NICOLE SILEO-BUNTEN
Nicole was personally trained by Miss Gina, and as a result, encourages her ballet, tap and jazz students to strengthen their fundamental skills and maximize the performance quality they exhibit in the classroom and on the stage. Her attention to detail is a hallmark of her unique teaching ability. She spearheads the Tap program at Dance Stop, and is a very important factor as we aim to provide well-rounded dancers. With consistent practice of tap, her students achieve a clear understanding of musicality, the complexities of rhythms, and the layers and textures within the music that can be revealed through percussive sounds. Miss Nicole also is proud of her performance and collaboration with Mike Minery (see above), which has definitely brought a bright new approach to the art!
JEN CARDINO-DIETZ
Jen is unmatched in her enthusiasm and energy for teaching and encouraging her dancers! With the dance education she received directly from Miss Gina, this graduate of Montclair State University thoroughly commits to creating a positive classroom and stage experience, and also supports her students on a one-to-one basis. Miss Jen is an extremely popular teacher with both younger and older students because of her positive energy and sincerity. She's a perfect leader for our Dance Team! Miss Jen believes the complete package in a dancer includes good body position, strong expressiveness, and a big smile!
MELODY SHANLEY
Miss Melody is a graduate of Montclair State College with a Bachelor Degree in physical education with an emphasis on dance. She received her dance teacher certification from Dance Educators of America. Dancing since the age of three, Melody continued her dance studies with Patricia Walcoff-McCusker, studio owner past president of the NJ Dance Theatre Guild now NJ Dance Theatre Ensemble. Miss Melody is a previous studio owner for over 36 years. She is a board member of Associated Dance Teachers of NJ and a member of Dance Educators of America. Miss Melody has an extensive gymnastics background and has won many state and national titles. Miss Melody specializes in early childhood dance education. Miss Melody enjoys being a part of the high-quality education her students achieve under her direction.
COLBY DAMON
R. Colby Damon was born and raised in Richmond,VA and received his early dance training at Richmond Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Virginia School of the Arts. He has danced professionally for Sacramento Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Northwest Dance Project, and BalletX among others. As a choreographer, he has worked with BalletX, Sacramento Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet II, Nashville Ballet II, Ballet West Academy, Bryn Mawr College, and DeSales University among others, and his work has been performed at festivals in Brazil, Mexico, Bermuda, and New York City. He is currently on faculty at the Rock School for Dance Education, The University of the Arts, and BalletX in addition to working as a freelance choreographer and performer based out of Philadelphia.
BRIELLE CARREIRA
Brielle began training at Dance Stop Dance Education Center at the age of 3 and was trained extensively by Gina Forcella for 15 years. Brielle also trained under the direction of Al Blackstone, Thang Dao & Julie Shulman. Brielle studied dance, voice, and musical theatre for 4 years at the Freehold Performing Arts Center and then went on to studio dance and psychology at George Mason and Kean University. While training with Miss Gina at Dance Stop, Brielle discovered her love for working with children and sharing her passion for dance. Brielle credits Dance Stop with teaching her hard work, dedication and determination while being surrounded by supportive educators.
kirsten coco
Kirsten Coco is a performer, choreographer, and teacher based in New York City. She was born and raised in Salem, NH and was educated at Donna Coco’s Performance Plus under the direction of Donna Coco. This is where her passion for movement and performance began. This passion eventually led her to
NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she received her BFA in Dance. During her time at Tisch, Kirsten has had the privilege of working with and performing pieces by Yin Yue, Jeremy Nelson, and James Martin. She has also had the opportunity to study abroad in Berlin, Germany. While in Berlin, she worked with teachers Ayman Harper, Meg Stuart, and Judith-Sanchez Ruiz.
Since graduating, Kirsten has performed at the Aditya Birla Awards in Mumbai, India, has performed Jeremy Nelson’s “Unfurled” at Radio City Music Hall, and has performed at the Joyce Theatre in the Scottish Ballet Dance Exchange. Kirsten has been featured in the Dance Spirit Magazine “Audition Wear”
photoshoot and article, and has made appearances in several dance films and festivals in New York City. She has choreographed and taught at dance studios in the New England and New York area since the age of sixteen. She has also
had the pleasure of choreographing three, 8 minute pieces at the Jack Crystal Theatre in New York City. Throughout her dance journey, Kirsten has found that her love for dance is able to be shared with dancers of all ages through her choreography and teaching, because it allows her to spread knowledge and
curiosity to others through her movement.
