Dana Aniello, Owner and Director
Dana started her dancing career studying Ballet, Tap and Jazz under the direction of Nancy Kelly and Janet Miles. Upon moving to Upton, Dana has continued her dancing career assisting Christine at Dance Works Academy for four years, and has taught Creative Movement, Ballet and Tap as well as choreographed dances for recitals and shows since 2004. She continues to further her dance studies in New York City with Master teacher's Debbie Dee, Leah Gray, Mari Winsor, Cathy Roe, Deborah Damast, Anthony LaCascio, Sara Neece, and Todd Shanks in the areas of Tap, Ballet, Creative Movement and the art of teaching children and young adults various forms of dance. In September 2007 Miss Dana became the new Director and owner of DWA. Since taking over the studio Dana has attended many teacher training and studio owners conferences from Arizona to Massachusetts. Continuing education is the key to moving forward.
Elizabeth MacDonald, Lead Teacher
Elizabeth’s passion for dance began at Dance Works Academy when she was 4 years old. She has studied Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Jazz, and Tap. Elizabeth began dancing with DWA's competition team in 2011, and has competed at numerous competitions both with the team and as a soloist. She has received many awards for her exceptional dancing at these competitions. Elizabeth discovered her love for teaching dance when she became an assistant teacher at the age of 13 and a student teacher at the age of 17. Elizabeth has studied under master teachers such as Desmond Richardson, Brian Friedman, Kent Boyd, Ellenore Scott and Cris Judd at conventions including Excel in Motion and The Pulse. She especially enjoys choreographing many of our competition pieces and has received many choreography awards including first place overall for her lyrical routine, as well as selection for National competitions. She is currently pursuing a biology degree at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Ashley Beaupre
Ashley has been a dancer since the age of 3, practicing tap, jazz and ballet at the Milford School of Ballet (Deane Dance Studio) under the supervision of the talented Georgia Deane. She did gymnastics at Sola's for two years but then returned to her real passion, dancing. Ashley continued dancing throughout the years, learning hip-hop, modern, and eventually Irish Step dancing. She practiced and excelled in Irish Step for five years at Deane Dance. After graduating from Blackstone Valley Tech in 2010 as a certified nursing assistant, she continued to Becker College to major in Psychology. Ashley was part of the Becker College dance team from 2010-2012 and attended many competitions throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. She assisted with choreography for competitions. Ashley wishes to pursue her dream in becoming a dance teacher specializing in teaching children with developmental disabilities and is starting with DWA.
Erin Dunn
Erin started dancing at 2 years old in Denton, Texas and from there she has toured most of the United States with various contemporary dance companies that specialized in ambitiously interesting choreography. She has studied classical and contemporary ballet, various forms of modern technique, and is an avid advocate for contemporary dance. Erin has studied under the mentorships of the Joffrey Ballet School, Ballet Austin, the late Fernando Bujones, Twyla Tharp, and the many intellectual descendants of Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, and Merce Cunningham. From this training, Erin specializes in technique and the continuation of exploration of the boundaries of technique in practice. Currently, Erin is a student at the University of Massachusetts Boston with a major in Sociology and a minor in Dance. Erin is very excited to be part of the Dance Works Academy team and is honored to be teaching at DWA!
Jessica Irvine
Jess was born and raised in Southern Maryland. She began her dance career with The Calvert School of Dance in Huntingtown, MD. She trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Technique. She was also a competitive dancer for the studio. In High School, Jess furthered her dance education by taking the dance courses her local high school offered. While there, she trained in Tap, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, Modern, and Musical Theatre. She also began dancing with The Diane Herbert Dance Studio and was made a teacher assistant. After moving to Massachusetts in 2015, she was offered a Teaching position for Diane Herbert Dance Studio and couldn't say no. After a year with the studio, Jess realized her heart belonged in Massachusetts, and moved back. Jess is looking forward to teaching her students at Dance Works Academy and can't wait for what the season has to offer.
Emily Kirby
Emily began dancing at Dance Works Academy at 3 years old. For the past 12 years she’s been trained in ballet, tap, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, and musical theater. She has studied multiple styles of dance under master instructors such as Aaron Turner, Alex Wong, and Amelia Lowe, where she has received awards for her lyrical, contemporary, and tap dancing. Emily began dancing competitively at Dance Works Academy at 9 years old. Since then, her competition routines have won many high score awards, judges awards, and an invitation to a National Competition. Emily found her passion for teaching when she became an assistant at 11 years old. Emily is very excited to be able to share her love for dance with her students as a competition teacher this season!
