Instructors: Team Members

Instructors

Lindsay Deneault

Director

Lindsay Deneault is the director and primary dance instructor at Elite Dance. Miss Lindsay has studied under Daurice McIntyre, Kerry-Ann Mulrey and Amy McNabb. She has also had the pleasure of taking class with Steven Boyd, Gregg Russell, Wade Robson, Brian Freidman, Dave Scott and Mia Michels.

Miss Lindsay is a graduate of Providence College where she assisted in creating a dance degree program for the college under Dr. Wendy Oliver. While at college, she studied with the Providence Ballet and was also able to teach in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Miss Lindsay has been choreographing since the age of 14 in places such as Riverside Theatre Works, Notre Dame Academy, Janet Keaney’s School of Dance and On Stage Dance Studio. She has been teaching ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and hip-hop professionally since 1998. Most recently Miss Lindsay has had the opportunity to work with the Boston Ballet, Broderick’s Gymnastics Academy, and Take Centerstage Dance Challenge. Miss Lindsay’s students have traveled and competed from Massachusetts to Florida as well as Bermuda. She has also added Zumba® instruction, NIA and Piloxing®.

A member of the National Dance Educator Organization, Miss Lindsay, has traveled throughout the country for the Dance Olympus/Dance America organization. She has also had the opportunity to dance with Christina Aguilera and perform with Brian McKnight. She also reaches out to the community volunteering for YMCA programs, Earth Day and Family events.

Miss Lindsay has worked along with and adjudicated for the Miss America organization in Massachusetts, has managed Savaria Dance Studio for Ballroom and Latin dance, and worked for many other studios and organizations in order to promote dance education. She currently judges for national dance competitions, such as Starbound.

Payton Anastasia

Instructor

Payton Anastasia studied dance for 14 years under the tutelage of MaryLou Cunningham, RAD, founder of Dance Workshop of Hanover. Ms. Cunningham is registered and certified to teach with the Royal Academy of Dance, London. Payton progressed through the Royal Academy's ballet syllabus, achieving each level of the distinguished program. In addition, she studied with Michele Davis, a former dancer with Ballet Theatre of Boston and Nick Pabst, formerly a dancer with the Sacramento Ballet. Her training has included pre-pointe, pointe, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary as well. Throughout the years, Payton participated in many dance competitions and was a member of Children Dance Ensemble, performing in the Nutcracker Ballet and other events as a part of the ensemble and in solo roles. Over the past six years, you may have seen Payton at competitions or conventions as one of the backstage managers for Spirit of Dance Awards! Payton is eager to share her love of dance and choreography with aspiring young dancers and would love the opportunity to be a part of their dance journey!

Kristina Belcher

Instructor

Kristina has been dancing since the age of 3 starting at Janet Keaney's School of Dance along with studying at Norwood Recreation School of Dance and Bay Colony Performing Arts Acadamey. She is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to teacher ages Infant to 5 years old. Kristina has been with Elite Dance Center since late 2017 and has worked her way up from assistant teaching to teacher. Her favorite styles of dance are Ballet, Musical Theatre and Tap. Kristina has always loved working with children whether it be in her calls room at school or in the dance studio.

Ofubofu Cairns

Instructor

Ofu started dancing at Ballet Arts in North Carolina when he was 8 years old, taking classes in the styles of tap, contemporary, jazz, clogging, ballet, and lyrical. He eventually became an independent student-teacher when he was 15 years old and taught weekly classes there until graduating from high school. Ofu then went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College just outside of Philadelphia. In college, Ofu focused on learning human anatomy/physiology and also shadowed physical therapists in his spare time. Ofu also worked as a Specialty Choreographer for his home studio, choreographing competition solos and mentoring soloists throughout the year. Since graduating college, Ofu has continued to refine his understanding of human biology and dance technique. He is very excited to share his knowledge and love for dance with the kids of Elite Dance Center.

Melissa Kelley Clark

Instructor

Melissa Kelley Clark is a passionate and dedicated advocate for the art of ballet. With extensive experience as a studio owner, ballet company director, master teacher, and competition judge, she has made a lasting impact on dancers and dance communities throughout New England. Her choreography has earned numerous accolades, and many of her students have gone on to successful professional careers as performers and dance educators. Melissa began her dance training at a young age and continued her studies through college. Following her collegiate training, she earned her teaching certification through the Dance Teachers Club of Boston and Dance Masters of America. She is also a proud member of the Greater Brockton Dance Teachers Association. Throughout her career, Melissa has devoted herself to directing and producing full-length classical ballets for the community, as well as coaching dancers for performances and competitions. Her work also includes choreography for musical theater productions, serving as artistic director for a wide range of performing arts presentations, coaching pre-professionals, judging all over the country for regional and national dance competitions, and teaching master classes, workshops and conventions. she strives to inspire dancers to recognize the beauty in their art, take pride in their achievements, and embrace challenges with confidence.

