May 2017 Dear Families of That’s Dancing, friends and students; Welcome to our 19th annual Dance Gala! It is always exciting to present our students through this annual performance that brings our community together in celebration of dance! Dance has always been the constant in our lives and it warms our hearts to see families coming together to support their children and the dance arts. Strong family values are what has been the driving force of our school since its inception in 1998. This 19 year journey continues to be absolutely awesome! As artists, we value all that dance has to offer. Becoming studio owners has allowed us to contribute in a positive way to our community. Teaching the youth of our community is extremely rewarding. Being in our 19th season, it has become evident that the experiences inside the walls of That’s Dancing have life-long impacts. Witnessing the growth of our students, current and past, is the fuel that energizes us to continue reinventing ourselves artistically. What we have created is sort of a community within a community! At That’s Dancing, we will continue to value each individual student, while respecting their differences and continue to challenge our students both technically and artistically. We firmly believe that the values our parents instilled within us are what have made our studio successful. We will continue to lead our school with integrity and a strong sense of family and community. The faculty and staff at That’s Dancing are our extended family. We are blessed to work with caring and thoughtful individuals that share our philosophy of arts and education. Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to Ms. Viky at the end of this season. Viky has been on faculty for 6 years and has contributed strongly to our ballet program. We wish her the best as she joins her husband on a new journey out of state. We are pleased to announce that the rest of our faculty will remain on staff for next season. Thank you to Ben, Brittany, Jessica, Larry, Loren, Kameron, Katherine and Nicole for a season of hard work and creativity. Special thanks to Jessica and Nicole, as their full time positions allow them to work closely with our Fusion Force Dance Company as well as directing our Young Dancer Program. Both programs are thriving with their input! We would also like to introduce and welcome a new faculty member for next season. Megan Dunn will be joining our team and will focus on making our ballet program even better. Megan will also be offering a ballet foundations class every Friday next season to prepare students for dance based auditions in middle school select programs. Huge love and thanks to Barbara Brooks who works in our office, as well as Linda Marzlak, our office manager. These women do more than most would believe! They are priceless and we are lucky to have them both back for next season. To our own families: Big Nick, Richard, Nicholas, Mason, Milana and Riley—thank you for your endless support and love. Thank you for allowing us to do what we love and share it with you! To our mom, Angela—we love you unconditionally because that is how you taught us to love. This year, our celebration is going to feel a bit different and is important to us to properly dedicate this Gala to our father, Donald Petronella. Our dad loved dance. He loved watching us dance. He loved watching us perform. He loved watching us teach dance. He loved watching our students perform. He loved watching his grandchildren perform. From the moment dance became part of our lives, our dad supported us and all of our dreams. Seeing us have success through an art form that we have always loved and cherished made our dad the happiest! This weekend will mark the very first performance of our careers that our dad will not physically be with us, but make no mistake—he is here. He certainly would not ever miss it! We love you Dad, and we promise to continue your legacy. We will continue to follow your example and always work hard leading with integrity and love. If this is the measure of success, then we are forever grateful to understand the true meaning of being rich. We thank you all for celebrating another beautiful year of dance with us. We know you will be overjoyed and filled with pride when you see your dancers on stage today. Today’s memories and accomplishments, whether big or small, will last a lifetime— cherish them! With Love and Respect, Andrea LaMaina & Michele Walsh Artistic Directors Andrea LaMaina received her BFA in Dance Michele Walsh holds a Master of Education in Dance Performance and Education from Towson University in from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Maryland. Mrs. LaMaina is the past President of DMA, Florida the University of Miami. She is the past Vice-President of Dance Chapter 2. She holds a National Teacher Education Certification Masters of America Florida Chapter 2. She is a certified teacher as well as a Teacher Certification in Dance/Vocational Arts. She with the Dance Masters of America Organization. She belongs is an active member of Dance Educators of American and Dance to Dance Educators of America, Florida Chapter. Michele is the Masters of America. She is the President of “The Young Dancer teacher and choreographer of Petite Miss Dance of Florida, Foundation of South Florida, Inc.” a non-profit 501(c) (3) 2012. She has trained with many respectable dance instructors organization that accepts charitable, tax deductible donations including Fred Knecht, Katiti King, Eva Gholson, David Howard to benefit talented young dancers. Andrea is the Founder and Francis Kiernan. Before moving to Florida, she was a faculty of the So Flo Tap Festival, and produces an annual event to member at the Purnell School in Pottersville, New Jersey, where promote the american art form of tap dancing, tap jamming she was the Head of the Performing Arts Department and dance and improvisation. Andrea is the teacher and choreographer teacher. At Purnell, she taught ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, of many title holders on a regional and national level. Her tap, African dance, movement improvisation and choreography students have earned many scholarships to prestigious summer to students ages 13-18. Michele has choreographed several intensives and higher education dance degree programs. Her musicals including Quilters, The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, choreography has earned many awards throughout the years Prom Queens Unchained, Starmites, Smile and I’m Sorry The and Andrea is sought after as a judge on several competition Bridge Is Out, You’ll Have To Spend The Night. Her work was circuits. She enjoys teaching master classes both locally and nominated for Best Ensemble from the Papermill Playhouse regionally and sharing her love of dance with eager dancers. Rising Stars Awards, a professional theater company in Millburn, Before college, Andrea trained under master teacher Fred New Jersey. Michele has danced professionally with the Red Knecht. Andrea has choreographed for the Wellington High Bank Ballet Company and the American Repertory Theatre. She School Dance Team from Wellington, Florida, who was invited has performed as a lead dancer for the band The Beat Club, to perform at the Orange Bowl Classic’s half time show. Before known for the song “Security”, in live concerts throughout South becoming co-owner and Artistic Director of That’s Dancing, Florida. She has even danced in the Super Bowl XXIII half time she was a faculty member at Glen Rock Middle School where show in Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium, where she was a featured she designed and created an exploratory arts curriculum, dancer. To stay on the cutting edge of dance, she has attended which included dance and creative movement. In 1997, she the Jazz Dance World Congress in Chicago; the Dance Teacher was nominated for The Sallie Mae Best New Teacher of the Now Convention in NYC; the Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Year Award, a national honor recognizing her achievements Maine; the Florida Dance Festival in Tampa, Houston Ballet’s in innovative curriculum development and design for public Teacher Seminar in Texas, and New York on the Road, a traveling education. Andrea has also danced professionally with DDM dance workshop. Michele is also an active member of both the Company based in Fairlawn, New Jersey. She is an active National Dance Association and The Florida Dance Association member of the National Dance Association and the Florida which promote dance in a variety of venues. Dance Association. In 1994, she was chosen to perform with renowned choreographer Maureen Flemming in an original work at the Stephen’s Hall Theater in Baltimore. In 1990, Andrea was a scholarship recipient for the Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Program. For several years, Andrea was a performer and featured dancer in various roles at the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania. Faculty Jessica Pearl received her BFA from the University of Florida’s New World School of the Arts, where she trained under many respected dance instructors and choreographers. She has performed works with guest companies including Battleworks Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company and José Limón Company. She has studied at many Intensive Programs throughout her years of training such as the Florida Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, Southeastern Tap Explosion and the Martha Graham Summer Intensive. She is the proud Choreographer and teacher of Petite Miss Dance of Florida 2012 and 2013, Miss Ticket to Broadway 2015, Teen Miss Onstage 2016, Teen Miss CANDANCE 2016, Miss Onstage 2017 and Miss CANDANCE 2017.