Ballet Bootcamp is for dancers looking to jump start their summer performance and/or training plans. The curriculum includes Classical & Contemporary Ballet, Contemporary, Graham, Commercial Jazz, Technique, Heels, Lyrical, Stretch & Strength, Leap & Turn, and more.
The faculty are from: Universities and conservatories such as Juilliard, NYU Tisch, SAB, Ailey, Marymount, and Joffrey; Dance companies such as New York City Ballet, ABT, and Complexions; and Theater including Phantom, Romeo and Juliet, and Fosse.
• Levels 1, 2, & 3
— June 22-25 (Monday-Thursday)
— Time: 4:00 - 9:00pm
— Class Schedule (Levels 1/2/3)
• Mini
— June 23 & 25 (Tuesday & Thursday)
— Time: 1:30-3:45pm
— Class Schedule (Mini)
• Levels are faculty assigned
• Contact studio for individual days
• Tuition must be paid in advance
• All classes required for team
Grace Buckley grew up dancing in and around New York City before heading to Colgate University. Since graduating from Colgate in 2007, Grace has dedicated her time to working and training as a dancer in NYC. Grace has performed as a member of DeMa Dance Company in Brooklyn, NY, Willow Oak Contemporary Ballet in Louisiana, and recently returned from touring with Rasta Thomas’s Bad Boys of Dance. When she is not traveling, Grace works as a guest teacher/choreographer around the country, most recently debuting her choreography at the Joyce Theater this past April. Grace remains a regular faculty member at Kelly Burke-Fitzpatrick’s Westchester Dance Academy as well as a guest teacher at studios in the NYC tri-state area and around the country.
Michael Cusumano grew up on Long Island, New York. He began dancing at the age of 6. At the age of 14 he won the bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, the youngest male dancer to medal in the competition’s history at the time.That same year he went on to win the special Jury Prize at the Prix de Paris 1994.
Michael then joined American Ballet Theater at age 15, the youngest male dancer in the company’s history, where he danced in all the full-length classics as well as works by Twyla Tharp, John Neumeier, Agnes DeMille, and Lar Lubovich to name a few.
After ABT, Michael danced as a principal with Alabama Ballet, then as a soloist with the Boston Ballet. He went on to perform in the original cast of All Shook Up on Broadway, then most recently starred as “the jury” in the smash hit Chicago the musical on Broadway. Michael competed and won the title of "Mr.Broadway" in the Broadway Beauty Pageant in 2011. Other credits include The Most Happy Fella at New York State Theater, On the Town at Encores, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Today’s Show, ABT Now for PBS, Le Corsaire for PBS, feature film Center Stage. Michael frequently teaches at Broadway Dance Center, Ballet Arts at City Center, the Peridance Center, and is currently on faculty at Pace University.
Sondra Steiner started her dance career at the Budzynski Studios of Ballet. She trained with The Pennsylvania Ballet School (The Rock School) and performed with The Pennsylvania Ballet. Sondra was accepted by The Boston Ballet, Richmond Ballet, BalletMet, Joffrey Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet into their intensives. Sondra has studied and worked with Melissa Hayden, Gloria Govrin, Trinette Singleton, Christopher d’Amboise, Jacques d’Amboise, David Howard, Fernando Bujones, Roy Kaiser, and Barbara Sandonato. Her repertoire has included principal, soloist, and corps roles in the ballets Paquita, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, La Fille Mal Gardee, Dracula, The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Giselle, and Petrushka. Sondra attended college at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a major in ballet and traveled abroad to perform with The Hungarian Ballet Academy and in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Jenny LeProtto started dancing at age four, studying all forms of dance including tap with Mike Minery (Tapaholics, Slide, American Tap Festival, JUMP Director) and performing works by Ray Leeper (So You Think You Can Dance Choreographer, NUVO Director). While she trained in all forms of dance, Jenny's current fortes are teaching tap, hip hop and jazz, as well as teaching all styles of dance for young children. Jenny is best known for her tap choreography. She was recently recognized by American Dance Awards for many of her tap, jazz and lyrical pieces. Jenny’s work has been described as “intricate, polished and exciting!” Jenny is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a major in Education.
Ashley Gallotto began dancing at young age, primarily training at The Dance Academy of North Jersey. Ashley teaches all styles of dance as well as acro and aerial silks! Her dances have been recognized for their technique, performance qualities and choreography by many leading competitions.