Gabrielle Pasco
Gabby started dancing at the age of 9 at Jazziaks Dance School in Boylston MA where she took classes for 8 years. She has training in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Acro and Tap. She was on both Tap and Jazz competition teams for 5 years and was tap captain. She also was an assistant teacher for six years. Gabby was accepted to Fitchburg State University where she received a B.S. in Construction Management with a minor in Industrial training. During her time at Fitchburg State she was involved in the Dance Team. Currently Gabby is studying at Wentworth Institute of Technology pursuing a Masters degree in Technology Management.
Melissa Petrillo
Melissa started dancing at the age of three at Dance Spectrum in Uxbridge, Ma. While dancing at Dance Spectrum from the ages 3-18 she trained in Hip Hop, Modern, Tap, and Acro. After graduating high school, Melissa attended the University of Rhode Island, where she specifically focused on training and performing in Hip Hop. She performed and competed with URI's popular dance team, The Flavor Unit. While dancing with The Flavor Unit, she trained with many well-known Hip Hop choreographers such as, Luam and Rhapsody. After graduating URI in 2004 with a BA in Psychology, Melissa attended Dean College to further her dance training and education. While at Dean, she trained in all genres of dance but continued to focus on Hip-Hop. Melissa studied under legendary Hip-Hop instructors, Wyatt Jackson and Kelly Peters. After graduating from Dean College with a degree in Dance, she began teaching Hip-Hop at several local studios’ such as, Mendon Dance Center, Lindiana's School of Dance, and Central Mass Dance Academy. Melissa has participated in competitions across New England where she has won several Choreographer and Entertainment Awards. She continues to train yearly at Monsters of Hip Hop with master instructor's such as, Kevin Maher and Luther Brown. Melissa also has her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Aside from teaching dance, she is a Private Practitioner at Enlightened Interventions located in Worcester, Ma.
Brynna Seligman
Brynna began her dance journey at Dance Works Academy at the age of 3. She has trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and hip hop. Brynna joined Dance Works’ competition team, when she was 10 years old and began assistant teaching when she was 11. Brynna has studied under master teachers including Aaron Turner, Alex Wong, Cyrus Spencer, and Lauren Froderman at conventions. She was selected to be an Honor Tapper under Aaron Turner at the Excel in Motion Convention. In addition to DWA, Brynna performs in shows including the Milford School of Ballet’s Nutcracker and the Broadway Youth Dance Theater’s Holiday Spectacular. She has also had ample opportunities to choreograph for theater productions. When she is not dancing, Brynna enjoys playing the violin, singing in her school’s choir and a Capella group, and being a part of Student Council and National Honor Society. She is currently a junior in high school and she hopes to pursue a future degree in chemistry.
Lindiana Semidei
Lindiana is a Choreographer, Dance Instructor & Dance Company Director who has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from Dean College (2007). She comes bringing you years of expertise in dance theater and competition dance, from teaching at numerous dance schools and through owning and directing a competitive dance studio in Worcester MA. After graduating from college, Lindiana accepted a scholarship to study at the Alvin Ailey School in New York City. There she focused on perfecting the Dunham and Horton modern dance techniques under the tutelage of Joan Peters (Dunham), Elizabeth Roxas (Horton), and the late Denise Jefferson (Graham). Lindiana’s experience also includes teaching tap and modern and jazz for four years at Mendon Dance Center, teaching hip-hop at the Worcester Youth Center, choreographing the Hanover Theatre’s summer youth production of “Oklahoma” and running and directing her own dance studio (Lindiana’s School of Dance) for 5 years. Currently Lindiana is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Raices Latin Dance based in Worcester MA, an adult Latin Dance company offering classes in New York Style Salsa and runs an adult Latin Dance performing company that performs across the New England area and the east coast.
Tricia Trask
Tricia joined the DWA staff in 2012 as a teachers assistant in the Creative Movement classes. Tricia went on to teach her own classes due to her love for children and class format. Since then Tricia has brought the love of dance to many amazing children over the years teaching ages 3-5. She has now moved to expand her teaching to our Pre-Hop classes and Cheer/Dance classes, using her extensive knowledge as a cheerleader in school. Tricia attends many conventions and teacher conferences to expand on her knowledge and keep her classes up to date on the latest styles and teaching techniques.