Charlie Holbrook

Instructor

Charlie has years of teaching experience, having served as dance instructor at such institutions as Boston Conservatory, University of Rhode Island, Cathy Taylor School of Dance, American Academy of Dance and Dean College. Charlie’s performance experience includes work at The Bonanza Hotel in Las Vegas, The Jimmy Fund Telethon, The Heart Fund Telethon and Leukemia Society Telethon. Charlie has studied with Jack Stanley, Henry LeTang, Danny Hoctor, Ron Daniels, Roy Dodge, Jimmy Sutton, Dean Barlow and Bob Audy.

Nicole Iemma

Instructor

Nicole has been immersed in dance for 20 years, spending eight of those years competing with Infinite Motion Performing Arts Academy. Specializing in Jazz, Hip Hop, and Contemporary/Lyrical, she also trained in Classical Ballet and assisted with recreational classes. Her notable performances include dancing at Walt Disney World, a New York Knicks game, the Brooklyn Dance Festival, and several New Jersey Devils games. At the University of Rhode Island, Nicole joined the URI Dance Company. During her four years in college, she taught, choreographed, and performed with the company, serving as the Jazz teacher for 2.5 years and the Hip Hop teacher for 1.5 years, while helping organize the annual company shows. Nicole's extensive experience and passion for dance have shaped her as both a performer and educator. She is excited to bring her love for dance back into the classroom this season and looks forward to inspiring and working with her students.

Instructor

Annmarie Jarvis

Instructor

Annmarie Jarvis has been a dancer for 19 years, studying ballet, acro, jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theater. She has been at Elite for 15 years, transitioning from student to student teacher, and eventually to teacher. She was formerly on the Elite competition team and has been choreographing for the team since graduating in 2018. Annmarie was a part of Fenomena, University of Hartford’s hip hop dance team, where they competed all over the state of Conneticut. She has since gone on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Health Science and a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Northeastern University. She has a passion for dance and has a strong background and understanding of injury prevention. As well as the physical demands of a recreational, competitive, or pre-professional dancers

Peter Sabasino

Instructor

Peter Sabasino, a native of Philadelphia, PA, began his dance training at the age of four at a local dance studio. It was there, that he started out learning Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Tap but found that Tap and Hip-Hop were his home. At the age of fourteen, he was accepted into the High-school for Creative And Performing Arts as a dance major. It was there he expanded his repertoire by adding Modern, African, Ballroom, and Broadway to his belt. It was here in high-school that he discovered his third love….Broadway Jazz. At the start of his senior year, Peter graduated his dance school and began traveling back and forth between Philadelphia and New York to study at studios such as Broadway Dance Center and Steps On Broadway, where he had the opportunity to train under such greats as Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Barbara Duffy, Tyce Diorio, Rhapsody James, and Brian Green; just to name a few.
After graduating high-school, Peter continued his training at Indiana University of PA where he studied with Joan Van Dyke, the head of the Ballet program at the Governor’s School of the Arts. After college Peter was blessed with what he considers his biggest achievement and landed a spot as a Top 16 Finalist on Fox Television’s hit reality show, “So You Think You Can Dance” season 6 being the last of three Tap dancers to be eliminated. Peter recently landed a spot as a principal dancer in a commercial for Walt Disney World. He was also the choreographer on a Disney+ television show called The Right Stuff, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Peter is also the Founder/Director of the Orlando Tap Company, and has has own dancers’ clothing line with his wife called Hashtag DanceSwag. Peter is currently a host/judge/instructor for a few very well-known dance competitions. Peter continues to travel the world with various competitions and conventions; adjudicating, choreographing, and performing… but finds his TRUE LOVE is in teaching, inspiring, and instilling the knowledge that he has gained throughout his career with the up and coming dancers of tomorrow.

Kyle Weaver

Instructor

Kyle is a graduate of Rhode Island College with a degree in Music. He has been teaching hip hop professionally throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts since 2004. Over the decades, he has coached hundreds of students and Kyle's choreography and his dancers have won many top awards and accolades including the Young Choreography award in 2005 at ADA, and dozens of 1st and 2nd place highest overall scores at regional and national dance competitions. Kyle also enjoys teaching master classes, dance intensives, and has taught at several regional and national dance competitions as a guest teacher for their conventions. Kyle is currently teaching hip hop at several studios where he shares his passion and intricate style, focusing on high energy and musicality for all age ranges and skill levels.