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“I have been dancing at ADA
for more than half of my life, and I think I am who I am partly because I
grew up at the studio. The studio has taught me so much more than just the
art of dancing. I have gained determination, commitment, confidence,
responsibility, and leadership. I have also learned how to manage my time
and balance my life with all the different activities I am involved in”
~
High School Dancer
American Dance Academy opened in 1993 under the
direction of Darlene-Giordano Cummings. The
facility offers state of the art equipment, ballet
barres and a top of the line floating dance floor.
The curriculum includes
ballet, Pointe, jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern,
cheer/tumble and pre-school,
adult and intensive dancer programs for beginner
through pre-professional
levels.
The staff of American Dance Academy is made up of a
wonderful group of
caring people who have a genuine love for the art of
dance and the children. Our teachers take the
responsibility to insure that activities are safe
and age/gender appropriate. Each teacher encourages
a positive, supportive
and mutually respectful working atmosphere while
stimulating children’s minds
and physical skills. They encourage students to
strive to meet their fullest
potential and to value the art of dance. Our
teachers participate in yearly continuing education
opportunities and programs to provide the most
up-to-date quality instruction. They are not only
teachers, but positive
role models, mentors and motivators.
American Dance Academy also brings in multiple Master
Teachers from Philadelphia, New York and California
each year to expand the student’s
dance training along with offering field trips to
New York City to study
with multiple Master Teachers.
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Darlene
Giordano Cummings - Owner/Studio Director
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Miss Darlene has been studying dance since
1972 and twirling since 1974. She started
teaching dance in 1981 and has never stopped
loving it. She has studied with various
dance teachers at her alma mater schools and
in the Philadelphia and New York area. As a
young child, she studied dance and twirling
under the infamous Tony Award Winner Sue
Strohman, choreographer of multiple Broadway
shows such as “Crazy for You”, “Contact” and
“The Producers” to name a few. Miss Darlene
opened the studio in 1993 after teaching
elementary and junior high school for 3
years. She graduated from the University of
Delaware with a degree in Education while
concentrating in dance and theatre. She has
choreographed for Philadelphia and Delaware
theatre groups as well as for local high
school marching band fronts but now focuses
her energy to American Dance Academy. She
teaches all levels at the studio and attends
multiple teacher training programs each
year. Miss Darlene is
married to Dr. William Cummings, a
dentist in Avondale PA, and they have two
young daughters and a little boy. |
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Jessica
Westnedge - Artistic Director/Dance Company
Director |
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American
Dance Academy is thrilled to have Miss
Jessica back for her fifth season. She
is the current director and in-house
choreographer for our award winning
Dance Company and instructs many levels
of dance classes at ADA. Her long list
of performance credits include the 76er
All-Star Dance Team, cast member of the
musical Grease, performed with the
artist Pink, she was a principle dancer
with Contempradance Theatre & Opus One,
has been the director & coordinator for
several prestigious pre-professional
dance companies, & was chosen to be a
Degas dancer at the Philadelphia Art
Museum. She was also the choreographer
for an indoor fancy Mummers Brigade, The
Avenuers, in Philadelphia, where her
choreography was displayed on national
television. She began he r dance
training in pre-professional dance
companies all over the United States.
For college, on scholarships, Miss
Jessica attended North Carolina School
of the Arts as a Contemporary Major &
University of the Arts, where she
studied all styles of dance. She has
been teaching dance for 6 years & shares
her love of dance & wisdom with all her
students.
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Jerzy Golek - Instructor |
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Jerzy Golek began his dance career at the
age of 12, when he won a
national audition in his native Poland to
receive a full scholarship to the national
Ballet Academy in Gdansk. This residential
school combines a full academic program with
training to the highest levels of
professional ballet performance. Upon
graduating from the Academy, Mr. Golek
returned to his home, Lodz, and performed
in the Lodz Ballet. He soon moved on to
Warsaw and Mazowsze Dance Company, Poland’s
premier international dance company for many
years. He also continued his education at
Warsaw University, obtaining a Master’s
Degree in Dance Education. As a principal
with Mazowsze, he toured the world
performing from Korea to Brazil, and
regularly in the US, performing in
Philadelphia at the Academy of Music.
