Lauren Mangano
Owner & Director
Our faculty consists of qualified, professional teachers who share a passion for their work. We promote an encouraging atmosphere to learn and grow.
Lauren Mangano
Owner & Director
Owner and Director of Elite Academy of Dance is an honors graduate from Dean College, where she received her Bachelors Degree in Dance with a graduate focus in Pedagogy, Composition, and Creative Movement.
Lauren opened Elite in 2008, and had quickly become known for her choreography, quality training and dedication to her students. As a teacher her choreography has been recognized on a regional and national level, her dancers have taken top honors at well known, high caliber dance competitions around the country and have been cast in Broadway shows including "Finding Neverland", "Elf" the Musical, "Radio City Christmas & Spring Spectacular", movies, print work, Disney, company work, T.V. shows including “So You Think You can Dance”, “Live to Dance” and other exciting opportunities. Lauren travels as a judge for several national and international dance competitions and is an in demand teacher in the convention circuit. She has taught at events including ConQuest, Dance Masters of America, Dance Teachers Club Boston, and The Broadway Experience. She was the first New England based teacher to be certified in Acrobatic Arts training certification, and is also Alixa Flexibility Certified.
Lauren has run several local pageants in the past and currently serves as board member, choreographer and producer of the Miss Massachusetts America Pageant Organization.
Lauren’s goal is to continue to set standards and pave the way for Elite Academy of Dance. To provide your dancer, no matter what age and level with the highest quality dance education and opportunities that cannot be found anywhere else. Her dedication to her craft and to her studio is unique, and her love for the art of dance and teaching is what makes Elite Academy of Dance “Massachusetts Premier Dance Studio”!
Erin Stomski
Dance Instructor
Earning her Bachelors of Science in Psychology at Worcester State University, Erin continues to train and audition within the dance industry. Dancing for 20 years, she has trained intensively in areas of ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern, hip hop and tap. Her teachers include Teddy Forance, Jolanta Valeikaite, Derrick Yanford, Karin Tremblay, Katy Speadbury. She has also trained at Walnut Hill summer intensive program with Michael Owen and Kathy Kozel. Erin’s community involvement includes building a dance club for grammar school aged children for over five years and working as the original choreographer for Mike Nyman Photography's park project, “Dancers in the Parks”.
Erin’s professional credits include dancing and modeling for Reebok Industry; choreographing and assisting at “Turn It Up Dance Challenge” Nationals, TD Bank WOW awards and modeling for Capezio dance wear. Erin’s performance credits include, Sean Kingston’s concert dancer, Boston Symphony Orchestra, KISS 108, HGTV, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, The Nutcracker presented by Ballet Arts Worcester, Miss Massachusetts Pageant, Boston Celtics game, the Worcester State University Dance Team, Boston Contemporary Dance Project and New Age contemporary company. Within the past year she has assisted James Alsop (Beyonce’s choreographer) and Matthew Kzmierczak (sytycd) to name a few. Erin is a member of several hip hop crews in Boston including: CONceptARTists, PROject Nailz, and Static Noyze. Her crews have been numerously crowned champions in competitions including World of Dance Boston, New Jersey, and New York as well as Prelude New England. Static Noyze, a hip hop crew presented on the well-known television show America's Best Dance Crew has led her to many championships as well as performance and choreography opportunities. Outside of her dancing she loves teaching, choreographing, and judging all styles of dance as her full time job at numerous studios around Massachusetts.
Hope Specht
Dance Instructor
Hope Secht comes to Elite with years of knowledge and experiences having owned and directed a dance- acrobatic school in new england for 17 years. Hope is a member of the Chapter #5 Dance Masters of America and Dance Teachers' Club of Boston. Her students have performed in commercials, Disney, the Macy's day parade, Madison Square Garden, and Times Square in New York. Performing in musicals such as: Grease, Dr. Seuss, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie and the touring broadway musical "Fosse". Also achieving, 16 acro titleist of United States, bringing home 3 world gold medals at the World Championships in Showdance, world gold medalist in tap & 4 world silver medals in 2005-2006, as they represented our country in Riesa, Germany. Hope had the prestigous honor of being nominated to perform her choreographed acro-dance production routine "Glory" for President Bush.
