Ms. Alyce Carella
Alyce Carella, dancer, teacher, and choreographer is the artistic director of the Alyce Carella Dance Centre in West Hartford, CT, which was established in 1960. Miss Carella has literally taught thousands of students the “joy” of dance over the years from the age of 2 to 80, beginner to professionals.
Many of her students have performed professionally in New York, Disneyland, FL, Las Vegas and California. More than a dozen previous students have opened their own school of dance.
In the beginning of her career she performed and choreographed all over the eastern coast in concert, theater and TV. She performed with Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Liberace, Jerry Lewis and many other celebrities at the world renowned 500 Club in Atlantic City. She choreographed numerous musicals for local theater groups and summer stock, and had her own Jazz Dance Company which performed for 12 years in concert and lecture demonstrations.
Miss Carella was also the Director of Dance for 20 years at Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT, and taught for several dance teachers organizations in CT and Boston MA area. She was accepted into the Dance Masters of America, Inc., a member of the Dance Teacher Club of CT and Dance Alliance and the National Association of Dance and Afflicted artists. She is a charter member of the Association of Entrepreneurial Women and served on the advisory board for two years with the organization.
Mrs. Laura
Experience: 1976 to present Dance Instructor and Associate Director of the Alyce Carella Dance Centre West Hartford Ct.
* 1978-1980 Cheerleader for the Hartford Hellions indoor soccer team.
* 1979-1983 taught a summer program at Trinity College, National Youth Sports Program for under privileged children.
* 1979-1981 WDRC and Cocoa Cola Dancer for UConn basketball half time shows, auto shows and other various events in Ct.
Escorted people out on the ice for the Hartford Whalers hockey-shoot to win.
* 1986-2003 Taught all forms of dance for the West Hartford School systems. Jazz – hip hop – country line - 50’s be bop
* A life time student and choreographer, studied dance with teachers from NYC.-Chicago-Las Vegas, California and many other states. I presently continue to work full time at Alyce Carella’s and for many years have been the Associate director of the school.
• 2000–2015 very active with choreography for Intermediate and advanced students entering competitions in the Ct. Area.
Interests: Theatre, music, all types of dance shows, dance conventions and traveling.
Ms. Lili St. Amand
Lili St. Amand has been teaching Hip Hop for over 8 years. She found her love for Hip Hop at the age of 6. Through the years Lili has traveled to do dance battles and teach master classes. Lili is passionate about spreading her love and knowledge of Hip Hop, particularly in underserved communities. Lili has taught at Grace Academy for the past 8 years, and also at Horizons - a program through Ethel Walker - for the past two summers. Lili is involved with Moving Matters, a program that brings movement and art to life in the Hartford elementary schools. She also teaches in the Bridgeport juvenile detention center with a program called SLAM. SLAM was created to enhance and help create positive outlets for the boys in the juvenile detention center. Lili has received various awards such as the Jumpstart award through CDA. She has choreographed Break Dancing Shakespeare at Hartford Stage and performed in the production as well. She performed in the annual Hartford Stage Gala this year. Lili choreographed an opening piece for Playhouse on Park's Shakespeare Festival. Lili has done performances for the Greater Hartford Arts Council and danced in their annual gala. Lili is focused on providing the best education for her students and strives to create a positive expressive environment in her classroom.
Felicia Isotti
Felicia Isotti is a recent graduate of The University of Hartford with a degree in Ballet Pedagogy. In her early dance training at Northeast School of Ballet, Felicia studied various styles of dance, participated in local productions, and performed classical and contemporary works internationally. She has attended several summer training programs located throughout the United States. Throughout her college career she has had the opportunity to dance in original creations and master works of Martha Graham, Lar Lubovitch, and George Balanchine.
In addition to her performing, Felicia had the opportunity to intern with the University of Hartford’s Magnet School, Spectrum in Motion, and the Hartt School Community Division under the mentorship of renowned teachers. Felicia has completed Boston Ballet’s adaptive dance teacher training and was part of the Prism Project in which she worked with children with exceptionalities. She has been teaching the terrific twos, preschool ballet, and preschool tap for two years now. Felicia has always loved sharing dance to the younger generations and is so excited to continue teaching at Alyce Carella Dance Center!
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Sydney Champagne
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Sydney Champagne is originally from New Hartford, CT, and has been dancing for over 17 years. She served as captain for the competitive dance team at D.A.N.C.E. by Kristin's for several years. Sydney is trained in several styles of dance including ballet, lyrical, tap, jazz, and contemporary. A current student in the Central Connecticut State University Dance Education program, she also also dances in the CCSU contemporary dance company, Dancentral. n addition, she is a professional member of the CT-based contemporary dance company, Garet&Co. Sydney adores making meaningful connections with audience members, peers, and students. It is imperative to her that she take education beyond just learning dance techniques to integrate real-world skills like resilience, empathy, self-concept, and creativity. When she is not dancing, Sydney enjoys practicing yoga, hiking, making jewelry, cooking and baking, and spending time with her kitties!
Tiana Boccuzzi
Tiana Boccuzzi began dancing at Jill Chase Dance Studio in Shelton, CT at three years old. She trained with Miss. Jill until she graduated high school. She then attended Central Connecticut State University where she studied Elementary Education with a focus in English and continued her dance training through CCSU’s Dance Education Program and Dancentral, the university’s contemporary dance company. Within her time with the company, Tiana served as Public Relations Officer, Vice President, President and Student Choreographer. As a recent graduate of CCSU, she is now teaching in a public elementary school, teaching dance at local studios and choreographing for Dancentral as an alumni.
Ava Lee VanWieren
Ava Lee VanWieren has been dancing for fifteen years. She first began dancing in Georgia with Buford School of Ballet. During that time, she went to many well-known ballet summer intensives, such as Nashville Ballet, Ballet 5:8, and Ballet West. She has worked in a wide variety of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, tap, and some character, contemporary, modern, flamenco, and hip hop. Most recently she taught ballet to the students at a preschool, and has volunteered at many summer camps. Currently, she is a dancer with Ballet Hartford. She is passionate about working with kids in an challenging, joyful, and uplifting way!
