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 17. 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.

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!

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. 

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 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!

Haleigh Lemay

Haleigh began her dance journey at the age of 3. She started dancing at Dance Works Academy at 9 years old. Since then, she has been training in the styles of ballet, tap, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. She began dancing competitively when she was 10 years old. Since then, her competition routines have won many high score awards, judges awards, and an invitation to a National Competition. Haleigh has studied multiple styles of dance under master instructors such as Alex Wong, Aaron Turner, And Amelia Lowe, at dance conventions. She has received awards for her contemporary, lyrical, hip hop, and jazz dancing, along with being invited to dance in the Excel in Motion showcase. After beginning to assist classes at 12 years old, Haleigh realized that both teaching, and learning dance was her passion and she can’t wait to see how far that takes her!​​

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.  

Vanessa Shepherd

Coming Soon...

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.​

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.