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Mary Rotella - Musical Dance Theatre - Ballet - Tap - Acting

Mary Rotella received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Stephens College, where she also studied voice and acting. 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 successful 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). Mary is thrilled to be back in New York working as a freelance actor, director/choreographer, and teacher.

Setsuko Maruhashi - Ballet

Setsuko Maruhashi 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, she taught from introduction level to open level ballet and her own private-group fitness class over 20 years in New York City. At Garage Dance Co-Operative, she teaches a 90 minute beginner/advanced beginner level ballet class for adults on Tuesdays in a friendly, supportive and non-competitive environment. 


Ellen Chrystal - Argentine Tango 

Ellen Chrystal - Ellen Chrystal has been teaching Argentine Tango in the Mid-Hudson Valley for over fifteen years. She founded Tango New Paltz and Tango Hudson, as well as teaching classes in Rhinebeck and Red Hook.  The Hudson Valley has a thriving tango community and there are many opportunities to dance socially.   Classes at GDC are currently available for Int./Adv. level dancers.  Everyone is welcome.  No partner is necessary, as we change partners throughout class.  We are also planning to offer a beginner tango class in the near future! 

Jennifer Lavenhar

Jennifer is committed to the belief that it is never, EVER too late to start dancing, and is honored to be part of the GDC community creating a safe, welcoming space for dancers of all ages. She brings her decades of experience as a student, teacher, and performer with the New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and the Classical Ballet Company of NJ to her adult ballet classes. She is also currently a member of the contemporary dance company Lokasparsa, based here in the Hudson Valley. She now teaches adult ballet from absolute beginners to adult pointe class, as well as ballet variations for adults, and a program she developed called "Ballet Cross-Train" designed to help dancers and non-dancers build strength, flexibility, balance, and ease of movement. Jennifer is also certified as a Progressing Ballet Technique instructor, and enjoys incorporating PBT exercises into her dance conditioning classes. She is currently working on a photo-journal book focused on the beautiful, diverse world of older dancers.

Jeanette Kravic - Ballet - Tap - Combo Class

Miss Jeannette is pleased to join us and brings to us her extensive dance training, and passion for the dance. She has studied under the direction of Tom Adair and was a member of the Poughkeepsie Ballet Theater and the Dutchess Dance Theater performing several principal roles and as a featured soloist in many a Nutcracker. She has performed in many ensembles and has been cast in dozens of plays to include Oliver, Taming of the Shrew, The Apple Tree, The Man Who Came to Dinner, George M. Cohan. She began her love for dance at the Pinewood Ballet Academy where she trained in Jazz and Tap for 1981-1989. She continued her dance studies at SUNY Albany, Union College, and the Guilderland Dance Center. Jeannette settled down in Red Hook NY to become a Mom of her three lovely children, and now as they are older has the time to return to her love of dance. She has taught for the Poughkeepsie Civic Ballet Company, and the Pinewood School of Ballet in children’s ballet, and combination classes. Jeannette is excited to meet her new students and looks forward to a great year of dance, and of course, learning the fundamentals!

Toni Hedges - ZUMBA

Toni Hedges has been a group exercise instructor since 1985.

I have taught it all- aerobics , Step, strength, stretch , cycle and most recently, Zumba and senior fitness. My love for dance and Latin music has made Zumba the  perfect fit for me. The aging process has shown me just how important regular exercise is for our physical and mental health