Moving to the US to pursue his career in
dance education, Mr. Golek currently teaches
at West Chester University, Contempra Dance
School, and the Pottstown Dance Theatre. He
has produced much original choreography,
including his signature piece, “Immolation”
a tribute to the victims of the Holocaust,
set to the score of Schindler’s List. He is
President of Cultural Interchanges, which
among other programs, annually takes
American students and performers to the
Ladek Zdroj International Festival of Dance
in Poland. He also serves as assistant
Artistic Director of the Schuylkill Valley
Dance Company.
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Tori Closson - Instructor |
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Tori Closson recently moved back to
Philadelphia from Dallas, Texas. She began
her dance training at the early age of 5
years old and studied Ballet, Tap and Jazz
for fifteen years at Florence Cowanova
Studio of Dance. After graduating from
Hampton University in 1999 receiving a BA in
English Arts, Tori began dancing
professionally, appearing on MTV's Global
Groove. She continued training with Rennie
Harris PureMovement, studying the elements
of Hip Hop Dance: Popping, Locking, B-girl
and Street. She has also studied ballroom
and Latin dance.
In 2000, Tori created the WTXF 'Good Day
Philadelphia' Hip Hop Dance Team. She
choreographed for the 76er's Junior Hip Hop
Dance Team for four seasons and is a Master
Teacher at the 76er's Dance Camps. She has
choreographed for the 76er's Dance Team
(basketball), The Kixx Dance Team (soccer)
and a number of college dance teams. She has
danced for Neil Young, The New York Jets and
New York Giants Award Cermonies, NBC10
FitFest, The Illadelph Legends Festival and
much more. Tori directed and choreographed
for her own company,
FloMotion, and pre-professional Company,
Flo2. Her company was featured in the
national magazine 'Young Dancer' in March
2005. In the summer of 2006, FloMotion was
a headliner for a major performance in
Tokyo, Japan.
Tori then relocated to Dallas, Texas and
lived there for three years. She taught Hip
Hop and Dance Team Jazz for three years
mentoring young women who wished to audition
for major sports arena dance teams. She has
helped girls land spots on the Mavericks and
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and she
has mentored for the Atlanta Falcons and
Houston Texans. |
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Michelle Swift
- Instructor |
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Miss Michelle has been dancing at the
American Dance Academy since it opened in
1993. In high school she was on the A.I.
Dupont Pom Squad. She then received her
degree in Early Childhood Education from
Delaware Technical and Community College and
teaches the early childhood level dance
classes. Miss
Michelle and her husband, Brad, have two
“early childhood” children of their own. |
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Kelly Raymond
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Office Manager
Instructor |
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Miss Kelly has been dancing at the American
Dance Academy since 1994 after being a
gymnast for 6 years. She was a member of the Padua
varsity dance team in high school and the
Penn State Altoona dance team. Miss Kelly
has her degree from the University of
Delaware in the Human
Services, Education and Public Policy
department with concentrations in Education
and Community Services
and a minor in Psychology. She worked
for the Disney Cruise Line after graduation
and is happy to be back teaching at ADA |
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Vincenza
Carrieri-Russo -
Ettiquette Teacher/Dance
Teacher |
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Vincenza Carrieri-Russo
has been dancing at American Dance Academy
since it opened. She won the title of
Miss Delaware
USA
2008 in November 2007. She competed in
pageants for nine years prior to winning
Miss Delaware USA. She was a three time
runner-up in the
Miss Delaware
Teen USA
pageant. She also competed in the
Miss Delaware
America competition four times having placed
in the top ten twice where she also won
several community service awards.
