruction.

Mariana has studied different styles of dance with various organizations both locally and nationally. She has studied one on one with reputable and experienced teachers, who mentored her first steps into the choreography world.

Mariana is constantly researching new styles, trends and ideas in Dance, to provide her students with a great education that includes excellent technique, new dance skills, and all elements that can help her students excel and stand out, as well as feel accomplished and proud of their work.

Mariana graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology (her first love) and worked as a Psychotherapist for more than ten years, both on the public sector (Hospitals, Clinics, Emergencies) and in the private sector with her own practice, seeing clients for individual and couple's Psychotherapy. She also has a degree in Physical Education. Both disciplines have contributed greatly to create the work she does at the studio.

She has produced ViVa Argentina, an all professional Tango based show, where Broadway dancers from Forever Tango participated under her direction.

In her early 20s Mariana traveled for almost 2 years on her own, through South America, North America and Europe. Her experiences and anecdotes of that adventure are many times splashed with illustrations in her choreography.

Mariana has choreographed for Fashion Shows, Parades (with the studio having won just last year the Best Youth Parade Float at the famous Topsfield Fair, 2014), Art shows, Weddings, Fun- Raising Performances, Music Video Choreography, and her long track record of many Broadway Musicals with Neverland Theatre, such as Chicago, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, Annie, The Sound of Music, High School Musical I and II, Godspell, Grease,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Cats, Oliver, Broadway revues, holiday-themed shows, and of course, many, many dance shows featuring her students!

Mariana choreographed "Blue Hair Troupe", an innovative musical review which was performed at the Tremont Theatre in the Boston Theatre District on a two year run as well as another year's run of the show at Giggle's Comedy Club in Saugus, MA. She has also worked as a Choreographer at local school shows and enjoyed every minute of it!

Mariana has taught after-school programs, workshops, intensives at different Boston based organizations such as the Girl's Scouts Club and others.

In a recent Dance Teacher magazine interview, Mariana was quoted on the issue of overcoming "stage freight" or "performance jitters," another example of the world of Dancing and Psychology coming together.

She is a ferocious defender of positivity and camaraderie. She has developed a "Zero Tolerance" policy against bullying, hoping to contribute to the cause by helping her students identify bullying and its effects, and hopes to teach her students how to become an agent of change by speaking up and more importantly by being accepting, loving and open to others, emphasizing sympathy and consideration.

Mariana relates her mindset and philosophy on these subjects to her mentor in her young formative years, Mrs Dell' Oro, who was first Mariana's Varsity Volleyball Team's coach, who then received a Doctorate's degree on both Theology and Philosophy. Long talks with Mrs Dell' Oro and shared experiences have strongly shaped her view of relationships within groups. teaching, learning , leadership, friendship and solidarity.

She also believes any student who enters the doors of MDS should be treated with utmost respect, and should receive personalized treatment and consideration, as she is aware of the differences and challenges children face nowadays in their social lives.

Mariana is proud to offer a space where kids of all ages can feel safe, can be themselves freely, and feel supported and loved both by Staff and their fellow dancers. Her psychology background and prior work in the field help tremendously in having a deep understanding of student's motivations, needs and hopes. She facilitates communication between all parties, promoting friendship, positive relationships and self image.

Mariana's passion is connecting with people and children through dance, exercise, humor and love. At MDS, your child will receive the kind of attention, dialogue, understanding and guidance that would be hard to find elsewhere.

Sofia Diskes has had a deep passion for dance since a very young age. Along with 16 years of dance training in all styles, she also has extensive experience in teaching and choreographing. After 7 years of assisting classes of all ages and styles, her interest in teaching grew immensely. Since deciding to begin her career in teaching dance, Sofia has taught many classes from recreational to competitive for all ages and levels. She has won many choreography awards at some of the most renowned dance competitions in the United States and has been amongst the youngest choreographer to do so! Her teams and soloists have received top overall scores, national highest scores, special awards, and additional recognition time and time again.

