Lisa Kaplan Barbash, Director
Lisa has owned and directed The Dance Studio since 1981. A certified member of Dance Educators of America, Lisa is certified by test with high honors to teach all dance subjects on all levels. Lisa majored in Dance at Emerson College and has performed for the National Screen Actors Guild, as well as professional dance companies. Lisa has also done commercials for national television. As a choreographer, Lisa has won top choreography awards from Dance Educators of America, StarPower, Starquest, Showstoppers, International Dance Challenge, Starbound, and most recently was the recipient of the 2010 Top Advanced Choreography Award at Revolution Competition. Her students have gained National recognition becoming National Dance Champions across the United States, in Maryland, California, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Most importantly, Lisa loves sharing her knowledge of dance with her students, and takes great pride in all of her students and their accomplishments

Jessica Nerbonne, Co-Director
Jessica is a graduate of Dean College with a BA in Dance. Jessica studied under Nailah Bellinger and has extensive training in Modern and Contemporary dance as well as Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop and Acrobatics. Jessica was also Dean Dance Team member for three years during college. During her childhood and teen years, Jessica received her dance training at The Dance Studio (TDS) and was a twelve year student as well as a member of our competition team. This past season, Jessica was the recipient of the 2010 Top Choreography Award at Revolution Competition. Jessica has a natural love for children, and is an amazing teacher and choreographer who brings out the best in all of her students.

Shannon Mahoney, Ballet, Lyrical Jazz, Contemporary
Shannon is a graduate of Dean College with a BA in Dance. She has been dancing for 18 years and is trained in Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. Shannon has been teaching for the past six years and has an amazing combination of focus, discipline and enjoyment in her teaching. Shannon is also currently a professional dancer with the Solar Power Dance Team who performs for the WNBA Basketball Team, Connecticut Sun.

Lisa Powers, Contemporary, Ballet, Jazz, Lyric, Acrobatics, Tap, Musical Theatre Lisa began her dance training at Legein Dance Academy where she trained extensively for 13 years in all forms of dance. Lisa's training continued at the Dance Teacher's Club of Boston Dance Education Training where she graduated in 2004. Lisa is a recipient of the Mary Jane Brown Tap Scholarship and a Dance Masters of America Tap Scholarship. After graduating High School, Lisa continued her education and Dance training with a full Performing Arts Scholarship to Dean College. Lisa has a true passion for teaching and choreographing and has been teaching dance since 2004. She has been on the faculty of Legein Dance Academy and has taught Master Classes throughout New England. Lisa's love for the arts reaches beyond dance, she has trained extensively in voice and theatre and is currently a member of the Youth Actors Ensemble and serves on the Executive Board. Currently, Lisa is Co-founder of Kinetic Synergy Dance Company, a collaborative Dance Company in Boston, MA. Recently, Lisa's choreography was chosen for a Dance Works Boston project which was quite an honor.

Frantz Louitzia, Hip Hop, Afro Haitian, Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Modern
Frantz is an exquisite dancer whose energy, skill and stage presence is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Frantz grew up in a family that appreciated music and dance and nurtured his talents. Frantz attended the Boston School for the Performing Arts in High School years where he performed in pieces choreographed by Ronald K. Brown, Sean Curran, and Marlies Yearby. Frantz has extensive training in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Swing, Salsa, Hip-Hop and Afro-Haitian. He received his Performing Arts Degree from Dean College. You can scout Frantz running his dance company "Arc-En-Ciel" touring throughout the New England Area and passing along his knowledge of Dance through life.

Kate Ferrara, Pilates for Dancers  Kate is bursting on the scene with years of experience and enthusiasm as a certified Pilates instructor. Kate's classes are packed full of energy and are well known as 'POWER PILATES' as they are core strengthening and develop long, strong muscles for the dancer. Pilates focuses on elongating and lengthening a dancer. Pilates for the dancer is a wonderful way for dance students to develop and increase their focus, and increase a dancer's confidence as they begin to understand how their muscles work and how this can be applied to their dance technique. Pilates is a tool that continues to grow with the dancer, once learned and  understood, the dance student can use the principles throughout their dance career. We are so excited to have Kate join our faculty.

Stacey Driscoll, Acrobatics Stacey is a motivated and enthusiastic dance instructor with eight years of teaching experience with both recreational and competitive dancers. Stacey received her dance training from a very early age at The Dance Studio and was a member of both the TDS National Award Winning Competitive Dance Team and Acrobatic Team. Stacey strives to bring out the potential in all of her students, and is a great movitater for our Acrobatic students. We are delighted to have Stacey on the faculty at TDS!

Sarah Massey, Contemporary  Sarah is a fifteen year student of TDS Dance and has studied all dance genres extensively during this time. Sarah has also been on our National Award Winning Dance Team for over 10 years. During her years at the studio, Sarah has proven to be an excellent student and a beautiful dancer. Her positive outlook has made her very well liked and a positive presence at the studio. During her high school years, aside from all of Sarah's dance training, she was also a two year member of the Oliver Ames Moves Dance Team as well as Dance Captain. Sarah also taught and choreographed Contemporary Dance for other dancers at the high school level. This past summer, Sarah danced at the Starbound National Dance Competition in Orlando, Florida where she earned high recognition for her Contemporary Solo performance. Sarah will be studying Dance at Bridgewater State University this upcoming fall. We warmly welcome Sarah to the TDS staff!

Master Teachers - Guest Teachers

Ashley Eisenhauer, Contemporary, Lyrical, Ballet, Jazz,Tap, Acrobatics Ashley has had 22 years of training in dance and has trained at Boston Ballet, Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center and the Loyola Marymount University. She has also been instructed by Nan Keating, Kathy Kozul, Diane Kelly, Patti Eisenhauer, Wade Robson and Mia Michaels. She has appeared on SYTYCD and on national television. She has won numerous Diamond and High score choreogarphy awards and is known for her original contemporary style. Ashley has been a Celtics Dancer for the past two years and will now be choreographing for the Celtics Dancers.

Matt Parello, is the founder and director of Dance Company Worcester (DCW). During his childhood, Matt studied at The Dance Studio (TDS) and Charlotte Klein Dance Centers. He studied ballet under the direction of Clyde Nantais, Artistic Director of Boston Dance Company (BDC). He joined BDC in 1999 and is currently performing with them. As Executive Assistant Director and company dancer of BDC, he has performed in their annual production of "The Nutcracker" as the Nutcracker, Drosselmyer, and various other roles. Matt attended Dean College and Long Island University as a dance Major. In 2003 Matt won the title National Mister Headliner. Matt was a Dancer/Entertainer at Six Flags New England. Matt has also choreographed "Grease" and "Footloose" for Assumption College in Worcester Mass. Matt has gone on tour with Pulse, Summer of 2009. Recently Matt has been judging for the "Step Up 2 Dance Tour".