June 2020 Letter from Gotta Dance Educators Founder/Director
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June 2020 Letter from Gotta Dance Educators Founder/Director Welcome to Gotta Dance’s 2020 concert: JUNGLE: Jump Into The Wild! Little did we know when we picked our concert theme back in August, JUNGLE: Gotta Dance is a collaboration of Jump into the Wild, we would literally be passionate educators, jumping into wild uncharted territory in just inspiring students to perfect their a few months. In mid-March we closed our doors to ensure the health and safety of our technique and perform entire dance community. The COVID-19 with joy; sharing the gift of dance pandemic forced us apart but ended up to encourage personal growth, bringing us together like never before. foster a spirited community & acknowledge We immediately transitioned to live stream dance classes. This enabled us to stay together as a community the potential in everyone. and persevere while learning firsthand what the expression, “it’s a jungle out there” actually means. Clockwise: Olivia Allen, Phoebe Ballard, Our dancers, families and dance educators rose to the challenge! Kathleen Beatty, Ally Behrins, Dressed in full dance attire, our dancers didn’t miss a beat as they created makeshift ballet barres out of banisters, chairs and even Kevin Byrne, Jackie Carelli, ironing boards! Tappers built their own cardboard floors or tapped Gabriel Chajnik, Mirta DiFelice, in garages, basements and on sidewalks to keep dancing. Our Lauren Doyle, Laney Engelhardt, amazing dance educators worked swiftly to modify their concert Sarah Gulbin, Caroline Hidalgo, choreography for small spaces, while maintaining creative artistry. Nina Hudson, Linda Kilponen, Thank you for allowing dance to live and grow inside your homes Mandy Lekites, Ross Lekites, these past few months. Let us spread the art of dance with our first Alison Levenberg, Tom McKie, ever virtual dance concert, JUNGLE: Jump Into The Wild! Kimberly Miller, Dylan Pearce, Gillian Petersen & Jackie Segledi Sincerely, Jana Belot Founder & Director Gotta Dance Gotta Dance Team Production Team/Leads Vision Catalyst; Executive Director VArtistic Director of Concerts Jana Belot Gabriel Chajnik Operations Team Class Choreographers Communications Catalyst; Operations Director. .....................................Olivia Allen Phoebe Ballard, Kathleen Beatty, Ally Behrins, Gabriel Chajnik, Communications Catalyst; Marketing Director ....................................Rachel Fedor Jackie Carelli, Mirta DiFelice, Lauren Doyle, Sarah Gulbin, Family Relations ....................................................................................................Nancy Fodor Caroline Hidalgo, Linda Kilponen, Alison Levenberg, Tom McKie, Controller .............................................................................................................Nancy Katchen Kimberly Miller, Gillian Petersen & Jackie Segledi Logistics Manager .................................................................................................Terri Pisciotti Showstoppers Choreographers Dance Education Curriculum Advisors Ballet & Modern: Gabriel Chajnik, Education Catalyst; Teacher Advisor .....................................................Linda Kilponen Jazz, Hip-Hop & Contemporary: Dylan Pearce Learning Catalyst; Director of Curriculum ........................................Caroline Hidalgo Tap: Nina Hudson, Broadway & Monologue: Ross Lekites Preschool Advisors ............................................................Sarah Gulbin & Mirta DiFelice Ballet Advisors ...........................................................Gabriel Chajnik & Caroline Hidalgo Virtual Dance Concert Team Tap Advisor......................................................................................................Alison Levenberg Bright Animation - Todd Bright Jazz Advisor ............................................................................Mary Capellas & Ally Behrins Modern Advisor .............................................................Gabriel Chajnik & Kimberly Miller Same Day Productions - Mike Delegal Street HipHop Advisor .......................................................................................... Tom McKie Virtual Production Manager - Mandy Lekites Contemporary Advisor .............Kathleen Beatty, Gillian Petersen & Ally Behrins Concert Organizer- Terri Pisciotti Broadway Advisor .......................................................................................Alison Levenberg Drummers - BatalaNewYork Youth Relationship Catalyst; InTurn Manager ............................................Olivia Allen Showstoppers Leads Performing Group Leaders Sanya Bhatia, Noelle Bongiorno, Quinn Cappiello, Elisa Chin, Mia Cirafesi, Artistic Director of Showstoppers Dance Company ......................Gabriel Chajnik Lainey Cooper, Liz Driscoll, Caitlin Eswein, Christian Fodor, Sabrina Fodor, Dancing Dads Director................................................................................... Linda Kilponen Abigayle Hardy, Rose Hinoul, Amanda Hirsch, Sarah Husain, Erin Kavanagh, Dynamite Dance Team Director ................................................................Linda Kilponen Audrey Kingree, Emma Knauf, Abigail Kotar, Emma Kotar, Sophie Kotar, Dynamite Dance Team Co-Director.............................................................Sarah Gulbin Grayson Krull, Jaclyn Lenox, Amelia Ludwig, Dagny McCann, Margot McCann, EDGE Dance Crew Director.......................................................................Kathleen Beatty Madison McDonald, Julia Moakley, Ashley Narsu, Amanda Osborne, EDGE Dance Crew Co-Director .........................................................................Tom McKie LindaRose Piccolo, Amanda Rizzo, Ava Sutter, Bella Utset EDGE Dance Crew Co-Director ..................................................................Mandy Lekites Broadway Rehearsal Director ................................................................Alison Levenberg Showstoppers Dance Captains Pathway Possibilities Director .................................................................Caroline Hidalgo Sanya Bhatia, Quinn Cappiello, Lainey Cooper, Shannon Daly Heartbeat Dance Team Director........................................................................Olivia Allen Hannah Fairclough, Rose Hinoul, Erin Kavanagh, Jayden Kaplan, Immortal Dance Force Team Director................................................. Kathleen Beatty Meghan McMahon, Linda Rose Piccolo, Victoria Piccolo Immortal Dance Force Team Co-Director ..................................................Kevin Byrne Amanda Rizzo, Katrina Schneider, Becky Smith Nutcracker Dance Ensemble Director ................................................Caroline Hidalgo Nutcracker Dance Ensemble Co-Director & Manager.................. Gillian Petersen Male Lead Dancers Nutcracker Sweets Traveling Troupe Director ...................................Phoebe Ballard Aldeir Monteiro, Jonathan Montepara. Journy Wilkes-Davis Showstoppers Rehearsal Director & Company Manager ..............Mandy Lekites Professional male dancers provide our dancers partnering opportunities and character development. Gotta Dance Inturns/Inspire Performance Teams Gotta Dance offers many different performance opportunities outside of class throughout the dance season. Each opportunity listed has a different purpose to appeal to different dancers’ preferences and goals. Showstoppers Dance Company Showstoppers offers a true immersion experience in a professional dance environment. Showstoppers is designed for the student who is passionate and dedicated to the storytelling qualities of dance. Ruby level & higher. Immortal Dance Force Immortal Dance Force, our competition team, provides an intense growth opportunity for the driven student who loves to compete and excel in a team. Topaz level & higher. Gotta Dance’s InTURNship program teaches our dancers important life skills such as how to work with a team, interacting with a supervisor, meeting direct EDGE Dance Crew report expectations and developing time management EDGE Dancers take their dance experience to the next level skills while being placed in a leadership position. InTURNs will learn to effectively and clearly communicate with our and perfect their technique as they learn from professionals families and dancers, and set positive examples for the working in the field. Pearl through Citrine levels. Gotta Dance Community. Students in 8th grade and up are encouraged to apply to be an InTURN through Nutcracker Dance Ensemble with the Moscow Ballet Gotta-Dance.com. Nutcracker Sweets Traveling Troupe Gotta Dance InTURNS By performing in the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Stephanie Aiello, Marissa Aliseo, Sara Allian, Grace Alto, Kayla Bardolia Nutcracker, dancers are challenged and inspired with the Sanya Bhatia, Jessica Brookner, Quinn Cappiello, Morgan Carn, Taylor Carn, experience of working with a professional dance company. Lia Cerracchio, Haley Clark, Caitlin Clerkin, Leah D’Altilia, Madison Dawson, Topaz level & higher. Nutcracker Sweets is a Liz Driscoll, Nora El Hadidi, Caitlin Eswein, Sophia Feuker, Jordan Fiorentino, community-based performance group that envelops young Sabrina Fodor, Leah Foose, Christina Gallo, Liana Giacobbe, Gabriella Gross, dancers in a world of culture, tradition and holiday magic. Christina Gussman, Emma Hamlett, Anaya Henry, Rose Hinoul, Amanda Hirsch, Sophia Kaiser, Jayden Kaplan, Erin Kavanagh, Emma Knauf, Abigail Kotar, Emma Kotar, Jaclyn Lenox, Emily Letso, Kyra Li, Rebecca Lipset, Dynamite Dance Team Amelia