Sofia has taken teacher classes and workshops with many internationally known teachers/choreogrpahers, some including Travis Wall, Stacey Tookey, Mark Meismer, Ray Leeper, Denise Wall, Chantel Aguirre, and many more. She is always eagerly taking on ways to expand her knowledge/experince in dance and choreography to be able to offer the absolute best to her students.

Along with choreographing for competitions over many year now, Sofia has choreographed for musical theatre productions since the age of 14. As for her training, Sofia has been taught by many incredible teachers throughout the years, has won many top overall scores/titles at national dance competitions and special judges awards, and has taken class from many prestigious teachers including Desmond Richard, Hannah Wintrode, Ian Eastwood, Jamie Goodwin, Tricia Miranda, Dave Scott, and many more.

Sofia truly loves working with dancers every day and sharing her passion with all she encounters. She believes that dance is an artistic sport with so much to offer for everyone who wishes to explore it and hopes to continue to inspire young dancers and artists as her career continues, not only as a dancer, but as a person. She can’t wait what the future has in store for her current and future students!
 

Jessie Stinnette is a dance teacher and choreographer. She received a BFA in Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Creative Practice: Dance Professional Pathway from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, in conjunction with Independent Dance/Siobhan Davies Dance. Most notably Jessie has performed for the Metropolitan Opera, Tate Britain (UK), Prometheus Dance, Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Vienna), The Boston Baroque Opera, and Bard College’s SummerScape Festival. Her choreographic work has been described by Hannah Chanatry of WBUR as “conceptually driven performance that unpacks the complexities of being female, and pushes the academic boundaries of choreography” and has been sustained in part by grants from The Boston Foundation with support from The Barr Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, Assets4Artists at MASS MoCA, and Fidelity Charitable. Some of Jessie’s recent teaching and choreography credits include: Boston Ballet School, Dean College, Keene State University, Providence College, Endicott College, Goethe Institut Boston, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and Emmanuel Music. She is the recipient of the 2020 Boston Dancemakers Residency grant award and will be the 2020 Choreographer in Residence at Boston Center for the Arts and Boston Dance Alliance.

Bethany moved from Belize, Central America to the United States to pursue her passion for dance. She has been dancing since the age of thirteen. She has years of experience in all types of dance ranging from ballet to pointe, hip-hop to modern, jazz and more. She has become a very successful dance teacher teaching at many place around the world and has earned many awards for her incredible choreography. She has taught very successful students throughout the years and is nationally recognized. Bethany is extremely driven and cares for each and every one of her students. She is currently a member of Project 31 Dance Company.

Julie Joseph is a graduate of Brandeis University '18 with a BA in psychology and Hispanic Studies. She currently dances in three Boston based companies: DrumatiX, a drumming and percussion company under the direction of Noa Barankin, Boston Community Dance Project (BCDP GLOBAL), a commercial contemporary fusion company under the direction of Sarah-Kay "SKooJ CorE-O", and N.E.A.T., a tap company under the direction of Mike Camire. Julie currently trains in Boston,New York, and beyond. Her work as a dance educator is showcased in various styles especially in Tap, Rhythm Work, and Contemporary movement.. Julie has received many performance opportunities which have led her to commercial spaces such as Carnival Choreographer's Ball NYC, Symphony Space, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC.

Rayvin Scott has a devoted love for dance. She has been taking classes since age three, teaching since age twelve, and dancing within various dance crews since age fourteen. Rayvin has created in Boston as well as the North Shore. She has danced at multiple venues of Boston. Some include House of Blues opening for rapper Ludacris, and the TD Garden for The Boston Celtics.

