"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." ~Albert Einstein
founder of DanceFIT Studio Brookline, co-founder of DanceFIT Babies, children's ballet instructor, fitness instructor
From dancing at the L'Ecole de Superiere de Dance de Rosella Hightower in France to teaching at The Washington Ballet, Gina Fay has performed and learned under many of the world's top dancers and instructors. Since the age of five, when she took her first dance class at Contra Costa Ballet in Walnut Creek, California, Gina has excelled in and studied many forms of dance, such as classical ballet, partnering, Pointe, jazz, modern, character and kinesthetics. Her knowledge, experience and versatility even earned her the "Certificat de Stage" award from the famed France academy.
Gina's success as a performer also translated into success as a teacher. At The Washington Ballet, Gina served as assistant to the director of education in the ballet's Outreach Program. Teaching nearly 400 students per week, Gina taught both the in-school and the after school programs. The in-school program maintained a strong focus on music, dance and the visual arts, while her after school programs centered on in-depth classical pre-ballet technique training. Upon completion of her internship, The Washington Ballet hired Gina as a full-time Movement Specialist.
Gina went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Art History and Studio Art from Gettysburg College in 2005. During that same year, Gina studied in Florence, Italy and was hired by renowned Artistic Director to choreograph a dance for the American Opera "Where the Wild Things Are." Upon her move to Boston four years ago, Gina was a faculty member of Brookline Adult Education as a fitness instructor and continued her teaching of classical ballet classes at various Boston studios, where her students performed in spring showcases and won many competitions.
Gina's passion for dance is reflected in her classes. She focuses on placement and technique, and provides each dancer with personal attention. Gina has developed a dance based fitness program designed to achieve a ?dancers body? and help people develop specific muscle groups and help prevent and recover from injuries. Gina has been instructing and inspiring an array of levels and ages of dancers, ranging from coaching professionals to helping children with disabilities. Her mission is to share the knowledge of the beauty, joy, and science of her art form.
Being a new parent has given Gina a fresh perspective in teaching the little ballerinas in a way that she never dreamed of. She loves to share this insight with fellow parents and prospective new students. Gina's students have been the inspiration for all of her creative ideas in some way or another. The most important thing she has taken from her experiences is that if you respect children, they will respect you. Her personal goal as a teacher is to have each child finish their ballet class loving their experience, their teachers & the new movements. She tries to look for a balance of structure and fun in the studio. Kids should be having fun in dance class and want to come back every week!
In 2008 Gina fulfilled her dream of sharing her love for dance and exercise by starting DanceFIT. Gina is excited to introduce her two sons to the DanceFIT community. Joseph Ryan Fay was born May 8, 2009 and Thomas Potter Fay was born August 10, 2010. She can't wait to get her boys dancing when they turn 3.
marketing director, fitness & zumba® instructor, 6FIT coordinator
contact maeve: maeve@dancefitstudio.com
Maeve has been dancing her whole life… growing up in jazz classes, cheerleading…and joining the Kickline team in college – dance has always been a major part of her life. Years later…fitness and dance are even more important to her. After a long and stressful day at work…she knows there’s nothing like dancing it all away and getting in shape! She discovered Zumba and fell in love! By learning fun sexy dance moves and burning calories… she soon forgot it’s a workout and began to think of it as a dance party! She hopes that everyone will fall in love with Zumba -Every class is a party and all you have to do follow her lead - it's that simple!
Co-Founder of DanceFIT Babies
Owner and founder of barre n9ne studio in Danvers, and recently a former NFL Cheerleader Captain, Tanya Croteau, grew up dancing since the age of 3. She has had extensive dance training for over 25 years in hip-hop, jazz, tap and ballet. At age 18 Tanya began teaching dance and fitness classes for studios across the North Shore. While studying at Suffolk University for her Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Tanya was a member of Phunk Phenomenon Urban Dance Theater for 5 years doing numerous performances all over the New England area to include Kiss 108FM Summer Concert, Boston Celtics Games halftime and timeout performances, Jordan’s Furniture Camp Miracles and many charities.
Upon graduation, Tanya began working full time at Wealth Management Group, LLC in Danvers, MA & continued her passion for performing. She spent the ’05, ’06, and ’07 seasons cheering for New England's favorite Professional Football Team. During her years with the team she was selected to travel overseas with the Air Force Reserves to entertain troops from all branches of the military. Tanya and five other women from her squad visited Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Germany, and Qatar. more
children's ballet instructor, fitness & hip hop instructor
Alyssa has had the pleasure of enjoying dance in its many forms for over twenty years. Trained in the traditional studio environment while growing up, Alyssa was exposed to jazz, modern, lyrical, and hip hop while focusing primarily on tap and ballet. She competed on the convention circuit throughout New England and nationally while growing up, and continued by dancing in college at Northeastern University (NUDANCO and NU Dance Team). She recently finished cheering for an NFL football team, and is thankful that Gina has given her an outlet to continue pursuing her love of dance. As a mechanical engineer (and cube-dweller) by day, Alyssa absolutely understands the need for us to all let loose and enjoy dance at the end of the day.