Casey Harkness Andrade
Dance Instructor
Casey Harkness Andrade is a professional choreographer, educator, and performer. She received her B.A. in dance performance from Rhode Island College where she trained and studied with the exceptional choreographers such as Clay Talifaro, Sean Curran and Mark Taylor. After graduation Casey continued her education at Broadway Dance Center in New York City and Boston Ballet, where she studied weekly in a variety of classes. While a dancer of the Andary Dance Company, Casey had the opportunity to perform at the Cunningham School in New York City and tour the northeast. AS of new member of the Franklin Performing Arts Company Casey has enjoyed roles such as Morticia in The Addams Family Musical and the Amazing Mayzie in Seussical. She has performed and worked alongside Broadway's Clay Rice- Thomson, Tyler Hanes, and Josh Strickland in FPAC's productions of Matilda, Mary Poppins, Something Rotten and Tarzan. Casey has also been an adjunct faculty member at Rhode Island College, Dean College and Salve Regina University, teaching jazz, tap and working with the RIC dance company as assistant rehearsal director. In 2010 she became an adjudicator and choreographer for th eElite Dance Challenge regional and national competition. Later Casey joined the judges panel for the Celebration Talent director at Franklin School for the Performing Arts and the director of the FSPA Dance Company. She teaches a variety of classes in dance and musical theater as well as creates and facilitates curriculum, placement of students, and performances for the school.
Derek Piquette
Dance Instructor
Derek Piquette is a dancer, choreographer, director, educator, and founder of Prodigy: The Dance Team Convention. His career spans Film, Television, and Live Stage, with credits including Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon and Schmicago, Netflix's Julie and the Phantoms, Work It, Scaredy Cats, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, NBC's World of Dance, and Amazon Prime Video's The Boys. He toured internationally as the lead character in Cirque Du Soleil's Kooza for over two years, performing across Australia, New Zealand, Spain, China, and Singapore.
Derek's talent has led him to choreograph for major productions such as the Jennifer Lopez It's My Party Tour, Disney's Backstage, Family Channel's The Next Step, and Netflix's Work It. He has performed in the ensemble for Radio City's Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes for two seasons and choreographed for New York Fashion Week in 2022. That same year, he was brought on by Universal Music Canada to choreograph and creative direct for multi-platinum recording artist Reve, leading the nationwide tour and music videos including "Tongue" and "Whitney". Derek's recent work includes co-choreographing Grant Knoche's "Intrusive Thoughts" music video with Tori Caro and assisting Tony Award-winning choreographer Chris Gattelli on "With All Of Your Heart" from Schmigadoon, featuring Academy Award-winner Ariana DeBose- a number that earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programing. He also appeared as a dancer in the 2024 Netflix film Kinda Pregnant, starring Amy Shchumer.
As an educator, Derek has taught at over 500 dance studios worldwide and worked with some of the top collegiate dance teams in the United States. His passion for mentorship and education has taken him across the globe - including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and China. Through Prodigy: The Dance Team Convention, he continues to bridge the gap between aspring dancers and the collegiate dance opportunities, sharing his experience with the next generation of performers.
Leticia Guerrero
Dance Instructor
A native of Venezuela, Ms. Guerrero received her early training at the Keyla Ermecheo Ballet School in Caracas. She has performed with numerous companies including Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas, Metropolitan Ballet of Caracas, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Michigan Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theatre and Cadence Dance Project.
She has created leading roles in ballets in Gianni Dimarco’s El Amor Brujo, Schéhérazade and Azucar, Plotnikov’s Carmen, The Widow’s Broom,Loof and Let Dime and Coma, De Bouteiller’s Romeo and Juliet and FBP’s 2006 premiere of Don Quixote. Other leading roles include Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Rubies, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tarantella, Who Cares?, Pelzig’s The Princess and the Pea, Swan Lake and Eldar Aliev’s A Thousand and One Nights. Ms. Guerrero also participated in the 2004 Venezuela Del Mundo Gala and was recognized for representing Venezuela internationally with high standards and “projection, dignity and beauty.” In addition Providence Mayor David Cicilline awarded a Citizens Citation for her “exceptional and wholehearted devotion for the art of dance.”
Christie Mcpherson
Dance Instructor
A Texas native transplanted to Boston recently, Christie has been a dance educator for 18+ years in tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, and tumbling. Christie also is heavily experienced and well-known in the collegiate, pre-professional, and professional dance team world for coaching, choreography, and judging. Christie has been a part of major productions including A Chorus Line, Mary Poppins, Hairspray, Clowns, Cinderella, and more. She danced the Youth Principal role of “Clara” in the Stephens Ballet Company Nutcracker twice at age 10 and 11 - a first in the ballet company’s history and hasn’t been repeated since. Training at the University of Texas in her college years, she was sidelined by a major double foot reconstructive surgery which is why she still focuses heavily in classes on dancer safety while teaching them to take care of their bodies to prevent injuries. Christie is Acrobatic Arts trained and Certified among other certifications in the dance education world. Outside of dance, she is also a healthcare provider so you can frequently see her passion and knowledge of how the human body works specifically for dancers in class helping them to better understand not only the mechanics of dance but the best way for them to train their bodies for strength, control, endurance, and safety. Christie’s goal has always been to ensure dancers receive positive and constructive feedback, encouraging them to find their internal motivation in life even outside of the studio walls, help them create longevity in their dance education and career through growth and safe training practices, as well as encouraging them to expand their perspectives on the art we all love so much!
