Tatiana Lovera (she/they/ella/elle)
Tatiana Lovera (she/they/ella/elle)
Administrative Assistant
Tatiana Lovera is a Queens, New York, born and raised creative, with a B.A. in Theater and Dance from Muhlenberg College. Her lifelong relationship with dance began as a child at Dance Dynamics in Jackson Heights going on to train with Dancing Classrooms, Piel Canela Dance, and the American Dance Festival. She is also a graduate of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Teaching Artist Training Program where she served as an Assistant Teaching Artist at the school in downtown Brooklyn.
She is deeply passionate about harnessing movement-based practices to create inclusive spaces for community building and healing. Over the past five years, she has dedicated her work to various local and global educational community based non profits. She is honored to return to dancing classrooms, where her dance journey once began, to support the administrative work that helps make the magic happen.
Ray Davis (he/him)
Ray Davis (he/him)
Senior Teaching Artist
Ray F. Davis has been with Dancing Classrooms for 20 years and is an amazing performer, choreographer, teacher originally from Kingston, Jamaica. Ray has trained under the BLADE technique with the Hip Hop Dance Conservatory, where he was also the Associate Artistic Director of the Hip Hop Dance Conservatory and BLADE Dance Academy. Ray is proficient in various styles of Hip Hop and many genres of partner dance as well as solo dances such as Lindy Hop, Salsa, Foxtrot, Ballet, Modern and Jazz to name a few. He has travelled to China, Cuba, Barbados, Sweden, England, Canada, Puerto Rico, Korea as well as throughout the United States to train, perform and teach. He is still an avid social dancer and performer and was recently in LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum. We are so excited to have him as a full-time STA for he brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and insight that will continue to push our mission forward.
2025 Mad Hot Ball
You're Invited!
October 10th, 2025
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Léman Ballroom
41 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
MAD HOT BALL 2025!
Sponsored by
Lead Supporters
Dr. Jephtha Tausig & Alex Valcic
Robert & Sheila Hoerle
Jean McLoughlin
Carrie & Arthur Steinmetz
Yang Chen
Mary Prevosti Shelton
Rachael Small
Performance by the Dancing Classrooms All-Stars /
Food by Krisp Events /
Live Music by Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists /
The Mad Hot Ball 2025 Gala returns at a new venue with a new date!
We hope you will join us at The Mad Hot Ball as we raise funds to make Dancing Classrooms programs available to thousands more children in the year to come! For more information about the Mad Hot Ball or to purchase tickets, please visit madhotball.com or contact Development Director Ellen Claycomb at 212-244-9442 ext. 101 or development@dancingclassrooms.org.
It’s a night not to be missed!
Gala Steering Committee
Yash Gupta & Adam Plotkin, Gala Co-ChairsRon Aizen
Linda Camardo
Caitlin Doldan & James Fierro
Carla Matero
Mary Shelton
Edward Simon
Rachael Small
Carrie & Arthur Steinmetz
Jenny Sucov
Patrice Tanaka
Dr. Jeptha Tausig
Through the joyful art and practice of social dances, Dancing Classrooms (DC) cultivates engaged learners, collaborative leaders, and inclusive spaces.
DC envisions a world that values social dance as foundational to every child’s well-being and joy, celebrates the beauty of diversity, and amplifies our shared humanity. We are proud to be the first organization to offer the powerful benefits of partner dance to public school students and the largest provider of dance education to the NYC Department of Education.
The core values of Connection, Inclusion, and Joy are the throughline in all aspects of our work. By partnering with schools and community organizations across New York City, we reach over 14,000 K-12 students in NYC and thousands more through our national network annually to inspire the next generation of compassionate, global citizens. Since the program’s founding in 1994, DC has reached over 750,000 young people globally.
The Mad Hot Ball returns at a new time of the year and location
The Léman Ballroom in the Financial District on October 10th. Enjoy an open bar, hearty hors d’oeuvres and sweet bites. To commemorate our 30th anniversary, a buffet dinner from Krisp Events, and music from Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists.
The Dancing Classrooms All Stars featuring students from across the city will perform. We're once again bringing you dinner, dancing, and a spin around the floor with a ballroom pro.
Kindly RSVP by October 1, 2025 to guarantee your ticket.
2025 Board of Directors
Board Chair
Dr. Jephtha Tausig
Vice Chair
Patrice Tanaka
Secretary
Regina Hardatt
Treasurer
Yash Gupta
Adeola Adele
Ron Aizen
Biana Arbit
Emma Goodman
Carla Matero
Adam Plotkin
Jeff Poulin
Mary Prevosti Shelton
Dancing Classrooms
Executive Director
Eve Wolff
Follow us
@dancingclassroomsnyc
#MadHotBall2025
Colors Of The Rainbow 2025 Gallery
The 2025 Colors of the Rainbow Team Match & Dance Party, featuring dancers from 12 Dancing Classrooms' partner schools, competing as teams for Bronze, Silver, and Gold level prizes.
Saturday, June 21, 2025 at Symphony Space, New York City. Photos by David Flores.
Cassie Morales (she/her)
Cassie is a proud New Jersey native who brings her passion for dance, writing, and community impact to her role at Dancing Classrooms.
A graduate of Wesleyan University with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and a Master’s equivalent from The Graduate Center at CUNY, Cassie has consistently demonstrated academic excellence, maintaining high GPAs and earning the prestigious White Fellowship for her work in political science.
