dance and theater arts.com

 instructors

mary rotella

Mary is an actor, dancer, choreographer, director, singer, and teacher based in the Hudson Valley, New York. Her National Tour and Broadway credits include 42nd Street, Cabaret with Joel Gray and Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. She performed in an international tour of My Fair Lady and several regional productions including, Damn Yankees directed by George Abbott.  Mary has also appeared in industrial shows, commercials, and on film. She’s directed and choreographed in the United States and abroad.

After a twenty-year career as a freelance artist, Mary transitioned to academia, teaching both theater and dance courses. She served as Chair of Dance at Stephens (2002-2007), Director of Dance at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry (2008-2016) and Chair of Performing Arts at The John Cooper School in the Woodlands, TX (2016-2019). She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Stephens College; where she also studied voice and acting. Mary is thrilled to be back in New York working as a freelance actor, director/choreographer, and teacher.

ANDREA PASTORELLA

Andrea is a professional Dancer/Choreographer and Director of Movita Dance Theatre and has studied Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique(TM) since 1983. As a certified teacher of ZRFB Technique, Andrea has been sharing this work in the Hudson Valley for eight years. Andrea also offers classes in Modern Dance and the elements of Dance. She offers both group classes and private lessons.

SETSUKO MARUHASHI

Setsuko was born and raised in Japan and started her ballet training at the age of eight. After moving to NY, she added jazz, tap and modern to her dance training. She became the first minority Rockette at Radio City Music Hall and performed for many years in numerous productions, including: The Christmas Spectacular, The Easter Show, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Super Bowl half-time show, and Late Night with David Letterman. She also performed in musicals and industrial shows. She holds a BA in dance from Empire State College, SUNY and is a certified personal trainer and an accredited Pilates instructor. Before moving to Red Hook, Setsuko taught  introductory level to advanced ballet and her own private-group fitness class over 20 years in New York City. At Dance and Theater Arts, she offers this 90 minute Beginner to Advanced-Beginner level ballet class for adults in a friendly, supportive and non-competitive environment. 

Demetra Tsantes

Demetra Tsantes has over 13 years of experience teaching dance and movement in schools, gyms, clubs, afterschool programs, and in both Older Adult and Community centers. After 10 years of recreationally dancing in Queens in both Tap and Ballet, she rediscovered her passion for Tap dancing and choreographing at SUNY Binghamton leading her to assistant teach, and perform all throughout college. Upon graduation she became a teaching assistant and sub at The School at Steps on Broadway while continuing her studies under professional dancers & teachers Charles Goddertz and Andrew Nemr. Becoming a certified Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer allowed her to branch out into Zumba, Silver Sneakers, and create “Tap Dance for Fitness” classes with a focus on bone health & balance. She has performed with New York City based groups -Undertoe Dance Project, Ya’el Tap Company, and Astoria Tap Crew. She was a teaching artist for public lessons with Undertoe Dance Project’s Tappy Hour® events and continues to teach, dance, and perform around New York City and the Hudson Valley.

Christi Makely

Christi Makely’s earliest performance was in her childhood living room in Michigan dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller on vinyl. She trained in jazz, ballet, and fell deeply in love with hip hop when she moved from the Midwest to California. Dance has been a constant source of community, friendship, therapy, inspiration, and joy, and she believes that simply taking a dance class once a week can change your life. Christi has studied in Los Angeles at Millennium Dance Complex; Edge Performing Arts Center; Debbie Reynolds Studio; Movement Lifestyle; and TMilly. Some of her favorite dance credits include hip hop crews Groovaholix and PCE Modern; performing on Ellen; Glee "One Night Only" show; opening for Boyz II Men; winning the Gym Crew Challenge; but her favorite thing is looking forward to seeing you at class.

Cynthia Thole Lowes

Cynthia Thole Lowes is a working director/choreographer and professor of theater and dance. After earning a degree in Dance from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, Cindy began a nearly 25-year performing career on 

Broadway; “42nd Street”,” Singin in the Rain”, “Me and My Girl”, “Meet Me In St Louis”, “Nick and Nora”, “My Fair Lady”, and Alan Menken’s “A Christmas Carol” at Madison Square Garden. On tour, Cindy performed in Agnes de Mille’s “Oklahoma!”, “Sugar Babies”, and the first national of “42nd Street,” and many other regional stage productions. Her film work includes “The Producers” and “All the World’s a Stage.”

Cindy works as a director/choreographer in New York and regionally. Credits include work for the Reagle Summer Music Theater, Allenbery Playhouse, Theaterworks/USA, Two Beans Productions, Mill Mountain Theater, the Roger Rees Awards, Camp Broadway, and Carnegie Hall Pops Gala celebrations, and many university and college productions.

Cindy has vast expertise in the classroom, including advanced-level coursework for AMDA, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Montclair State University. She is now enjoying living and teaching here in the Hudson Valley.

Ricci Adan

Ricci Adan is a performer, choreographer, and educator whose work is rooted in the preservation and evolution of American Theater Dance. A direct artistic descendant of Lee Theodore’s American Dance Machine, Ricci carries forward a rich lineage dedicated to honoring the vocabulary, history, and stylistic foundations of theatrical dance from the 1920s through the 1960s, including styles such as the cakewalk, lindy hop, mambo, jive, and early rock and roll.

Ricci has worked extensively as an actor, dancer, singer, and choreographer with the American Dance Machine and American Dance Machine International, and has appeared in multiple productions of The King and I. Additional credits include serving as a dance captain, reconstructionist for Bob Fosse–associated projects, Resident Choreographer at Perseverance Theatre, and Director of Theater Dance at Juneau Dance Theater.

As an educator, Ricci emphasizes technical clarity, historical awareness, and personal expression. Drawing from training at Alvin Ailey, the Martha Graham School, and the American Dance Machine, Ricci encourages students to build strong foundations while developing an individual artistic voice.

CATHERINE THARIN

Catherine Tharin is a choreographer, writer, curator, and educator, and a former member of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, with whom she toured nationally and internationally for seven years where she also held positions of rehearsal director and school director. Her choreography has been presented throughout the tri-state area and the Midwest, as well as in Mexico and Korea.

Her writing on dance appears in The Dance Enthusiast, Interlocutor, and Side of Culture, and she has contributed to The Boston Globe. Her dance reporting is also heard on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio. She programs dance performances at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains and dance film events at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY.

Catherine was the dance and performance curator at 92NY for 15 years and served as a senior adjunct professor at Iona College for 20 years. Throughout her career, she has championed both innovative and legacy choreographers, supported artists across the field, and brought sustained critical attention to the art of dance.