Nicole Quinn
Dance Instructor
Nicole Quinn is a graduate of the University of Arizona as a dance major in the College of Fine Arts. Receiving her B.F.A. in dance and graduating magna cum laude, she learned works from Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, José Limon, Amy Ernest and more. During her time in Arizona, she had the opportunity to perform Panorama by Martha Graham and open for the Martha Graham Dance Company during their performance show. She furthered her training by studying during summers at Visceral Dance Chicago and Giordano Dance Chicago, where she received a mentorship with the company for the year of 2018. In 2020 Nicole received her certification in PBT: Progressing Ballet Technique Nicole and continues to spread her love of dance through teaching and choreographing. Nicole grew up as a competition dancer competing in regional, national, and title competitions across the US. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, and partnering and brings her experience to all of her students at Elite where her choreography has been recognized on a national competition level. She is so incredibly grateful to be a part of the Elite family and be part of each dancer’s journey!
Hailey Beaudette
Dance Instructor
Hailey is originally from central Massachusetts where she grew up training as a competitive dancer. She expanded her dance career throughout college, receiving a B.A. in Dance and a double minor in Educational Studies & Management. Hailey has had many opportunities while in school to perform across the country and learn from experienced guest choreographers. Her most memorable moments are competing at the UDA Collegiate Nationals for ESPN and performing in NYC to represent her schools modern dance program. After graduation, Hailey has continued training in master programs throughout New England which has helped her in becoming a professional cheerleader, working on set in concept videos, and much more. On top of her professional career, Hailey loves the work she does as a full time teacher and choreographer and cherishes the time spent with the next generation of dancers!
Tiyika (Tee) Minton Jr
Dance Instructor
Tiyika Minton Jr (Tee) grew up in central Massachusetts, and has been training in dance for over twenty years. As a young student, Tee was a successful competitive dancer- and was consistently recognized for putting a spotlight on hoofing (a rhythmic style of tap). He took every opportunity to learn from some of the world’s top choreographers in tap and hip hop; and was lucky enough to study under some of the greats including Lyle Beniga, Jared Grimes, and Savion Glover. Once a teen, he began his journey as a student choreographer and continued to create a career spreading the knowledge he gained in tap, and various styles of hip hop. In the last decade of teaching competitive dancers full time, Tee’s choreography has won numerous high score awards across the east coast and some of his student’s have gone on to pursue dance professionally.
Tee began to teach at multiple dance studios across Massachusetts, while also working with collegiate dance teams, beauty pageant contestants, and guest teaching at multiple national competitions, master classes, and conventions. He was given the incredible opportunity to work with Wu Tang management and choreograph multiple performances for up and coming signed artists. This then led to working with major artists for Universal Management Group where Tee’s choreography was used for major tours, award shows, and music videos. Ultimately, Tee’s goal is to spread his love for tap and hip hop, and inspire his students to capture every opportunity dance is able to give them.
Joelle Minisce
Dance Instructor
Joelle Minisce is a dancer and choreographer from Providence, RI. Her dance journey began with ballet at an early age and continued for the first 10 years of her career. She then began to expand her expertise to many other disciplines including contemporary, jazz, musical theatre, hip hop and lyrical by training with Rising Stars Dance Academy, Liv3lihood Crew, Thr3elive Dance Complex and Boston Community Dance Project. Joelle feels a deep love for every style she has trained in and draws inspiration from them all in her dancing and choreography. Joelle has spent the last nine years working as a choreographer and instructor at various dance schools in the New England area. She has also directed, choreographed, produced and performed in multiple concept/music video projects such a Project Phoenix Concept Video Series and Down We Go’s “Conscious Minds” music video. In addition, she has been featured in AYO: The Show, Greenwich Bay Brokers television advertisement, and many local showcases and performances. Examples of her work can be viewed on her Youtube page, www.youtube.com/@joelleminisce.
Gloria Liseno
Dance Instructor
Gloria is a Worcester native with a deep passion for wellness and community. Although her parents couldn't afford dance lessons growing up, Gloria immersed herself in the rich multicultural music of her neighborhood, developing a strong affinity for Latin music and dance.
After earning her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Worcester State University, Gloria dedicated seven years to learning and eventually teaching dance at Raices Latin Dance in Worcester, MA. While at Raices Latin Dance, she performed Salsa and Bachata routines at local festivals and private events, and taught in both small classroom settings and large corporate events. She has trained in Merengue, Bachata, and her favorite, Salsa.
