Contemporary

Native New Yorker Ani Taj is a choreographer, performer, teaching artist, music-head, and founder of The Dance Cartel. Ani has choreographed contemporary musicals, plays, concerts, music videos, art parties, flash mobs, and more. She is fueled by her research trips to Brazil and loves to make dances inspired by Carnaval.

Neil Haskell is a bona fide triple threat, who has mastered all levels of performance from singing, dancing, and acting. He truly lives up to the title of all-star on Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance.

Caroline Lewis-Jones, from South Carolina, has been dancing for over 28 years. At the age of 18, she moved to New York City where she performed for six years. Her credits include the VMA’s with NSYNC, the Latin Grammy Awards, WNBA National Commercial, a French Energy Commercial, Disney Industrials, Britany Spears and Madonna Me Against the Music video, MTV’s Body Rock Fitness Video, and more. 

Albert Blaise Cattafi has been dancing since the age of 5, thanks to his sister Eléna, and since that time has established himself as a fine young artist. His training includes the renowned faculties of both The Joffrey Ballet School in New York, and Kelly Allen's For Dancer's Only in New Jersey. 

Mark Caserta, a native of Philadelphia, began his training at the Jason Douglas Dance Academy, where he studied tap, hip-hop, and acrobatics. He furthered his training at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts and The Ailey School, on Fellowship Scholarship. Here he studied Horton, Graham, ballet, jazz, hip-hop and African dance. He has also trained at Philadanco and Complexions Contemporary Ballet summer intensives.

Mackenzie Martin, an Oklahoma native, is a working dancer, teacher, and choreographer in Los Angeles. Her professional credits include music videos, back up dancing and performances with Missy Elliot, Polica, Sharaya; for Sephora, Ceasar’s Palace, and LA’s Choreographers Carnival; recording artists Hybrid Digital, Dez Cleo and Dario Benitez, and rap artist Oh Blimey.

Jaclyn Walsh named "25 to Watch" in 2015 by Dance Magazine, trained at the Walnut Hill School and received her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she was the recipient of the Tisch Achievement Scholarship in Dance. Jaclyn has been a dancer in Keigwin + Company since 2011, performing in prestigious venues across the world, from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. to The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

Tessandra Chavez began training in dance at the age of 5, choreographing at 11, and started her dance company, Unity Dance Ensemble, at the age of 15. Since then, Tessandra has gone on to achieve several choreography awards, including the 2004 Jazz Dance World Congress Silver Leo for Excellence in Choreography.
 

Sarah Brinson is a native to Scottsdale, Arizona where she grew up dancing, performing and working locally with Dance Motion Performing Company. At age 18, she moved to New York City to further pursue a career in dance. Sarah is a graduate of Tisch School for the Arts at New York University where she studied modern dance, composition/choreography, anatomy, music, voice and acting.

Beloved Broadway Dance Center faculty member, choreographer and dancer, Josh Widick, passed away on Monday, April 11, 2005 in his New York City apartment. He was a gifted and passionate instructor who taught jumps and turns, A.I. Flexibility and Strengthening, jazz and ballet at BDC.