Faculty

Christie Coleman is a dancer and choreographer with a Masters in Education for Dance from NYU. Her choreography, highlighting social issues through dance, has been performed internationally and is acclaimed by UNESCO. She has worked with National Ballet of Kosovo premiering two evening-length works. Christie was raised within The Coleman School of Dance and founded Illuminations Dance Company. In addition to the Coleman School of Dance, Christie taught dance at Achievement First Charter School in East New York, New Rochelle High School, and Sacred Heart University.

Jenny Coleman entered the dance world at the age of four in her mother's studio. As a teenager, she received a scholarship to study at The Governor's School of the arts in PA. Jenny received a Master's in Dance/Movement Therapy from Hahnemann Medical (now Drexel University). After working as a dance therapist and having children, she returned to her true professional love: teaching dance, which has enthralled her for the last 30 years. While teaching, Jenny danced in Connecticut Ballet Theatre's productions of The Nutcracker and in Classics Dance Theatre's productions of Little Women, Cinderella, and Anne Frank.

Etrita Abdullahu trained at “Prenk Jakova” Music High School as a ballet major, and performed with the National Ballet of Kosovo where she had the opportunity to work with international choreographers and travel with the company. She won the Grand Prix Award at The Arts Festival in Dubai. At Fini Dance Festival she won a scholarship to come to New York. Here, she danced with Michael Mao Company. She trained in the American Ballet Theater (ABT) collegiate summer intensive and the Joffrey Ballet School. She is now on her third year as a trainee with Joffrey. Her love for dance keeps her dancing and passing this passion to the younger generation.

Rose Barbantan is from the village of Barbentane in South of France. She began training at the Regional Dance Conservatory in Avignon, France. As a finalist in the Youth America Grand Prix in Paris she met Annarella Sanchez, the Director of the International Conservatory of Dance in Portugal and at the age of 15 moved to Portugal to pursue her desire to dance. She performed in Got Talent Portugal, and in the Youth America Grand Prix in New York. At age 16 she began training in the Graham technique at the Paris Marais Dance School with Maggie Boogaart and soon moved to New York to attend the Certificate Program at The Ailey School. She performed “Memoria”, staged by Rehearsal Director, Ronni Favors, alongside the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Company and Ailey II, at New York City Center. As a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group she has worked with choreographers such as Brice Mousset, Patrick Coker and Hollie Wright. In addition to dance, Rose is quadrilingual in French, Portuguese, Spanish and English and her distance education by CNED allowed her to obtain her Bachelor Degree Literary baccalaureate diploma. Now Rose is working with Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet, Shift dance company, Accent Dance Company, and she was a part of « Table of Silence » 2022 with Jacqulyn Buglisi Dance Theater.

Daniela O'Connor Daniela O'Connor was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and raised in Miami, Florida. Her family migrated to the states in 1997 (where she grew her passion for dance) when she was 11 years old. Daniela is diverse in many different dance styles, such as ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, west african, latin dances, and much more. She obtained her BFA from new world school of the arts in 2009. She immediately moved to NY to fulfill her dream of traveling around the world while dancing, and also became the co-owner of the company LFX Dancers.

Christine Lewis studied dance at the Pacific School of Dance in Oregon in her youth taking ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop, point, and partnering. She continued into the high school dance team, winning the state competition title as a senior captain and choreographer as well as selection to the All-State Team. She went on to participate in two dance groups at the collegiate level as she pursued her degree in fashion design, providing choreography and captain/coaching, performing and traveling weekly. While her career has been in design, she has continued her passion for dance with freelance choreography over the years, and is now excited to join the talented faculty at the Coleman School of Dance. She will bring expertise in the areas of execution, technique and style, and a philosophy of owning and determining one’s own evolution.

Nicole Cruz was born in the Philippines. She pursued dance professionally with Ballet Philippines where she danced both principal and soloist roles. Nicole has also danced with Hong Kong Ballet and upon moving to the United States, danced with Connecticut Ballet, Zig Zog Ballet, Ballet New York and Ballet Memphis, where she spent three seasons dancing roles in Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia. Currently, Nicole teaches pilates at the Center For Movement in Scarsdale, Fiore Pilates in Mamaroneck and Pilates Symmetry in Stamford, CT. She also belongs to the faculty of Ballet Center in Stamford.

Mandy Kirschner Salva was born and raised in Maryland. She started dancing at a young age and graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 1995. She continued on to SUNY Purchase where she graduated cum laude and received a BFA in dance performance. In 2000 she joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company where she performed and traveled the world for four years. She has worked with Ellen Cornfield and Liz Gerring, and was a member of the Stephen Petronio Company from 2006 through 2010. She is a founding member of Second Story Dance Project in Westchester, NY where she also lives with her husband and 2 children.

Melissa Gingold grew up in New Rochelle. She began ballet classes at age 11 at the Westchester Theatre of Dance at the JCC in Mid-Westchester, where in 2012 she received the Maria Jones Scholarship Award for excellence and promise in the field of dance. In the PAVE program at New Rochelle High School, she studied and performed many styles including hip-hop, contemporary and modern dance. She received instruction at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s summer intensive program in 2015. Melissa graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Nutritional Sciences and a dietetics concentration. At Cornell, she performed and choreographed lyrical and contemporary pieces with a talented group of students in Pandora Dance Troupe. Up to 500 audience members attended their shows in large performance halls on campus. Melissa currently works as a registered dietitian, and continues to dance around Westchester and NYC. She is honored and excited to guest-teach at the Coleman School of Dance!

Susanna Procario-Foley danced with the Coleman School of Dance for 13 years, where she studied ballet, modern, contemporary, improvisation, and choreography. She now attends Connecticut College where she double majors in dance and English. In 2019, Susanna taught at CSD’s summer camp, choreographing and producing performances for the kids. She loves teaching because it allows her to spread her passion for creativity to younger dancers and watch them grow as artists and people. Susanna believes that dance is a powerful means of expression and should not be undervalued.