Suzy Acquisto
A native of Mercer Island, Washington, Suzy received her BA in Dance from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2011. After graduating, she relocated to San Francisco where she performed and toured with several dance companies as well as co-founded a dance collective and produced multiple shows. In addition to her performance career, Suzy developed a jazz program at a premier Bay Area studio, was on faculty at Alonzo King Lines Dance Center and she has shown choreography all across the United States. During her time in New York, she has had the privilege to work with teacher and artist Katie Drablos on numerous projects as well as being a teaching artist for the Misty Copeland Foundation’s BE BOLD program. She recently received an MA in Dance Education from Steinhardt and is a candidate for an MFA in Dance from Tisch at New York University (’23).
Lauren DiPietro
Lauren DiPietro began her career as a competitive dancer and choreographer in Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. She just completed her rookie season as an NBA dancer for the New York Knicks. As a member of the legendary KCD, Lauren has had the opportunity to work with choreographers including Lacey Schwimmer, Theresa Stone, Keenan Cooks, and more. She has also appeared in Star Magazine and on Good Morning America as well as in NBA Halftime Shows at Madison Square Garden with Iggy Azalea and Tinashe. Additionally, she has performed with artists such as Jordin Sparks, The Pointer Sisters, Patti Labelle, and Taylor Dayne. As a singer and actress, Lauren portrayed Lisa in Royal Caribbean's production of “Mamma Mia!”, and was a dancer and aerialist in “Blue Planet”. Lauren continues to choreograph and teach at several studios in the New York City area and throughout New England at various workshops, conventions, and intensives. Her goal is to always “aspire to inspire” and help the next generation dancers embrace themselves and their dreams entirely and unapologetically.
erin ambry
Born and raised in South Amboy, New Jersey. Erin Ambry began her dance training at Dance Stop Dance Education Center under the direction of Gina Forcella. She trained heavily in ballet, contemporary, modern, lyrical, jazz, tap, and hip hop, under the guidance of Gina Forcella, Thang Dao, Julie Shulman Friedrich, Al Blackstone, Sara Pyun and Rosemary Sabovick-Bleich. Early on, Erin was exposed to performing frequently through dance competitions and conventions. This exposure greatly aided in her desire to pursue dance as a career. In 2019, Erin graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Here, she continued to study modern and contemporary dance styles, as well as ballet. While in school, Erin performed choreographic works by Christian von Howard, Mark Morris, Lar Lubovitch, and Maxine Doyle. Throughout the summer months, Erin attended Pilobolus Summer Series(2016), NorthWest Dance Project Summer Intensive AP Platform(2017), and Hubbert Street Dance Chicago Summer Intensive(2018). In addition, Erin became a certified yoga instructor through the Om Factory School of Yoga. During the next few years after graduation, Erin continued to educate herself in different contemporary styles throughout the New York City dance scene, such as VimVigor Dance Company and Yin Yue Dance Company. Erin’s professional accomplishments include performing with Mignolo Dance Company, Ocampo/Wang Dance in Brooklyn, New York and Taipei, Taiwan, and Vanessa Long Dance Company. In 2021, Erin joined CoCA Moves and continues to dance with the company.
jessica metz
Jessica began her dance career at an early age at Dance Stop Dance Education Center, under the direction of Gina Forcella. Jessica is a recent graduate from Penn State and was a four year member of the Penn State Lionettes Dance Team. Jessica was a part of Penn States transition to the UDA collegiate national competition in 2017 where they have maintained a top 10 spot the past three years. In 2018, she was named Captain of the team for her junior and senior year. This allowed her to choreograph multiple game day routines within those two years for Beaver Stadium’s crowd of 110,000 fans. Throughout her time at Penn State she performed and choreographed dances of various genres such as jazz, contemporary, hiphop, acrobatics, and pom. In 2019, she was also a part of Penn States first pom team to compete at the UDA collegiate national competition. Jessica is excited to teach and share her passion for performing!
