MEET OUR DANCE INSTRUCTORS

Michele Stepien

Michele began dancing with JDC founder Joanne Svoboda-Sylvain in 1976, learning all styles of dance and acrobatics, attending class five days a week. While still a student of Joanne's, Michele was asked to join the staff when the doors to Joanne's Dance Center first opened. That first year Michele was an assistant to Joanne for an acrobatics class.

Shortly afterwards Michele began assisting Joanne with all styles of dance classes, finally becoming a full-fledged instructor at the studio.

Now, Michele teaches dancers of all ages, from two-and-a-half year-old pre-schoolers to enthusiastic adults. Michele also enjoys working with her competition dancers. She's choreographed and taught many wins and high-scoring routines for various competitions, both regional and national. Michele's routines frequently win special awards and are known for being age-appropriate but technically challenging.

"Miss Michele" believes every year is new and exciting at JDC. There are always thrilling moments and great memories ahead! She loves to watch the studio's dancers grow and excel as they work hard and share a passion for dance.

Lauren Guarnaccia Adair

Lauren started her dancing career at five years old with Betty Jean's Dance Studio in Wappingers Falls, NY. She studied all forms of dance, but ballet has always been her greatest passion. Lauren has had the pleasure of training with Lucinda Ransom of Alvin Ailey as well as Mary Ribble who trained with the New York City Ballet and Rose-Marie Menez of the Westchester Ballet Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. At age thirteen she attended the Briansky Summer Ballet Camp in Saratoga Springs.

Lauren becamse a member of Betty Jean's Competition Team at age ten and continued through her late teens competing all over the Northeast. At thirteen she was asked to train as an instructor for Betty Jean's Dance. After training for one year Lauren started her teaching career and continued at Betty Jean's for ten years. She has won numerous awards for dance and choreography. She has performed at and choreographed performances alongside Mary Ribble for the Roya Curie Gala in Kingston, NY.

She also studied dance at SUNY Buffalo and was a member of the performing group Studioworks. At this time she was introduced to modern dance, which has added flair to her choreography.

She has also had the pleasure of working as the main ballet instructor at Madeline's Dance Center in Marlboro, NY. She was also a choregrapher for their Competition Team before moving to Saratoga Springs in 2006.

After coming to Saratoga, Lauren took a break from teaching and decided to join her son in Tae Kwon Do training at Cutting Edge Martial Arts. This filled the creative void for some time, but dance, specifically ballet, was never far from her mind. She has a passion for artistic expression through choreography in all areas of dance.

Terry Aldrich

Terry started Terry started dancing at JDC in 2001, when he was 14 years old. He took classes for 2 years, at which time he began assisting in hip-hop. The following year he started teaching his own classes. In 2008 Terry moved to Buffalo to attend college but continued dancing. Starting with workshops, he eventually took a job at Adell's School of Dance and another studio, Dancentral.

Terry has taken master classes and attended workshops with choreographers such as: Dave Scott (You got served, Stomp the yard), Marty Kudelka (Justin Timberlake's Choreographer), Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo (SYTYCD and Dancing with the stars), and Cris Judd (Dancer for Michael Jackson).

Terry continues to practice everyday to stay up-to-date with the styles and moves hip hop offers. He teaches everything age-appropriately while focusing on large movements with popping, locking, waving and floating styles.

Candace Harblin

Candace has been dancing at Joanne's Dance Center for 28 years and has had the pleasure of teaching for 16 years. She started out as a dedicated student and worked extremely hard to become the dance instructor she is now. She studied tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, and gymnastics with the original studio director, Joanne Svoboda-Sylvain.

Candace currently teaches tap and jazz at JDC. Her passion and specialty is tap. She continues to attend dance workshops to enhance her knowledge of dance, choreography, and technique. Candace's competition tap teams have won many high-placement and specialty awards. She's also received highly-sought-after choreography awards.

Candace strives to pass on skills that her students will use during their dance experience at JDC and in the future. She strongly believes that dance encourages discipline, builds confidence and demonstrates the importance of teamwork. Candace always tries to encourage her students to be the best that they can be and pushes them to their limits in a positive and fun matter.

Candace also enjoys her full-time job as a special education teaching assistant at Milton Terrace South Elementary School. She looks forward to spending time with her husband Patrick and her 4-year-old daughter Cadence. Cadence is also a JDC dancer and always enjoys dance class each week.

Samantha Lucia

Miss Samantha has been dnacing at Joanne's Dance Center for 24 years. She has been teaching dance for 11 of those years.

Samantha loves teaching all ages of dance. Her main specialty is the "little ones". There is something special about teaching a child their first dance steps.

Miss Samantha has two children, Jackson and Natalie.

Sarah Nelson

Sarah grew up taking dance in the Capital District. She received her Associates Degree in Dance Performance from Valencia College in Orlando, FL where she was accepted as a member of the Valencia Dance Theatre. Sarah went on to earn her Bachelors Degree in Dance Performance from Southern Utah University with a minor in Health Education.

During college Sarah attended and performed at the American College Dance Festivals in Washington, Kansas and Montana. She also participated as a dancer in the filming of "High School Musical 2" for the Disney Channel in 2007.

Sarah enjoys teaching JDC's ballet technique and pointe classes, as well as lyrical and jazz classes.

Kasie Whittredge

Kasie has been dancing at Joanne's Dance Center since the age of three. She teaches all levels of dance in many different styles and is constantly taking classes from well-known choreographers to keep her technique up-to-date.

Kasie is known for her ability to pass along her passion for dance to all levels and ages of dancers!

Kasie is currently attending The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, where she is studying to be an early-childhood and special-education teacher.

During her career, Kasie has earned numerous platinum and high-gold awards, top placements and special awards. She toured with Dance Olympus in summer of 2008 and was recently crowned the 2009 Saratoga County Fair Queen. In July 2010 Kasie was top adult tap soloist and a National Young Choreographer contestant at Dance America Nationals in Orlando, FL.

Jamie Werner

Jamie is originally from the Boston area, where she competed nationally and won top awards. She was selected as a back-up dancer for the music group Fantasy. While performing with Fantasy, the group opened for and performed in venues with various artists, including J.C. Chasez, OTown, Christina Milian, Nick Cannon, and Lenny Kravitz.

Jamie's passion is teaching and nurturing personal growth in her students. She has been a dance instructor for over twelve years, from competitive to recreational dancers. Jamie is a certified dance instructor by the Universal Dance Association. Her choreography has won numerous awards, including various national top overalls. Several of her students have continued on to become college and professional dancers. This has recently included the New England Patriots Cheerleaders.

Jamie is also a Certified Group Exercise Instructor and Certified Personal Trainer through AFAA, with knowledge of proper body alignment and form.