Gail Cargiulo - Founder
Gail Cargiulo grew up in Bronx, NY. As a teen, she studied dance with Charles Kelley, Alvin Alley, Frank Hatchet, Merce Cunningham, and Luigi. In 1985, Gail opened the Gallery of Dance in Pond Road Shopping Center, and two years later moved the dance school to our current location on Throckmorton Street. Gail taught all styles of dance and passed on her love of dance to hundreds of children over the years.
Gail has retired but still loves hearing about the achievements of the Gallery Dancers. Her daughter Karen runs the dance studio today.
Karen Cargiulo Dolan – Director and Business Manager
Karen Dolan started taking dance at the age of three in New York. She continued to taking dance at Rowan University and graduated with a BA in Public Relations.
In 1992, Karen returned to work at the Gallery of Dance, where she was office manager/director and now owner. Her focus is ensuring Gallery students receive top-notch training, which means recruiting the best dance instructors with diversified backgrounds and talents.
Karen has traveled with her students across the United States from Florida to Las Vegas, and she has had the pleasure of watching many Gallery students grow up to become successful dancers, dance teachers, and strong professional women who are leaders in their fields.
Krista Warenkiewicz (Miss Krista)
Krista was classically trained in jazz and ballet at Studio Workshop in Lyndhurst, NJ owned by a broadway family. By the age of 13 she became an assistant teacher in jazz and pre-ballet classes. Krista then went on to minor in dance at Brookdale Community College where she was trained in modern and lyrical and became part of the Brookdale Dance Ensemble, performing in local theaters. Krista then was trained in the art of tap under Steve Tomlinson.
Krista was also a choreographer and performer for Jeffrey Craig Entertainment for 10 yrs as well as being the dance director for Country Roads Camp for 4 yrs. She was a judge for Elite Dance Forum in NJ. Krista is also our licensed Zumba instructor where she teaches adults and students alike the fun fitness craze!
Krista brings her love of dance and positive energy to Gallery.... Where she teaches her students confidence, strength, friendship and the passion for dance!
Tara Grammatico
Tara grew up as a competitive dancer. She trained at studios including Princeton Repertory Ballet School, New Jersey Ballet, BDC and her local dance studio growing up. Upon graduating high school, she received a dance scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College. Tara had the opportunity to be a featured dancer at Disney’s Magic Kingdom as well as the Big Red Boat and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She also has been a part of multiple off-broadway productions including Movin’ Out, Anything Goes, Oklahoma! and 42nd Street.
In 2004, Tara became a member of the NBA’s NJ Nets Dance Team and later was part of the NY Titans and Brooklyn Cyclones Dance Teams. For three years, Tara was part of the TapOle’ Dance Company, affiliated with Blue Star Productions performing in various commercials and Univision 41 morning shows. In correlation with her dance career, Tara choreographs and teaches in the tri-state area. She also has been in commercials for MTV, Suave and Clearasil.
Tara's dancers and routines have won numerous awards at the Gallery of Dance. In the past years she won "Best Choreography", "High Score Award" and her dancers received many Platinum and High Scores.
Sarah Wells
Sarah is a graduate of the American Music and Dramatic Academy in NYC as a dance theatre major. She has performed in One Last Shot as a featured singer and dancer under the direction of Cynthia Murray-Davis. She grew up dancing at the Dance Carousel located in Spotswood, New Jersey under the direction of Jeanne Keane. She has been teaching tap, jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, musical theater and acro. We are very excited to have Miss Sarah teaching at the Gallery!
April Saccomondo
April Saccomondo began dancing at the age of 3. She studied jazz, tap, ballet and lyrical. She danced competitively for 10 years. She went on to study at Rider University where she graduated with a double major in elementary education and theatre along with a minor in dance. While in college April was able to intern for the Daryl Roth Theatre, an off Broadway theatre in Manhattan. April taught dance classes at a local dance school for four years during college.. She also choreographed school plays for many middle and high schools. After graduating, she embarked on her teaching career where she taught grades k-3 for five years. While teaching she continued to choreograph school plays and coach the school dance team.
Amanda Pirrotta
Amanda Pirrotta grew up as a competitive dancer, training at Gallery of Dance. Although she has a passion for all forms of dance, Amanda is primarily trained in ballet, pointe, modern, tap, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and aerial dance.
Amanda continued her dance education at Towson University, where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. Professionally, Amanda performed in shows at Six Flags Great Adventure for three seasons. She has also been sharing her love for dance with students- choreographing and teaching competitive dance teams in Maryland- for three years.
Amanda is thrilled to be at the studio she called home for so many years and we are so excited to have her!
Alexis Valentin
Lexi is a graduate from the Ohio State University where she received her BFA in Dance with a minor in Education. She was also a part of a student dance organization called Movement Variations where she showcased her choreography in heels jazz, hip hop and contemporary. Lexi competed for 15 years and was an assistant teacher for 4 years. She was part of the FPAC program at Howell High School. Lexi has been a competition judge and has worked at dance studios in Ohio and surrounding areas in NJ. Lexi is very excited to be joining the Gallery Family!
Paulina Chavez
Paulina has been a part of the Gallery family for over 15 years. She has made the exciting transition from being a student, to an assistant, to a well-loved teacher. Paulina has studied ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop. She also danced on her High School team for four years.
Her desire is to teach each student a strong foundation of dance expression and explore various forms of hip hop and jazz. Paulina brings joy and love for dance as well as respect to each and every student. She hopes to help our dancers find a true passion for dance as she does. We are so happy to have Miss Paulina as a part of our Gallery of Dance Family.
Alex Gandolfo
Alex has been a part of the Gallery family for over 10 years. She has been teaching for 2 years and was a teachers assistant for 2 year prior. Alex was a Gallery student and a competitive dancer, competing in tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary. Along with teaching at the studio Alex is pursuing her degree in nursing. Alex does an amazing job with our younger hip hop classes as well as our ballet, tap and jazz classes.