Lynn Makiej currently is enjoying the position of executive director after opening the doors of DNE School of Dance thirteen years ago. She fell in love with dance while taking classes at a local dance school as a child. By the age of 13 she was studying Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz and Lyrical in Boston, Massachusetts studying under Rennie, Rhee & Sherry Gold.  She was also fortunate enough to also study under Rosanne Ridings & Jose Mateo.  She was soon performing in many Boston area productions and fashion shows.

While still in high school, she was given the opportunity to dance with Jean Ann Ryan Productions. After highschool she began her professional dance carreer by dancing Broadway and Las Vegas-style review shows on the Queen Elizabeth II and M.S. Sagafjord. This exciting journey took her from South Africa to Alaska.

Lynn has performed & competed professionally in many national ballroom competitions and since 1992, began to focus on teaching American Style Ballroom.

In 1996, she opened the doors to Dance New England to share & offer her love of dance to everyone. DNE continues to grow in popularity with each passing year - Lynn is now in the thirteenth year of owning and operating one of Greater Boston's greatest dance environments. She has currently taken the position of executive director as she is now sharing ownership of DNE with Mandra Biscornet as artistic director and Susan Webster as our financial director. She continues to inspire the art of dance to all ages and is loving every minute of it.

Sue Webster has recently become our financial director and sharing ownership with Lynn Makiej and Mandra Biscornet. Sue has been on the administrative side of companies for her entire career at various levels. She spent the last ten years' as an Administrative Assistant to the president and vice president of an environmental engineering firm in Concord. She has especially enjoyed working for small business owners where she feels she can assist in the growth of the company. Since DNE opened in 1996, she has worked part-time in the office helping with the growth of the studio as much as she could. In October 2001, Sue became a full-time employee at DNE taking care of the student records and assisting at all of our special events throughout the year and much more. She has enjoyed learning the process of operating a small business and looks forward to continuing the growth of DNE.

Mandra has been an instructor at DNE for nine years. Last September she started full time as our artistic director and is enjoying part ownership of DNE. Mandra received her ballet training from Scott Ranagan at Bay State Ballet Theatre School and has studied jazz dance with Madelon Curtis Dance Studios in Lowell. She continued her dance training at the University of Virginia where she performed, choreographed and directed the Virginia Dance Company. Mandra continues to perform locally with A Feast of Friends Productions and The Standing Room Only Players. She enjoys sharing her love for dance with younger students and is thrilled to be such an important part of DNE. In the fall of 2006 she started DNE's Performing Companies. Three companies consisting a Junior Company, Senior Company and Celtic Company. They have performed at various locations in the Merrimack Valley and they look forward to their company performance in October 2007. Mandra recently received her MSW in social work from Boston University and looks forward to balancing a career in social services and the performing arts. Mandra has been an enormous asset to the DNE family and I look forward to everything she has to offer for many years to come.

Brenda Fariole began dancing at the age of three. She has studied and trained extensively with Kathy Kozal, Roseanne Ridings and Sherry Gold in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical dance. She has performed and competed in numerous events and competitions throughout New England and the United States inlcuding Barbara Gee Productions, Terpsichore Dance Competitions and Dance Masters of America. While training at Sherry Gold's Dance Unlimited she began studying theatre and drama with Jodi Nelson and also began assistant teaching. Upon graduation, Brenda began teaching American Style Ballroom and Latin dance and also worked in various venues which included commercial real estate, professional photography studio management and corporate sales. Her love and passion for dance brought her back to teaching both children's classes as well as adult ballroom and Latin dance at DNE.

Christine Morrison is an accomplished and well known Step Dancer in the Boston area. With over twenty years experience as a dancer, Christine has great knowledge in the field of Celtic Step Dancing, including both Irish and Cape Breton(Scottish) styles.

Jenny Oliver is a well-known dancer who’s performed throughout New England and across the United States. She’s danced in a performance with Derrik Grant (of Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk fame), in Harlem, NY at the World Aids Day celebration in the Schoenberg Theatre. She is a High Honors graduate of Dean College's BA Dance Program and has continued her studies with such dance luminaries as Maurice Hines, Josh Hillberman, Bob E. Thomas, Denise Jefferson, Rennie Harris, Mr.Wiggles, Bboy Ynot, Brian Freedman, AC Ciulla, Jean Appolon, Wyatt Jackson and is an alumni of the Jacob’s Pillow School, receiving an Excellence in Achievement Award.

Through her aptitude and vehemence for dance, she is the dance captain and co-choreographer of Boston Tap Company, directed by Sean C Fielder (of “Noise Funk”). The mission of BTC is to educate and entertain through art as way of life. Promoting respect for ones self and others while creating a firm foundation of cultural history by means of art as a universal language.  BTC produces a positive, productive and respectful way of expression that encourages confidence amongst all.  She is also an alumni member of Roots Uprising, a modern performing company directed by well-known choreographer and teacher Nailah Bellinger and danced for several years with Arc-en-ciel Dance Troupe, a Haitian Folkloric performing company.