jessica powell
Jessica Powell is excited to join the Dance Stop Family this year! Jessica was raised in Toronto, Canada, and danced under the instruction of the prestigious Canadian Dance Company for 15 years. She spent 4 years as a member of the Toronto Raptors NBA Dance Pak, as well as a dancer/model for Sears Canada, Mary Kay and L'Oreal. Jessica was featured on So You Think You Can Dance, spent time as a dancer on Holland America Cruise Lines, and much more. Now, as a choreographer and dance educator, she has spent the last 13 years sharing her love of dance and passion for entertainment with students in both the United States and Canada
Jenna Ingui
Jenna Ingui is a newly graduated Dance Stop alumni who trained at the studio for over 10 years. She began her dance career at an early age, and throughout the years developed an advanced focus on Contemporary and Acrobatics. Jenna assisted Dance Stop faculty members with various classes from toddler to pre-professional levels. She was honored to be awarded the Dance Stop Talent Scholarship in 2019 to further her dance education. Previously, as the captain of the Monroe Township High School Dance Team, Jenna choreographed original pieces weekly and led the team to win first place overall in the contemporary division at the Ramapo College Dance Team Invitational. She currently is a featured dancer on The College of New Jersey’s collegiate Dance Team focusing on Jazz, Pom, and Contemporary styles. Jenna is looking forward to continuing her training and competing on a national level at the UDA National Competition. Jenna is thrilled to share her passion for dance, and to teach and inspire young dancers at Dance Stop.
Caley Scheuing
Caley Scheuing was born and raised in New Jersey. She grew up training in various sports but finally settled on a career in dance at 14 years old. She studied all styles of dance including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, musical theater, and acrobatics. She trained at En Pointe Dance and Acrobatics where she was able to compete nationally and begin assisting and teaching classes. She earned a spot on the Matawan Regional High School Varsity Dance Team her freshman year of high school, and was elected as a captain for the 2019-2020 season. During her senior year of high school, Caley was recruited as the first member in her class to be on the Rutgers University Dance Team where she competed at UDA College Nationals in the D1A pom and jazz categories for the past three years. Throughout her time on the team Caley was awarded All Big Ten Academic Team in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, her spirit program earned their first National Championship in the Spirit Gameday Division. She was recently named Captain for the 2023-2024 season of the Rutgers University Dance Team. With 9 years of competitive dance experience, Caley loves teaching students and sharing her passion for dance with all dancers.
Kathleen Laituri
Kathleen is originally from Howell, Michigan. She is a 2018 graduate of the BFA Commercial Dance program at Pace University in New York City. Kathleen has performed in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular as a Rockette for three years. Her most recent Rockettes appearance was in the 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a masked wooden soldier!
Other recent credits include short film In This Life (Robbie Fairchild/Bat-Sheva Guez), and Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 3, Ep. 1). Kathleen also has a passion for teaching and choreographing and is thrilled to be teaching for Dance Stop this summer!
michael pekso
Michael, a New Jersey native, started dancing at six years old and hasn't stopped since! Credits include Lady Gaga's Chromatica Ball World Tour, Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, Roar on Apple Plus, TRL on MTV, West Side Story, An American in Paris, Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls and more!
Allie Kronick
Allie Kronick is a freelance performing and teaching artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Allie graduated magna cum laude from Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts. She was a four year company member with Houston MET Dance where she performed works by numerous choreographers including Peter Chu, Kate Skarpetowska, Larry Keigwin, Sidra Bell, and Lauren Edson. Allie has since worked with AnA Collaborations, Bryn Cohn + Artists, The Equus Projects/OnSite NYC, Joe Celej, The Next Stage Project, & Ariel Rivka Dance. Allie has taught for and created on numerous studios, high schools, and youth companies across the US and abroad. She has been an assistant choreographer on choreographic residencies at James Madison University, The Ailey School, Marymount Manhattan College, and LaGuardia High School. Her work as been seen at the Riverside Dance Festival (Vero Beach, FL), Dallas Dance Fest (Dallas, TX), “Tapping Away” at the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC (Houston, TX), Montclair High School (Montclair, NJ), and Fini Dance International Summer School (Villapiana, Italy). Allie is currently on faculty teaching contemporary dance for the Professional Training Program at the Martha Graham School, and she dances for Abarukas, LED Boise, Annalee Traylor, and Boca Tuya/Omar Roman de Jesus
joe celej
Joe Celej is a New York City based creative artist whose career spans over twenty years of professional concert dance performance, choreographic investigation, and passionate instruction and mentoring of students.
