About EDA

Hilary Thornburgh Nicolai began her training at age 8 and was dancing professionally with Indianapolis Ballet Theater by age 14. She spent her summers training at The School of American Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Rock School of The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Washington School of Ballet, and The Chautauqua School of Dance before joining the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City.

Hilary appeared in Christopher Wheeldon’s Le Voyage and participated in the New York City Ballet Education Department’s Lecture Demonstration program, performing Peter Martin’s Eight Easy Pieces, Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Cortege Hongrois and Puss n’ Boots under the direction of Suki Schorer.

Hilary danced principal roles in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, under the tutelage of New York City Ballet principal dancers Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and performed in Petipa’s Giselle and Balanchine’s Serenade, Western Symphony, La Source and Four Temperaments.
Hilary is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is an accomplished instructor and is recognized for her uncompromising attention to detail and challenging her students to challenge themselves.
She holds a BA in Literature and Writing from Columbia University (cum laude) and an MA in Dance Education: ABT Pedagogy from New York University.

Steven Blandino has a BFA in Commercial Dance from Pace University, with a focus in Choreography. Steven is on Faculty at Broadway Dance Center, Peridance, and Steps on Broadway in various styles. His choreography credits include 2020 Capezio ACE Awards Finalist, Bridesmaids: A Dance Narrative (Writer, Director, Choreographer) Ludo's Broken Bride at the New York Musical Festival (The Duke on 42nd St), Rebel Rebel: The Many Lives of David Bowie (Canada, National Tour 2017), Burlesque to Broadway (Canada), The Steps Beyond Foundation Performance Lab, Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP - Peridance), 2015, Young Choreographer's Festival 2015/14, Choreographer's Canvas 2015, Jared Grimes' "Run the Night", Hero Awards: honoring Jerry Mitchell, the Alvin Ailey Dance Soirée, to name a few. 

Dancer/Performer: West Side Story (Houston Grand Opera. Weston Playhouse), Sleeping Beauty Dreams (The Beacon Theatre/The Artsch Center), Newsies, Mamma Mia!, Shrek (Tuacahn Center of the Arts), Johnson & Johnson, Carnegie Hall, and many more.

Steven has been featured in The New York Times, Front Row Center, TheaterMania, and was recently featured in an issue of Dance Magazine as an Emerging Young Choreographer. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his choreographic works. 

Calli's love for dance started at the age of three and has only grown since! Her training began in the Chicagoland area and continued all over the country, which landed her in New York City! So far Calli has performed all over the city, danced for a sold out Prudential Center, and has even danced on Nickelodeon! Calli is currently, and proudly, a member of TreadFAST Commercial Dance Company. Calli uses her experience as a professional dancer to create a motivating and cutting edge class. This of course bleeds into her work as a choreographer where she has been honored with 2022 Top Choreography awards and Industry Dance Award nominations. She hopes to instill confidence in her dancers and nurture their love for dance, as many teachers have done for her! “Perseverance, hard work, and grace: The recipe for achieving anything you dream.”

Ellie Sharpe was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri. She began dancing when she was seven years old and started teaching at the young age of fifteen. After training and teaching in numerous styles such as jazz, ballet, contemporary, tap, acrobatics, and hip-hop, she moved to New Jersey to continue her dance education. Ellie received a full tuition scholarship to attend Montclair State University as a dance major and will be graduating in spring of 2022. Throughout her studies at Montclair she has trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, and choreography from some of the best teachers the industry has to offer including Stefanie Batten Bland, Christian VonHoward, Kathleen Kelley, Joao Carvalho, and Earl Mosley. As a teacher, she wants nothing more than to share her passion for dance with the  upcoming generation of artists and creators. 

Samantha Sonzogni is an award winning choreographer who has been dancing since age three. She has been trained extensively in all genres of dance under names such as Michael Minery (Director of Jump, Director of American Tap Festival, Slide, Tapaholics) and Ray Leeper (So You Think You Can Dance, Director of Nuvo, Choreographer). Samantha also works with companies such as Capezio to help move the dance world forward with new dance wear products. From 2003 until 2010 Samantha was a part of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble where she performed in many theaters, such as NJPAC, alongside notable tappers Maurice Chestnut, Karen Callaway and Deborah Mitchell. Samantha is not only a dance teacher, but also graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelors degree in English. In the competitive world, Samantha has had multiple national winning pieces and has been recognized for her choreography by many competitions including the American Dance Awards, Starquest and Starpower. Samantha has traveled around the United States teaching aspiring new artists and hopes to continue to do so for a very long time.

 

Sarah Frasch was a professional ballerina with the New Jersey Ballet Company.  She danced corps de ballet and soloist roles in many classical and contemporary ballets including:  Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Giselle, Paquita, Cinderella, Rodeo, Sophisticated Salsa, and Kiss Me Kate, to name a few.

Sarah received her classical ballet training at the New Jersey School of Ballet and was trained by former American Ballet Theater dancers Eleanor D'Antuono, Caroline Tener Brown, and Caroline Clark, as well as by Russian greats Luba Gulyaeva of the Kirov Ballet and Marina Bogdonova of the Russian Moscow Ballet Company.

Teaching correct classical ballet technique and instilling the discipline that goes along with it to children and young adults has been Sarah's passion for over twenty years.

Jennifer is a professional dancer, who has spent over twenty years sharing her passion for the arts and fitness teaching worldwide. Jen is currently the Director of Training and Creative Coordinator for Xtend Barre worldwide, with classes on BODi. She has spent most of her professional career on faculty as a dance competition adjudicator, as well as on faculty at Broadway Dance Center in NYC.

