Silvana Cardell is a Philadelphia-based award-winning choreographer, dancer, and educator. She is the Artistic Director at Cardell Dance Theater and the Director of the Dance Program at Georgian Court University. Prior to working at GCU, she worked as faculty for the School of Dance at The University of the Arts.
You can learn more about Silvana at cardelldancetheater.com
Olivia Jenna Brown is a dancer/choreographer and dance educator who loves sharing the joy of movement with students of all ages. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Dance from Bennington College. Originally from NYC, Olivia trained at the Ailey School, where she studied Ballet, Limon, Graham, Jazz, and Horton techniques. She holds a BA in Dance from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. Her pedagogy is informed by extensive studies in movement development with the Laban Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. She aims to foster integrated neuromotor development and empower children to express themselves through creative movement.
Loren Groenendaal is a dance teaching artist who holds degrees in Dance: a BA in Dance from Oberlin College and an MFA from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a Certified Movement Analyst in Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies. As an educator of educators, she has provided mentorship to junior colleagues at Cardell Dance Studio, The Arts League, Koresh Kids Dance, and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies and has taught Dance Pedagogy at Temple University. As an administrator, she has been the Program Coordinator for Mascher Space Cooperative as well as serving on their board and led many programs through Vervet Dance, Dissolving Doors, and Free Fleet. Most of her artistic work is through Vervet Dance which is based in Philadelphia and has performed in Canada, Mexico and many places in between. This creative work often references patterns in the natural world, investigates the community-building possibilities of live art, the spectrums between improvisation and composition and ritual and performance, and blurs the distinctions between dance, visual arts, music, and sometimes even comedy. For youth her teaching is focused on creative dance education, supporting young dancers to become improvisers and choreographers while also building their skills in coordination, collaboration, strength, agility, flexibility, and balance through predominately creative movement and modern dance with some influence from ballet, hip hop, and folk dances from around the world. Loren’s movement vocabulary in her choreography and adult class has similar influences as well as traditional Balinese dance and Contact Improvisation. Loren is a certified Trauma-Informed Practice Teaching Artist through Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation and she also has a strong history of holding space for learning differences with a particular interest in supporting neurodivergent children and adults.
Esmeralda Luciano is a dancer, performer, and educator currently pursuing her MFA in Dance at Temple University. She holds a BA in Dance from Georgian Court University, where she trained in ballet, modern, floorwork, improvisation, and Kathak. Esmeralda has performed in works by Silvana Cardell, Meghan Mazerick, Marianela Boan, Gabriel Mata, and Bethany Formica. Her teaching blends strong technical foundations with expressive intention, and she is passionate about fostering creativity, individuality, and artistic voice in her students.
Alex Brazinski (He/Him) is a licensed acupuncturist and movement practitioner who teaches a combination of acrobatics, contemporary floorwork, and mobility in Philadelphia.
Alex spent most of his 20s pursuing movement-based practices such as acrobatics, floorwork, yoga, and martial arts. Alex has studied intensively under Tom Weksler through Movement Archery and Zen Acrobatics and now teaches acrobatics and floorwork classes at Urban Movement Arts in Philadelphia and Cardell Dance Studio. He performed as a dancer/acrobat with the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera in its production of The Love of Three Oranges in 2023. Alex premiered his first evening-length performance, “Where There is Hope, There is Light” at Cannonball Festival 2024 accompanied by musician Noah Julian.
Lu Donovan is a dance artist whose work threads between physiology, performance, teaching, loop music, ancestral reclamation, catholicism and resource redistribution. His creative work prioritizes pleasure and researches strategies of queer-ing, or, widening options for how something can exist, be used, be seen, and be held. He believes movement classes provide a container through which people can both try on new embodiments and hone in on the old.
Lu has taught both youth and adults through Philly Dance Share, at Mascher Space Cooperative, Vox Populi, the Arts League, and the Woodlands. He completed the Skeletal System module through Body Mind Centering in 2022 and graduated from the Headlong Performance Institute and Wesleyan University in 2018. Lu trained with Boston Ballet until 2014 and has recently returned to the barre with a renewed fervor for this childhood haunt.
Kevin Kim has trained and studied partner dance for over 12 years, with experience in ballroom, salsa, bachata, brazilian zouk, and lambada. WIth a competitive background in International Standard ballroom, he developed a strong technical foundation and deep understanding of partner connection and movement. For the past 9 years, Kevin has taught dance to students of all levels, focusing on clear technique, musicality, and building confidence. His approach blends strong fundamentals with enjoyment in social dancing.
Priscilla is a trained latin dancer specializing in salsa on1, salsa on2, and bachata. She has been dancing for 13 years and competing in partnerwork and solo salsa dance for 8 years. For the past 3 years, she has taught beginner Salsa On2 and feminine styling technique. Priscilla approaches dance and teaching through a historical and queer affirming lens. Her classes emphasize consent, connection, and body movement.