Marisa Piptone

Instructor

Marisa Pipitone has been dancing since she was 5 years old and teaching since she was 17 years old. She graduated from Plainedge High School, being on the kickline team all 4 years. She was the captain her senior year. Marisa graduated from Long Island University Post with a BFA in Dance Studies. She has worked with artists including, Yannick Lebrun, Yoshito Sakuraba, George Sanders, Croix Boix, Fritzlyn Hector, Lloyd Knight, Da’Von Doane, Christopher Ralph, Tiffanie Carson, Jason Herbert and more. She has put her performance career to the side and has fallen in love with teaching and choreographing. Now, she choreographs for the Plainedge kickline team, receiving an “Innovative Choreography” Award. Marisa says, “seeing my students’ progress from September to June has made me realize that I have one of the most rewarding jobs”. She hopes to share her love and passion for dance with her new SJDC family!

Joe Dilegge

Instructor

Joe is on the New York Knicks Dance Team along with the New York Nets Dance Team. He is a trained dance instructor and gymnastics coach. This is our second season with Joe. He is the captain of the boys break dance competition team and th lead instructor for the boys recreational break dance classes.

Arielle Park

Instructor

Arielle was born and raised on Long Island and began her dance training at local studios. She did competitive dance as well as Smithtown high school east kickline. While on kickline, her team won two National Titles. She also participated in the Rockette Summer Intensive workshops to learn from the Rockettes she’s looked up to since she was a kid. She also had the privilege of being taught by a former Rockette at Art In Motion Dance Studio.

Arielle studied Fashion Merchandising and Communications at Marist College. She was the captain of the Marist College Dance Team in 2021/2022 where she choreographed halftime routines for Football and Basketball performances. While in school she was an instructor at Just For Kicks dance studio and shared her passion for dance with her students. She hopes to encourage the Sara Jean students to embrace their artistic abilities and inspire others with their creative movement.

Meaghan Schnell

Instructor

Meaghan has been dancing since the age of 3 and is so excited to join the SJDC family. Meaghan spent 15 years as a dancer with Michelle Cody’s Dance Center in Smithtown, 9 of which were spent on the competition team. She has experience in the styles of tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and hip hop. Once graduating high school, she spent 3 years teachings kids between the ages of 2-18 at MCDC while earning her bachelors degree at Stony Brook University. Meaghan was also a member of the Kings Park Varsity Royalette kickline team in high school. Meaghan is currently an Account Manager at a tech company in Melville.

Jainee Gabrielsen

Instructor

Jainee has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She danced at Michelle Cody’s Dance Center in Smithtown during this time and started to dance competitively at age 8. While dancing Jainee was also a competitive track athlete and coached young kids for many years in the various areas of track and field. 

Jainee attended Hofstra University where she received her BBA in Marketing with a minor in Information Systems and Business Analytics. She went on to receive her Masters with distinction in Marketing Research and Analytics. Jainee is going on to pursue her MBA to gain managerial skills that will only enhance her professional repertoire. While attending Hofstra University Jainee was on Club Lacrosse and the Club Dance Team. 

Maria Dougherty

Instructor

Maria has been dancing for 18 years. She started at the age of 3 and fell in love with the art immediately. After dancing throughout high school she graduated and went to study at the University of New Haven in West Haven, CT. She was the lead choreographer for their 5678 dance team and also got involved in other sports like rugby. She has been studying to get her personal training certification. Maria says “I have an incredible passion for dance and physical activity. I am so excited to be a part of Sara Jean Dance Company.” 

Carly Herbert

Instructor

Carly is a full time student at Stony Brook University where she is majoring in health science. She is a member of the stony brook dance team and has been dancing for 16 years and competition for 5. On top of that she was also a competitive gymnast for 15 years. Her favorite styles are contemporary and jazz but she has trained in lyrical, open, character, ballet, pom and hip hop.

Sarah Gerdvi

Instructor

Sarah is currently a full time student at Adelphi University where my major is exercise science and my minor is dance. She is a member of Adelphi’s dance team. Her passion for dance started when she was 3. She’s been a competitive dancer for 13 years and a competitive gymnast for 10 years. Sarah’s favorite style of dance is contemporary but have trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, acro, character, ballet, pointe and hip hop.

Elizabeth Torres

Instructor

Liz dancing at 3 at Ms Janet’s dance studio in Brooklyn and competing on the DEA-dance educators of America, showstoppers circuit.  Liz auditioned and was accepted for LaGuardia high school and the Feld ballet in New York while continuing to dance thru high and early college with Broadway Dance Center bringing over 23 years of competition and performance experience to the SJDC family.

