Instructors
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Instructor Bios
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Amanda Buchanan Amanda Buchanan began her dance training at Chez Dance at the age of 3. She was a company member for 7 years and participated in numerous competitions, charity events, workshops and fundraisers. In 1995, Amanda was awarded highest scoring senior solo in a national competition. She was invited twice to participate in the Teen Arts Festival at Rowan University, a day dedicated to teens involved in visual and performing arts. |
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| Amanda decided to continue her studies in dance by attending Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.While attending Mason Gross she was a finalist for the DancePlus scholarship awarded annually to one student. As a member of the DancePlus performing group, Amanda had the opportunity to perform for a variety of local events. During her time at Mason Gross, she was able to train with the American Repertoire Ballet and take many master classes at Broadway Dance Center in New York.In addition to teaching at Chez Dance, Amanda taught at Allstar Dance Academy where she helped implement a dance program for children with special needs. Amanda continues to take master classes in Philadelphia and New York. She is thrilled to be teaching at Chez Dance and is very proud of all her students. | ||
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Diandra Chiaffa Diandra began dance at the age of six at the Chez Dance Studio. Her concentration of study was ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe and hip hop. She later became a member of the Chez Dance Company where she had the opportunity to perform at numerous venues. Diandra’s most memorable performances have been at Disney World, Universal Studios, Harlem Globetrotters and the 76ers game. |
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| She also participated in the Tremaine Workshop in New York City and was nominated dancer of the year from Chez Dance. While in high school she choreographed for the homecoming halftime and the dance performance for Mr. Glassboro Pageant.Diandra earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations at Rowan University. She was a member of the Philadelphia KIXX Dance Team for three years. Some of the most rewarding parts of being a KIXX dancer was helping to raise money to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims and making young children smile in the hospital. Diandra was a member of the Philadelphia All Pro Dancers which she enjoyed tremendously. | ||
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Crystal Frazier Crystal Frazier is from New Jersey where she began her dance and gymnastics training at the age of 6. She received her Associates Degree in Dance from the University of the Arts where she is currently on staff and she was a principal dancer with “Rennie Harris Puremovement.” |
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| She has made appearances in “Rome and Jules,” Illadelph Legends, Dance Magazine and her performance credits include the VH1 Fashion awards with Macy Gray, BET’s Comicview, the BET Awards with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, MTV’s Lip Service, and MTV’s Global Groove. She was the featured dancer and choreographer for Jill Scott’s “Big Beautiful Tour” and has had the opportunity to be in the swing cast for the Groovaloos Show in LA, a video with Mike Philips, the Italy Tour with Kathy Sledge, and make an appearance in the movie Beloved as well as the show Monk.Crystal’s choreography has been featured nationally and internationally for shows such as The Fringe Festival, The Garden State Dance Festival, The Philadelphia 76ers Dance Team, Drexel University, The University of the Arts, The Rock School, Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts, Hip Hop Extravaganza in Bermuda, Taipei University of the Arts in Taiwan, Cruzan Dance in St. Croix, Encore Danses En Tourneau and Dance Ability in Canada, and many more. She is also a judicator for the Miss America Organization, Dancers Inc. Competition and Convention, DanceQuest in Canada, and she is the former Co-Founder of Montazh Performing Arts Company where in 2006 she received an “Art and Change” grant from the Leeway Foundation for “Ladies of HipHop.” Currently, Crystal continues to perform with “Rennie Harris Puremovement” and can be found on staff at many prestigious schools throughout the Tri-State area teaching all styles of dance. | ||
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Bianca Gatto Bianca has been dancing at Chez Dance Studio since the age of two. During that time she was a member of the company for nine years under the direction of Roseann M. Gatto. Throughout her years at Chez, Bianca has won numerous awards such as Poetry in Motion and the Most Intense Dancer award. |
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| She has performed at Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney, Rowan University, Merriam Theatre, Drake Theatre, 76ers, Globetrotters, Garden State Dance Festival, and has previously guest appeared at the University of the Arts. Bianca also performed the lead Pulchinelle in the Nutcracker with the professional ballet company Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre. At a convention in New York City, she has won the Tremaine Dance Scholarship and received the Studio Dancer of the Year award. She is a member of the modern dance company, Enso Ensemble, directed by Michele Sasse. Bianca is currently a Jazz Dance major at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and was awarded the Presidential Scholarship granted to students who demonstrate the highest qualifications for talent, academic achievement, and potential for success.We are delighted to have Bianca on our teaching staff, and wish her the best of luck. She would like to take this opportunity to say how proud she is of all of her students, and to thank all of the students and parents who have supported her in the past. She will never forget their kindness. | ||
