Meet the Faculty at Our Dance Studio
When you turn to the faculty at Central Park Dance Studio for dance lessons, you can rest assured you are getting superior dance training. Then, you will wake up in the morning with a familiar soreness and a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Each member of our dance faculty has dedicated their lives to dance, and we aspire to cultivate that same love of dance in each of our students. Our professionals have honed their technique and put in the work to learn and thus teach the proper techniques. As teachers, it is our mission to challenge, motivate, and inspire dancers. During dance lessons, dancers are pushed to be the best they can be. Then, at the end of the day, they walk away feeling confident and inspired.
Our faculty is ready to nurture and develop the next generation of dancers through dance lessons at Central Park Dance. We offer lessons in a range of genres such as ballet, pointe, hip hop, tap, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary. Additionally, we offer a jumps and turns class that teaches students how to perform a variety of jumps safely and the proper technique used to achieve beautiful turns. Through practice, technique, and dedication, our students are amazed at their progress after just a couple dance lessons. If you or your child are interested in taking dance lessons, please do not hesitate to give our faculty a call. For the past 40 years, our faculty has been inspiring the next generation of dancers in Ardsley, Dobbs, Eastchester, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, Westchester, White Plains, and Yonkers, NY.
TRICIA ARENSON
NUTCRACKER DIRECTOR COMPANY CHOREOGRAPHER
Christina Donohue
PRESCHOOL/BALLET
TOBIN EASON
ADULT BALLET/POINTE
Tobin has performed at many of the major opera houses around the world in all of the major classical ballets in American Ballet Theatre’s repertoire. In addition, Tobin has been privileged to work as a guest artist with companies around the U.S., such as in Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Hawaii, New Jersey, and at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York City. While pursuing his dance career, he has also choreographed two ballets, one for Abt 11 and Michele Wiles’s company Ballet Next. He has designed a set for Ballet Next, and shows his artwork around New York City. He currently dances with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet for their 2013-14 season.
Juliet Dooz
HIP HOP
TALIA DOOZ
JAZZ/CHOREOGRAPHER
Roanne Flores
PRESCHOOL/BALLET
Roanne Flores has performed professionally with The Chris Ramos Dance Company, Blue Wing Dance Company, and Nicholas Rodriguez’ Dance Compass. She has also worked with Sean Curran, Heidi Latsky, Lonne Morretton and Sandra Stratton-Gonzalez during her time with Battery Dance Repertory. Other companies include Eleanore Coleman Dance Company, Circle of Dance, and Dany Holdstein Dance Company. Roanne has also performed with Le Masquerade Entertainment. She has done industrial work for Revlon. She has taught modern, jazz, ballet and exercise classes for children, teen, and adults in dance studios in Queens. Roanne has a BA in dance from Queens College and an MS degree in Physical therapy from SUNY Downstate. In addition to teaching ballet to children, Roanne currently works as a pediatric physical therapist in a school based setting in the Bronx.
GARRICK FOOTMAN
HIP-HOP
Garrick Footman is an international Hip-Hop dancer, choreographer and mentor. Born and raised in Queens, New York, his passion for Hip-Hop began at a very young age. He has been working in the industry for over 10 years. Garrick has choreographed and performed with various artists including Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, Kendrick lamar, Faith Evans, Fat Joe, U2 and countless other stars.
Garrick’s passion to perform has led him to be on several TV and awards shows including 60th Annual Grammys, MTV’s Americas best dance crew, MTV’s TRL, BET’s 106 and Park Live, Showtime at the Apollo, Japan network NHK’s Chick Girls Reality Show etc.
Garrick Footman is also the co-founder of a successful all male Hip-Hop group called Stryke Force. Stryke Force performs all over the country while motivating and inspiring others about the culture of Hip-Hop and dance.
Throughout his success, Garrick remains humble and dedicated to training students who share the same love for Hip-Hop. He continues to teach classes and workshops everywhere; from New York City, China, to Tokyo, Japan. The most important thing to Garrick Footman remains to spread love, confidence and knowledge to people with the power of Hip-Hop.
ALEJANDRA GOMEZ
PRESCHOOL/BALLET
Born in the city of Cali, Colombia at the age of 7 began her training at the professional school of ballet Incolballet under the direction of master Gloria Castro. For 8 years, she entered different disciplines such as classical dance, contemporary dance, Character dances and Colombian folk dances, participating in different works of the classical and contemporary repertoire.
