OUR FACULTY
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 business 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)
Miss Krista has been teaching at Gallery since 2011. She 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. Miss Krista then was trained in the art of tap under Steve Tomlinson.
Miss 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!
Miss Krista brings her love of dance and positive energy to Gallery.... Where she teaches her students confidence, strength, friendship and the passion for dance! Miss Krista is also a proud dance mom to 3 of our Dazzler dancers!
Tara Grammatico
Miss Tara has been teaching at the Gallery since 2010. MIss 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, Miss 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, she 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.
Miss 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.
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April Saccomondo
Miss April has been teaching at the Gallery since 2014. April 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. Miss April teaches all disciplines of dance and is also a proud dance mom.
Amanda Pirrotta
Miss Amanda grew up as a competitive dancer, training here at the 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.
Miss Amanda continued her dance education at Towson University, where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. Professionally, Miss Amanda performed in shows at Six Flags Great Adventure for 3 seasons. She has also shared her love for dance with students, choreographing and teaching competitive dance teams in Maryland.
Miss Amanda has been teaching with us since 2017 and she is thrilled to be sharing her love of dance with our students.
Annie Smith
Miss Annie is graduate from Manhattanville College she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance and Business Management. She has been working in dance studios around the NY/NJ area choreographing and teaching for years We are very excited to have Miss Annie back for her 2nd year here at the Gallery!
Alexis Valentin
Miss 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. Miss Lexi competed for 15 years and was an assistant teacher for 4 years. She was part of the FPAC program at Howell High School. She has been a competition judge and has worked at dance studios in Ohio and surrounding areas in NJ. Miss Lexi is very excited to be part of 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
Miss 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 Miss Alex is pursuing her degree in nursing. Miss Alex does an amazing job with our younger hip hop classes as well as our ballet, tap and jazz classes.
Theresa Orth
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