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Brielle Gatto Brielle began her training at Chez Dance Studio under the direction of Roseann Mastrogiacomo Gatto. She has won numerous competitions and special awards. Brielle is a two-time recipient of the Tremaine Dance scholarship in New York City and was a member of the Jr. 76ers Dance Team. |
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| She also performed as Clara in the Nutcracker for two consecutive years with Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre. Brielle has performed at the Merriam Theatre, with the Harlem Globetrotters, Rowan University, Universal Studios, Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney and many other places throughout the Delaware Valley.She currently is a member of Enso Ensemble under the direction of Michele Sasse and a student at the University of the Arts . Her passion for dancing has led her here today. | ||
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Leilah Khazamipour Leilah started dancing at the age of 5 at Chez Dance and has been a student with the studio for the past 14 years. She has also been a Chez Dance Company Member for 8 years. Leilah has done many performances as a Chez Dance Company Member, those of which include performing in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. |
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| She also performed in numerous local events and competitions, including the Tremaine convention in New York City. Leilah has also participated in various University of the Arts performances. In June of 2003, Leilah graduated from Chez Dance as a senior company member to attend Temple University, pursuing a degree in Nursing. However, her passion for dance has always been a major part of her life. This led her to join the university’s Diamond Gem Dance Team. She performed for Temple’s football and basketball teams at the Lincoln Financial Field and the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.Leilah also danced professionally with the Gemini Dance Projex modern company, under the artistic direction of Jeanine Shoemaker. With this company, Leilah had performed at the Drake Theater, Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Arts Bank and was a guest artist at the Garden State Dance Festival in Collingswood, NJ. Leilah is currently performing with the Enso Ensemble under the direction of Michele Sasse and continues to take classes in New York and Philadelphia to further her dance background. This is Leilah’s seventh year teaching at Chez Dance and she is very excited to share her extensive dance background with her students. | ||
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Amy Petrongolo Amy Petrongolo has long been a familiar face at the Chez Dance Studio, having been affiliated for 28 years. First having danced at age 6, Roseann Mastrogiacomo Gatto has been her principal teacher throughout. While attending a Tremaine workshop with the Chez Dance Company in New York City, Amy received a scholarship from Serge Rodnunsky Arts Center, Studio City, CA. In the summer of 1992, Amy was chosen as a scholarship student with the Philadelphia Dance Company. |
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| Amy is a graduate of the University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Modern Dance and Dance Education. During her time at the University she has performed at the Merriam and Drake Theatres in Philadelphia. She is very happy to have received a scholarship to attend the University, where she furthered her education. Amy has also taught for Gloucester Township Summer Stage where she choreographed the stage production of “Jungle Book.” Amy has long shown her dedication in becoming a dancer and choreographer. She started a program called Mom and Me at Chez Dance with great success. Amy has also choreographed for the Chez Dance Company to perform at the Philadelphia 76ers, the halftime show at the Globetrotters and for the second time in the Magic Kingdom. She is extremely happy the girls did such a wonderful job. She is an excellent instructor and is thrilled with her students. We are delighted to have Amy as a member of the Chez Dance staff. | ||
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Michele Romond Michele Romond trained as a young girl at Chez Dance Studio. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts of Dance with a focus in Modern Dance from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1998. While attending the University of the Arts, Michele performed in many concerts at the Drake, Merriam and Kumquat Theatres in Philadelphia. |
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| During 1999-2000 Michele worked with Center Stage Productions in Atlantic City, NJ. She performed in various casinos such as Bally’s, Trump Marina and Trump Plaza.Recently, Michele has become part of fellow teacher Michele Sasse’s modern dance company, Enso Ensemble. As part of Enso she has performed in the Philly Fringe Festival and Frankford Arts Festival in 2005. In addition to performing , Michele has been teaching and choreographing in the South Jersey area for years. Her work ranges from musical theater to night club cabaret.Michele continues to take classes in all areas of dance with special interest in Afro-Modern and Hip-Hop. | ||
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Barbara Sandonato Barbara Sandonato is the director of the Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet located in Philadelphia. Ms. Sandonato trained in the School of American Ballet under George Balanchine in New York City. When the Pennsylvania Ballet formed in 1962, she left New York and was the first dancer to join Barbara Weisberger in her new company. |
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| She remained Principal Dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet until 1977 except for a one year stint with the National Ballet of Canada where, as a principal, she performed with Rudolf Nureyev. She has made guest appearances with numerous companies including Wisconsin Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Eglevsky Ballet. She and her late husband Alexei Yudenich won a bronze medal at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria.
