Faculty + Staff

With a passion for dance and the performing arts, Nicole Morgan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Ithaca College, graduating Summa Cum Laude with minors in Dance and Business Administration. During her time at Ithaca, Nicole was a member of Defy Dance Company, where she choreographed and taught dancers in styles including modern and hip hop. She created two original pieces, incorporating American Sign Language and multiple styles of movement, which were performed for hundreds of audience members.
Nicole also served as a Zumba Instructor at Ithaca College, teaching energetic classes that incorporated Afrobeats, Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, and Pop. Through teaching, she strives to create a fun and welcoming environment where dancers can build confidence, develop their skills, and enjoy the freedom of movement.
In addition to dance, Nicole has a background in theatre and the performing arts. She worked as an Assistant Director for Ithaca College’s production of “Catch Me If You Can,” assisting with staging, rehearsals, and the preparation of performers. Nicole is passionate about sharing her love of dance and the performing arts with others and helping students grow both as dancers and as individuals.

Lori Strelec Reynolds is a ballet teacher and choreographer with over 30 years of experience in the studio. Ballet, pointe, and preschool dance are among her favorite classes to teach. As a professional ballerina, Lori was a principal dancer with Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Canada (1991-1993) and Eglevsky Ballet in New York (1993-1997). During her tenure with Eglevsky Ballet, she was also given the title of Ballet Mistress, helping to rehearse and coach the corps de ballet. Lori is very excited to be joining the faculty at East Pointe Dance for the upcoming season.

Originally from Miami, Florida, Deanna began her dance training at the age of four at the Mencia-Pikieris School of Dance and was accepted to train with Miami City Ballet at age nine. After moving to Gainesville, Florida, she continued her studies through P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School’s competitive Performing Arts Program and Pofahl Studios, the teaching school of Dance Alive National Ballet. There, she trained extensively in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop under Kim Tuttle and Judy Skinner.
At age twelve, Deanna became an apprentice with Dance Alive National Ballet, performing and touring in productions including The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, Dracula, Robin Hood, and Le Corsaire. She also participated in the company’s Next Generation outreach program, bringing dance performances to underserved youth and elderly communities throughout the Greater Gainesville area.
While in high school, Deanna was accepted as a dual-enrollment performing arts student at Santa Fe College, where she pursued an Associate in Fine Arts under the direction of Alora Haynes. She later received a scholarship to attend New World School of the Arts in Miami, studying ballet with Laura Murphy and Horton technique with Rebecca Cannan. Deanna then moved to New York City to study at the Joffrey Ballet School, where she performed classical works including Don Quixote as well as contemporary works by Earl Mosley and Africa Guzmán.
Deanna is currently a company member with Thomas Ortiz Dance and has performed original works by Ted Thomas and Francis Ortiz throughout Fairfield County, including appearances in the Fairfield County Dance Festival. In collaboration with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, she has performed in The Rite of Spring and appeared as Louise in Carousel. She has also performed as a guest artist in numerous productions of The Nutcracker, most recently with Tony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker in Boston.

Franki Spinelli Mastrone is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist from Stamford, CT, and is thrilled to be joining the team at East Pointe Dance! Franki is a proud alum of The Ballet School of Stamford, and has been on faculty there for several years. As a dancer, Franki has also studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet and Steps on Broadway. She has studied acting at The William Esper Studio in New York and with master teachers at SUNY Purchase, where she just completed her BA In Theatre and Performance - Directing. Franki is passionate about practicing performance through a holistic and collaborative lens, and is excited to share her vast experience in the performing arts with the East Pointe Dance community. Her goal is always to inspire young artists to be creative, free, and most importantly, have fun!

Micki Reynolds was born in New Fairfield, Connecticut and started dancing when they were 3 years old. Growing up in the competitive dance circuit, as well as performing for charity based events, they trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, tap, acrobatics, and pointe. After graduating from the Musical Theater program at AMDA, they have been consistently working professionally across the country; recent credits include The Polar Express (Whippany Railroad), Slash Mob/The Monsters are Coming (Cedar Point Halloweekends), and a variety of shows at Nickelodeon Universe. Micki is excited to be going into their second season with East Pointe Dance! Their overall goal is to provide kids a safe space to grow as dancers, cultivate their training, and learn more about themselves.