Gloria believes that Latin dance is one of the most healing and positive aspects in her life. The ability to experience a wide range of musical styles and their rich meanings while connecting with others through movement has been transformative. She is grateful to share this knowledge as a teacher while continuing her own journey as a student. Gloria takes classes in Boston and New York, with her favorite being Yamulee Dance Company in the 'Boogie Down' Bronx. In addition to her dance expertise, Gloria embraces a holistic approach to movement and completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Hot Power Yoga Center in Worcester, MA
Erika Haydon
Dance Instructor
Erika Haydon has many years of teaching experience and extensive knowledge in all forms of dance at both recreational and competitive levels. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Dean College, where she was a member of the Dean Dance Company for four years. She has also been certified by the prestigious Acrobatics Arts. Her choreography has been recognized and awarded on both regional and national levels. Most recently, she was awarded the Al Gilbert Tap Award. Erika brings high energy, passion, and creativity to all of her classes. Students of hers have gone on to achieve great success in many different facets of performing. She hopes through her love and knowledge of dance to motivate and inspire all her students.
Mary Brothers
Dance Instructor
Mary graduated from Elite Academy of Dance in 2015. After attending Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI in the Hospitality Travel Tourism program, Mary went on to work with children at Disney World. Her time in Florida sparked her passion for working with children. After her time in Florida she traveled across the country and continued her dance education in Los Angeles, CA. She trained at Millennium Dance complex and Playground studying Hip Hop, contemporary, jazz, etc.
Jackie Heider
Dance Instructor
Jackie is a proud graduate of Elite Academy of Dance where she trained in many different styles of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip hop, contemporary, and Acro. Throughout her competitive dance years, she attended numerous competitions and conventions and earned many local and national awards. She has had many performance opportunities such as dancing in the Miss Massachusetts pageant and performing for the Radio City Rockettes in Boston and is currently an IFL cheerleader.
Teaching children has always been a passion of Jackie’s and she was trained at Elite where she was an assistant teacher in many classes throughout her years there. After she graduated, she earned her B.S.E. in Early Childhood Education and taught Kindergarten. Jackie’s goal as a teacher is to provide a safe and encouraging space for her students to grow and learn all while having fun! She is so excited to be back at her home studio sharing her love of dance with her students!
JR Linden
Dance Instructor
JR graduated from the Dance Masters of America Teacher Training School at the University of New York at Buffalo in 1998 and received his certification as a dance educator in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. For 16 years he was a member of the Dance Teachers’ Club of Connecticut, Chapter 18 where from 2002 to 2004 he served on the Board of Directors. In the fall of 2014 he transferred his membership to Dance Masters of New England Chapter 5 where he sat on the Board of Directors from 2020-2022. From 2003 to 2005, he served as the National Co-Director of the Teen Miss/Mr. Dance of America title competition. For the past decade, JR has served as an adjudicator at the regional and national levels throughout the United States and Canada and is a highly-sought-after master teacher and guest choreographer. He has gained immense experience working for companies including many Chapters of Dance Masters of America, the American Dance Awards, Elite Dance Challenge, Dance Ovations, Star Systems, Dance Odyssey, Star Quest, Dance Xplosion and the Canadian Edge Dance Competition.
In June 2017, Jr established the nonprofit Dancers at Heart. Dancers at Heart believes we can all shine bright on stage but shining bright in life by helping and lifting others up is where we can all make an everlasting difference. DAH is committed to raising funds that benefit the health and wellness of those in need while fostering kindness and support. To date DAH has raised over $500,000 for various organizations. For more information please visit www.dancerstheart5678.org .
Currently, JR is a dedicated and enthusiastic faculty member at Melissa Hoffman Dance Center (Hudson, NH). He was also on the faculty for 10 years at Let’s Dance Inc (Stoneham, MA) and Concord Dance Academy (Concord,NH). He and his students are continually recognized for delivering clean, precise, and technical routines, winning many special, high overall and choreography awards at both the regional and national level. His students have held the titles of Dance Master’s of America National Teen Miss Dance of America 2017 and National Junior Miss Dance of America 2016. Some of his students held the title of National Teen Miss Turn It Up and National Petite Miss Turn It Up in both 2013 and 2014. His students also won the 2012 Senior Solo at Dance Xplosion Nationals (Orlando, FL)and Step Up to Dance National Senior Soloist 2012. His students have been selected as back-up dancers for young pop stars such as B-Capp and Kenzie, have performed with the Boston-based hip hop company StreetHype, and have traveled as apprentices with Excel in Motion and Motiv8 Convention Tours. Many students have been accepted to programs at the Boston Ballet, Kirov Academy, Walnut Hill, National Ballet of Canada and Juilliard. Others have succeeded in careers in dance as teachers, choreographers, and performers.
JR is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University where he received Bachelors of Science Degree inAccounting (cum laude) and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (magna cum laude). He works fulltime as the Director of Finance for Boys & Girls Club of Manchester located in Manchester, NH, and resides in Concord, NH,with his wife Cathy and their daughter Sophie.