Welcome to The Studio School of Dance, where we take pride in sharing our love of dance with you!
About The Studio
The Studio School of Dance first opened its doors in the fall of 2004 when dancer, Vanessa Gutierrez found the perfect location to pursue her dream of opening a dance studio. Armed with a desire to impart her passion for dance and a headstrong tenacity, she opened The Studio’s doors on Babbitt Road in Bedford Hills. Since that time, The Studio School of Dance has grown exponentially, jumping from a handful of students at its opening, to hundreds of students taught every year.
With this growth came a move to a bigger and better location at the Saw Mill Club in Mount Kisco, where the school is equipped with multiple dance studios, state of the art floating floors, after-school bus transportation, and more. In addition, The Studio is home to an impressive lineup of talented and sought after teachers who are not only gifted dancers, but incredible educators. The Studio is proud to be an award winning competitive dance school that has not only won numerous prestigious awards, but has also trained students who went on to win dance scholarships and pursue careers in the arts. We love what we do and it shows! Come experience The Studio School of Dance for yourself! Give us a call or register online! We can’t wait to dance with you!
DISCOVER The Studio
The Studio School of Dance is the leading dance institution in Westchester County. With our successful track record and the thousands of dancers we have trained, there is no better place to start your dance journey. We welcome all to come and feel the rhythm with us!
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DANCE IS THE HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL
OUR VISION
Our vision is to join talent with skill and fun in such a way that our dancers can grow up feeling the joy of dance and reeping its life benefits. We have witnessed first hand how dance can build character, confidence and friendships. This beautiful, enriching sport is an incredible tool to teach body awareness, self-discipline and teamwork. Through the art of dance, we are proud to provide an exceptional education to our students while also instilling the importance of etiquette, manners, and positive body image.
OUR MISSION
At The Studio, our mission is to foster a life-long love of dance. When teaching any style or age group, we strive to provide exceptional leadership to our students, building talent and developing life skills such as discipline and respect. As we believe a person never stops learning, we work hard to ensure our approach extends to all our students, from children to adults. We’d love you to be a part of our studio and join our mission to positively reach our community through dance.
OUR VALUES
At The Studio, we believe in:
- Passion & Fun – the more excitement and passion you put into your training, the faster your dancing will improve.
- Personal Mastery – discipline and self-motivation are critical ingredients of high achieving dance students.
- Exceptional Experiences – All our students deserve an exceptional experience every time they participate in a dance class
- Teamwork – We’re stronger together and can achieve so much more when we work as part of a passionate community.
- Belief In Oneself – Having a big picture goal for life sets the trajectory of your potential, so set yours as high as you can.
OUR TEACHERS
The Studio’s team of talented instructors are top of the line! We choose only the best teachers for our valued students.
Vanessa Gutierrez is the proud owner/operator of The Studio School of Dance, now in its 16th year of business. Through her hard work and passion for dance, Vanessa has overseen The Studio’s incredible growth over the years and has propelled hundreds of children into the beautiful world of dance. As a young child, her dance teacher remarked that Vanessa was “born to dance,” and dance she did! In fact, those words proved to be the impetus for her career as a competitive dancer, and today as a studio owner. Over the years, Vanessa has won numerous dance competitions, been invited to perform nationally, and even worked with celebrities. Today, Vanessa continues to dance and choreograph professionally -most recently working with Mario Lopez who used Vanessa’s choreography in a major worldwide advertisement. Her biggest joy, however, can be found within the walls of her thriving dance studio, where Vanessa’s ultimate goal is to provide her students the same environment that brought her so much happiness growing up.
Anthony Rosa, better known in the dance world as ‘Sir Ready,’ got his nickname for always being ready to jump in and dance. In fact, growing up in Waterbury, Connecticut, Ready always loved to dance. He recalls watching break dancers on music videos and dreaming of one day becoming a performer like them. When an after-school program at his elementary school began offering dance classes, Anthony quickly signed up and began learning. For the next five years, he studied African dance and then, in the summer of 1999, Anthony finally had the chance to learn to break dance. With his thirst for dance already alive, Ready’s talent became quickly apparent. In only his second year break dancing, he won a top break dance competition and became sponsored by a clothing line. In 2005, after earning a college degree, Ready moved to New York City to fully pursue his dream to dance. He was quickly picked up by entertainment companies and began performing throughout the tri-state area and later, throughout the entire world! Today, Ready owns his own entertainment company that continues to wow audiences across the globe. He enjoys teaching at The Studio and passing his skills on to those with the same hunger for dance that he had as a child.
Nina Tocantins is a renowned choreographer and performer who has been teaching dance for more than 25 years. Her remarkable talent for directing and imaginative choreography has led her to work as a ballet coach for competitive skaters in Minnesota and to coach gymnastics teams for American Gymnastics. Nina has years of experience teaching throughout Westchester and has also worked for multiple production teams all through the Tri-State area. Nina is well respected for her dance artistry and was recently awarded the distinguished Cab Calloway Award for a lifetime of achievement in Choreography! Nina enjoys sharing her talent and love of dance with her students at The Studio School of Dance.
