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!
Mary McCatty (she/her)
A lifelong dancer, Mary has spent her career teaching, choreographing and performing all over the world, and first joined Dancing Classrooms as a Teaching Artist in 2005.
Mary brings years of experience in teaching, choreographing and performing all over the world to her work with Dancing Classrooms. As a performer, she was a Radio City Rockette, appeared on Broadway in The Best Little —house Goes Public, Sophisticated Ladies at the Kennedy Center, My One and Only with Tommy Tune, Jesus Christ Superstar, Can Can, Guys and Dolls, many Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades, and performed in musicals across the USA and internationally.
Mary’s choreography has been seen on stages around the globe, having worked on a variety of projects and musicals for adults and young people, including a production of Steel Pier, in which she won a Rising Star Award for Outstanding Choreography. Her dance teaching career has given her years of wonderful opportunities to impart the joy of dance to her students. Three of her favorite places to teach include Marymount College in Manhattan, Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance in NYC, and Dancing Classrooms.
Mary has been a team member atDancing Classrooms for over 16 years, originally trained by Pierre Dulaine as a Teaching Artist before serving as an Educational Liaison, and currently implements residencies and programs as Senior Manager, Program Operations.
Eve Wolff (she/her)
Eve has spent over 20 years in the NYC performing arts and arts education sectors, working in fundraising, programs, and administration and serving seven years on the Board of Directors of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable.
Eve first joined Dancing Classrooms as Deputy Director in February 2020, and spearheaded the transformation of programming in the early days of the pandemic, including the creation of our virtual and hybrid Dancing Classrooms: Homeroom Edition, helping to ensure thousands of students continued to receive the benefits of social dance, even during times of isolation. As Deputy Director, she oversaw the formation of multiple strategic partnerships and the expansion of programs to include after-school, summer, and K-3rd grade.
Before joining Dancing Classrooms, Eve worked at leading NYC arts and culture fundraising consulting firm, Advance NYC, as a Senior Project Director. There, she supported nonprofit clients, including ArtsConnection, Harmony Program, Hi-Arts, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and SBI / A. Philip Randolph High School. Before joining Advance NYC, Eve spent years in the NYC performing arts and arts education sectors, including serving as the Director of Programming at Young Audiences New York. She recently ended her second term as a member of the Board of Directors of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, where she continues to serve on its Development Committee. In addition, Eve previously served as a member of the School Leadership Team at early elementary school PS 242 in Queens and on the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s members council.
Eve currently volunteers her time with Science Olympiad, Scouts, choir, and other activities at her children’s schools and community, where her baking skills, choral singing, and expertise in fundraising and face painting are in high demand. Eve holds a BFA in Drama from the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from Leadership Fellows New York at Baruch College. She was a proud NYU Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar and spent years utilizing her stage management, performance, and educational skills to volunteer in community and arts programs around the globe, including in Brazil, Ghana, Ireland, and across the US. With a deep family legacy of valuing access and inclusion through art and education—her mother a music teacher and school administrator, and her grandmothers a music teacher and an English and Art teacher who graduated from the HBCU Stowe Teachers College—Eve holds a profound belief in the power of art and education to shape individuals and strengthen our communities for the collective good. Having grown up primarily in NYC, where she was an avid young dancer and performer (including studying under Ellen Robbins at Dance Theatre Workshop for over a decade), Eve is passionate about bringing the joy and freedom that can be found in the arts to each young person’s educational experience.
Eva Carrozza (she/her)
Watch to learn more about Miss Eva:
Eva Carrozza (she/her)
Manager of DC National Network & Institute, Senior Teaching Artist
Eva Carrozza has studied and taught Argentine Tango, Lindy Hop, and Ballroom dancing extensively before joining Dancing Classrooms as a Teaching Artist in 2004. At Dancing Classrooms, she has taught Elementary, Middle, and High School students both in- and out-of-school, including serving as a Faculty Teaching Artist for Dancing Clasroom’s Weekend Academy program. She has supported the development and revisions of our Social Ballroom, Middle School, and Homeroom Edition curriculums and co-led training for multiple cohorts of Teaching Artists across the DC National Network. Eva has also taught and performed a variety of famous partner dances in clubs around the world, including La Belle Epoque, Milonga Rosa, La Nacional, Swing 46, 92nd Y, Lafayette Grill, and also outdoors at South Street Seaport, and Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center.
Dance Break!
The 2020 Mad Hot Ball Went Virtual!
The safety of the Dancing Classrooms community remained our top priority as we navigated through the effects of the pandemic. In light of that, we hosted our annual gala virtually on September 23rd, 2020.
The Virtual Mad Hot Ball was Dancing Classrooms’ largest fundraising event of the year.
We thank our generous donors and ticket holders for their continued support in this unprecedented time.
More Information and Watch the Video
A Conversation on Partner Dancing While Social Distancing
A Conversation on Partner Dancing While Social Distancing
On May 12th, Dancing Classrooms NYC hosted a special conversation on the state of partner dance while social distancing, attended by 100 old and new friends. How do we sustain an artform that has traditionally required physical connection while stuck at home alone? What will social and partner dance culture look like and feel like post-pandemic? Panelists addressed these questions and demonstrated techniques they have discovered to keep their skills sharp and instruction fresh during this time of coronavirus.
Click here to watch the video.
Panelists: (above, clockwise left to right)
Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, U.S. and World Professional Rhythm Champion, coach, judge, and choreographer
Jill Sternheimer (moderator), Director of Public Programming at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Edward Simon, U.S. Ballroom Champion, judge, and So You Think You Can Dance choreographer
Derrick León Washington, United Nations Human Rights Fellow and Director, Urban Stomp
Alee Reed, Director of Curriculum and Training, Dancing Classrooms
Ovations from a Champion
A salute from Mayo Alanen, one of the most awarded ballroom dancers in the US today and the recipient of the 2018 Gala Humanitarian Award.
Meet Pierre Dulaine: Taking the Lead with Generations of Children
Watch Pierre Dulaine's TED talk. Pierre created a unique and proprietary teaching methodology that coupled the joy and practice of ballroom dance with the development of essential life skills of respect, collaboration and partnership for children.
Pierre Dulaine grew up as a poor, shy boy in London kid, trying to fit in and survive a bullied youth. He first saw ballroom dancing as a 14 year old. Scraping together his earnings for lessons, he practiced his newfound passion and shifted from awkward teen to winning every major ballroom award with superstar Yvonne Marceau, his partner since 1976. Together they won numerous awards including the 1977, ’78, ’79 and ‘82 British Exhibition Championships, the Fred Astaire Award for Best Dance on Broadway, Dance Magazine’s award for excellence, the National Dance Council of America award, the Dance Educators of America award, and the Americans for the Arts “Arts in Education” 2005 award.
In 1984, together with Otto Cappel, they founded American Ballroom Theater Company which eventually became the birthplace of Dancing Classrooms.