A COMMON GROUND

 Instructors

There is a class we don't offer that you'd like to teach? Please contact Jill! We are always looking to share new classes and offerings to the community. We are also currently looking to add more music classes to the studio! Please contact Jill if you are interested in learning more about employment opportunities with A Common Ground.

Jay Bardalai is an avid Salsa dancer and has a passion for teaching dance. He has been teaching beginner and intermediate Salsa classes at A Common Ground studio since 2006. His teaching philosophy includes giving his students enough material and practice to be able to quickly dance Salsa by the time the 6 week beginner class is over, at the same time ensure that his students understand the fundamentals of dancing, music and rhythm, which are important if one wants to take it further and take dancing to the next level. Jay teaches “Salsa on One”, which is the style danced world wide which he experienced in his travels to Buenos Aires, London, Paris, and Singapore. Jay also teaches Salsa classes at the Naugatuck Valley Community College.

 Another of Jay’s passions is Argentine Tango and he has a deep appreciation for Tango music and dance. It’s not that he loves Salsa any less but perhaps loves Tango more!! He has been studying Argentine Tango over the past several years and will be offering a basic Argentine Tango course starting fall 2009.

Lorelie Carvey began weight training in 1985 after having two of her three sons. Within a very short time she became interested in bodybuilding as a fitness goal. From 1995-2000 Ms. Carvey competed on the state and national level in natural bodybuilding earning several titles including Women's Overall Champion at the Musclemania East Coast Bodybuilding Championships in 1999. With her success and combination of being a working mother and an athlete, she garnered the attention of Parrillo Performance Press who featured her in their May 1999 issue.

Bodybuilding led Ms. Carvey to dance when choreographer Jill Hancock created her award winning competition routines. She subsequently studied Jazz, Modern and Tap dance with Ms. Hancock, Director of A Common Ground Studio in Danbury CT.

Lorelie's rapid progress in this performing art has culminated in the past six years of studying Middle Eastern Dance with nationally acclaimed master teacher Dolores "Riskallah Riyad" Matzen. She now dances professionally and is a member of The Riskallah Riyad Dance Theatre Co. Her love of this art has brought her to teaching Middle Eastern Dance at A Common Ground combining fitness and dance.

Alison DiPinto has been dancing since she was a child but her passion and serious training began when she discovered modern dance in college where she was the founding president of The Contemporary Dance Ensemble at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.  Upon graduation Alison danced with the Annex Dance Company at the Hartford Camerata Conservatory while she earned her Master's Degree in Counseling.  After leaving the company she took her passion for dance, choreography, and children and began to teach.  She was commissioned to become an "Artist in the Schools" where she taught dance to inner city youth. She was the dance teacher, show producer, and director in a school for special needs children where she also was an assistant teacher.  Alison has continued her Modern Dance training for the past 20 years and has been dancing with Jill at A Common Ground for the past 7.  Currently she teaches Creative Movement to 2-5 year olds at AGC where she can satisfy her need to play, be silly,  nurture, and share the joy of movement and expression through movement with children.  When Alison is not dancing, she is volunteering at a cancer support center where she teaches a therapeutic movement class for cancer survivors, teaches Spinning classes, is an area psychotherapist, and is caring for for two daughters who also dance at AGC.

Veronica "Ronnie" Erdmann began training in various schools of movement, dance and music in her youth and continues learning to this day as she studies Middle Eastern dance with Riskallah Riyad.  In 1995 Ronnie began her participation in Sacred Circle Dance in Fairfield, Connecticut and soon learned to become a facilitator of this community dance style. Between 2000 and 2008 Ronnie led New Haven Community Sacred Circle Dance and since 2008 has been leading the monthly Candlewood Sacred Circle Dance at A Common Ground. 

Ronnie studied a variety of percussion instruments in depth with Master Percussionist John Marshall of Litchfield, Connecticut. She has also taken African Drumming workshops with Connecticut drummers: Peter Hawes, Randy Brody, Ya Ya Diallo of Mali and the Camara School of Waterbury, Connecticut. Additionally, she has studied frame drumming at workshops with Master Drummer Glen Velez and Evelyn Avoglia and has taken Middle Eastern rhythm workshops with Riskallah Riyad. Ronnie now offers monthly Middle Eastern Percussion Circles at A Common Ground.

