faculty

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Stephanie is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of The University at Buffalo with a BFA in Dance. While in school, she made her debut performance as a Dancer/Singer at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort. She also had the opportunity to perform with the Zodiaque Dance Company, the elite in-house performing Company at the University. Shortly after graduation she continued her professional career with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. After traveling with them throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, she joined the Oasis of the Seas to play Amber Von Tussle in the Broadway Musical Hairspray. Following “ship-life” she made a career on land with Spirit Productions performing in their shows in Reno, Myrtle Beach and Beirut, Lebanon. She then became the assistant to Ben Blaque from “America’s Got Talent,” for his Danger Crossbow Act. Stephanie has performed in prestigious theaters at the Revel Casino and the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and Harrah’s Resort in Laughlin, Nevada. Stephanie joined the cast of The Illusionists 2.0 alongside Ben Blaque, and toured in Melbourne, Australia and Osaka, Japan. She made her television debut in Los Angeles on an episode for a talent reality show “I Can Do That” on NBC. Stephanie then joined the National Tour of “The Illusionists: Live from Broadway” for two years. In her down time, she is assistant to Jason Marquette: Choreographer and Master Teacher, and Associate Choreographer with MPower Workshops and Marquette Productions. After retiring from tour life, Stephanie worked her way up to become a Director at Diva Dance Competition, a dream job that united all of her passions into one. For five years she worked closely with the owners to plan and execute large events up and down the East Coast. Currently, Stephanie lives in Williamsport, PA with her husband, and is about to launch her very own calligraphy business.

Alison Solomon is a dancer/choreographer/teacher who has spent time on "both sides of the table". Her choreography and associate choreography credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Broadway, Australia, and North American touring companies), Gigi, Beautiful—The Carole King Musical, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, I Married an Angel (City Center), Sweet Charity with Sutton Foster, Bandstand, The Honeymooners, Bull Durham, In the Heights, and Swing!. She had the honor of choreographing a spot for Acer Electronics featuring Lauren Froderman, Gillian Murphy, and Ashley Bouder. She also assisted on the NFL Super Bowl LII “Dirty Dancing" commercial featuring Odell Beckham Jr., Eli Manning, and the NY Giants. As a performer she has been seen in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland, Billy Elliot, In the Heights, Swing!, and “Boardwalk Empire,” and on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and more! See more at alisolomon.com

Robert Taylor Jr. is an American entertainer whose goal is to inspire and spread love and peace to people of all ages through music and dance. Robert was born in Brooklyn and raised in Coney Island and developed a love for music and dance as a young child through his father Robert "Bobby T-Boy" Taylor and went under his tutilage for his music/artistry. He then became under tutilage of Elizabeth Buzzetta Palmeri and Pat Conlon to continue his musical training, Larry Ramsey for his acting, and John Goring for his dancing. He graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a B.A. in Dance and a minor in Musical Theatre. While at Marymount, he studied the Graham, Horton, and Limon techinques, as well as acting, theater, and other styles of dance. He also performed in several musicals, including New Girl In Town and The Boyfriend. Later, Robert went on to study with teachers such as Brian Green, The Amountboyz (who he performed with as an honorary member), Jared Grimes, Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, Eric Jenkins, Jamie Jackson,Future, Eric Negron, and Spex. Robert performed for Michael Jackson, in 2002 with a singing/dancing group called 'Uneti." In the underground music world, Robert has won multiple music showcases, including (2006-present) "Faces In The Crowd" (twice), (2006- 2009) "Mental Supreme" (2007) and "Roc The Mic" hosted by Monse from hot 97 (2009), making him a 5 time NYC underground music industry showcase winner as an R & B entertainer. Robert has performed for Michael Jackson in 2002 for the Sony Protest party @ Webster Hall. Shortly after, Robert was selected as one of the nation's top 20 contestants for Season 8 of So You Think You Can Dance, and made it to the top 16. Other credits include American Idol (Season 3), So You Think You Can Dance (Season 2), MTV's 'Say What? Karaoke (in which he won 2 shows and made it to the finals in 2003 and 2007), Kat Deluna's Whine Up music video, and the national tour of Hairspray as a singer/dancer/actor in 2008, danced for L.L. Cool J at Carnegie Hall for the CBS Network Rundown (choreographed by Gio Hubela from Iconic). He also performed with Rihanna as a recording artist/entertainer for the Peace and Love festival in Sweden in 2012. Robert recently performed in Rihanna's Budweiser commercial with fellow faculty member Anthony Rue II aka AntBoogie. In the summer of 2015, he was a part of America's Got Talent as a finalist with The Mothmen. Robert's most recent accolade was being in the original cast of Spongebob Squarepants (the Broadway Musical) which is currently streaming on Amazon and also appearing in Law And Order (Organized Crime).

