Staff
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Nikki was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She received her bachelors in dance and business from the Texas Women’s University in Denton. She has performed with many hip hop and modern dance companies, consisting of performers from the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the Gesel Manson Dance Theatre, and the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. She has taught at various dance studios in Dallas, and recently taught at Ballet New England in Portsmouth, NH. As a performer and teacher, her belief is that dance is the key to life, and we must remember to love, laugh, and dance every day! |
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Kim is in her final year at Mount Holyoke College pursuing a bachelor's degree in dance, as well as theatre design and production. She has had the opportunity to take extensive classes with the Mark Morris Dance Group, Luigi Jazz Centre, Chuck Davis, many contemporary Los Angeles choreographers, and the faculty of the Five College Dance Department among other master teachers. Her choreography was recently shown at the 2008 American College Dance Festival. After graduation Kim hopes to choreograph and create work across the country, though at present she is thrilled to be joining Paper Moon.
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Andrew Kisielius, Instructor Andrew began dancing ballroom on the Tufts University team in 2003. He has competed in the Boston-area collegiate competitions (Harvard, Harvard beginner, MIT, Brown, Tufts, and BU), placing in Smooth, Rhythm, Standard and Latin in Bronze, and in Smooth and Standard in Silver. After graduation, he moved to New Hampshire where he works as an engineer and is pursuing a masters degree. He has studied with Mark Nocera, Bill Morganti, Dawna Nocera, Dale Bennett, Dan Radler, and Suzanne Hanby, among others. |
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Jonathan Barbeau, Instructor Jonathan is the program director at Gym-Ken, where he has coached gymnastics for 9 years. He was a skateboarding instructor for 6 years, as well as a competitive freestyle skater. He is accomplished in two-step, nightclub two-step, West Coast swing and classical ballet. His coaches include Bill Cameron, John Festa, Deborah Szekely, Anne Fleming and Larry Mongeau.
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Posie Dunn, Instructor Posie has been dancing since the age of 13, specializing in Jazz, Modern, and Lyrical. She has taught toddlers through adults and she really wowed the crowds while introducing our new Performing Arts program with her improvised Modern solos. We spotted Posie as a talented individual when she started taking group classes at Paper Moon and soon realized that she would be a perfect fit on the staff for our new program. |
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Tammy Leonard, Instructor Prior to beginning her studies of Ballroom dancing at Paper Moon, Tammy had many years of experience in Ballet and other Performing Arts dances. Given her experience as a public school teacher and the aptitude she showed for learning dance, we soon realized that Tammy would fit in perfectly with the Paper Moon Dance family.
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Amanda Clark, Instructor Amanda is one of the most experienced instructors at Paper Moon. Not only was she a member of her competitive ballroom team at Northeastern University, but she often coached other dancers at the school as well. She is adept at both American and International styles of dance and has quickly grown to be very popular with her students. |
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Ray Huard, Instructor Ray Huard has been dancing for 10 years. He placed 1st in International Latin at the Tri-State Challenge and the Commonwealth Classic. He has studied with Ian Folker, Eddie Simon, and Michael & Debbie Ulbrich. He lives in Merrimack with his wife Charlene. |
Judit Noyes, Instructor Judit's background is primarily in the field of education. She has a Masters degree in Education and Human Development from George Washington University and spent 10 years teaching French. |
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Joe Butera, Instructor Joe has been with Paper Moon since May of 2006. Before that he had been dancing and teaching locally for over 7 years. Joe has studied with Mark and Donna Nocera and he especially enjoys teaching some of the less common forms of dance at Paper Moon such as Club Salsa and Nightclub Two-Step. |
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Maria Brown, Instructor Maria has been involved in Ballroom dancing since 1995. While majoring in Drama at New York University, she became president of the NYU Ballroom Dance Club and Captain of the team, competing for three years on the collegiate circuit. While in NY, she studied with Richard and Bonnie Diaz, John Knapp, and Meredith Stead. Since moving to New England, she has studied with Eddie Simon, Ian Folker, Michael Ulbrich, Natasha Thayer, Russell Jackson, and Russell & Debby Monk. She began teaching ballroom at DNE School of Dance, and then went on to teach from her own Studio 44 in Auburn. Maria opened Paper Moon Dance Center with her husband Dave in June of 2003. She recently competed in Rising Star American Rhythm with Brian Barakauskas and, after only 10 weeks of dancing together, they placed sixth at Yankee Classic and third at the North American DanceSport Championships. See Maria's Competition Videos here! |
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Dave Brown, Instructor Dave's background is primarily in education. He spent 8 years as a music teacher and was selected to be listed with Who's Who Among America's Teachers before moving to the corporate sector. Dave performed 5 seasons as a violinist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra. Dave has studied dance with Michael Ulbrich, Natasha Thayer, Eddie Simon and Michelle Officer. He has been dancing since he met Maria in 1999 and has placed first in a number of Amateur and ProAm heats in several regional competitions. Dave is pictured here doing a Cha-cha with his student, Holly Johnson, at the Eddie Simon Super Saturday. |
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Debby Monk, Master Coach Debby Monk is one of the best-known ballroom dance coaches in New England. She has competed professionally in International Modern, Latin, and Smooth, as well as Country, achieving such levels as finalist at the Ohio Star Ball and United States Ballroom Championships. Her studies have included some of the greatest names in the ballroom dance world, including the likes of Peter Eggleton. In addition to teaching some of the most advanced students in the area, she coaches several members of the MIT competitive dance team. Debby can be booked for private coaching sessions on an as-available basis. Please contact us to make arrangements.
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