Alessandra Greco has dance in her blood - literally. Daughter of the world-famous Spanish dancers José Greco and Nila Amparo, she began life following her parents as they danced their way across Europe. As of August 2009, Ms. Greco will be expanding her teaching activities to include a new dance class format "Latin Moves Plus" Class. Influenced by Zumba ® (of which she is a certified teacher) and LatinCardio™, this new class will emphasize the Total Workout, getting the heart rate up and shedding pounds. Latin Moves Plus fuses Latin Dance, Middle Eastern and Flamenco and will also focus on the upper body and hips, essential to the student’s sense of self-awareness and self-confidence. Put all these elements together with the irresistible rhythms of the music and Ms. Greco’s outgoing and nurturing personality, and come experience the heat of her own dynamic style and sizzle. The basis of her other class is Flamenco, the most popular form of Spanish dance. After students learn to master some of the basic movements and steps, they experience the movements as evolving from a need to express an inner emotion. Dancing becomes an organic and holistic experience that is exhilarating. This enhances the students' awareness of their own physicality and aids in the total health of the entire body.

Sandra Hernandez Egea was born in Girona (Spain) and raised between the Pirines and Granada (Andalucia), where Flamenco was found; at the age of 9, Sandra started her Flamenco studies and performances under the tutelage of “La Chabela” at the private “Centro Cultural Andaluz” in Girona. She has performed at the Flamenco Festivals in Barcelona (Barbara del Valles) for many years and other cultural events in Girona as well.

Twenty two years later, Sandra resides in Connecticut and is a dancer for the Val Ramos’ Flamenco Assembly. She has performed for the Mayor of Hartford and the US Air Force, as well as for schools and fundraising events.

Today she continues to teach and perform the Art of Flamenco in Connecticut and New York.

Dolores "Riskallah" Matzen (Riskallah Riyad) nationally acclaimed teacher, dancer and choreographer is of Arabic descent and has taught the dances of the Middle East for almost 40 years. She is known for her innovative choreography, energetic teaching style, and the ability to communicate movement to students of any level. She has taught and performed nationally and is widely respected in the Middle Eastern dance community. Middle Eastern Dance New England magazine recently called her a “stellar performer and teacher.” She holds BS and MS degrees in Education, and currently maintains a robust ongoing weekly class schedule as well as private lessons and special workshops at A Common Ground.

 “Riskallah  is a master teacher of high caliber who cares passionately about preserving the integrity of this dance form. Highly trained and always looking to life to inform her dance, she is a teacher that all students, beginner to seasoned professional, can benefit from studying with.” Phaedra of Boston

Chona Imma Trinidad is the founder and dance instructor of the CT Tiare Polynesian Dance Troupe. She started learning the Polynesian dances when she was in high school. Little did young Imma know that she will discover her passion when her mother sent her to Veda's Dance Studio in Manila, Philippines. With her parents' loving support, Imma continued dancing and performing with her cousins for cultural shows in schools, churches, military camps and restaurants, which enhanced her performing skills. In 1995, she finally started teaching hula and Tahitian dance at the Danbury Hilton & Towers, where they held their first staged dance show performance "The Polynesian of South Pacific". Imma brings her talent to A Common Ground teaching Hula to the community.

RICHARD TRINIDAD aka Rocky was born in the Philippines, An island that is centralized in the Asian continent.  His passion for Martial Arts started when he watched Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Steven Segal movies as a child. He then joined a Judo Academy at his hometown in the Philippines. At age 11 he came to America and decided to continue his passion to study martial arts. He then began his life long study of martial arts, he was first enrolled in Karate then decided to keep learning more arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Asian Weaponry, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This life long study did not stop here he also started to teach martial arts to kids and adults. Richard has 20+ years of training, competing and teaching under all his martial art belts. He has chosen the best parts of each art he studied; he then mixed it into one called ROCKS MIXED MARTIAL ARTS. Mixed Martial Arts or MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world today. It is everywhere; it’s very hard to miss especially when it’s on the internet and all over the television. It’s considered one of the most challenging, affective and rewarding exercises today. MMA combines all of the traditions from Asian martial arts and the sports science training of an athlete. Mixed Martial Art is a complete workout for your mind and your body.

Sarah Westerberg has been enthralled with dance since her first ballet class at the age of 3. Taking the classics (ballet, jazz and tap), her passion and love for dance grew through the ages. She lit up the stage in many productions and with many ensembles. Most notably, she was a member for four years of Wheaton College's dance company, Trybe, a multi-cultural dance troupe with an emphasis on hip-hop. It is through Trybe that Sarah further defined herself as a choreographer and teacher, stoking her ever present passion for dance and the passion to entertain. While attending Wheaton College (MA), Sarah also earned a minor in dance. For the past several years, Sarah has been teaching both Adults and Children hip-hop at A Common Ground. Whether it is teaching or performing, dance is in her soul. Her absolute contagious energy and smile will have you loving dance too! In 2008, she started A Dance 2 Remember, specializing in unique, one of a kind choreography and one-on-one dance instruction for wedding first dances and all other special events.