Matt Lopez first started dancing at age 10 performing for a Filipino dance troupe in New Hampshire. He attended Northeastern University in Boston majoring in theatre and later transferred to the University of Central Florida. While there, he performed at Walt Disney World and had the opportunity to perform with Hillary Duff in the Christmas Day Parade televised on ABC… Upon graduating from Central Florida, Mr. Lopez landed a job as the mascot for the New England Patriots. In the spring of 2010, he was featured in the Go-Go Segment on “Live with Regis and Kelly.” His other notable past stage/television performances include dancing for Sean Kingston and Wyclef Jean on a children’s program on PBS. He also performed with Demi Lovato on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Matt is currently living in Hawaii, but is still based in NYC where he dances and choreographs with his partner, Melissa Ramos-Lopez. In April 2012, he was the audition facilitator for a Nicki Minaj performance and chosen as a lead dancer in Times Square for the debut of her album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.” Matt is the choreographer for the cheerleaders of the six-time Super Bowl Champions, the New England Patriots as well as the New York Lizards Dancers. He has also choreographed for the pre-game performance at Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks. He has also choreographed for R&B/Pop artist, sid Haywoode, whose song, “No Excuses” was #6 on Europes dance hit chart. Lopez has taught hip hop/funk master classes across the United States and abroad in the Philippines, Japan, Colombia, Israel, Canada, Barbados and the United Kingdom. In 2015, he was selected as one of the “Top 12 Dance Convention Teachers in the U.S.” by Dance Informa Magazine. Lopez currently teaches hip hop and street jazz on faculty at Steps on Broadway, Sarah Lawrence College, Dalton School, NY Film Academy, Wagner College and Dance Junction Hawaii.

Justin Wingenroth is a dance instructor with over 15 years of experience in teaching ballet, jazz, musical theater, lyrical and tap. While primarily teaching in Northern Westchester County, he has been a guest teacher throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, most notably as a Summer Intensive Guest Artist with Berks Ballet Theatre, in-studio workshops hosted by Man In Motion and mPower Workshops, and in conventions with the Greater New England Chapter of the National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts. He is the Owner/Director of The Dance Conservatory in Westchester County, NY. Justin maintains and continually seeks out dance education certifications in order to create experiences in the studio for his students that reflect today’s pre-professional and professional dance training pedagogies. Justin is an ABTⓇ Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABTⓇ Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABTⓇ National Training Curriculum. He also holds certifications in Progressing Ballet Technique and in Perfect Form Physiotherapy’s Dance Teacher & Practitioner Training, Level One, Training Turnout in Tiny Dancers, and Pointe Assesments. Justin’s philosophy of training dancers is to provide them with the appropriately successive, and anatomically correct building blocks, setting students up to achieve greater things over time. The structure of his classes, based on a progressive curriculum, enables his dancers to explore and foster their ultimate potential. As a professional, Justin appeared in the North American tour of Cats (Mr. Mistoffellees, Pouncival) and the National Tour of 42nd Street. He performed in regional theatres across the country in productions of The Music Man (Ensemble), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Ensemble), and The King and I (Simon of Legree). He has also performed with C. Eule Dance, Christopher Caines Dance Company, The Chase Brock Experience, Peconic Ballet Theatre, as well as appearances in various Nutcrackers throughout the region. He continues to guest with Putnam County Dance Project and collaborate in other small projects.

