Dale Julian-Bierce
Dale is the founding Director of The West Side Dance Center. She has been a dance and fitness professional for over 30 years. As many of her students, she began dancing at age 3 and spent 6 years in dance classes until she became a competitive gymnast. While attending college she returned to dance and was member of Kutztown University’s Dance Company. As a dance instructor through the years she developed hip hop programs and taught Jazz and Tap in various area studios before opening WSDC. As a choreographer her dance groups won awards at regional competitions, and have performed in the International Dance Showcase at Walt Disney World; Magic Kingdom & EPCOT, Sea World, Cypress Gardens and the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Majesty-Stars At Sea. She has also choreographed for various theatre companies in the area. Dale is the Artistic Director of the NextStep Dance company, a pre-professional youth dance company focusing on giving back to the community and to those less fortunate by providing funding for charitable organizations through charity benefit performances. Dale has a BFA and was a graphic designer/art director for 20 years before opening WSDC.

Laurie LaSapio
Laurie LaSapio has been dancing since the age of three. At the age of eight she began competing and continued competing through high school. She received special awards in showmanship and top soloist honors. In 1991 she was on the USA Tap team that competed internationally. Miss Laurie has been teaching at WSDC since it opened in 2001 where she teaches dance to students ages 3 yrs – Adult. As a choreographer for WSDC's Performing Troupe, her dances have won numerous awards including judges recognition, choreogrpahy and overall awards at regional competitions. She has also choreographed for numerous plays as well as gymnastics teams. Miss Laurie ontinues her professional development in NYC.

Jamie Bierce
Dancing since age 3, Jamie is one of the original WSDC students beginning at age 4 and trained there for 15 years. She competed on West Side’s Company Team in Tap, Contemporary, Jazz & Hip Hop winning numerous judges recognition awards and overall high score awards. Jamie was one of the founding members of the NextStep Dance Company, a pre-professional youth company whose goals are to give back to the community and the less fortunate. Jamie attended East Carolina University where she was a member of the ECU Club Dance Team. Jamie loves teaching at WS passing on her extensive dance training and love for dance to her students.

Katya Saburova
Starting dance at the age of 3, Katya trained in various styles until falling in love with ballet. She received her classical ballet and contemporary training from New
Jersey School of Ballet, Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory, and Verterich Ballet Studio. During her years of training, she won many medals and awards from national and international ballet competitions, including VKIBC, YAGP, the National Ballet Competition, and ADCIBC. While participating in competitions, Katherine choreographed several of her award-winning contemporary solos. As a trainee with BalletMet in Columbus, OH, she performed alongside the BalletMet company in various productions as well as performing soloist roles in trainee showcases. Beginning her teaching journey as an assistant teacher while being a student herself, Katya loves sharing her knowledge and experience with young students.

Mallika Towne
Mallika was born and raised in Montana and has been dancing since the age of three, receiving her training from LaDonna Jimison at LaDonna’s School of Dance. Early on, she developed a special love for tap dancing. As a tap instructor and performer, she has choreographed numerous national award winning tap numbers for solos, duos, trios and groups. Mallika has had the honor to teach tap workshops for beginners, intermediate and advanced students in Montana and North Dakota. While attending Montclair State University, she was the dance captain of the Rhythm Nation Dance Club (now known as Montclair State Dance Company), where she taught, choreographed and performed the tap numbers for the group—all while receiving a BS in Biochemistry. After graduating, she received the opportunity to be a member of the BPArtists (Broadway Performing Artists), a Broadway inspired performance troupe that showcased numbers throughout NJ. She has taken master classes and danced with Bruce Stegmann, Bril Barrett, Cleve Asbury, Elisa Heinsohn and Kyle Wilder. Mallika continues to pursue her passion of tap with the help of West Side Dance Center.

Kolyn Ryan
Kolyn Ryan is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Hofstra University. She has trained in both commercial and concert styles such as ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop and has been teaching and choreographing various styles since 2014. Kolyn has worked with many known choreographers such as Amy Marshall from Amy Marshall Dance Company and Robin Becker from Robin Becker Dance.

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Andrij Cybyk
Andrij Cybyk is an American by birth, Ukrainian by heritage and gypsy at heart. A graduate of the Virksi School of Academic Ukrainian Dance in Kyiv, Ukraine, and a long time student of Roma Pryma Bohachevsky, he is well known as a dancer, teacher and choreographer in various styles of contemporary and traditional dance. As a dancer, he has toured the country and the world with companies like AllNations, Michael Mao Dance, Nai-Ni Chen, the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, Barynya and, most recently, with the American, European and Corporate Event companies of Riverdance. He has been featured as a guest artist with the New Jersey Ballet, Northwest Florida Ballet, Montgomery Ballet, Mobile Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Anglo-American Ballet, Brighton Ballet, and the Shore Ballet companies. Additionally, Andrij was featured in Indianapolis City Ballet’s, “An Evening with the Stars”. As a teacher, he has taught workshops in New York City, upstate New York, New Jersey, Texas, China, Aruba, Taiwan and Brazil. He is currently the Artistic Director for the Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble and Academy in Whippany, New Jersey and the Tsvitka Ukrainian Dance Academy in Rockland County, NY.

