Staff - Cardell Dance Studio

Meet the Team

Faculty & Staff

Silvana Cardell

Artistic Director

Silvana Cardell is a choreographer, dancer, educator, and cultural leader. She is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography and a 2025 Leeway Transformation Award recipient.

Cardell creates evocative performances that merge dance, theater, and visual art with a socially engaged focus. Her work has been presented at festivals, theaters, universities, museums, and cultural institutions nationally and internationally. She has founded dance schools, companies, and performance spaces in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in the United States.

Her work has received support from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Creative Philadelphia’s Illuminate the Arts Grant, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and the Creative Sector Flex Fund.

Cardell has served on the faculty of The University of the Arts and Temple University’s Dance Department and directed the Georgian Court University Dance Program from 2009 to 2024.

Learn more at Cardell Dance Projects

Loren Groendaal

Children's Program Coordinator & Instructor

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.

Olivia Jenna Brown

Studio Manager & Children's Program Instructor

Olivia Jenna Brown is a dancer/choreographer and dance educator who loves sharing the joy of movement with students of all ages. She has 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.

Nicole Sabella

Children's Program Instructor

Nicole Sabella is a multi-passionate dance professional with a dynamic career as a veteran performer, wellness and mindset coach, dance educator, and workshop speaker. A Florida native, Nicole began her training at Academy of Ballet Arts and the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. She later earned a BFA in Modern Dance Performance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. From 2013 to 2024, Nicole was a core member of the Mark Morris Dance Group, originating roles in 13 world premieres and performing in over 35 repertoire works by the celebrated choreographer.

Beyond performing, Nicole has taught the littlest of dancers all the way through advanced professionals. Most notably, she has been on faculty at New York City Ballet Outreach Education, teaching in public schools, and The School at Mark Morris Dance Group, where she contributed as an early childhood dance educator, mentor to the teen student company, and frequently taught masterclasses worldwide on tour. Nicole is thrilled to be teaching at Cardell Dance Studio this school year!

Esmeralda Luciano

Children's Program Instructor

Esmeralda Luciano is a dancer, performer, and educator. She holds a MFA in Dance at Temple University and 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

Adult Program Instructor

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.

Kevin Kim

Adult Program Instructor

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 Ruilova

Adult Program Instructor

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.