Karl Maier received his training from The University of New Hampshire, Boston Ballet, and The American Academy of Ballet at Vassar. During his career as a dancer, singer, and aerialist Karl has had the privilege of working with and performing with many inspiring artists. Highlights include Mark Dendy, Micky Dolenz, and Robert Lepage and is Ex Machina. Select Credits: Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the national tour of Pippin (aerial captain), and nine years of dancing and flying with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He can be seen on PBS's Great Performances at the Met, dancing and flying in many operas including John Adams' Grammy Award winning Dr. Atomic. Karl currently teaches ballet for the Musical Theatre Program at the New York Film Academy and movement for actors at the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts. Karl is proud of his many successful students who are making their mark on the industry, most recently: the national tour of West Side Story, Chicago Justice on NBC, and a featured role in the upcoming film Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Jess Stafford is a native New Yorker and graduate of NYU Steinhardt's Dance Education Master’s Program; with a PK-12 New York State Teaching Certification. Her double-concentration Master’s Degree includes PK-12 pedagogy and dance education within the higher- education discipline. She is also an RYT-500 and holds a BFA in dance performance from the UMASS Amherst 5 College Dance Program. Jess now works extensively as choreographer and teacher and conducts national and international master-classes specializing in the genres of musical theatre, contemporary, improvisation, choreography-composition and yoga. Jess’ national and international performance career includes: The National Tour of Guys & Dolls, The European Tour of Grease, West Side Story, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Salute to Dudley Moore at Carnegie Hall, guest-dancer with the World Famous Pontani Sisters and IMPULSE Modern Dance Company. Jess has been a faculty member for the Perichild Program & Peridance Youth Ensemble & taught contemporary and jazz at the historic New Dance Group and 92nd Street Y in NYC. She was Company Director at Steffi Nossen School of Dance/Dance in Education Fund and in 2008 traveled to Uganda where she taught creative-movement. The experience culminated with Jess being selected as a featured instructor at the Queen's Kampala Ballet & Modern Dance School. She has conducted workshops for the cast of LA REVE at the Wynn, Las Vegas and has been on faculty at the IDS International Dance Teacher Conference at The Royal Ballet in London, UK, MPower Summer Dance Intensives, as well as in-house faculty member for the annual Dance Teacher Web Conferences. Jess has served as adjunct lecturer to the Mason Gross School of the Arts-Rutgers University Dance Department and is currently a faculty member at the D'Valda & Sirico Dance & Music Centre. She completed her NYU Master’s thesis research on the choreographic process of technically advanced adolescent dancers and is the creator of “PROJECT C;” a choreography-composition curriculum for the private studio sector. She has also served as Master Teacher & adjudicator for various national and international dance competitions. Jess is the Chief Editor for the DanceTeacherWeb.com Blog and also serves as faculty member, contributing writer and presenter in the choreography and “how to” teaching segments on the celebrated DanceTeacherWeb.com. Her latest passion project includes becoming a 500HR RYT and is the founder and creator of 44 Yoga + Movement. Jess currently lives in Bedford, NY with her husband Chris and kiddos, Jackson Quinn & Lili Rhys.

Pamela Alviar-Marquette is a Colombian native living in Queens, New York. Her early dance training began with the Landrum School of Dance. At the age of eight she was chosen to study classical ballet at Eliot Feld’s prestigious School Ballet Tech. She continued her studies and love of dance at Purchase College where she graduated with a BFA in dance. Through the years she has continued to train and teach in the styles of Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz and Lyrical. She has danced professionally with the following Companies; Lexington Ballet, The Kevin Wynn Collection, and Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech. Mrs. Alviar-Marquette has had the wonderful pleasure of performing in works by George Balanchine, Eliot Feld, Bill T. Jones, and Sir Kenneth MacMillian. She has also worked with choreographers such as Francesca Harper, Betti-Jane Sills, Troy Powell, Kevin Wynn, Luis Dominguez, and Caridad Martinez. Her Repertoire includes Notcracker, Meshugana, Apple Pie, Patootie, Endsong, Half Time, and Behold the Man choreographed by Eliot Feld. The Four Temperments choreographed by George Balanchine. D-Man in the Waters choreographed by Bill T. Jones. Concerto Pas de Deux choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillian. Mrs. Alviar-Marquette has been a guest artist in Mexico City, Mexico for the Competition Interdanza and for Sawnee Ballet’s Nutcracker in Cumming, Georgia. Pamela has collaborated with Yon Burke and Evelyn Wheeler where they presented their work at the Mahaiwe Theater. She has taught numerous dance workshops with dance organizations like MPower Dance Workshops, Danzamerica and Sheertalent that have taken her across the US as well as internationally. She has appeared on the hit TV show Dance Moms on Lifetime as a guest judge and has been featured in Dance Magazine and Dance Teacher Magazine. Mrs. Alviar-Marquette has also appeared in Lise Friedman's instructional book First Lessons in Ballet. She has completed ABT’s teacher certification for levels Pre-Primary through level three. She is also currently on faculty at Eglevsky Ballet.

