The ECA Dance Department offers high school students rigorous, comprehensive dance training from the three perspectives of creator, performer, and critical observer. In a diverse learning environment, students gain a strong foundation in classical and contemporary dance techniques.

Our particular concentration on choreography encourages students to develop an individual artistic voice. Practicing professional artists make up the permanent faculty and visiting guest artists provide further enrichment to students in contemporary, historical and world dance forms.


To apply for Admission to the Dance Department, please visit the Application Process Page .

 


Events

 

ECA Dance Department students will be taking part in Master Classes in the month of June, taught by some of the industry's finest. 

Joseph Simeone
 

  

Joseph discovered his interest in art at a young age and continues to pursue his passion for creativity in a variety of outlets. Having studied Dance and Music Composition, Joseph graduated from The Juilliard School in 2004.  He has danced professionally for: American Ballet Theater, Merce Cunningham Co., Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp & with Broadway productions of A Bronx Tale, The Phantom of the Opera & West Side Story, as Riff: for this performance he won two Best Actor Awards and published acclaim from the story’s author, Arthur Laurents (in his last memoir "The Rest of the Story", 2012) he was recently seen in Hunchback of Notre Dame, at Paper Mill Playhouse; Little Dancer, at The Kennedy Center; Irma La Douce and Zorba, at City Center ENCORES!  Mr. Simeone is also composing music for a new 1930's style musical and an opera adaptation of a famous Alfred Hitchcock property: by special arrangement with ICM and support from the Los Angeles Opera League.
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Julien Kanor

  

Julien Kanor is a performer, teacher and choreographer from Guadeloupe, a French Caribbean island. He performs hip hop, contemporary, African dance, Afro dance, and House styles. He has worked with: Angel Feliciano (hip hop); Kanu Dance Theatre (Haitian and Modern); Kotchengna (African); Franck Muhel (Salsa and Bele dance from Martinique); and Eva Dean Dance (Modern). Julien has been on faculty at Connecticut College. He made his film debut dancing in the Hallmark movie “Holiday with Heros.”
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Maria Cherniske
  
Maria Cherniske was born and raised in Connecticut where she took her first class at the age of three. Since then, her passion for the arts has continued to flourish and in addition to being a performer, Maria has taught dance to students of all ages for the past seventeen years and coached for competitive level gymnastics. 

Maria has worked with choreographers such as Lisette Bustamante, James Jackson Jr, Dana Foglia, Rhapsody James, Luam Keflezgy, Kelly Peters, Derek Mitchell and Tanisha Scott. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall in an ad for Rocawear clothing, with supermodel Coco Rocha at NYC’s Fashion’s Night Out, on national television with Icona Pop, and in a national commercial for the Wendy Williams Show.  She was a principal in a commercial for Affinity Bank and recently performed with Jordan Fisher in Rockefeller Center for an event for Nintendo. In addition, Maria has done work for Nike and Adidas and appeared in music videos with popular up-and-coming artists as well as in live performances with Matt Hunter, Carey Nokey, and L Michelle.  Maria was the assistant choreographer for Rob Thomas’ music video “I Trust You”, co-choreographer for the Off-Broadway hit La Cancion, and co-choreographer for the latest New Jersey Lottery commercial.