MISS JUNE
(Owner)
June started dancing at the age of 4 at The Elizabeth School of Dance under the instruction of Madeline Frolich. She was in training at the New Jersey Ballet School and a core member of their junior company by the time she was thirteen. It was at NJBC that her ballerina track expanded and she fell in love with jazz dance. Within the next few years she studied closely with major jazz influence Matt Mattox. June continued studying ballet at Ballet of the Arts at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Once in NYC she also studied with Phil Black, Frank Hatchett, Luigi and Lynn Simonson (one of the founders at DPC which is now Dance New Amsterdam). She studied tap with Henry Letang, Brenda Buffalino, Leslie Lockery and Chuck Kelley. While strengthening her dance education she also went to nursing school at Middlesex County College in partnership with JFK Hospital. She switched to a business degree and finished college upstate NY and simultaneously got her brokerage license. June has her Masters Degree from Western Kentucky University through Dance Educators of America and her Royal Academy of Dance Certification through Montclair State University. She has choreographed all over NJ and was the resident choreographer at The Forum Theatre in Metuchen for over 10 years. She started her own dance company, Contempo, in the 80's and worked in collaboration with Alan Wasserman and his classical musician group, RAS.A. During this time she created/performed avant-garde dance performances all over NYC and NJ. Simultaneously, she was the sole founder of Metuchen Dance Centre, which opened its' doors in 1982. She has conceived and created (along with MaryLynne McNally) an original Duke Ellington Jazz Nutcracker based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. The Duke Ellington Nutcracker has been recreated and performed bi-annually by her MDC students since 1998. June has been the proud owner and director of Metuchen Dance Centre for the past 37+ years.
MISS ALESSANDRA
(Owner + Director)
Alessandra has her BFA in Musical Theatre, with a triple emphasis in Dance, Acting and Choreography from The Boston Conservatory and has trained here at MDC, Princeton Ballet School, The Boston Ballet, Gibney Dance, Steps, Bway Dance Center... the list goes on. She has performed all over the North East from New England to NYC and all across Europe! Aside from performing, she is a certified teacher through Dance Educators of America for over fifteen years and a freelance director/choreographer. Some favorite theatrical performances: West Side Story (Intl Tour- Anita U/S), In the Heights (Vanessa), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Rachel Jackson), The Jungle Book (Dir. Mary Zimmerman/ Choreo. Chris Gatelli), Bridges of Madison County, (Marian/Chiara), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Aurora), The Apple Tree (Princess Barbera) ... & more. Notable choreography credits include: #BARS III: The Loophole, (The Public Theater, NYC), Public Speaking’s HAIR:50 (The Public Theater, NYC), The View Upstairs (SpeakEasy Stage, Boston), Spamalot (N.H.T. Award Nom.), Fingerpaintings (Playwrights Horizons NYU), Jay Adana’s Larsen Legacy Concert (American Theatre Wing/Adelphi), Dirty Secrets (Tony & the Kiki), Cabaret (The Boston Conservatory), Reefer Madness (The Boston Conservatory), Dancing At Lughnasa (The Boston Conservatory) , Urinetown (The Boston Conservatory), I Love You Because (The Boston Conservatory) and The Duke Ellington Nutcracker (Metuchen Dance Centre). She also is a co-founder of THEATRE ARTS CONSERVATORY, a theatrical performance training program right here at Metuchen Dance Centre and also serves as the Artistic Director of MDC's pre-professional dance company, Dance Reflections. She is a proud NYC member of Actors Equity Association and an (equally as proud) alumna of Metuchen Dance Centre. Alessandra is proud to serve as the Director to a school that has been so essential to her journey as a performing artist. Visit www.alessandravalea.com for more info and news.