Garrett “Spaghetti” Minniti found his happy feet on stage at the age of 8 singing and dancing with the West Coast Musical Theatre Co and by age 10 he was performing all over southern California. By 14, Garrett knew that his destiny would be tied to the arts, especially dance and theatre. His ever present smile, charm, and passion were methodically trained while performing with numerous song and dance troupes, competitive dance teams, and main-stage musicals at Orange County High School of the Arts and West Coast School of the Arts. After less than a year at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film & Television, Garrett hit the road when he was cast in international tap dance sensation Caution: Men at Work Tap, and soon after jumped to tours of Broadway’s SWING! and 42nd Street. Garrett can be seen Tap Dancing with Camilla Belle in her Cotton, the fabric of our lives commercial (a personal career highlight) and portraying the role of Santa Clause in Moostletoe, a NEW Moosical on StreamingMusicals.com! Garrett is the co-Artistic Director and co-Founder of New York City based In It For Life Productions and The Breakthrough Outreach & Performance Company, aka The Breakthrough Movement. From 2007 to present, In It For Life & The Breakthrough Movement have produced dozens of events which have featured some of the industries most sought after choreographers, educators, and performers - including original showcases and theatre workshops Off-Broadway (and in many other NYC club venues), dance workshops and themed conventions at dance studios across the country, and most recently a month long ‘Collaboration TOUR,’ to Guatemala City and Antigua. Garrett takes great pride in being an educator and has been teaching, choreographing and adjudicating for many dance studios, schools, conventions, competitions, universities and festivals for almost two decades. Highlights include The EDGE Performing Arts Center in North Hollywood, CA; STEPS on Broadway in NYC, Cal State University Fullerton, Orange County High School for the Arts, Act 1 Talent Dance Competition, The Movement Dance Competition, Showstoppers National Talent Competition, Showtime Dance Promotions throughout Western Canada and The Source Dance Co in Vancouver, BC. ‘Sometimes in life when nobody opens the door, you just have to knock down a wall!’

Jason Marquette graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Performance credits include the original cast of the 1st National Tour of the revival of 42nd Street, The Musical, theme parks and regional theaters all across the country. In 2008 he mounted his self-produced NYC production The Next Step. His direction and choreography has also been seen in the SUNY New Paltz Production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Wittenberg University’s Fall Dance Concert, Working Mother Media’s annual NYC Worklife Congress Gala as well as music videos, corporate events and various showcases in New York and around the world. He is the owner of Marquette Productions – The Dancer’s Music Source (www.marquetteproductions.com) and MPower Dance Workshops - Master Classes and Workshops that Mpassion, Mpower and Motivate (www.mpowerdance.com). Mr. Marquette is also on the judging and teaching faculty with Spotlight Dance Cup and GuiDANCE Experience. He has been teaching for over 25 years in cities all across the country and internationally in Helsinki, Finland; Guayaquil, Ecuador, Guatemala City as well as multiple cities in Alberta, Canada. He has taught at the DanceTeacherWeb Live Conference and Expo in Las Vegas for 7 years and appears on their website offering tutorials in Tap. In 2014, Jason taught at the first annual SoFlo Tap Festival in Lake Worth, FL and was on the faculty of Resonance, a northeastern US based travelling tap festival. He was on faculty at various studios in New York City including New Dance Group, The Peridance Capezio Center and Broadway Dance Center for 6 years teaching Tap and Theater Dance and has taught at the Alvin Ailey School. He is currently on faculty teaching tap at the New York Film Academy, New York City campus; Jazz and Tap at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts as well as several other studios in the metro area. Jason keeps busy travelling to teach, adjudicate and choreograph all over the country. Make your own destiny. Fate is determined by determination.