Most recently serving as Grants Officer at The Door – A Center of Alternatives, Inc., Cassie managed multiple high-stakes projects and successfully secured an average of $750,000 in funding annually. Her expertise spans grant writing, donor relations, and event management, skills she developed through her rich academic background and professional experiences.
Her unique blend of academic achievement, fundraising success, and artistic passion makes her a valuable asset in her work supporting youth development through dance education.
A Message from Executive Director, Nancy Kleaver
Thank you for your trust, generosity, and belief in the power of dance to transform lives.
Dear Dancing Classrooms Community,
With a full heart, I am writing to share that I will be moving on from my role as the Executive Director of Dancing Classrooms at the end of September, 2024 and supporting the organization as a consultant through the end of the year.
Reflecting on the past nearly five years, I am filled with pride and gratitude for our journey together. We have navigated unthinkable changes and challenges as an arts organization and emerged even more responsive to the communities we serve in our city and across the nation. Dancing Classrooms remains the largest provider of dance education to NYC Public Schools. We have expanded our program offerings to include younger children, more Students With Disabilities, and new forms of social dance from around the globe. We have welcomed a new and diverse generation of board directors and made strides to ensure that our curricula are gender-inclusive and culturally responsive. None of this would have been possible without our incredible staff, Teaching Artists, Board, partners, and supporters like you, whom I have had the privilege to collaborate with daily. Now is the right time for new leadership to move the work forward.
I am excited to announce that our excellent Deputy Director, Eve Wolff, will be stepping into the role of Acting Executive Director upon my departure. Eve, who joined Dancing Classrooms only a couple of months after me, is deeply knowledgeable about our work and the arts education field and a resourceful and confident nonprofit leader. I have no doubt that she will guide the team with the same dedication and intelligence that we have seen from her throughout her tenure. Please join me in congratulating Eve and supporting her in the months ahead as she takes on this new position. (Learn more about Eve!)
One of my initial motivations for joining Dancing Classrooms (DC) was to get closer to the joy and connection I observed in their student dancers during my years working as an arts education professional in NYC. I had only one semester with DC under my belt before the pandemic interrupted that, but only briefly. I was amazed to see how resilient and uplifting the art of social dancing remained, even when we could not touch. The faces of young people and their families would light up as our Teaching Artists zoomed into their homes, a testament to the unique power of the Dancing Classrooms model. An unexpected reward of my time here has been getting to know our programs’ alumni, who have transferred the skills they developed as young social dancers into their lives as collaborative leaders, innovative artists, and engaged citizens. I look forward to continuing to support and celebrate their journeys as they flourish in their professional and creative pursuits.
As I step away, I carry with me the profound joy and connection that first drew me to this organization. I look forward to returning to my consulting practice, where I will bring the energy and insights I have gained here to continue supporting the arts and culture sector and working to improve the lives of NYC children. No matter where I go, I will be a fierce advocate for our vision of a world that values social dance as foundational to every child’s well-being and joy and to celebrate the beauty of diversity and our shared humanity through my own creative practice.
Thank you for your trust, generosity, and belief in the power of dance to transform lives. Dancing Classrooms will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I am excited to see what the future holds for this extraordinary organization.
With deep gratitude,
Five years of collaborative leadership and defiant joy. ? ??
Brava, Dancing Classrooms’ incoming Acting
Executive Director Eve Wolff! ?? ??
Fara Faidzan (she/her/they/them)
Fara Faidzan (She/Her/They/Them) was born in Malaysia and moved to New York to pursue a degree in acting. With over a decade of experience in acting and drumming, and a strong passion for community engagement, she is now exploring the field of arts administration.
Fara Faidzan began her journey in the Malaysian theatre scene before moving to the U.S. to further her studies in the field. She earned a BA in Theatre Performance with a minor in Drama Therapy from Marymount Manhattan College. During her time in college, she served as a theatre student representative and Box Office Manager, where she discovered her passion for arts administration.
She interned with Performing Arts Mosaic (PAM), an organization dedicated to providing a stage for underrepresented communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fara hosted online shows for PAM on Instagram Live, ensuring that artists continued to have a platform. This experience solidified her commitment to community service and engagement.
While Fara continues to play drums in local NYC bands and puppeteer with the Filipino American artist collective MARICAMA, she also aims to pursue a master’s degree in Arts Management/Administration. As for dance, she loves taking K-pop dance classes at ILOVEDANCE—join her if you can!
Silvia Guerrero (she/her)
Watch to learn more about Miss Silvia:
Silvia Guerrero (she/her)
Senior Teaching Artist
Silvia Guerrero is a Brazilian native and has been teaching with Dancing Classrooms since 2005. She was trained in the Dulaine Method by Pierre Dulaine himself, and successfully mastered it throughout the years with diverse residencies. She has led residencies in elementary and middle schools across New York City and New Jersey in both public and private schools. She was also on the Dancing Classrooms Academy Teaching Artist faculty from 2009 to 2011. Silvia has participated with schools in The Colors of The Rainbow Team Match regularly, and has won the Challenge Trophy twice. Beyond Dancing Classrooms, Silvia has taught Ballet, Jazz, Flamenco, tap and musical theater as after school activities in South America and the USA since 1994. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of New Jersey City University with a Bachelors Degree in Arts and History. She is also a graduate of University “Barao de Maua” in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a Teaching Degree in History, Geography and Political Science. Silvia’s goal is to provide quality dance education for children of all ages. Her focus is not only on technique, but also on the creativity and enjoyment of all students.
Dance Break!