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, Administrative Assistant

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 16. She especially enjoys choreographing many of our competition pieces and has received choreography awards including first place overall for her lyrical routine, as well as selection for National competitions. She received her Bachelors Degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and is currently in the process of applying to medical school.

Alycia Beatrice

Alycia Beatrice, dance instructor and co owner of Beatz Dance Studio, started her dance training at the age of two at Dance Works Academy. During her early years of training she attended many dance competitions and conventions with Dance Olympus and The Pulse. She studied Dance Education and Dance Therapy at Columbia College Chicago. After college, Alycia worked in Walt Disney World, attending many performance classes and workshops. Now, Alycia is a full-time Special Needs teacher at Nipmuc High School in a life skills program. She is very excited to bring her teaching knowledge and dance training together and share her love of dance with her students. 

Jessica Bates

Jessica began dancing at the age of three with Dance Works Academy. During her time with DWA she studied Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Pointe, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop and Lyrical. Jessica was also a member of DWA's Competition Team and competed and travel to numerous competitions all over New England. In 2018, Jessica became a Professional Dancer for the Boston Cannons, a Major Lacrosse League (MLL) team based out of Quincy, MA. Being a professional dancer in Boston has given Jessica many amazing opportunities to work with other professional dancers and companies! Jessica is currently a company member with Dance Works Boston. She has also trained and preformed with many other professional dance companies such as Expressive Movement, Dance Company Worcester, and Boston Community Dance Project. She was also a finalist for the New England Patriots Cheerleaders as well as the Boston Celtics Dancers! Jessica is excited to spread her passion and love for dance!

Katelyn Peter

Katelyn 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. Katelyn 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. Katelyn found her passion for teaching when she became an assistant at 11 years old. Katelyn joined the DWA faculty last season as a competition teacher and is very excited to be able to share her love for dance with her students as a this season!

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. Melissa attended the University of Rhode Island, where she focused on training and performing in Hip Hop.  She performed and competed with URI's popular dance team, The Flavor Unit, where 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.  

Ashlyn Seligman

Ashlyn started her dance training at Dance Works Academy when she was three. She has been trained in styles including ballet, lyrical, pointe, jazz, modern, hiphop, and tap. Ashlyn joined DWA's competition team when and has won numerous awards. She has been assisting Creative Movement classes for the past three years, and this year she has joined our faculty as a student teacher. She most enjoys teaching young dancers and sharing her love of dance. 

Vanessa Shepherd

Vanessa has been dancing since she was two years old. She danced at Mendon Dance Center for 10 years, where she practiced Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern, and Musical Theatre. She then continued her dance journey at DWA, where she practiced these styles plus Pointe. Vanessa joined DWA's competition team, which allowed her to perform across New England, attend conventions, and make some lifelong friendships! She also assisted a few classes at the studio during her senior year of high school, while choreographing her school's musical; and both of these experiences sparked her passion for teaching and choreographing. Vanessa was an active dancer & choreographer in the Marist College Dance Ensemble for nearly three years (before COVID-19 shut down dance on campus), and she even got to attend Ballet classes in Florence, Italy when she spent a semester abroad there in 2019. She recently graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and started her first full-time job — and she couldn't be more excited to be dancing again at DWA!

Melissa St Cyr

Miss Melissa has been instructing dance lessons since 1998. She has taught all styles and ages at various studios in Massachusetts including owning her own dance school for eight years in Princeton, MA.  Miss Melissa has choreographed for several competition teams. She attended Dean College’s dance program in 2001 while studying communications and psychology as well. Currently Melissa is teaching for two other locations in MA and is excited to join DWA in the fall. 

Cheryl Sweeney

Cheryl is a dance instructor for several local studios, who also owned and operated her own dance academy. She continues to attend dance conventions and classes to further her knowledge in dance and has recently become Acrobatic Arts Certified, and an Acro Dance Adjudicator: Certified Founding Member with the ADTA. Cheryl has her Masters in Education with a concentration in Spanish. Cheryl has been teaching dance for more than 20 years, during that time she has taught Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, Pointe, Lyrical and Hip Hop to all ages and levels, recreational and competition, including adults. Cheryl also has a theater background and has been both director and choreographer for local Summer Theater Camps.​