Gisella McCallion graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Arts from Sacred Heart University where she was a part of the Dance Company, Ballroom Dance Ensemble, and Kickline team, training weekly with renowned teachers in all styles.
Growing up in Port Chester, NY, she studied ballet, pointe, jazz, hip hop, tap, and contemporary at East Pointe Dance and City Center Dance. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Barclays Center and participated in several local benefit events like Dancers Responding to Aids, Will Dance for Food, and Light the Night. She also had the opportunity to take master classes at Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and with the Radio City Rockettes.
Gisella has also performed in several theatre productions through Port Chester Council for the Arts with lead and dance captain roles such as Skylar in “Bring It On”, Holly in “The Wedding Singer”, and Fastrada in “Pippin”, to name a few. Most recently she choreographed productions of “Rock of Ages” and “The Little Mermaid” for the Port Chester Middle and High School drama clubs.

Jessica Jhingoor began her dance career at Windwood Hill Dance Academy in New Milford, Pennsylvania. There, she was a member of the competition team, participating in competitions up and down the east coast as well as competing as a soloist at the national level. She has also spent time traveling for performances to places such as Disney World, New York City as well as local venues. Jessica has taken master classes with NADAA, The New York City Rockettes, The New York City Ballet as well as several former finalists of SYTYCD. She has also performed under Paul Taylor 2 Company at Binghamton University performing a variation of “Esplanade”. Jessica continued her dancing career throughout her time at Manhattanville College, appearing in seven dance concerts and three senior theses. She was also a member of Manhattanville Dance Troupe. During this time, she has the honor of working with many notable artists and choreographers such as Peter Pucci, Marta Renzi, Heather Cornell, Larry Goldhuber, Shawn Garnier, Deborah Tacon and Ara Fitzgerald. She has also appeared in the dance on film project entitled “Swagging Bach” by Peter Pucci which appeared in the Dance on Film Festival at the Jacob Burns Theater in New York. Jessica has worked at the offices Peridance Capezio Center and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company under the founder and artistic director Igal Perry. She has performed in two New York City performances to date for Segarra Dance and Theater Projects.

Brianna Paci started dancing at the age of 3 and has not stopped since. She is a 2014 graduate of Hofstra University where she earned her degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. While at Hofstra, Brianna continued performing in a company called Danceworks. She went on to receive a Masters degree in Early Childhood Special Education at Hunter College. she haS HAD the opportunity to perform at various charity events such as Light the Night, March of Dimes walk, nursing homes, and children’s hospitals. Brianna has performed at venues such as Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, and performed “Single Ladies” on the Rachael Ray Show! Brianna continues to dance in a New York based company, Danceworks NYC, which holds performances twice a year. She is so excited to finally join the East Pointe Dance Faculty after being on the sub list for so many years!

Maya Bareket, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, attended Montclair State University where she received her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography in May 2026. Prior to Montclair, Maya has trained in and competed in styles such as jazz, hip hop, ballet, contemporary, and musical theater at Jump Dance Studio in Rockaway, Queens. She attended intensives at Earl Mosely’s Diversity of Dance, Kizuna Dance, GALLIM, and more. Throughout her time at Montclair, Maya has had the privilege of performing works by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, Bradley Shelver, Cameron McKinney, Stefanie Batten Bland, Maleek Washington, among others.

Lucy Allen is a professional dancer and choreographer based in New York City. She began her dance training in NYC, studying under renowned industry choreographers including Cassidy Noblett, Kelly Peters, Stephanie Scull, and Bo Park. To further broaden her versatility, Lucy has also trained extensively in Los Angeles and Miami.

Lucy holds degrees in Marketing and Arts Administration with a minor in Dance from Elon University, where she was a member of the Division I dance team and a 2022 national champion.