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Leah Suskind - Guest Artist
Born and raised in Randolph, NJ, Leah started dancing at age 3 and presently attends Morris County School of Technology as a dance major in the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA). Outside of school, Leah trains at the West Side Dance Center where she studies ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, tap and hip hop. She is a member of the WSDC Performing Troupe as well as a principal dancer with the NextStep Dance Company. For the past 3 years she has attended a number of summer intensives including Carolyn Dorfman, the Juilliard School, Rockette Summer, RIOULT Dance Company and NYU’S Tish Summer Intensives. Her performing opportunities inclulde; Backstage is Onstage and May Dance annual concerts, World Voices in Motion at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and DanceNJ Show Up & Dance. Leah is a member of the NHSDA, NHS, NTHS, NJ Governors School of the Arts nominee and National Finalist of the 2018 NDEO Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award.

Megan Perry
Megan is an energetic professional with over 10 years of experience as an instructor and choreographer. Megan has been a dancer since the age of 2 and has experience dancing at the competitive level winning many awards. As a young dancer Megan had the opportunity to dance with dance professionals such as Savion Glover, Frank Hatchett, David Howard, Rhapsody, Chio, Brian Friedman. Megan has a degree in Theater Arts with a concentration in management and dance. As a student, Megan created the Dance club, was a choreographer for student dance concerts and the theatre production of "Godspell". She worked with the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, the R2 Dance Company, and the Mark Morris Dance Company. After graduating she was an Adjunct professor teaching dance. In 2010 Megan started working at the West Side Dance Center and has loved every minute of it. West Side has given her the opportunity to choreograph at the competitive level and has become her second home. She appreciates the love and talent every student at West Side possesses.

Molly Bierce - Guest Artist
Originally from Succasunna, NJ Molly started dancing at age 3 at WSDC until age 18. She trained in all genres of dance including Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern & Contemporary. She began assisting in dance classes at age 14 and taught her own classes through high school while attending the Academy of Visual Performing Arts at the Morris County School of Technology. She was a member of the NHSDA, NHS, NTHS and the NJ Governors School of the Arts nominee. She danced competitively throughout her dance education and won numerous awards and scholarships. In college Molly was a dance captain on the top five nationally ranked University of Massachusetts' Dance Team where she was awarded 2 consecutive NDA D1 All American Dance Awards. She presently teaches dance at studios in the area and continues to train in NYC.

Monika Aimova
As a child, Monika was training for the Czechoslovakian Junior Olympic gymnastics team, when her teacher recommended that she audition for the elite Conservatory of Prague. For the next 8 years, she trained with Czech and Russian teachers in the Vaganova technique. During her 10 year professional career, Monika danced over 1,000 performances with major ballet companies throughout Eastern Europe. As a soloist, she performed the leads in many famous classical ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, La Corsaire, and Don Quixote.

 

 

 

Sophia Ricci
Sophia Ricci is a teacher, choreographer, and performer from northern New Jersey. She received a B.F.A. in Dance from Rutgers University and currently performs with treadFAST Dance Company in NYC. She has performed works by Steven Blandino, Tentacle Tribe, Suzy Fischbach, Kyle Marshall, Zojea, and Ananya Chatterji. Sophia’s choreography has been showcased at events such as Love Moves, Women’s Day Dance Festival, Small Plates Dance, as well as in the short film Marco by Tino Ciatti. Her passion for dance includes teaching and choreography, hoping to inspire artistry and self confidence in her students.

Yvonne Hernandez
For the past 27 years Yvonne has coached the sport of gymnastics and sports alike. She has had the pleasure of teaching artistic gymnastics for all levels from beginner to advanced as well as various levels of power tumbling, sports acrobatics, rhythmic gymnastics, diving, trampoline, powerlifting and olympic weightlifting. Due to her expertise and experience in the world of gymnastics, she has also been teaching dancers for the past 25 years. This has allowed her skills and knowledge to grow; understand and create a curriculum especially for the needs of all dance levels. In addition to Yvonne's experience as a teacher/coach, she has worked as an Athletic Performance Enhancement Specialist, allowing her to become more aware of an individual's physical abilities, therefore creating a well rounded teaching experience.