Directorial staff
Lisa Bronshteyn is the Co-Director of The Dance Loft. A former professional musical theater actress and dancer, she has appeared on Broadway in the revival of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and has toured the U.S. with the national touring companies of White Christmas and Hello, Dolly! She received her BFA in musical theatre from Pennsylvania State University and is a member of AEA, the professional actors’ union. She has also worked at several regional theatres throughout the country. Lisa began dancing at the age of four and grew up in the competition world where she won numerous titles and overall high scores as both a dancer and choreographer. Her unique background of competitive dance and professional dance is what has led her students to become national champions in multiple disciplines at The Dance Loft. She is thrilled to bring her years of experience in the dance and theatre world to our studio.
Brooke Robyn Dairman is the Co-Director of The Dance Loft. An accomplished professional dancer, musical theater actress, and choreographer, she has held leading roles regionally, Off-Broadway, and in five national tours. Brooke began her career dancing with several New York City-based modern and jazz dance companies but transitioned to the world of musical theater in 2007 to capitalize on her versatility as an actress and singer. Highlights of her musical theater career include playing Tiger Lily and understudying Peter in the national tour of Peter Pan, performing as Minnie Fay opposite Sally Struthers in the 50th Anniversary National Tour of Hello, Dolly!, and portraying June in Gypsy. Brooke choreographed the 2011 national tour of All Shook Up as well as several professional regional productions that received critical acclaim. Additionally, she has served as dance captain and assistant to several Broadway choreographers. She is a member of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA)—the union for professional stage actors. Brooke has been affiliated with the Dance Loft since she was a teenager, and the ballet training she received from Willa Damien as a young dancer was instrumental in launching her successful career. Brooke has taught master classes throughout the country and is known for her patience, energy, and passion as a teacher. She is a double Ivy League graduate, having received her BA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and her Masters from Columbia University. Visit Brooke's website for more information.
faculty
Willa Damien founded The Dance Loft in 1984 and continues to teach ballet to our students. She studied at the School of American Ballet, the Julliard School, and with Andre Eglevsky. She was a soloist with the Eglevsky Ballet Company before moving to Belgium where she appeared as a soloist with the Royal Opera of Ghent, the Ballet of Flanders of Antwerp, and Bejarts Ballet of the 20th Century. Her teaching experience includes classes given at the Royal Opera of Ghent in Belgium, at her own studio in Ghent, and at various schools on Long Island. Her students have continued on to the School of American Ballet, Joffrey's, Alvin Ailey, the Bolshoi School in Moscow, professional dance companies, and professional theater.
Sarah Buscaino was born and raised on Long Island, New York. She began her dance training at the American Theater Dance Workshop and then went on to study at Marymount Manhattan College ultimately graduating magna cum laude with a B.F.A. in Dance. After graduation, Sarah danced with companies including Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, Dance Iquail, and the Peggy Spina Tap Company. She then pursued Musical Theatre and hasn’t looked back since! Some of her favorite credits include - New York City Opera Pigmalion (Dancer), Regional: Chicago (Associate Choreographer, Dance Captain, Riverside Theatre) Saturday Night Fever (Associate Choreographer, WBT), Memphis (Riverside Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre), Broadway Bares 26. Workshop: ONLY GOLD (Andy Blankenbuehler). Film: Annie: From Script to Stage (PBS). Proud member of AEA. Learn more about Sarah’s upcoming projects at www.sarahbuscaino.com @sarahbuscaino
Gina Daugherty is a professional dancer and choreographer currently residing in New York City. She has studied at The University of the Arts, Peridance Capezio Center, Broadway Dancer Center's Professional Semester, Pushing Progress, Joffrey Jazz & Contemorary LA and Axis Connect. Gina has been associate choreographer to Charlie Sutton on Evita at ACT of Connecticut and Broadway Bares: Game Night. She has also been associate choreographer to Brooke Wendle for the Broadway Dance Center AIM Invitational. She has had the pleasure of working with world renowned choreographers including Tony Testa, Peter Chu, Mandy Moore, Jaci Royal, Michael Mindlin, and Ephrat Asherie. Gina is very excited to be sharing her passion for dance at The Dance Loft this year!