Her love and passion for dance inspired her training as a teacher starting a teaching career in the city of Bogotá. In the year 2013 she joined the ballet school Ballarte, where she has worked with Preballet levels, early years and adults. Taking charge of the creation and planning of classes, qualification of student development, presentation of open classes to parents, creation of choreography and selection of musical pieces for recitals.
In the year 2015 she is certified in the first module of methodology of the classical teaching in method Vaganova with the Bolshói Academy of Moscow in the city of New York.
In 2016 she moved to New York City where she started working for the school Central Park Dance as assistant teacher and substitute teacher, currently teaching different groups in the same school.
The desire to transmit love to dance, discipline, perfectionism, are some of his qualities as a teacher. Taking it day by day to be better in their professional, personal and artistic development
Irina has been featured on television as a performer, and as a choreographer and producer for special events in Moscow and in Europe. She was a solo performer with “Alex’s Show” Dance Company, for the TV show “From a Women’s Life” in Europe, and as a choreographer and performer on The Television Awards Shows in Moscow and Brussels (Belgium). She taught at The School of Modern Choreography, The National College of Theatrical Arts, The Russian Imperial Ballet in Moscow, and “Show Company” in Brussels. Irina’s master classes are well known in Europe, Russia and the tri-state area. Irina has taught tap dance and improvisation for over 15 years. She currently resides in the New York City area, teaches, choreographs and develops new projects.
MARY ELLEN GASPARINI
FITNESS
TANNER SCHWARTZ
BALLET/POINTE/ADULT BALLET
Tanner began dancing at The Westside School of Ballet in Los Angeles, CA and with Marat Daukayev (Former Principal at the Kirov Ballet). At age 13 he moved to New York to study at The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. In 2002 he was the recipient of the D.A.N.C.E. (Danish American National Cultural Exchange) award, to dance as an apprentice with the Royal Danish Ballet. After this, Mr. Schwartz went on to dance with The Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera, and as a guest artist with many companies and schools throughout the country.
Tanner has taught dance throughout his performing career. He began teaching company dancers roles as a coach, progressing to staging choreography, and finally to teaching classes for adults and children. His teaching methodology is based on sifting through the many different styles of ballet he has performed, and passing on to students the most useful, anatomically correct, and versatile technique possible. Technical elements, including proper rotation, isolation, alignment, coordination, flexibility, strength, stamina, and training of muscle memory from his foundation in the Vagonova Technique progress to the quick, precise footwork and graceful epaulement of the Bournonville School, and to dynamic and expressive transitions and musicality rooted in the work of George Balanchine, all while preserving the line, aesthetic, purity, and fullness of movement desired by classical ballet companies throughout the world.
DEVON SMITH
JAZZ/TAP/LYRICAL/CONTEMPORARY/ JUMPS and TURNS
Devon Smith grew up in NH and received her training at Melissa Hoffman Dance Center. She continued her education at Alvin Ailey (NYC) and then traveled the world with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, first as a dance captain and later as a Rehearsal Director. She is now a NYC based choreographer who’s work has been presented at festivals and venues throughout the city such as Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, MMAC, Dixon Place, Hudson Guild Theater, Dance Astoria, and NYC10. She has choreographed music videos and live performances for artists such as Britt Nicole, Cherie Lily, Lauren Mayhew and French Horn Rebellion. She is currently on staff at several studios in the NY/NJ area that provide competitive and pre-professional training programs. Her choreography and students have been recognized on both the regional and national level at competitions such as Dance Educators of America, United States Tournament of Dance, Kids for Kids and Headliners for not only their technical excellence but also for their artistry and dedication to the movement. She has had the pleasure of teaching at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway and Peridance in Manhattan. Devon’s classes provide a fun and nurturing atmosphere while also enforcing safe and correct training.
JOSEPH J. SIMEONE
BALLET
Joseph’s Ballet & Performance Credentials
- American Ballet Theatre
- Private Performance Coach to Tiler Peck, Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet
- Guest Ballet Faculty: The Juilliard School, Harvard University, Yale Schwarzman Center for the Performing Arts, Peridance Center, Broadway Dance Center
- Juilliard-trained in Dance and Music Composition
- Selected Broadway Credits: West Side Story (Riff), A Bronx Tale, The Phantom of the Opera, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, A Chorus Line
