Staff

 

Erin Rice

(Artistic Director/ Ballet, Tap, MT Instructor/Voice Coach)

Erin Rice (Artistic Director/Founder/Instructor) is an actor and singer who holds her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she trained extensively in acting, voice and dance. She has been teaching musical theatre, acting and private voice to young students in Brooklyn for over 17 years. Erin is a proud member of The Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association.  www.erinrice.net

Mary Rice

(Founder/ MT Instructor)

Mary is an arts educator and has been a faculty member at Poly Prep Lower School for over twenty years. At Poly, she co-founded the Musical Theater program and continues to direct and produce shows with the Poly Players and act as Head of Lower School Drama. Mary has also written and implemented an original drama curriculum for Poly students. A number of her former students have moved on to professional acting careers on the stage and screen, including Broadway’s The Lion King and Disney’s Frozen. Mary received her teaching degree from Brooklyn College and is currently a Master’s candidate at New York University in the Educational Theatre MA program.

 
 

Rebecca Rice-Chiusano

(Artistic Director/ Ballet, Tap, MT Instructor/Special Needs Consultant)

Rebecca has been performing on stage since she was a young girl and made her Broadway debut at the age of nine. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, theatre and Irish step dancing for over fifteen years, developing a passion for the arts which inspired a career in teaching. Rebecca received her Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Literature and Theater from New York University and received her Master’s Degree in Education from Brooklyn College. She has been teaching dance and musical theater to children for the past twenty three years. Currently, Rebecca teaches English Language Arts and Literacy at Bay Ridge Preparatory School, where she has also directed numerous dance and theater performances. Rebecca is certified in Special Education and has over fifteen years experience working with neurodivergent students and differently-abled students in both in the performing arts and literacy classroom. Rebecca is a proud member of Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actor’s Guild.

MARIEL BLATT

(Acrobatics/Ballet/Tap/MT/Adult Fitness instructor)

Mariel Blatt is one of our teachers who hails from Brooklyn herself and has always had a passion for dance. She began training in tap and ballet from the age of three, and in subsequent years, studied the disciplines of jazz, modern dance, and theatre dance (for 15+ years). She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied the disciplines of musical theatre and learned the importance of not just mirroring choreography, but breathing true, complicated life into it in order to tell a specific story with a clear point of view. Just as Mariel knew she loved dancing from a young age, she knew she wanted to inspire the love for dance in wee ones. As a young dancer, she helped assist countless ballet and tap classes at J's New School of Dance for children aged 4 through 10, helping them grasp the vocabulary of movement, proper form and alignment in order to strengthen and increase flexibility in developing bodies, and the remembering of choreography in a way that makes sense in the head and the heart. Each year of assisting would culminate in helping the children prepare for sensational seasonal dance recitals. She brought this experience and knowledge to her more recent position this past year as a Drama and Dance Specialist with Kids Orbit, an after school program that brings creative thinking and play to children all over NYC. Above all, Mariel strives to help children find joy, love for the self, and love for the creative process all while strengthening the body and mind through the art of dance. Mariel is also a certified Acrobatics instructor.

 

Lincoln Gray

(Song-writing/guitar/acapella/ musical instructor)

Lincoln Gray is a songwriter, performer, and educator based in Brooklyn. He holds a B.A. in Music from Tufts University, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. While at Tufts, Lincoln received such accolades for his artistic and academic work as the “Winokur Award for Outstanding Artistic and Scholarly Achievement” and the “Seymour Award for Excellence in Musical Theater." Having written music for the stage, screen, and earbuds, these days, Lincoln performs original music for children under his project, “Listen to Lincoln,” and original music for adults with his band, “Hatless in Public.” In addition to performing, Lincoln works as a video editor and audio producer. Since 2015, Lincoln has worked regularly as a music educator in private lessons, group lessons, and classroom settings. With over 300 former students spanning in age from 3 to 60, Lincoln’s passion for performance is matched only by his love of teaching..

Stefanie Burns

(Speech and Language Consultant)

Stefanie is a certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. She received her Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Lehman College. Her clinical background involves diagnosing and treating a variety of communication disorders in pediatric populations. Stefanie has experience working with children and adolescents who have deficits in receptive and expressive language, phonology, articulation, motor speech, fluency, literacy, auditory processing, and more. Stefanie is also a DIRFloortime® Provider.

Danielle Kremar

(PT consultant)

Danielle received a Masters in Physical Therapy at Quinnipiac University and a Doctorate at Simmons College. She has been a Physical Therapist for over ten years treating both adults and children. Danielle currently is a Pediatric Physical Therapist who works with children in the New York City public school district and in the home setting. She is certified in Pediatric Yoga for children with and without special needs.