Liesl Jaye is a multifaceted performer and instructor based in New York. In earlier years, she competed in state, regional, and national USAG gymnastics competitions and is now a certified USAG gymnastics coach. Liesl is also a trained dancer, who received a BFA in dance and musical theatre from the University of The Arts and performed in musicals on Broadway and in national and international tours. After also devoting years to studying aerial silks, rope, and flying trapeze, she performed in the world-renowned circus show Le Rêve — The Dream in Las Vegas as an aerialist/acrobat. Most recently, she was an aerialist/dancer performing on Carnival’s Mardi Gras ship. In addition to performing, Liesl enjoys sharing her knowledge as an instructor of gymnastics, aerial arts, and dance with those who wish to learn and have a good time. She believes that each art form has a special beauty, but they also relate to each other and can be combined in many wonderfully artistic ways which she enjoys demonstrating for others. Instagram: @liesljaye
Jill Kenney is a New York-based dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Jill is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center, NYU Steinhardt, the 92nd St Y, and has guest taught at other NYC dance studios. She has also been working as Germaine Salsberg’s tap assistant at Broadway Dance Center since 2008. With Salsberg’s tap company, Les Femmes Plus, Jill has performed at Symphony Space, Lincoln Center, The Friars Club, Brooklyn College, and Boston’s Regent Theatre. She has appeared in numerous festivals including the Dumbo Dance Festival, Tap City, Stam-Pede, and the Tap Extravaganza. For numerous years, she has been a team leader for ATDF’s Tap it Out—an outdoor concert directed by Tony Waag and Lynn Schwab. Other performance highlights include the Highline Ballroom, LG Electronics, Disney Cruise Lines, and the tour of Dancin’ on Common Ground (choreography by Jared Grimes). She has also performed with the Andrea Torres Dance Company and Carlos Donan’s Folktap. Originally from Rhode Island, Jill grew up training in various forms of dance under the direction of Lisa Mailloux and also at the Newport Academy of Ballet. She has studied at the 92Y Dance Education Laboratory and holds a B.A. in Dance Performance and Education from SUNY Empire State College, as well as an A.A. in Dance from Dean College.
Elizabeth McDermott (Beth) is a New York City Dance Educator working for the Department of Education. She currently teaches dance to grades Pre-K through Fifth at an elementary school in Queens where she focuses on everything from ballet and modern to cultural dances and creative movement. Beth expands her teaching in local studios and after-school programs on Long Island, working with children ages three to seventeen in ballet, lyrical, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop. She has been teaching in studios for nine years. Beth graduated from Hofstra University's acclaimed Dance Program in January 2013, receiving a B.S. in Education - Dance Education. She received her NYS Initial Teaching Certification for K-12 Dance in February 2013. She is the founder and past President of the University Club and Student Chapter of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), T’DAA (Teaching Dance As Art) on her campus. She presented a research paper, “Dance vs. Dance Education: The Division in the Classroom” at the 2012 annual conference for the NDEO with the goal of publication. In recognition of her outstanding work in developing and promoting the Dance Education degree as part of the Dance Program at Hofstra, the faculty granted her a Merit Award acknowledging her leadership and initiative. Beth has performed in four Faculty Concerts at Hofstra, working with five different choreographers. She has also performed with the Gotham City Cheer, in flash mobs with NYC Dance Arts, and at the 92Y in NYC. She recently obtained her Graduate Degree from Adelphi University in Physical Education. Since the young age of 3, dance has been Beth's passion and nothing will stop her from establishing that same passion in the students she teaches.
Michael Rios is a professional dancer born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has trained at Ballet Hispanico, Steps On Broadway, Ballet Arts and received his BFA from Syracuse University. Performing credits include Disney’s NEWSIES: The Broadway Musical (Film/stage/tour) available on Netflix and iTunes, Hyped for Halftime 2016 campaign (Super Bowl), CATS (US/international tour), Hello, Dolly! (Starring Sally Struthers 50th anniversary tour), The Wizard of Oz (Dance Captain US tour). Regional credits include: Fiddler On the Roof, Peter Pan, West Side Story, and Hairspray. He also performed with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a dancer/aerialist. Michael has taught open class at Peridance Capezio NYC and Brickhouse NYC. Shanghai, Florence, Rome and Nova Scotia include some other cities he has instructed in as well as across the USA with Broadway Across America. Michael is thrilled to be working with students from The Dance Loft.