Meet Our Staff - Learning From the Best

A Norwich native, Hillary attended Manhattanville College on a performing arts merit scholarship and graduated Summa Cum Laude with the Capezio Award. While at Manhattanville she was a principle dancer with the Manhattanville Dance Ensemble, the first U.S. College Dance Ensemble to perform in Leningrad prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Hillary has studied with such greats as Ann Carlson, Luigi, Phil Black, Irene Feigenheimer, Gus Solomons Jr., David Storey, Gemze de Lappe and privately with Annabelle Gamson.

A Plainfield native, Chris has been active in theater and dance most of her life. She studied drama at Tisch School of Arts at NYU, and danced with Lee Theodore's American Dance Machine while attending NYU. She received numerous awards in such competitions as Show Stoppers and Dance Masters of America. Chris has studied with greats such as Frank Hatchett, Phil Black and Tommy Tune. Chris is active in both performance and production aspects of community theater.

Marissa is certainly not new to the Danceworks family. Marissa has been a student of the school since the age of nine, an alumna of the Repertory Company, a recipient of many regional and national performance awards, and a student assistant. She teaches Introduction to Dance, Introduction to Tumble, Hip Hop, and Jazz.  Marissa is also a certified personal trainer and a AFFA certified Group Fitness instructor . Marissa has earned an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts..

Jessica began her dance training the year Danceworks opened at the age of 8 and has been a major part of the studio ever since. While a member of the Repertory Co. Jessica became known as a strong performer and a creative choreographer and has won many awards at competitions with the Danceworks Repertory Company. Jessica is a graduate of Plainfield HS and of Eastern CT State University, and Sacred Heart University with a Master's degree in early childhood education. Students in her dance classes know she is passionate about working with children. Jessica is currently a Kindergaten teacher at Eastford Elementary School..

Danceworks is proud to have Courtney on our faculty as our Acro instructor. Courtney has a thirteen-year history of award-winning competitive gymnastics at local, regional and national levels. Courtney is a Canterbury native and a graduate of Griswold HS. Her work experience includes teaching at Deary's Gymnastics, Flip City Gymnastics, and Play and Learn Child Development Center where she is the director for the pre-school program and coordinates the summer camp program.

Caitlin is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Digital Marketing at Sacred Heart University. She recently graduated from University of Rhode Island with two degrees in Public Relations and Political Science. Caitlin has been dancing her whole life at the recreational, competitive and college level. She currently works for the Miss USA Organization for four of their state pageants and helps with choreography in addition to being on the production and socal media teams. In her free time she enjoys taking open dance classes and traveling. We are pleased to continue to have Caitlin on our faculty.

Cassie is certainly no stranger to Danceworks! She grew up dancing at Danceworks since the age of 2 and grew to compete as a member of The Repertory Company. Cassie attended the University of Connecticut and earned a dual Bachelor’s degree in flute performance and music theory. During her time at UConn she was an active member of the UConn Tap Team which competed in regional and national competitions. She also competed with UCONN Ballroom club placing in many regional competitions. Cassie went on to earn a Master’s degree in Music Theory at the University of Cincinnati.  While in the Midwest Cassie taught at MJM studios in Florence KY.  She recently earned her law degree at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington IN. Cassie currently works as Corporate Counsel at Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment. Cassie is incredibly excited to teach dance again!

Keri is well known for her work with local community theater, especially high school drama programs. Keri studied dance with the Luis Pabon Dance Artrs Center where she earned a national championship title. She has worked with KCT, Break-a-Leg Productions, Hartford's Children's Theater, Griswold HS, Plainfield HS, Stonington HS, Woodstock Academy and the Bradley Playhouse. Her choreography of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Guys and Dolls" was nominated for excellence by the CT High School Music Awards Committee. At Danceworks, Keri teaches a wonderful Musical Theater class.