Joe performed for nearly a decade with the internationally acclaimed concert company Elisa Monte Dance, performing extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia including theaters in Paris, Rome, and many seasons at the prestigious Joyce Theater in NYC. He was also honored to both meet and perform for the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. Joe has performed works by renowned artists including Elisa Monte, Robert Battle, Peter Chu, and Mario Zambrano with additional credits including Levi Strauss and Company, Wal-Mart, the City of Houston, and Houston Grand Opera. Joe’s choreography has been presented across the US and Europe and was honored to have his Joyce Theater choreographic premiere in 2011. Joe served as Associate Director of Houston METdance for five seasons, and most recently premiered his newest work Mirrored Soul commissioned by Houston Contemporary Dance Company in February 2023. Joe is an honored recipient of a 2010 Presidential Scholar Teacher Recognition Award from the US Department of Education.
Joe has been a guest teacher/choreographer at established institutions including Steps on Broadway, SUNY Buffalo, Rice University, Salve Regina University, Ballet Hispanico, and the High School for Performing and Visual Arts Houston (HSPVA). Joe is proud to have mentored numerous dancers who are alumni of prestigious programs including the Juilliard School, SUNY Purchase, Point Park University, and Pace University, with former students performing with Eastman/Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, LA Dance Project, Lar Lubovitch, Ballet Hispanico, the Radio City Rockettes, and Disney.
nicole corea
Nicole Corea is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. In the last 20 years of her professional career, she has performed on some of the world’s most renowned stages including the Metropolitan Opera House and Joyce Theater in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Teatro Romano in Spoleto, Italy and the Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow. She has been a company member of many reputable dance companies as a soloist and principal dancer including Ballet Hispanico of NY, Elisa Monte Dance, Ballet Memphis, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. As a teaching artist, Nicole has taught master classes for all affiliated companies and has travelled the U.S. and abroad as a guest teacher for master classes, workshops, and lectures. As a choreographer, she has created six original works on Ballet Memphis and has presented her work at dance festivals across New York City and for various pre-professional academies and institutions in the U.S. and Australia. Ms Corea attended the prestigious Juilliard School, graduating with a BFA in 2000, and has been featured in The NY Times, Dance Magazine, and Dance Spirit Magazine, throughout her performing career.
ashley nicole morris
Nicole Morris is a movement artist from Sarasota, FL. Starting at a young age, Nicole has always had a passion for the arts. She attended Florida State University where she received a BFA in Dance. After graduation, Nicole moved to NYC where she started to work with Kristin Sudeikis Dance and Jackie Nowicki’s NOW Dance Project. As a concert dancer, Nicole has performed works by Al Blackstone, Reed Luplau, Troy Schumacher, Lauren Lovette, Hope Boykin, Josh Prince, Melissa Hough, and more. Aside from live performance, Nicole has taught contemporary, jazz, ballet, and improvisation through out the United States at various studios. She loves being a part of creation and offers a sincere artistic voice to the classes and processes that she participates in.
peggy petteway
Peggy Petteway holds a BFA from Florida State University, graduating magna cum laude. Born in Orlando, she began her ballet training at the School of Performing Arts and continued through the apprentice program of Southern Ballet Theatre (currently Orlando Ballet) under the direction of Barbara Riggins.
Ms. Petteway danced principal roles in a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets with Bay Ballet Theatre, Southern Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Chautauqua Dance Company, and Pennsylvania Ballet prior to joining American Repertory Ballet (ARB) under the artistic direction of Graham Lustig in 1999. From 2010 until her retirement in 2014 she danced for Lustig Dance Theatre, one of 10 professionals.
Ms. Petteway has been a member of the teaching faculties of Southern Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Ballet’s The Rock School, ARB’s Princeton Ballet School, and Lustig Dance Theatre. Ms. Petteway served as school principal for Lustig Dance Theatre. Ms. Petteway has been a guest at universities and ballet academies throughout the US. She has served as a visiting ballet mistress and repetiteur, trusted by choreographers to instill their vision and stage their work on professional dancers and students. Ms. Petteway is certified Primary to Level 3 in the ABT® National Training Curriculum and is on the ballet faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.