Director
Kristen McGrew
Ms. McGrew received her early training in Tennessee under master teachers such as the world-renowned Anna-Marie Holmes. She has danced with professional companies Eglevsky Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theater, Bravo Dance!, Tennessee Festival Ballet, and Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania. Ms. McGrew has worked as a guest artist throughout the eastern United States and performed across the country, dancing principal roles in the classics and world premieres. Her resume includes classical, contemporary, and modern works. She was the ballet mistress at Eglevsky Ballet for 10 years under the directorship of Ali Pourfarrokh, before becoming the artistic director of Nomad Contemporary Ballet. Ms. McGrew has taught at the Ailey School and held master classes and workshops in Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Long Island, New Jersey, and New York. She has had her choreography presented at Dixon Place for Translate (voices of dance), the Latin Choreographer’s Festival, APAP, and Rhode Island’s Great Friends Dance Festival. She has also had residencies at the Joffrey Dance Center and the Far Space in NYC.
Assistant to the Director
Jane Summer
Jane Summer began working at the Dance School in 2014. Her first dance teacher was the modern dancer Jane Dudley. She currently studies with Jayne Santoro. Ms. Summer is a widely published author in various genres. Her most recent work, Erebus, was published in 2015.
Ballet
Catherine Barribal
Ms. Barribal received her early training in Norwalk, Connecticut, after which she was invited to attend professional training at the Royal Ballet School in London. As a professional dancer, she performed a wide range of roles for Ballet Etudes Repertory Company, Connecticut Ballet Theater, New England Dance Theater, Staten Island Ballet and the New Jersey Ballet. Ms. Barribal performed with the Alexander Roy London Ballet Theater and has also been active with television, modeling, and industrials. She cofounded a dance/model company in London. She has choreographed for the Westchester Theatre of Dance, Staten Island Ballet, and the New England Dance Theater, and was also ballet mistress for Staten Island Ballet. Ms. Barribal is the founder and artistic director of Classics Dance Theatre Company.
Ballet
Melissa Bartucci
Ms. Bartucci is a current member of the Ballet faculty for the Ailey School and a guest instructor for Columbia University’s Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Adelphi University, and the Ballet Garden School in Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Bartucci trained at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York under a full scholarship and danced with Ballet West, Eglevsky Ballet, and Staten Island Ballet. She also performed in the Opening Ceremonies of the XVII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
Ballet
Violeta Katz
Violeta Katz began studying ballet at the age of 12 with the Bourmans in New Jersey. At 15, she received a dance scholarship to the Center Ballet of Buffalo and studied under Kathleen Crofton. Ms. Katz worked with Anna-Marie Holmes, David Holmes, and Bronislava Nijinska. She also studied at ABT and the Joffrey under William Griffith. Ms. Katz earned her certification to teach ABT’s Primary to Level 3 syllabus, Certification in the Leap ’n Learn program geared toward ages three to six, and attended teachers’ workshops at American Academy of Ballet. She teaches creative movement and ballet.
Hip Hop
Phil Ordoñez
A Certified Fitness Professional, Mr. Ordoñez has organized events, competitions, and talent showcases with the Hip Hop Students Association from SUNY/Buffalo. He trained with Broadway Dance Center, Peridance Capezio Center, and Alvin Ailey Extension for technical choreography and Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art. Mr. Ordoñez created his own youth dance-performance program uniting the communities of Westchester, the Bronx, and Harlem to perform original works in musical theater, rap and hip hop dance with bilingual elements.
Belle Pierpont
Ballet
Camille Rodriguez
Ms. Rodriguez graduated New York University as a Dance major. She performed professionally with Rod Rodgers Modern Company and showcased with Lee Theadore American Dance Machine. Ms. Rodriguez has worked in the New York City public schools as a dance educator and arts coordinator for over 20 years. For the last four years, she has collaborated with the Port Chester Council for the Arts, which helps bring the arts into the classroom.
Tap
Arleigh Rothenberg
Ms. Rothenberg is trained in a variety of styles and specializes in tap, jazz, and hip hop. Ms. Rothenberg currently tap dances at the Cotton Club as a member of Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards’ “Sophisticated Ladies.” She has appeared on Good Morning America multiple times, in an international Adidas commercial, and has directed and choreographed several music videos.
Ballet
Jayne Santoro
Ms. Santoro retired as director of the Dance School at the JCCMW in the fall of 2018 where she directed and choreographed for both the Westchester Theatre of Dance and its Ballet Outreach component at the Dance School. She has continued teaching ballet at the Dance School, as she has done for 35+ years, to children and adults of all levels. Ms. Santoro received her classical training with Maria Swoboda at American Ballet Theatre School in NYC and performed with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Philadelphia Lyric Opera, and regional NY companies. Instructors who were instrumental in shaping Ms. Santoro’s professional career as both an artist and dance educator include Natasha Redel, Leon Fokine, Maria Jones, and Arlene Sugano.
Ballet
Justin Sherwood
Mr. Sherwood trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. He is a recipient of the Choreographic Award of Prominence by the Central St. Marten’s School of Art and Design and Cochrane Theatre in London, and has choreographed productions across the United States and in Hong Kong and Albania. He is noted as the first American choreographer for the Albanian National Opera and Ballet Company. As a performer with Metropolitan Opera he appeared in numerous productions on their stage, where he worked with Julie Taymor, Robert LePage, Anthony Minghella, and Mary Zimmerman. Mr. Sherwood is an ABT® Certified Teacher Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Ballet
Jessica Whitehorne
Ms. Whitehorne was a soloist for the Boston Dance Company and a principal with the Greensboro Ballet. She holds a BA in Dance from Dean College. As a teacher, she has held positions at some of the Boston area’s top schools, most notably the Boston Ballet School. She is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and continues to be an active dancer with Mooney Cooley Dance.
Pianist
Miles Fusco
Mr. Fusco has two degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. He has performed on four continents and made formal recital debuts at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York and the Wigmore Hall in London. He brings a special expertise to dance, having been company pianist for American Ballet Theater for 12 years, where he worked with such artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory, Susan Jaffe, Fernando Bujones, Carla Fracci, Erik Bruhn, Rudolph Nureyev, and Margot Fonteyn. He toured with Gelsey Kirkland, Patrick Bissell, and Natalia Makarova, and worked with choreographers Alvin Ailey and Twyla Tharp. Though most closely associated with ABT, Mr. Fusco has also worked with New York City Ballet, Berlin Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Kirov. He presently works at JCCMW and at BAE in New York where he plays principally for Wendy Whelan, Cheryl Yaeger, and Gonzalo Garcia.
Pianist
Colin Rose
Mr. Rose attended the Hartt School of Music with a major in piano performance under the tutelage of Paul Rutman. He is a sought-after instructor at Ridgefield Music, where he teaches piano and violin. Mr. Rose was a violinist for six years with the Danbury Community Orchestra and concertmaster with the early music ensemble at the Harvey School in Katonah, New York. He currently teaches violin and viola at the school’s Cavalier Camp. He joined the JCCMW Dance School faculty in the fall of 2017 as a ballet accompanist, just as he completed his third year as a full-time dance accompanist at the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance (ballet and modern).
Pianist
Saul Spangenberg
Mr. Spangenberg retired as the executive director of Hillels of Westchester and before that as assistant dean of music at SUNY Purchase. He has taught music to dancers at numerous institutions in the New York area including the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Tisch School of the Arts – NYU, Marymount Manhattan College, and the City College of New York. He currently is playing the piano most mornings for the adult ballet classes at JCCMW