AhzsMaralda (Bellydance) has been performing classical American Caberet bellydance, Gypsy style bellydance, and bellydance with a latin/flamenco flavor for the past (7) years. She has immersed herself in the dance styles of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and has studied with icons of Middle Eastern Dance including: Carmen Amaya, Hannan Sultan (NC/Toronto), Khadayif (Tampa), Azmara (New York), Nourhan Sharif (New York), Kira (N. Miami Beach), Bozenka (Bellydance Superstars – Miami Beach), Alina Yllanes (Lotus Dance, Pembroke Pines, FL), Salomae (N. Miami, FL), Souhail Kaspar, (CA), Myriam Eli (Miami, FL), Mesmera (NYC), Dahlena (NYC) and various additional workshops across the country.
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Jackie Beckham (Zumba) Zumba Gold-Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, AFAA Certified, Raised in Key West Jackie is a Zumba favorite!
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Sheila Bellefleur (Jazz) is the Founder (1981) and Artistic Director of the jazz ballet company Casco Bay Movers. With extensive training in jazz, her studies also have included Tai Chi Chuan, Mime, West African Dance, Ballet and the Alexander Technique with master teachers and choreographers in Europe, Africa, North and South America. Along with directing and teaching at the Casco Bay Movers Dance School, Sheila has taught at the University of Southern Maine, Bates College, Ram Island Dance Center, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte (Brazil), The American College of Greece, and The International Dance Project in Athens. In 1988, she received an Artist in Residence Grant from The National Endowment for the Arts through the Partners of the Americas to teach, choreograph and research dance in Brazil. Sheila also has served on the dance panel of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her instruction is based on ballet technique with a wide variety of jazz styles ranging from lyrical and cool to funk and blues.
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Kimberly Bryant (Ballet, Jazz) Kimberly’s training and teaching experience spans nearly 3 decades. While still in grade school she was chosen to perform The Nutcracker Suite with the Joffrey Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. At the end of middle school she began participating in the University of Iowa’s collegiate program under the tutelage of Francoise Martinet and Alicia Brown. At age 15 she earned a merit scholarship to attend Virginia School of the Arts; there she performed the role of Swanhilda from Coppelia. In college she was invited to become a member of the George Mason University Dance Company and performed several years in their annual Dance Gala. Graduating with a B.A. in Psychology she also earned a minor in dance. Ms. Bryant has been teaching classical & contemporary ballet, creative movement, jazz, tap and lyrical dance for over 12 years. She has instructed at Arlington Center for Dance, The Russell School of Ballet and the Center for Ballet Arts. Ms. Bryant is currently enjoying her fourth year of teaching at the CoffeeMill Dance Studio.
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Carolyn Cooper (Ballet, Jazz, Tap) is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, where she began dancing and continued it at Penn State University, where she also earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She now teaches at the CoffeeMill. She has been seen in Rompers and Fresh Rompers. Her musical theatre performances include My Fair Lady (with the Key West Pops Orchestra), Reefer Madness, Wild Women of Planet Wongo, The Red Head Dilemma, Urinetown, Guys and Dolls (with the Pops), Rocky Horror Show and Follies (with the Pops). Her dance credits in Key West include Love Letters, Cracked! and a Bernstein Bash! (all with Key West Contemporary Dance Company) and Peter and the Wolf and Danceworks with CoffeeMill. Her choreographical credits include assisting with My Fair Lady (with the Pops), Guys and Dolls (with Keys Kids), Jungle Book, Pinocchio Jr., A Christmas Carol, High School Musical, Willy Wonka Jr., Bat Boy, Annie, Follies, Danceworks, South Pacific and various other projects. You saw her onstage as Andy in Stepping Out at the Waterfront Theatre May 2010!
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Jenni Gerstle (Zumba, Kripalu Yoga) Jenni started in the fitness industry in 1982. She owned her own studio, Body In Motion in Acton from 1986 to 1996. She then managed Focus on Fitness in Ashland Ma. and The Concord Fitness club in Concord Ma. She brings years of experience in the industry in many areas, and holds several certifications as well as being a Kripalu yoga instructor. She was a leader in bringing low impact aerobics and step to her local area and is now excited to bring Zumba to Key West.
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Denis Hyland (Jazz, Ballet, Yoga)- Denis began studying dance in NYC at the infamous JoJo’s Dance Factory with JoJo Smith himself. Then at Steps Dance Studio he studied with owner and Artistic Director Patrice Soriero, and was dubbed by her ‘My Diamond in the Rough’ Becoming more involved in ballet, Denis received a scholarship to the David Howard Ballet Center. There he studied with the full faculty and was influenced by all, but it became obvious that Denis is definitely a disciple of the great Broadway teacher Michael Owens. Ballet companies such as Ohio Ballet, Metropolitan Topeka Ballet, Boca Ballet and others soon took Hyland away from the theatre. He visits from New York frequently to teach at the CoffeeMill, perform with Key West Contemporary Dance Company, and bring his cabaret act to Key West.
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Mary Kay Lee (Ballet) began her professional career with the Long Beach Ballet, performing in the Rite of Spring, Song of Norway, and The Nutcracker. She then moved to Chicago to join the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet as a soloist performing in Aida, La Sonnambula, and Faust. MK has also danced with the Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet West, Tau Dance Theatre, Ballet Hawaii, Corpus Christi Ballet and Ballet Florida. She has danced major roles including Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dew Drop, Autumn, Giselle, Bluebird, La Bayadere Pas de Deux, Les Sylphides, Romeo & Juliet, Paquita, and L’Histoire du Soldat. Upon returning from the Long Beach Ballet Ambassador Tour to China in 2009, she currently teaches and choreographs at the Coffeemill Dance Studio, dances with the Key West Contemporary Dance Company and you may even see her underwater working as a Divemaster.
