Boca Dance Studio Staff

DIRECTORS:

As professional dancers, Jo-D Meacham and Melanie Gibbs have performed throughout North America, Japan, Finland and the Caribbean for audiences of 20 to 20,000. They have worked with celebrities such as Meryl Streep, Greg Kinnear, Wayne Brady, Dick Clark, John Stamos, the Beach Boys, Bill Gates and Loretta Lynn. They were proud to work with the athletes of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta as well as perform in season openers for the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers.

Jo-D and Melanie have both danced in live musical theater and countless industrial shows for clients such as Microsoft, The Discovery Channel, Pepsi, Caesar's Palace Las Vegas, The Riviera Las Vegas, Silja Cruise Line, IBM, Tupperware, Kroger Foods, Bellsouth and Coca-Cola. In addition, they have performed concert works with the Body and Soul Dance Theatre under Barbara Sloan and New World School of the Arts under Daniel Lewis. They have been invited to dance with River North Dance Chicago, DanceNow! Ensemble and the Radio City Rockettes.

As teachers and choreographers, Jo-D and Melanie have worked around the US and are known for their distinctive personal styles and award-winning competition choreography. They have choreographed for Dance Caravan, Ft. Lauderdale Children's Theater, French Woods Festival of Performing Arts, South Florida Youth Symphony and Junior League of Ft. Lauderdale. When not at BDS they travel as judges for national competition, do guest choreography and teach master classes for dance studios and organizations including Dance Masters of Florida. Most recently Jo-D and Melanie guest choreographed for studios in Knoxville, TN and Wellington, FL and exhibited choreography at the 7th Annual Choreographers' Ball.

STAFF:

CINDY IVANOSKI founded Boca Dance Studio in 1983 and operated it successfully for 21 years before "retiring" in 2004. Cindy comes from a professional dancing family and her father, Bill Cassidy, owned nine dance studios in Ohio for 35 years. She traveled for ten years performing dance and acrobatic acts throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico and is a member of the Professional Dance Teachers Association. She now "performs" as full-time Office Manager for the studio.

DANIELA NASCIMENTO is a Royal Academy of Dancing certified teacher originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She has 15 years of experience teaching ballet, pointe and character and 16 years of experience as a professional dancer. Daniela has performed locally for Boca Ballet Theatre and in Brazil for Ilara Lopes and Nice Leite Nucleo de Danca. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Education from the Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Sao Paulo and received her RAD certificates in 1997 from legendary ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn, the president of the Royal Academy.

RACHEL TALASKO is a BDS alumnus and is currently a student at FAU. She has 17 years of dance education and has trained with many professional teachers including Willie Brown, Augusto Soledade and Gary Lund. Rachel has performed in Disney's Magic Kingdom and EPCOT parks as well as in an Off-Broadway show with Break the Floor Productions, and was invited to dance with Miami's TranZenDance Company. Rachel co-choreographed Sentimental Journey and Pink: Cruisers and Crooners of the 1950's for the Crest Theatre and has won several High Score awards at competition with her choreography.

SERRENA KIVIROGLU is a BDS and Dance Academy of North Lauderdale alumnus with 15 years of dance training including the Monsters of Hip Hop tour. She currently attends FAU and is much beloved by her students.

BRIANA TALASKO is a 14 year student at BDS and an award-winning competitor. She has been featured in professional shows such as Sentimental Journey and Pink:Cruisers and Crooners of the 1950's as well as the Choreographer's Ball. She has trained at the Florida Dance Festival at New World School of the Arts and Pacific Coast Dance Fest in Long Beach, CA as well as received extensive teacher training at BDS. Briana has taught for BDS affiliates ProAm Dance Studio and Dance Academy of North Lauderdale as well as Camp Hollywood.

MEGAN MINOTTI is a BDS alumnus currently attending Florida Atlantic University. She is an experienced competitor and was a member of the Spanish River High School dance team for three years. Megan earned a scholarship to the Florida Dance Festival at New World School of the Arts and has trained at Broadway Dance Center's PULSE and Break the Floor's Jump! She has taught for PopStars Inc in addition to classes and camps at BDS.

BROOK PHIPPS has 16 years of dance experience including BDS affiliate Dance Academy of North Lauderdale and Parkway Middle School for the Arts. She was Assistant Director of Parkway’s Pizzazz Dance Company and a member of the DANZA dance company at the University of Florida. Brook is a former competitor and counts Elaine Jekels, Denyse Brooks and Roni Mahler as influences. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Education.

STACEY DOWNS is an experienced performer and choreographer who has trained extensively in ballet, modern and jazz. Stacey specializes in the Lester Horton technique and has taught at the Berks Ballet Theatre and Brandywine Ballet Theatre in Pennsylvania as well as many Florida dance schools. She participates in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition annually and has worked with many of its students and award winners. We are excited to welcome Stacey to our staff!