Megan Connell

Instructor

Megan Connell has been dancing since the age of four and starting dancing competitively at twelve years of age. She studied various styles of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, lyrical and hip hop. During her years of study, she received many awards and honors from various regional and national competitions. Megan earned a college degree in Graphic Design. She continued to study dance at the same time, including classes at Broadway Dance Center in New York City with master teachers/choreographers such as Mia
Michaels, Rhonda Miller, Slam, Dan Karaty, Mandy Moore, & Tre Holloway. Megan’s choreography has earned her numerous awards including outstanding technical execution, presentation, entertainment and choreography. In 2009 Megan became a licensed Zumba instructor, certified in Basic and Zumba Gold training. She also worked two summers as a dance instructor at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, where she taught Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical and Hip Hop. Megan believes that structure and discipline builds self confidence in her students, helping them grow as dancers and individuals.

Mandi Kovalevich

Instructor

Mandi grew up on Long Island dancing! She was the captain of the East Islip Kickline team. Training and teaching most of her life at David Sanders Dance Dynamics, Mandi came to understand the significance in each style of dance. She has experience training and teaching in ballet, tap, jazz, hiphop, lyrical, acrobatics, theater, musical theater, kickline and pre-school classes. While Mandi has been doing each style of dance, she found her passion when her tap shoes hit the floor.

Mandi has also dedicated herself to teaching children with special needs. As a special needs instructor for over 10 years Mandi believes and has proven that disabilities are actually unique abilities!

Mandi’s goal is to help each student find their own passion and bring it to the stage. As an award winning tap instructor Mandi proves that she brings her love, experience and passion for the art of dance into every class.

Connor O’Keefe

Instructor

Jessica Cerbone

Instructor

Jessica is a Smithtown alumni. She was a member on the West Kickline team then went on to be Captain of the Marist college dance team. She does marketing and data analytics when she is not dancing!

Deanna Barnes

Instructor

Deanna has been dancing for 15 years and is a Sara Jean Dance Company Alumni. She has experience dancing, competing, and teaching in styles such as jazz, lyrical, hip hop, pom, and musical theater. She graduated from Sachem North High School in 2022, competing with the Sachem North Arrowettes dance team for 3 years, with 1 year as a captain. She is a full time student going into her Sophomore year at Stony Brook University, majoring in secondary mathematics education.

Alanna Angelus

Instructor

Alanna has a passion for working with kids. A dancer herself she felt this position would combine everything she loves. This is Alanna’s second season with SJDC and she is quite popular among the little ones!

Madison Puglisi

Instructor

Madison is a graduate of Centereach High School and currently is attending Stony Brook University. She has danced at Dream Believe Achieve dance studio for 12 years and Stagedoor Dance Studio for 3. Madison spent 4 years on the Varsity kickline team and is a choreographer for the town of Patchogue.

Emily Rodriguez

Instructor

Miss Emily has been dancing for seventeen years and has competed for over 7! Emily has worked with all ages of children including 18 months all the way to adult. She loves the styles of Jazz, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, and Lyrical! But she enjoys doing them all! Miss Emily received a Judges award back in March 2020 for her “Extreme Elegance” in her Lyrical solo at the dance competition StarQuest. In March 2021 she received a Judges award titled The “Sabor” Award at Breakout Dance Competition and later on in the same season won the title “Miss Senior emerging artist” at the dance competition StarQuest for her Jazz solo. She has taken classes with Comfort Fedoke from “So you think you can dance”, TheJonaShow! , Radio City Rockette, Bailey, Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms, and Teddy Forance. She was on a dance team at her high school where she helped keep everything organized, along with dancing! She even works as a daytime camp counselor at a camp during the summer! Miss Emily has been a SJDC substitute teacher for only a few months now but will officially be joining the SJDC staff come fall 2023. Emily is a great role model to all the students at SJDC! She is organized, dedicated, and always willing to put others before herself! And will continue to do so as she becomes a teacher at SJDC!

Allison Maloney

Instructor

Miss Alli has been dancing for the past 12 years. She is passionate about dance and eager to share her love for dance with her students. Her favorite style is lyrical. Alli  grew up in Commack and has been with SJDC since the studio first opened.

Brittney Skarulis

Off Ice/ Grounded Skate Instructor

Brittney Skarulis has been an ice skater and dancer her whole life. She is currently and has been a coach at the Rinx in Smithtown.