Vincenza is a student
at the
University of
Delaware
pursuing a degree in English with
aspirations of entering the Broadcasting and
Journalism industry. She is a 2003 graduate
of
Alexis I.
duPont High School
in
Wilmington,
Delaware.
She co-founded the
literacy
organization Success Won't Wait Inc. when
she was eighteen years old. Since its
founding, she has been honored with several
community service awards. In 2006, she was
awarded with the State of Delaware Jefferson
Award and went on to capture the national
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for
excellence in volunteerism and community
service. Even with her busy schedule, she
always had a passion for dance and has been
dancing since the age 3.
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Suzanne
Jackson - Vocal Teacher |
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Suzanne
Jackson is a professional singer
and certified yoga instructor
and holds a master's degree in
vocal performance from the
University of Maryland. She
specializes in teaching yoga and
voice techniques to singers and
has taught principal artists at
the Washington National Opera
and the Metropolitan Opera.
Suzanne is currently on the
faculty of the Washington
National Opera Summer Institute,
Opera Delaware’s Artist Workshop
and Placido Domingo’s Operalia
Competition. She has also served
on the faculty of Wolf Trap
Filene Young Artist Program and
the Washington National Opera’s
Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist
Program.
Combining her extensive training
in yoga and voice, Suzanne has
created the YogaSing method,
which became the basis for her
DVD by the same name. The
YogaSing program is a
revolutionary approach to yoga
designed specifically for
singers, performers, and public
speakers. The combination of
yoga poses, relaxation
techniques, chakra work and
Qigong strengthens and tones
muscles, increases flexibility
and lung capacity, and enhances
the mind/body connection.
Suzanne regularly presents
YogaSing and “The Art of
Wellness for Singers” workshops
to universities, operas and
conventions.
In her DVD ChakraWakening
(filmed at Longwood Gardens)
Suzanne works with each energy
center through yoga and QiGong
to awaken the chakras and
enhance the user’s yoga practice
and personal life. Suzanne has
also created the YogaWakening
DVD and CD, filled with sunrise
stretches and sun salutations
set to a soundtrack of chimes to
help yogis at home greet the
day.
She is a
resident singer with The
Washington National Opera and is
the creator and director of Camp
Create, an intensive summer arts
camp for children. She has
taught voice and piano lessons
in her private studio for 20
years and has been a featured
yoga instructor for Classsical
Singer Magazine, Opera America,
Chorus America and most recently
on The Ten Show on NBC.
Web sites: www.ChakraWakening.com www.YogaSing.com
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Michael Short -
Musical Theater Teacher |
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Michael Short
is a true veteran of the performing arts,
currently residing in Philadelphia, PA - and
a proud member of AEA, AFTRA & SAG. Michael
is a graduate of the prestigious Musical
Theatre Department of the University of
Michigan where he received his BFA in
Musical Theatre Performance. His career has
spanned across the country touring with A
CHORUS LINE, DAMN YANKEES, KISS OF THE
SPIDERWOMAN, GREASE, KISS ME KATE, HELLO,
DOLLY!, THE PAJAMA GAME, SHE LOVES ME & WEST
SIDE STORY to name a few. He has performed
at venues such as Music Theatre Wichita,
Pittsburgh CLO, Maine State Music Theatre
and The Merry Go Round Playhouse. In
addition to the stage Michael can be seen in
the films “Freak Talks About Sex”,
“Frightmare” and “The Greenskeeper” as well
as countless commercial spots. Over the
range of his career he has had the privilege
to work with such amazing performers/
choreographers as Baayork Lee, Susan Stroman,
Ann Reinking, Mark Esposito, Kerry Casserly
and Linda Goodrich.
Michael is the
original founding director/choreographer for
ADA’s award winning competition team having
developed the program in its infancy. To
this day he feels continuously blessed to
have conceived the program with Darlene and
the wonderful family of ADA. |
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