After college, Lucy pursued her dream of dancing for professional sports and is currently a two-time MLB dancer with the New York Mets’ Queens Crew. Her performance credits include the Visa Live at the Rocket Garden - opening for Benson Boone and dancing with Anderson Paak, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, GloRilla, Satega, Alxs, and more. She has also been featured on SNY and NBC.

As a choreographer, Lucy has worked with organizations such as the Charlotte Hornets, Towson University, Greenwich Country Day School, and Elon University. With over five years of teaching experience, she is committed to nurturing her students not only as dancers but as confident, creative individuals. Her mission is to inspire and empower each student to reach their fullest potential.

Lucy is trained in hip hop, ballet, contemporary, jazz, jazz funk, heels, and partnering.

Brianna received a Bachelors of Arts degree in Dance from Manhattanville College in 2017. She has studied with choreographers such as Shawn Garnier, Peter Pucci, Marta Renzi, Shawn Bible, and Lawrence Goldhuber. Brianna was a featured dancer in a choreography documentary presented at The Jacob Burns Film Center in titled “Swag and Bach”. During her time at Manhattanville she choreographed two contemporary pieces for the Spring Dance Concerts in 2015 and 2016. This past spring she presented her senior thesis, “Setting Fire” the piece was an experimental contemporary piece that incorporated digital media. She has trained with dancers from the hit show “So You Think You Can Dance” through conventions such as Tremaine, Excel in Motion and Kids Artistic Revue. Through the years she has studied jazz, modern, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, ballet, African jazz, and lyrical. Brianna has taught a variety of styles including tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and lyrical for a range of ages, since 2015. Through her years of teaching, she has presented original choreography at Dancefest Stamford, DRA’s Stars of Tomorrow, and Broadway Dance Centers AIM Invitational. She has completed Broadway Dance Centers Teacher training and continues to expand her teaching knowledge.

Bio coming soon!

Kenneth Hernandez is a dancer and choreographer from The Bronx, NY. Growing up, he started to build his street style by training with many different dance teams based in NYC. He would perform in shows and competitions including Prelude, Elements, and World of Dance. He later continued his individual training at Broadway Dance Center, EXPG, BrickHouseDance, and MonstersDanceConvention. Kenny later became a part of the traveling faculty for Liberate Artists, where he found his passion for teaching. There he taught workshops and master classes all over the country and internationally for almost a decade. Kenny loves to inspire the youth and loves to share his knowledge and passion with all of his students.

Sophia Greene (she/her), originally from Syracuse, NY, is a New York City-based dance artist specializing in modern, ballet, contemporary, theater jazz, and dance-theater styles. She holds a BFA in Dance with a concentration in Modern from Marymount Manhattan College, with additional training from the Martha Graham School, Tecniche di Danza Moderna, and the O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation.
Sophia draws on her background in theater, voice acting, and music to inform her dance approach. She has performed works by prominent choreographers—including José Limón, Martha Graham, Caterina Rago, Tamisha Guy, and Raja Feather Kelly—at venues such as The Joyce Theater, 92NY, Battery Park, Judson Church, Dixon Place, and Piazza Monumento in San Lucido, Italy.
Currently, she is a member of Graham 2 (Martha Graham Dance), CRDANCE Company, MeenMoves, and a founding member of Svalyava Contemporary Dance. She has extensive teaching experience across all ages and is passionate about dance accessibility and quality movement education for children.

Stella Blue is a teacher and performer who is passionate about teaching artistry along with technique. She graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in dance performance and choreography, receiving manga cum laude accolades. There, she trained in a variety of styles, as well as taking courses in dance pedagogy and entrepreneurship. Always inspired to be a versatile dancer, Stella Blue moved to New York after graduation to further her dance training. She continues to train in all styles, particularly expanding her knowledge of commercial styles, while auditioning in the city. Stella Blue believes that dance is a powerful tool to spread joy, and she is excited to share that joy this season!