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Penny Leto (Owner/Director of CoffeeMill Dance Studio) Born and raised in the Bronx, Penny relocated to Key West in 1977 with a B.A. in Dance Education from Herbert H. Lehman College. Penny purchased the CoffeeMill property (known for it’s El Brazo Fuerte coffee) in the mid-eighties, co-founded the Key West Dance Theatre and became an original member of the Fabulous Spectrelles. Penny does many projects with Keys Kids, choreographs for all the theaters in Key West, and produces DanceWorks each year with the Coffeemill Dance Collective (teachers, students and visiting artists of the studio). This season she was proud to be a part of Pinocchio, Christmas Survival Guide, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Christmas Carol, Full Monty and Jungle Book! In 2009 the CoffeeMill was awarded an ‘Art Reach’ Grant to present ‘Peter and the Wolf’ to school aged children. Penny is also interested in promoting dance in our schools through the CoffeeMillDance Outreach and Scholarship Program bringing dance to children who can not get to the studio and is a recipient of two ‘Artist in Schools’ Grants. This summer she is proud to be a part of Camp Bravo! A musical theatre camp for children in collaboration with the Keys Community School of the Arts.
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Maurizio Nardi (Modern) is a Principal Dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and he is native of Florence, Italy. In his home country Maurizio studied and begin his professional career with choreographer Deanna Losi. He has danced in produc tions by Beppe Menegatti, Micha Van Hoecke and Roberto Guicciardini, dancing with artist like Alessandro Molin, Marco Pierin, Paul Chalmer, and Carla Fracci. In 1998 Maurizio came to New York with a full scholarship from the Martha Graham School where he graduated in the spring 2000. In February `99 Maurizio joined the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble. In the US Maurizio has been dancing also for others company such as Pearl Lang Dance Theater, Coyote Dancers, Mary Anthony Dance Theater and Battery Dance Com pany. Maurizio has being dancing with the Graham Company since 2002 . He has danced in roles such as The Revivalist in Appalachian Spring, The Chief Celebrant in Acts Of Light, the leading role in Maple Leaf Rag, The Goat in Circe, and the man in the Red Couple in Diversion Of Angels. Maurizio has being teaching, demonstrating and leading lecture-demonstrations since he joined the Company, and for the past two years has been a proud homeowner in Big Pine Key. Maurizio is director of Key West Modern Dance -a week of classes dedicated to modern dance every summer.
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Kyla Piscopink (Jazz, Ballet, Pilates) Artistic Director of the Key West Contemporary Dance Company, Kyla just finished playing Mavis in Stepping Out at The Waterfront Playhouse. Theatre: Reefer Madness, The Graduate (Elaine), The Rocky Horror Show (Columbia), La Traviata (Gypsy Dancer), My Fair Lady (The Key West Pops). Dance: Paradise Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker Key West (Alun Jones, choreo.), Key West Contemporary Dance Co., The Love Show NYC, NFL Dance Line (Buffalo Jills). Choreography: Five Course Love (dir: Moritz Von Stuelpnagel), The Headdress Ball Key West, Keys Kids, The Key West Burlesque Festival, Key West Contemporary Dance Co. Kyla is a two-time recipient of The FKCA’s ArtReach Grant, and has also been awarded a Special Projects Grant.kylapiscopink.com, keywestdance.com
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Leigh Pujado (Modern) studied dance at the University of Nebraska and has performed with and choreographed for The Moving Company, The Omaha Modern Dance Collective, Brazen Hussies Dance and Key West Contemporary Dance Company. For the past ten years she has been lucky enough to dance across Key West stages in various dance concerts and musicals including Forum, Carmina Burana, Dance and Reel, Rocky Horror, Pippin, Ganesha Dance Theatre and Reefer Madness. On weekdays Leigh forces people to exercise in exchange for money over at WeBeFit Personal Training Center.
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Kimberly Schroeder (Ballet, Jazz) ARAD, received her training with June Taylor-Dixon at June Taylor’s School of Dance in Portland, Oregon. During those 14 years in Oregon she completed all 15 levels of the Royal Academy of Dance, which earned her the title, Associate to the Royal Academy of Dance, (ARAD). From there she was accepted into the Milwaukee Ballet II program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While in Milwaukee she danced in many works by Michael Pink, including: Dracula, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Scheherazade. After completing 2 years with Milwaukee Ballet II, Kim performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland with Burklyn Ballet as ‘Alice’ in Alice in Wonderland. The following winter she was invited down to Key West to be in the 2007 production of the Nutcracker Key West. She was asked back the following year where you might recognize her from the ‘Spanish Spirits’ dance and ‘Jewels’. Kim is delighted to be back down in Key West teaching for the CoffeeMill Dance Studio and dancing with Key West Contemporary Dance Company!
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Joey Goodman (Ballet, Jazz, HipHop)
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Jan Czerny (Capoeira)
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Ashley Kamen (Yoga)
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Mike Mulligan (Stretch-Meditation, “At the Gym” Anti-Aging workout)
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Jo Stine (Yoga)