Bring a Friend Week is October 25-30th!

Jen Lancaster
Jen Lancaster began her dance training in Connecticut and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from Towson University. While in Maryland, she performed with the Towson University Dance Company in a wide variety of pieces ranging from swing to modern, jazz to full length ballets. She had the opportunity to work with Geoffrey Holder and perform in "Dougla" with the TU Dance Company along with being a featured tap dancer in Fosse's "Sing, Sing, Sing" re-staged by Doug Graham. Jen has also danced with the Stephanie Powell Danse Ensemble and performed at venues such as the Baltimore Museum of Art and Artscape. Since moving to New York, she has performed with Synthesis Dance Project at the Élan Awards, among other events, and was a founding member of the Pushing Progress Dance Company, which has performed at numerous events including The Artists' Showcase, SONO Arts Festival, Maryland Council for Dance and more.

Jen has taught and choreographed all over the tri-state and Maryland/DC area. Her work was presented at numerous showcases in Maryland, at the American College Dance Festival Association in North Carolina and at the ISVP/Intern Showcase at Broadway Dance Center. In addition, Jen had the privileged opportunity to teach at Towson University during alumni week and has had her work performed at many regional competitions. She continues to teach throughout the tri-state area during the year, encouraging all of her students to have fun while learning strong technique, proper body alignment for a healthy dance body, and fueling their passion for dance.

Rachel Instructor

Rachel Holly Hayworth Prewitt
Ms. Prewitt's dance career began with the Northwest Florida Ballet as a student under Todd Allen and Dorothy Lister. She later became a company member, performing numerous classical and contemporary pieces, and eventually an instructor, helping with the development of the Northwest Florida Ballet Academie. She went on to earn a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Central Florida, with a Dance Minor as her focus. Upon returning to Pensacola after graduation, Rachel began performing with S.W.E.R.V.E. Dance and assisting with her old studio. She then studied under Michael Wardlaw, originally of Cincinatti Ballet, who was a great inspiration to her work both as a dancer and an instructor. Other influential instructors Rachel has studied under include Adrienne Hawkins, Lazlo Berdo, Derek Reid, Gary Flannery, and Mark Morris. She moved to New York in 2008 and has since been teaching at various studios. In addition to Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, and Modern, she enjoys teaching Pilates and Yoga to students of all ages, and she is most passionate about sharing an appreciation for the power of movement as the purest form of expression.

Cynthia

Cynthia Dragoni
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cynthia Dragoni began training at the age of nine at the Wissahickon Dance Academy. She studied on scholarship at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, and trained under renowned teachers Gloria Govrin, Barbara Sandonato, and Gelsey Kirkland. In 2003 she danced with International Ballet Theater, where her repertoire included Raymonda Variations, Don Quixote, La Esmerelda, Sleeping Beauty Variations, Nutcracker: Spanish, and Arabian. In 2004 she was invited by internationally acclaimed dancer and Director of The Donetsk Ballet of Ukraine, Vadim Pisarev, to join the Donetsk Ballet in Ukraine.
She performed in Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, La Bayadere, Spartacus, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Le Corsaire. She has performed on tour throughout Europe, and studied privately in St. Petersburg with prima ballerina Elena Marchenko.

Cynthia was head of the dance department at Bravo Performing Arts and Language Center in Philadelphia, and on faculty at The Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet. She has taught for Ballet Arts at City Center, and Elliot Feld's Ballet Tech in New York City.

"As a dancer she had wonderful classical training, singing arms, and the unteachable soul of a ballerina..." Anastasiya Gaidukova, Ballerina, Donetsk Ballet, Ukraine

"She puts her students ahead of her own success, always pushing them towards ever expanding ideals. As a teacher she is a force to be reckoned with." Kathy Mack, parent of former student

"Cynthia Dragoni is that rare type of teacher with intuitive knowledge. Her ability to assess the individual student is uncanny and her ability to thus make the correction is spot on. Her knowledge of dance is very deep and her love for the ballet is endless. Passing along her insights to her many students allows for future 'ballerinas' to be born. Gentle, nurturing and exacting, Cynthia brings to the dance floor a quality matched by only the best." Dale Sherman, parent