Dynamic Dance Academy

Owner/Director/Instructor:

Tara Calise - Miss Tara is well known in the town of North Kingstown, having taught dance in this community for many years.  She has also taught dance in Coventry, Chariho, Cranston, Exeter and for the URI Dance Company.  Dance has been her passion all of her life and she loves owning her own dance and fitness studio alongside her husband, Anthony.  Miss Tara has a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Rhode Island and has been a qualified member of Dance Educators of America since 2006.  She has over 25 years of teaching experience in the dance styles of ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, pointe and group exercise and has taught everyone from toddlers to older adults.  Her most exciting experiences as a dancer have been performing in Walt Disney World twice and once on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Explorer of the Seas.  As a studio owner, it was a dream come true when she took 32 dancers and their families to Walt Disney World in July of 2016 for a wonderful performance opportunity!  Miss Tara is extremely grateful for her students, staff and studio families.  Her goal is to make Dynamic Dance Academy a warm and inviting studio for anyone who has a passion and love for dance like she does!  

Instructors:

Lynn Miller - Miss Lynn began her dance training with Bette Ann Monti Rossi at Atwood Performing Arts Center for 13 years. She also trained under the instruction of Herci Marsden at State Ballet of Rhode Island for five summers. She has competed nationally as well as internationally. In 2002 she placed fourth overall senior soloist at the International Dance Organization's show dance competition in Riesa Germany. She then went on to train at Point Park University's Conservatory for the Arts in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She spent two seasons as a dancer with the Pittsburgh Steelers for their fundraising events. She then went to Boston to earn her doctorate of optometry from the New England College of Optometry and practices optometry in Providence.   In addition to teaching weekly classes, Miss Lynn has also taught and choreographed for our Competitive Team.  She will begin teaching her 8th season at DDA this fall!

Elizabeth Fusco - Miss Elizabeth has a degree in Journalism and English from URI.  She started dancing with Miss Tara when she was ten years old and during her time as a student at DDA she also competed on our Competitive Team and performed in Walt Disney World with our studio in 2016.  Miss Elizabeth reflects fondly on memories of her time here, especially those from her assistant teaching and teaching experiences from ages 15-18.  We love that she came back to teach as an adult and are grateful to have her teaching again this season!

Ellie Lupo - Ms Ellie has had a life long love of dance, starting with ballet classes at 7 years old.  Her professional career in dance performance, teaching and choreography has always been her passion.  She studied ballet, modern and theatre dance at American Ballet Theatre NYC, Joffrey Studio NYC, Lynn Simonson NYC and Alvin Ailey. Professional work includes Joffrey, Summer Stock on Cape Cod, Impulse in Boston and companies on Long Island.  Ms Ellie has an abundace of experience in teaching and choreography, including Joy of Movement, Walnut High School, New England Conservatory in Boston; Steps and Circle of Dance in New York; Festival Ballet Providence, Ocean State Ballet, RI Ballet Arts Academy and North Kingstown Community Chorus.  We are so honored to have Ellie Lupo join our teaching staff at DDA!

Heather Dessaint - Miss Heather started her dance training in RI at the age of 3.  Her passion for dance grew as she got older and continued to learn, compete, perform, audition, work and have fun in the dance field! While in high school she performed and trained with a pre-professional ballet and modern company and she completed a 3 year program in Boston to get dance teacher certified.  New York was a place that truly inspired her to go for her dreams and she wants to encourage her students to do the same.  After training in RI, Boston, CT and NY, Miss Heather's career took her from Atlanta to California between 2011-2019.  Some of her favorite credits in her career so far have been the Jr. Dance Team for WNBA CT Suns, Final 18 Boston Celtics Dancers TV Show, Atlanta Hawks Dance Team 2016-2017, touring and opening for artists as a member of a girl dance group, auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance, and teaching in many places throughout the states.   Miss Heather can't wait to dance with you and we are so excited to have her as our new hip-hop instructor and for her to share her talents with us!  

Sadie Smith - Miss Sadie has been a student at DDA for 12 years and excels at every dance style that we offer. In addition to weekly classes, she has also been a member of our competitive team for many seasons, winning first place for her solos on several occasions.  We are proud that she has received recognition 3 years in a row at the Revel Dance Convention, receiving scholarships to both regional and national conventions.  In March of 2024 she auditioned for and was chosen as a Pro-Reveler for the 2024-25 season!  This means she will travel around the US with Revel this year as a dance assistant for the professional teachers at the regional conventions.  This is a huge honor and we are so proud of her!  Ballet and Pointe are 2 of her specialties and she has performed numerous times in Newport Contemporary Ballet's Nutcracker at Rosecliff Mansion.  Miss Sadie has also worked as a receptionist at DDA's front desk and has volunteered her time for several years as an instructor assistant.  This year will be her 2nd year as an instructor at DDA!

Madelyn Gremza - Miss Madelyn has been a student at DDA for 8 years!  She has taken classes in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip-Hop and has been a member of our Competitive Team for several years. She spent 2 years as a volunteer instructor assistant in our classes and was a substitute dance teacher at our studio last year.  She also has worked as a receptionist at our front desk for 2 years.  Miss Madelyn has such a fun and positive personality and we are so excited for her to be teaching her own classes this year!

Bethany Casagrande - Miss Bethany has been a student at DDA for 7 years!  At our studio she currently takes classes in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and has been a member of our Competitive Team for several years. In addition to her dance training, she also has taken several years of Acro. We are excited for Miss Bethany to teach Intro to Tumbling this fall!