Kelly Wade is an experienced performer who is a national champion soloist for Dance Educators of America. She is a gifted dancer who was awarded a dance scholarship to Adelphi University and then continued onto the stages of Broadway! She has danced her way through countless shows including the infamous Cabaret, and 42nd Street. In addition to her impressive lineup on stage, Kelly spent ten years performing on A Chorus Line, one of the most well-known Broadway productions of all time. Kelly is excited to share her passion for dance and joy for teaching, here at The Studio School of Dance.
Anne Marie Gerard Galler has been dancing since the age of three, professional by age 16, and a proud member of the Actors Equity Association and SAG for over 25 years. The youngest person ever hired (at the age of 17) for Norweigian Carribean Cruise Lines, Ms. Gerard Galler went on to perform in the last National Tour of West Side Story that Jerome Robbins directed in the lead dancer role of Graziella, before moving onto the original Broadway casts of Me and My Girl and Prince of Central Park. She has also performed in numerous National Tours, regional productions and industrial shows for major clients such as Chrysler, IBM, and Subaru as well as for a former President at The White House. As a natural progression from performer to choreographer and teacher, Ms. Gerard Galler has choreographed West Side Story, Willy Wonka and The Wizard of Oz for Yorktown Stage, is the choreographer in residence for Croton Teen Theatre and has recently completed her eighth production for John Jay High School, WORKING. She prides herself on making dance ‘fun, integral part of life for students, whether they be 2 or 102’. She is also the creative force behind the Triple Threat Teen Theatre Workshop, a comprehensive program for grades 1-5 and 6-12 devoted to intensive instruction in the arts of dance, voice, acting and auditioning for Musical Theatre. With extensive experience in Fitness-based and Aerobic instruction as well, be it Theatre Dance, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Yoga-Movement, Folk, Lyrical or Street Jazz – Ms. Gerard Galler has taught dance to literally hundreds of young people (and adults!) for the past 17 years throughout Westchester County, NY. She resides in Goldens Bridge, NY with her husband Jamie and son Tristan, her favorite production.
Known for his storytelling style performances, Andre Lee boasts a dance and choreography resume that includes superstars Rihanna, Usher, Shakira, Natalie Portman and new comer Leikeli47 to name a few. His work has appeared on television networks MTV, BET, Lifetime, as well as touched several arena and music festival stages all over the country, which includes 2018’s BET Experience in association with The BET Awards. Numerous choreography awards and 2 National Championship wins via the dance competition world aside, Andre has set goals beyond personal achievement and focuses on the success of his students. Both past and recent students have booked tours with recording artist Ariana Grande, music videos with Wyclef Jean, appeared on the mega hit dance show ‘Dance Moms’ and performed on music’s biggest night the 60th annual Grammy Awards. Andre has cited creating the next generation of performers as a real passion, “being able to see something no one else can yet is a gift I’m honored to both have and share.”
Jenna is a skilled dancer and choreographer with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and Theatre Arts from Manhattanville College. During her college career, Jenna gained invaluable experience while being repeatedly cast in her program’s prestigious annual shows, participating in choreography workshops, and being a member of Minds in Motion -a hip hop dance team on which she served as President and Choreographer. Jenna has been a professional dance teacher and choreographer for several years, having begun her career early while still in college. She has worked with several institutions, including the Universal Dance Association where she was awarded Staff of the Month and nominated as Rookie of the Year. In addition to her time spent professionally dancing and teaching, Jenna continues to enjoy dancing for pleasure. She is a member of the Heartbreak Crew, a hip hop dance team located in New York City and aspires to one day perform as one of the Brooklynettes dancers.
Rai’Nique
Rai’Nique was born in Washington, D.C. and began dancing in Maryland at the age of twelve. Her talent was so immediately impressive that her instructors took notice and relished having such a gifted student at their studio. Rai’Nique’s aptitude for dance meant she learned quickly and soon became an asset to her dance school. With such a natural gift, she was encouraged to pursue dance as a career, and Rai’Nique went on to study dance at Manhattanville College. As an essential member of the Dance and Theater department at her college, Miss Rai’Nique refined her skills even further and received invaluable choreography experience. Having now earned her degree in dance performance and business management, Rai’Nique is excited to share her talent and bring her expertise to The Studio School of Dance.
Nicole Sharkey is a dancer and choreographer from Mahopac, New York. Starting at a young age training in Contemporary, Jazz, Acrobatics, Ballet Hip Hop, and Modern dance. She quickly discovered that dance is something she could never let go of. Nicole starting choreographing for her high school dance studio and team at age 17. She furthered her education at Manhattanville College, receiving a Bachelor degree in dance and psychology, as well as being Co-Captain of the Manhattanville Dance Troupe.
Victoria started dancing at the age of 4, under the instruction of Emmy nominated choreographer Anthony Morigerato in her upstate New York studio. Victoria began to teach students on the competitive level at the age of 15 at her studio and has been teaching ever since. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Manhattanville College as a Dance Major with a Minor in Sports Studies in 2019. During her four years at Manhattanville, Victoria worked with numerous choreographers including: Shawn Bible, Ara Fitzgerald, Heather Cornell, Mike Esperanza, and Leah Ives. She was also the choreographer of the college dance team, Minds in Motion, her junior year and president her senior year. Victoria hopes to perform for as long as she can, while continuing her passion for teaching dance to students of all ages!