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.
James Felton
James Felton II graduated from Western Michigan University in the Spring of 2021, earning his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography (Cum Laude). James began training at Dance Connection with original Chicago Broadway ensemble member, Sandra Brewer, before joining the Flint Youth Ballet under the direction of Karen Jennings. At WMU, James was grateful to perform works by nationally recognized faculty and guest choreographers for proscenium, site-specific, and screened performances. James has been blessed to share his love of movement to artists of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds for commercial and non-profit settings across the state of Michigan, and is excited to bring his experience and dedication to the students of ACDC!
Ms. Lili St. Amand
Lili “Bloom” St.Amand has been teaching Hip Hop since she was sixteen! She found her love for Hip Hop when she was six years old. She believes in spreading her love and knowledge for Hip Hop through her teaching and is always eager to teach the next generation so Hip Hop can stay alive. Lili has participated in countless battles. In May 2017 Lili had won World Of Dance New Jersey Head Bangerz Brawl. She was asked to come back in 2018 to judge the battle and preform on the World of Dance stage. She has also participated in Breakdancing Shakespeare on Hartford Stage. In 2015 Lili did The production Hamlet with them and in 2016 she did Romeo and Juliet. Three years later she came back to Hartford Stage to be the assistant choreographer for A Midsummer Nights Dream. Through the summer of 2019 she also did countless street performances with Hartford Live, this is a program the Greater Hartford Arts Council created to bring lively performances to light the streets of Hartford with art. Her latest accomplishment was receiving the Jumpstart award this past March. This past summer she also choreographed a group of students to be apart of PlayHouse on Parks Shakespeare Festival. Lili is always striving to give her students the best education possible and is excited to help create the worlds next artists.
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
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. 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!