Staff

~ Alyson Hawkins ~

Alyson is the Owner/Director of Waterford Dance Academy. She began her early dance training in Lake Forest, where she received instruction in the Cecchetti Method of Classical Ballet. She attended Barat College where she studied Ballet and Modern Dance technique and choreography. She went on to study Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap dance at Giordano Dance Center in Evanston. Alyson performed with Lake Shore Dance Theatre in their productions of Graduation Ball, Coppelia and Don Quixote. While dancing with the Barat Reperatory Dance Company, she performed in original modern dance works by Gregg Begley and Eileen Cropley, and was featured in the restaging of Jose Limon's "Concerto Grosso". She has also performed with Lake Shore Dancers, a liturgical dance company. She earned her Teaching Certificates from the Cecchetti Council of America and has been teaching for 20 years.

~ Nicole Broman ~

Nicole Broman comes to us from Florida. She started her training at the age of 5. She studied contemporary and ballet at the University of South Florida in Tampa before she moved to Chicago and received her BS with honors in Fine and Performing Arts from Northwestern University. She has performed at ACDFA, Dance Links and other dance festivals throughout the country. She also danced for several years at Rosie O’Grady’s in Orlando, FL. She started teaching in Winter Park, FL at the Academy of Dance and Theatrical Arts under Paula Gale while in high school. Nicole currently lives in Lindenhurst with her husband and 4 children. This is Nicole’s first year with us.

~ Phil Fabry ~

Phil Fabry is a 1990 graduate of Millikin University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre/Dance Performance, with a minor in Voice and Piano. Phil has toured the world, performing in over 400 cities, 49 states, Manila, Singapore, and Korea. He has directed and choreographed for PBS, Fisher Price, and Milestone Productions. Phil’s Broadway performances put him along side Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban, and others. Phil was the head of the Musical Theatre program at Five Towns College, in New York. He has taught tumbling, dance, and show choir performance throughout the New York area. Phil continues to do musical theater workshops, dance clinics, tumbling classes, show choir workshops, and private voice coaching sessions all over the world. Phil is looking forward to bringing his “Glee” type Showstoppers, Tumbling, Tap, and Musical Theater Dance to Waterford Dance Academy.

~ Torie Johnson~

Torie Johnson attended the Temple of Kirya Yoga in Chicago in 2002 - 2003 earning her teaching certificate at a 200 hour yoga teacher. In the summer of 2004, she took a teaching training class from Global Yoga in Chicago as a prenatal yoga teacher. She has been teaching yoga from 2003 to present day. Torie has the ability to get any student to be able to do yoga, no matter what level they are. She has worked with a variety of students over her 7 years of teaching.

~ Cindee Kassel ~

Cindee has over 30 years of teaching experience. She is a member of CNADM and has assisted in teaching at many dance teacher seminars. She has performed in Canada and throughout Europe. Cindee has choreographed for the Harper College Modern Dance Group and was assistant choreographer for the Bob McGrath Sesame Street Show. She was the Co-Director of Kassel Studio of Dance in Buffalo Grove. She has earned her teaching certificates from the Cecchetti Council of America. This will be Cindee's 11th season with us.

~ Diane Nekritz~

Diane started her training at age 4 at Toe 'n Tap Dance Studio in Morris where she later became an instructor. She taught ballet, jazz, and acrobatics classes while dancing with the TNT Dancers. She was in charge of running summer dance and cheer clinics before working for the United States Cheerleading Association as a dance instructor and competition judge. Diane completed dance coursework at Illinois State University and Gus Giordano Dance Center in Evanston. She choreographed local productions of the Music Man and the Pajama Game. Currently she choreographs for the North Shore Players, runs dance clubs for children in 1st through 5th grade, and choreographs annual grade level song and dance concerts in Highland Park. In addition to being a dancer, Diane is an early childhood/learning disabilities specialist with a Masters Degree in speech and language pathology from Northwestern University. This will be her 3rd season with us.

~ Dina Pryhocki ~

Dina comes to us from Long Island, New York. While attending college she danced with a modern dance trio led by Sabotino Verlezza. She also danced with the Brookhaven Theatre Dance Guild under the direction of Vic D'Amore and Forrest Bonshire. After college Dina became part of the Equinox Dance Team performing throughout New York City. She also danced competively and became the Reebok regional dance champion. Dina started teaching with her mentor at the Maureen Bernstein School of Dance and later taught at the Allstar Dance Academy. She developed a dance program for health and fitness clubs and implemented a jazz funk and ballet strength class for Gold's Gym and Koga Health and Fitness Center on Long Island. Dina lives in Lake Villa with her husband and three children. This will be Dina's 5th season with us.

~ Andy Tomlinson ~

Andy Tomlinson is a current member of the tap company BAM! andhas been dancing for over 20 years. He has been fortunate enough to perform with the likes of Gregory Hines, Diane Walker, The Nicholas Brothers, Jimmy Slyde, Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, and Savion Glover. He has studied under Lane Alexander, Diane Walker, Bruce Stegman, Idella Reed, Wilfredo Rivera, Homer Bryant, Gus Giordano, and Joel Hall. He has traveled across the United States over the years performing with the tap company Especially Tap Chicago, and most recently he traveled with BAM! as one of 50 performers at the Bejing International Dance Festival. He has been teaching tap, hip hop, ballet and jazz all over the Chicago land area for over 16 years. This will be Andy’s 2nd season at Waterford Dance Academy.

~ Julie Trusky ~

Julie has over 18 years of teaching experience. She began her dance training in Naperville, IL. She continued her ballet, jazz and tap training at Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago and holds a BFA degree in musical theater from Roosevelt University. Julie's professional performing credits include Six Flags Great America and Pheasant Run Theatre. She has choreographed a variety of musicals for schools and community theaters. For eight years, Julie was co-owner, teacher and performing company director for Let's Dance! in Naperville. This will be Julie's 5th season at Waterford Dance Academy.

~ Laurie Twarowski ~

Laurie was born and raised in Colorado and began dancing at the age of 6. Her training began at the Betty Floyd School of Dance. Since then, she has studied and performed with the Colorado Concert Ballet, The Littleton Dance Theatre, The Northern Colorado Ballet and the Kaw Valley Dance Theatre. While with KVDT, Laurie taught company classes, summer workshops, was a rehearsal mistress, and choreographed for the KVDT Summer Project. To her credit, Laurie has danced in over 100 performances of the Nutcracker. This will be Laurie's 9th season with us.