Kayla Giovino has been dancing since the age of 4, receiving most of her training at the Agnes Strecker Dance Studio in Groveland. At the studio she trained in various dance styles including ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, and hip-hop. While there she began assisting classes at the age of 13 and was brought on as a faculty member her senior year of high school. She has also completed the Dance Teachers’ Club of Boston Dance Teacher Training in 2012. In high school Kayla served as dance captain and choreographer for her high school’s various musical productions.

Kayla continues to teach with passion and dedication to dance in different organizations through the New England Region. She enjoys continuing her dance training by participating in conventions and master classes.

Kayla studied at Bridgewater State University dancing under their Bridgewater State Dance company and receiving a degree in Elementary Education and English. Kayla is thrilled to be continuing her passion of teaching dance at Mariana’s Dancing Studio!

Jenn Schneck Fink holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre and Dance from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, where she studied under Julliard’s Joan Karlen and James Moore, assistant to the legendary Jerome Robbins. Miss Jenn began her training at Dance Arts Center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and continued her training at Chicago's premier studios: Lou Conte Dance Studio (Hubbard Street Dance), Gus Giordano's, Joel Hall, and Visceral, as well as attended national master classes taught by top dance industry instructors and choreographers. Miss Jenn received her Pilates certification in 2009 and continually strives for higher education in the field of dancer anatomy, strength, alignment, injury prevention, and kinesiology.

Miss Jenn has studied with some of the nation’s top instructors and choreographers, including but not limited to: “technique guru” Miss Paula Morgan, Joe Lanteri, Jackie Sleight, Suzi Taylor, Mandy Moore, Doug Caldwell, Lauren Adams, Chris Jacobson, Caroline Lewis-Jones (nutrition), Shannon Mather, Joel Hall, Teddy Forance, Katy Spreadbury, Sonja Tayeh, and the renown author and instructor Karen Clippinger. Miss Jenn's choreography credits include Dance Chicago, The Racine Kid, and Youth Players, master classes for inner city community programs in Chicago, Revival Dance Intensive, and she is a visiting instructor for several studios in the Midwest and New England.

In the competitive circuit, Miss Jenn has judged for VIP Dance and Rainbow Connection Dance Competition. Her work and students have been recognized regionally and nationally, receiving Choreography, Technique, Critiques Choice Nominations, Best of Show, Best In Studio, and High Point awards and regional scholarship titles at Adrenaline, New York City Dance Alliance, Radix, The Move, Jump, L.A. Dance Magic, League of Champions, Open Call, Velocity Dance Convention, Spirit of Dance Awards, Hollywood Vibe, and Spotlight Dance Cup. Many of her students enjoy thriving careers, collegiately and professionally, in the dance and theater industry.

Cheryl Dalessio has been teaching the art of Dance for many years, and it has always been her passion. She has studied with notorious figures of the Dance world such as E. Virginia Williams, (founder of Boston Ballet), Tap extraordinare Julia Boynton, and the famous Bill Fowler.

Cheryl loves all dance styles, but has concentrated in particular on Tap and Classical Ballet. She is an award winning choreographer and has choreographer many musicals: Annie, West Side Story, Nunsense and more.

She has helped her students achieve the highest level of scores in dance competitions and is always directing all her efforts to the improvement, enjoyment and artistry towards all her students, whether they are recreational of competitive. Cheryl teaches confidence and camaraderie, knowing that it will enrich their lives, and hoping to be a strong role model to all her students.

A native of Cabo Verde Islands, he began his classical training with Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre in Cambridge, MA, graduating from the Young Dancers Program in 2006 to become a full company member in 2007. After leaving JMBT, Henoch began working with Teatrul Balet de Sibiu in Romania for one season. Following moving back to Boston, he began working with Prometheus Dance from 2011–2012, along with other local dance companies in Boston. He then moved to New York City to dance in a work by Itzik Galili at the Metropolitan Opera from 2013 to 2014. He completed the Master of Fine Arts program within the Creative Practice: Dance Professional Practice Pathway at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London 2017. He is now a senior core member and trainee program manager with Boston Dance Theater.