Her most recent endeavors include developing methods and theories to link the skills necessary for students to succeed in their academics with the skills and habits necessary to acquire professional dance technique, bridging the gap between traditional academia and the performing arts. 

In her work teaching up and down the New England states, Jenny brings considerable enthusiasm, knowledge, skill, and creative teaching philosophies, helping today’s youth navigate the challenges and obstacles to success and productive lives through the medium of dance. 

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J.Enterprising Productions
 

Under the artistic direction of E. Virginia Williams, Ms. Ridings became a member of the Boston Ballet Company. She later danced with the Copley Square Ballet and has performed as a guest artist throughout New England. Her teaching experience includes Ballet Theatre of Boston, Classical Ballet of Boston, Dean Jr. College, and the prestigious Chautauqua Institution (NY). She is a former director of the Cambridge Ballet Center and is currently teaching at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, at the Lexington School of Ballet as well as Judging several National Dance Competitions. DNE is thrilled to have Ms. Ridings on staff and we look forward to our students having the opportunity to work with her.

Robert Machado, Pianist to Miss Ridings

Robert Machado graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music in 1979 with an undergraduate degree in applied piano. He has worked as an accompanist for classes at the Chataugua Arts Colony in western New York. He was on tour with American Ballet Theatre II in the eartly 80's and has played for class at Robert Denvers Studio in New York. He has played for company class at Boston Ballet. He has worked as an accompanist in the Boston area for over 25 years. He currently plays for Roseann Ridings at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA.

Kate Hoch, the founder and artistic director of Superstar Productions, began studying voice and guitar as a child and performed in musicals throughout her high school and college years in the Midwest. After moving to Massachusetts after college, Kate continued to act in community theater, performed at local children's events, and led her church folk group for nine years. She began directing children’s theater in Harvard, Mass., as a parent volunteer for the sixth grade play, which led to a position teaching music and drama at Oak Meadow Montessori School in Littleton, Mass., where she directed five musicals over a two-year period. In 2002, Kate created Superstar Productions to conduct musical theater workshops through the Harvard school system’s Spectrum after school enrichment program. Since then, Kate has produced and directed nearly 20 plays for students in grades four through eight during the regular school year and in summer camps.

An accomplished seamstress and costumer, Kate also designs all the costumes for Superstar’s shows and occasionally for other theater groups. She recently earned an award for "Outstanding Costume Design" at the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatre for her costumes in Harvard Community Theatre's production of The Mistress Cycles by Jenny Geary. Kate and her husband Jamie live in Westford, Mass., with their teenage son Andrew and their two college-age daughters, Allie and Sarah, who works with Superstar Productions on breaks from her studies in musical theater.
 

Matt trained under the mentorship of Nicole DiCicco-Cavalloro, Paula Meola, and Joan Phelps Palladino and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dean College's Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance.  He has worked with teachers and choreographers such as Michelle DaSilva-Ball, David Drummond, Jay T. Jenkins, Stacey McIntyre, Nailah Randall-Bellinger, Jill Silverman, and Bryan Steele. 

His choreography has been performed in college performances, competitions, and recreational performances throughout the New England area.  His pieces have received high acclaim from studio directors, professionals, and audiences. He has taught, been a master teacher, and created choreography, at both the recreational and the pre-professional levels. 

Matt has been teaching, coaching, and choreographing throughout the New England area for several years. His classes focus on building strong technique, strength, and flexibility,  by building a solid core and teaching proper body alignment. The classroom atmosphere is always energetic and exciting. Matt strives to make sure every dancer receives the highest quality classroom experience possible.  His intricate choreography fuses all techniques and styes of dance, it combines jazz, modern, lyric, contemporary, and even hip hop to create cohesive, beautiful, and challenging choreography. His unique and  stimulating choreography is known to test the abilities of a true dancer by encouraging dancers to express their individuality and tell a story without words. His creative and athletic class structure and choreography extends from the philosophy that dance is truly art in motion; therefore he not only focuses to on training strong technicians but also on building artists and performers who will be able to handle any obstacle.

Sara Torpey graduated from Bridgewater State College with a major in Dance Education. There she was a part of the dance company, team, and dance ensemble; performing in many shows yearly. In addition to the required classes, she expanded her dance education by learning the Indian style of dance known as Bharatanatyam from Kausayla Srinivasan. She has choreographed many dances, attended/performed at the American College Dance Festival, and also co-directed her own dance production.
Aside from college, Sara studied dance for 20 years at Ellen's School of Dance. Competing, performing and taking many master classes at conventions from choreographers from the entire U.S. She also studied at the Academy of Ballet Arts to further her education and technique in ballet. Sara used her training by teaching ballet and pointe classes at Capachione's School of Performing Arts. This is her second year working at DNE and she is eager to continue teaching.