Professionally Jen has performed as a Radio City Rockette, in three National Tours, and is a Helen Hayes best supporting actress nominee for her regional theatre work. Favorite credits include: Papermill Playhouse, A Chorus Line- swing; Signature Theatre, West Side Story- Graziella; Shakespeare Theatre, Camelot; Spamalot, National Tour; Joseph… Dreamcoat, National Tour; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, National Tour. Jen has appeared and danced on television in PBS' Live From Lincoln Center: "One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch", Gossip Girl, Dr. Oz, and was last seen dancing in "La Traviata" at the Kennedy Center.

Kayla Kaspar Simone is an award-winning choreographer that has been teaching and choreographing at Essex Dance Academy for well over a decade. She started dancing at the age of three, competing at the age of four, and quickly developed a love and passion for this art that would continue to this day! She grew up training extensively in all genres with some of the best teachers and choreographers in the industry, such as Ray Leeper (So You Think You Can Dance, Director of Nuvo, Choreographer) and Michael Minery (Director of Jump, Director of American Tap Festival, Slide, Tapoholics). She excelled in all areas of dance, was a part of the NJ Nets Junior Dance Team and won many solo/group regional and national titles throughout the years. In college, she was Captain of the Dance Team spearheading her team to UDA Nationals all 4 years, and Lead Choreographer of the Dance Company. Kayla holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering but keeps her passion alive by teaching and choreographing on the next generation of dancers. Her choreographic works have won many regional and national competitions, and she has received awards and recognitions in choreography and entertainment. Kayla hopes to serve as a role model and inspire all her students to stick with their passion! 

Vanessa Figueroa was born and raised in Little Falls, NJ, where she trained seriously in dance at a young age. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Public Relations and Advertising at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA in April 2019. Her training and explorations have allowed her to perform in works created by Jennifer Archibald, Tyce Diorio, Christopher Huggins, Jason McDole, Kiesha Lalama, Garfield Lemonius and more. She is also proud to be the former President of "Impulse", the hip-hop club at Point Park University, where she cultivated a safe space for dancers to freely express themselves through Hip-Hop and Jazz funk forms. Vanessa is honored to have experienced opportunities such as performing “Kinex”choreographed by Kiesha Lalama at the Joyce Theatre for the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation in 2018. As well as being accepted into the Cirque Du Soleil dancer database this past Spring 2019! Figueroa continues to dedicate all of her time and energy within in a variety of artistic areas in her life. She is currently performing for Nickelodeon at their newest amusement park inside the American Dream Center. Vanessa is extremely excited about her first season working with the Essex Dance Academy Family!

Lindsay Pergola Guarini is from Totowa, New Jersey. She began her dance training at the age of two at For Dancers Only under the direction of Kelly Allen and Ed Phelan. Lindsay grew up in the competitive dance world and received numerous accolades winning many regional and national titles. She has worked with many renowned choreographers in New York, New Jersey and California. In 2005, she was accepted into California State University, Long Beach where she was the captain of the dance team which was ranked second in the nation under her leadership.

After graduating college, Lindsay went on to continue her love for dance by becoming a winning choreographer and teacher. As a member of the Essex Dance Academy faculty she continues to share her talent and love of dance. Lindsay is very excited to share her knowledge with children on a daily basis!

Michele grew up training with some of the finest teachers and choreographers in the industry. She excelled in all areas of dance and, while competing, held titles at both the regional and national level in the United States and Canada including American Dance Award’s Junior and Teen Dancer of the Year, Dance Masters of America’s Junior and Teen Miss Dance of America, and the coveted Miss Dance of America. After graduating high school, Michele went on to a successful career in the in the industry. Her Television and commercial credits include: Video Music Awards, Alanis Morrisette music video, Cinema Summer Screen, One Life to Live, and the Body Rock Workout video. Michele's theatrical credits include “Wicked” 1st National Tour, “We Will Rock You”, “Contact” 1st National Tour, "Saturday Night Fever" 1st National Tour, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and “Club Indigo” at the Taj Majal in Atlantic City.

Rachel began her dance studies at age two. At age six, she began singing in her church choir, and at age nine, she performed in her first professional NYC production, the opera, Norma. In middle and high school she performed with county and regional choirs, as well as musical productions  including Guys & Dolls, and Les Miserables. She attended Bergen County Academies HS for Visual and Performing Arts, vocal focus and graduated cum laude from Hofstra University in May 2011, with a B.A. in Dance, minor in music. She studied modern, ballet, tap, hip hop, musical theater, contemporary, modern, and jazz in Danceworks Productions, a student-run dance club, which she held the Presidency for in her senior year. Rachel was able to work with and perform pieces of Anita Feldman, Amy Marshall, Niles Ford, Maxine Steinman, Karla Wolfangle, Dina Denis and Stormy Brandenburger while at Hofstra. Since graduation she has performed with Undertoe Dance Project, directed by Dana Fisch, and MAD About Dance Company, directed by Michiyo Tanaka. and has received her Zumba certification. Rachel is a flourishing choreographer and dance teacher who works with many studios in the area. Rachel is a certified NASM Personal Trainer and  a certified Pure Barre instructor, teaching in Wyckoff, NJ. 

Dina Servidio is a New Jersey based dance instructor.  She graduated from DeSales University in 2013 with a B.A. in Dance.  While at DeSales, Dina studied Ballet, Modern, Tap and Jazz, as well as Kinesiology, Dance Pedagogy, and Composition.  She was fortunate enough to have studied with professors who inspired her love for dance education.  Mentors such as Trinette Singleton (former Joffrey Ballet principal) and Tara Madsen Robbins (Philadelphia based dancer/choreographer) are just some of the influential people in her professional life.  Since her graduation, Dina has been teaching full-time, and feels grateful to have found a career that combines her passion for the art of dance and education.