Ally Taylor Sacks trained at New Jersey School of Ballet under the direction of Carolyn Clark, George Tomal, Paul McRae and Carolyn Brown. While a member of their Junior Company, she appeared in many ballets, including Nutcracker at the Papermill Playhouse in which she played the opening night Clara. Ally received a BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, working with choreographers Cherylyn Lavagnino, Gus Solomus Jr, Christopher Williams and Jessica Lang. Since graduating, Ally was an apprentice at River North Chicago, a soloist in a Batsheva piece set by Danielle Agami at Springboard Danse Montreal, and has worked with Kathleen Dyer, Marla Hirokawa, and Brenda Neville here in NYC. She has also performed at the Guggenheim Museum for Karole Armitage, the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center with the Kirov Ballet and was an ensemble dancer in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. Ally was on the North American Tour of The Phantom of the Opera as a member of the corps de ballet from 2016-2019. She has also been the Assistant Choreographer at Rising Star Award winning Summit High School in New Jersey for multiple years. Catch her on Law & Order: SVU this season in which she plays dance instructor Charlotte Bell!
Jacoby Pruitt is a New York City-based performer, choreographer, and teaching artist. Currently in his 5th season with the renowned Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Jacoby is also an active collaborator with the Sean Curran Company and Kimberly Bartosik/Daela. His professional journey includes performing with Ailey II, Company XIV, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and participating in various freelance engagements with celebrated choreographers. Jacoby began his dance training in his hometown of Miami, FL, where he attended New World School of the Arts. He later earned his BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with honors. Jacoby is also a recipient of the Martha Hill Dance Fund’s “Young Professional” Award and a New York Dance & Performance Bessie Award. His creative work extends into TV and film, with dance and choreography credits that include Good Morning America, Comedy Central’s "Alternatino", the film In The Heights, along with music videos for recording artists such as Fletcher, Lexxe, Chad Lawson, Nicky Doll, and Loren Allred. Alongside his performance career, Jacoby is passionate about teaching and sharing his craft with the next generation. He currently serves on the faculty at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, where he is dedicated to shaping both the technical and creative growth of aspiring artists
Laura Perich was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela where she began training at the age of 3. She then moved to Houston, Texas where she continued her training with Catriona Steel and completed The Royal Academy of Dance Ballet exams under Steel's direction. After graduating, Laura then joined Texas Ballet Theater's Studio Training Company completing two full years in the program. In 2021, Laura moved to New York City and joined Ballet Hispanico's Professional Studies Program as part of the inaugural cohort on full scholarship where she had the opportunity to tour and be a guest artist for the main company. Laura then joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet as an Apprentice. Laura has had the opportunity to work with and perform works by Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Gustavo Ramirez-Sansano, Pedro Ruiz, Eduardo Vilaro, Norbert De La Cruz III, Tsai-Hsi Hung, Morgan McEwen, Ben Stevenson and more. She joined COMPLEXIONS as a full time dancer in 2025.
Quisha Freeman began her dance training under the direction of her late grandmother Shirley Larkin, founder of Larkin Dance Studio in Minnesota. Her strong foundation from her family and dedication to being a versatile dancer, has helped her in having an impressive career performing on stage, television and film. Quisha’s Broadway credits include: The Best Little whorehouse in Texas starring Ann Margret and Tim Rice, and Elton John’s Aida, as well as European runs of West Side Story and Fame. She has made film/television appearances on Across the Universe, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The Dave Chappelle Show, and a featured acting roles in the NBC show 30 Rock, and the film Lifted. Currently, Quisha can be seen dancing in the hit movie In the Heights.
Jason Luks is a performer, choreographer and teacher. He is currently on faculty at Steps on Broadway, NYCDA, and Joffrey Ballet School teaching Musical Theater. He was a member of the Tony Award nominated Falsettos choreography team with Director and Pulitzer Prize winner, James Lapine. He worked with Josh Prince and James Lapine on the choreography for "Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing." Jason served as Ryan Reynold's dance instructor for the Apple movie "Spirited" while also dancing as a member of the Spirited Dance Company. Jason's performance credits include “White Christmas” (Broadway), “On The Town" (Barrington Stage), “My One And Only” (Stages St. Louis), Rasta Thomas' Tap Stars, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Late Late Show with James Corden, MTV’s Video Music Awards, and Good Morning America. He has performed at the Kennedy Center for Presidents Obama and Bush. Jason is a member of the award winning The JaM Project. He won the Adult World Tap Dance Solo Championship at International Dance Organization’s World Tap Dance Competition, and ADA’s National Choreographer of the Year. Jason’s choreography has been presented on Broadway's Walter Kerr Theater (Falsettos), the Kennedy Center, and Symphony Space NYC. Jason graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance.
“I can’t imagine a stronger group of faculty for up-and-coming dancers than the DANJ's Ballet Bootcamp teaching staff. These are the types of educators that helped me achieve my dreams!!” — Brandon Cournay (Mark Morris Dance Group, KEIGWIN + CO., Juilliard Graduate)
As a guest faculty and choreographer at DANJ, I am so excited for all the dancers who will be attending Ballet Bootcamp and learning from this amazing faculty.... it's going to be awesome!!!!!” — Ashley Lindsey (Limón Dance Company, UNSCA Faculty and Graduate)
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