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Home of the
Award Winning
EDA Dance
Company
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/OWNER
CARLA DSWONYK
Carla is a 2005 graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Musical Theatre. Carla began dancing at the young age of 2 at her mother’s dance school, Master School of Dancing. When her mom retired from dance, Carla trained with Donna Farinella of Dance World Academy, Carol Baskinger of Dance Designs and Corie Zodda of 5-6-7-8 Dance. As with Carla’s own teaching style, they were all dedicated superior teachers who continued to instill in her the love of dance through their expert instruction.
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Carla is fully trained in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary and Pointe. As a toddler, Carla showed great interest in dance which continued through her formal training as she perfected her skills. Throughout her training, she has competed in various states winning numerous awards, high scores and titles. When Carla was only 13, she was asked to assist her dance teacher in multiple classes. This is where she discovered her love for teaching.
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At the age of 17, Carla began her college career at Montclair State University where she studied under Lori Katterhenry, Maxine Steinman, Nancy Lushington, Lonnie Morreton, Donna Scro-Gentile, Lisa Grimes and Maureen Glennon. Carla auditioned and was chosen to perform pieces choreographed by Sean Curran, Nancy Lushington, Lori Katterhenry and student choreography to name a few. Carla was chosen to perform at Lincoln Center in Sean Curran’s piece “Metal Garden” and also chosen to perform in Maxine Steinman’s piece in the American College Dance Festival (ACDF).
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During this time she began teaching at her alma mater, 5-6-7-8 Dance. Through Carla’s continuous hard work and guidance of her director, Corie Zodda, she began teaching 16 classes a week as well as choreographing for the competition team. Carla and her dancers have won numerous awards, high scores, choreography and title awards for her work.
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Carla is looking forward to building a dance family of her very own and more importantly, she is very eager to share her love and passion for dance with her students! As with the school’s motto, Carla endeavors to give her students “A NEW MEANING TO THE ART OF DANCE”.
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Courtney Quigley is a professional dancer and choreographer with over 7 years of experience teaching Hip Hop and Jazz Funk classes. She was also choreographer and vice president of Unity Dance Crew at Northern Arizona University. She has trained with choreographers such as Tricia Miranda, Jojo Gomez, Sienna Lalau, Dexter Carr, Josh Price, Deshawn Da Prince and Royal Family Dance Crew, to name a few. In addition, she is a director for Groove Dance Competitions, also known as One Beat Dance Brands.
COURTNEY QUIGLEY
COMPETITION HIP HOP
LINDA SPATH-SCOVZEN
SENIOR TAP
Linda Spath-Scovzen, or more affectionately known as "Carla's Mom", is a retired NJ Certified Social Worker specializing in adoption and child protection. However always lurking behind that title was a woman who always dreamed of being a "Broadway Star". In 1972 Linda earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from Saint Peter's University, yet she never lost her love of Dance and "Show Biz".
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A child of the 50s & 60s, for many years Linda studied Tap, Jazz and Ballet at the Master School of Dancing in Jersey City. Of the three dance forms, it was Tap that brought her the most enjoyment. As a young adult studying for her college degree, Linda taught Tap to toddlers and younger students. Linda instructed them in technique and style of the dance form. She instilled in her students the passion of dance, and more importantly she showed them a way to build their own expression and self-confidence.
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After her college studies, Linda began her social work career. Shortly after, she had the opportunity to take over the ownership of her childhood dancing school. It was a difficult decision, and in 1978 Linda put Social Work on hold and returned to her first love ... Dance! After purchasing Master School of Dancing, Linda expanded the school by opening Master Center for the Performing Arts in Teaneck. With a staff of ten instructors including Linda, time was divided between the two schools. Linda continued to teach Tap classes as well as managing the Children's and Teen/Adult's Dance Companies.
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Several years later, Linda came to the crossroads of her career. She gave birth to Carla in 1982. In fact Linda was teaching a Tap class a day before deliver and Carla was literally born into the dance business! Linda continued with the schools for three more years and finally decided to return to her other love ... Social Work.
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Even after resurrecting her social work career in 1985, dancing never left Linda's life. Carla, at a young age, began to demonstrate the same drive her mother had for Dance. Linda then put all her enthusiasm into Carla's Dance education. Linda gladly went behind the scenes backstage and lovingly gave her daughter the spotlight!
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With Carla taking over as the Elite Dance Academy of Marlboro, Linda has dusted off her Tap shoes and brought them out of retirement. She has been given the opportunity to teach one of her favorite dance forms ... Tap! Linda is so excited to share Tap with her fellow "Baby Boomers" by having fun with a dance form that has endured through many years ... very much like her "senior" students.
INGRID PEARSALL
BALLET INSTRUCTOR
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Miss Ingrid ‘s is an ABT certified teacher, through level 5. She has been teaching students locally for a number of years and has completed many workshops (NYCDA, Mason Gross etc.,) most notably with, the Royal Academy of Ballet, Methods, and with American Ballet Theater’s training curriculum. Some of her students have gone onto become professional dancers or studied dance in college and became dance instructors themselves.
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Her first serious ballet training was with Alfredo Corvino when he Directed Dance Theatre Guild in NJ. A well-respected teacher with Julliard in NYC, his training was based after Enricho Cechetti. Later her training was with School of American Ballet which teaches the methods of George Balanchine. There she studied under Helene Dudin, Richard Rapp, Elise Reiman, and Antonina Tumkovski. As a full scholarship student, she continued her studies with American Ballet Theatre, under Leon Danielian, Valintina Pereyaslavic, Michael Maule, Alexander Minz, many guest artists and ABT’s ballet master Jurgen Schneider. Fellow classmates included Susan Jaffe, and Gaby Brown. Dancers such as Baryshnikov, Nureyev, Makarova, were often in the halls and rehearsing in the studios. Here she felt at home.
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Her professional career was with the Basler Ballet in Switzerland under the Directorship of Heinz Spoerli. He was their resident choreographer. A member of the corps de ballet she also danced some soloist roles. She had the pleasure of working with other choreographers such as Hans Van Mannen from Dutch National Ballet, and worked with Guest Artists such as Birgit Keil from Stuttgart who set pieces from renowned choreographer John Cranko. She participated in the filming of several of Heinz Spoerli’s ballets for European television. (Pulchinella, Brahms, and Wesendock Leider) Other repertoire pieces included; Nutcracker, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee, Serenade, Tangos, Squares, Brahms, Carmina Burana, Jeu de Carte, and others. She also was a member of the Israeli Ballet for a short time. Locally she often performed soloist and Principal roles for local ballet school companies at the Count Basie and Strand Theatres.
SHANNON JOHNSTON
TUMBLING, ACRO, JAZZ, LYRICAL,
LEAP & TURN &
CONTEMPORARY INSTRUCTOR
Shannon has been teaching acrobatics and many styles of dance for other 10 years at studios all over in New Jersey. She studied dance and acrobatics at local studio, participating in various competitions over the years. In 2010, Shannon was awarded the national title of Miss Acrobat of the United States through United States Tournament of Dance. She continued her dance and pedagogy training at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts for dance, with a minor in psychology, as well as her Master of Education. She is a New Jersey Certified Teacher of Dance and Teacher of Students with Disabilities. In 2018, Shannon completed her training as an Acrobatic Arts instructor, which provided a dance based, wholesome approach to using the different parts of acrobatics in a studio setting. Shannon is also a certified Rhythm Works Integrated Dance Instructor.
Cynthia Pearsall
JAZZ , LYRICAL & LEAP & TURN INSTRUCTOR