fitness & hip hop instructor
Recently a former NFL Cheerleader Captain, Dinna Yap has traveled the world performing and teaching dance. She has performed in Iraq, Turkey, England, Germany, Kuwait, Qatar and Afghanistan to support our troops overseas and has most recently been in China to promote the NFL. Originally from Chicago, she danced with the Chicago Bulls Luvabulls dance team focusing on hip-hop, jazz, and pom dance performing for 23,000 fans then moved to Boston where she performed for over 70,000 fans with New Englands favorite football team! Dinna expanded her hip hop troupe Dance 2XS, at her alma mater, the University of Illinois, to Perdue, University of Michigan, and eventually co-founded the Chicago branch. Once in Boston, she became the Public Relations Director for Static Noyze who is currently on America’s Best Dance Crew! She loves how dancing inspires her and is looking forward to inspiring and working with you!!
children's hip hop instructor, fitness instructor
Jessica has been dancing from the age of six and choreographing and teaching since middle school. Because of her Malaysian background, she was mainly exposed to different forms of ethnic dance, specifically Malay, Chinese and Indian dance. She discovered hip hop when she was in high school and began to experiment with different styles of dance. Coming over to the United States for her undergraduate education, she took as many dance classes as possible and established Wesleyan University’s Fusion Dance Crew – a dance performance group focusing mainly on hip hop but with emphasis on fusing different cultures and dance styles to create something new and fresh. At Wesleyan, she continued to teach dance and was consistently involved in getting people with no prior dance experience to start dancing! She believes that everyone should be free to dance, with no fear or judgment.
children's ballet instructor & fitness instructor
Nicole has been dancing since she was just two years old and is trained in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, lyric, hip-hop and modern. Growing up, she was proudly part of several national award winning competition teams. In college, she choreographed many original pieces for the annual shows. She recently received a minor in Dance in addition to B.A.s in Anthropology and English from UMass Boston. Dance has always been more than just a hobby for her- it is a way of life! She is grateful and excited for the opportunity to share her passion with the students at DanceFIT!
children's ballet instructor
Lauren began studying dance at the age of 3 after seeing Mikhail Baryshnikov?s The Nutcracker on TV, and falling in love with ballet. She enrolled at the Boston Ballet School at age 7, and was invited to begin training in their intensive division at age 8. Here she was exposed to many other forms of dance including character, jazz, and modern, developed a repertoire of classical variations, and performed in Boston Ballet?s The Nutcracker for 7 years. During this time she was also accepted into summer programs at Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Vermont, and the American Academy of Ballet in New York. She continued pursuing dance at Hamilton College in New York, where she earned a Bachelor?s degree with concentrations in English and Dance, and was a recipient of the 2008 Senior Prize in Dance. She is so excited to be able to share her love of dance; after a work-week holed up as a textbook editor, she could not be more thrilled to be dancing with Gina and everyone at DanceFit!
zumba® instructor
Ali's passion for dance & fitness began at the age of 2 when she took her first ballet class. Since then, she has had 12 years of formal dance training ranging from ballet, jazz, tap, & lyrical. She eventually moved away from the formal dance arena to play sports when she was in school, but nonetheless, dance and fitness has always remained a huge part of her life. She has kept up her dancing through the years with recreational classes like salsa, swing, hip hop, ballet and of course ZUMBA! Her passion for fitness and desire to motivate others led her to begin teaching group fitness classes. She's been teaching fitness classes for over 4 years including Spinning/Indoor Cycling, Zumba, Muscle Conditioning, & Core work. She's always taking advantage of opportunities to enhance her fitness knowledge so that she can share new ideas with her students & continue to keep her classes challenging and fresh! Aside from teaching, she also has a full time office job so she knows what it's like to work all day and struggle to find the energy to focus on you, but she believes anyone can achieve the balance between the chaos of daily life and physical fitness. Ali is also a runner and enjoys training for and racing in all types of races, especially half and full marathons. She often trains with her charity running team for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. Fitness isn't just her passion, it's her way of life & a never ending journey toward improving your mind, body, and soul. Teaching is a part of who she is and she's so proud to be your motivation to help you reach your goals and feel great. She's so excited and thankful for the opportunity to share her energy, passion & experience with fellow DanceFITTers!
hip hop instructor
Ashley has been dancing for 21 years and started her training at the age of three. She has studied and taught dance genres including: tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, Irish step dance, ballet and pointe. She enjoys attending dance conventions and workshop to take class with pioneers in the field. Ashley also holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Community Health and Wellness. She takes pride in combining her love of dance and her love of health and sharing it with her students of all ages. Ashley has taught in various locations in New York including: traditional dance studios, after-school programs, fitness facilities and health organizations. She aspires to attend Lesley College in January to pursue a Master’s degree in dance therapy so she can continue to share dance and health at a deeper level.