Ms. Sandonato’s dance roles have ranged from the traditional bravura showpieces to the ballets of the Romantic realm, and from the exquisite but often relentless demands of a Balanchine ballet to the works of modernists like Limon and Butler. Among many roles, Ms Sandonato has danced the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake and Principal roles in Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony, Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brilliante and Serenade. She also danced Aurora in Nureyev’s production of Sleeping Beauty and in Fokine’s Les Sylphides and William Dollar’s The Duel. Throughout her career, Ms Sandonato has been a nationally esteemed master teacher. She was one of the founding instructors of the former School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. Most recently, she served as guest teacher at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She has served as Artist-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor of Ballet at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, as well as teaching at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Ballet Academy East, University of the Arts, and numerous other university level and grade-level schools throughout the country. Many of Ms Sandonato’s former students are now in professional dancing careers, including her daughter Gabriella Yudenich, who is currently a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. |
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Michele Sasse Michele is happy to be teaching at Chez Dance Studio where she studied as a young student, danced as a Senior Company member and first began teaching. She graduated in 1993 from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a BFA in Modern Dance. Michele has established herself as an accomplished performer, choreographer and instructor. She made her debut in New York City performing in the Off-Broadway play “Sisters Dance” under the direction of Maja Lorovic. |
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| She worked for many talented choreographers including Henning Rubsam of Sense Dance, Robert Battle and Patricia Kenny of the Parson’s Dance Company and Peter PΩucci of Peter Pucci Plus. In addition, Michele has performed for Blue Moon Enterprises at New York City’s Symphony Space, the Akzent Theater in Vienna and the Nederlands Theatre in Holland in the Modern Dance Musical “Listen to the Colors”. She toured with Peter Pucci Plus in Colorado, San Diego, Dubai (U.A.E.) and Thailand and was a company member of Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends based in New York City. Michele’s performances with Isabel have been seen in New York, Toronto, Athabaska, Winnipeg, San Francisco, Mexico and Germany. Michele’s own choreography has been graciously recognized throughout New York and Canada in many dance festivals and she has taught in several studios throughout New York including The Ballet Arts of Forest Hills, The Sandra Cameron Dance Center, and Queens Dance Academy. Michele also directed and choreographed the children’s program for the Isaac Chauncy Public School in Glendale, NY. Michele has served as an adjunct faculty member at Rowan University’s Department of Theatre and Dance and is the founder and artistic director of Enso Ensemble. | ||
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Kimberly Ann White-Lindstedt Kimberly White-Lindstedt began her training at Chez Dance Studio at the age of 11 studying ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance and was a member of the Senior Dance Company. She graduated from the University of the Arts with a BFA in Dance Education concentrating in Modern Dance. She graduated with honors and was also the recipient of the award for outstanding student teacher. |
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| She has performed at the Merriam and Drake Theatres in Philadelphia, The Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and also on WPVI’s Puerto Rican Panorama. She again received another privilege when asked to perform with Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project as a community cast member. Kimberly holds membership with both the National Dance Educators’ Organization and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She became involved in outreach activities with public and private schools in the tri-state area through Connections Dance Company, Delaware Valley Institute for the Arts and Delaware Institute for Arts in Education. Recently she was nominated for Who’s Who in America’s Women and is very excited about this honor. This summer she is anticipating furthering her study of ballet pedagogy with the renowned Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Teacher Education Seminar. Currently she teaches ballet, jazz, modern, creative dance and Kindermusik here at Chez. | ||
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Gabriella Yudenich A native of southern New Jersey, Gabriella Yudenich began her dance training at the age of seven, with the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. She also trained under the guidance of her mother, Barbara Sandonato, who was the first dancer hired to be a member of Pennsylvania Ballet in 1963. |
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| Ms. Yudenich attended the School of American Ballet under full scholarship for two years. She also completed summer sessions at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She performed with Dances Patrelle in New York City, dancing soloist roles in the Yorkville Nutcracker.Ms. Yudenich performed with Pennsylvania Ballet in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew before becoming the first member of Pennsylvania Ballet II, the Joyce and Herbert Kean Trainee program. As a member of Pennsylvania Ballet II for two seasons, she performed in lecture demonstrations throughout the region, as well as in the Company’s full-length productions. She became an Apprentice in September 2003 and was promoted to the Corps de Ballet in September 2005. Ms. Yudenich has performed in many classical and contemporary ballets including Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Matthew Neenan’s Carmina Burana, and many pieces from the Balanchine repertoire. Her lead roles include Myrta in Giselle, Lilac Fairy and Precious Jewels pas de trios in The Sleeping Beauty. Ms. Yudenich was recently promoted to Soloist for the 2007-2008 Season.Ms. Yudenich is a true product of Pennsylvania Ballet history. Her mother, Barbara Sandonato, was a star member of Pennsylvania Ballet throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, and her father, the late Alexei Yudenich, was also a leading member of the Company during that time. | ||
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