Elsa Posey, R.D.E. is Founder and Director of Posey School and teaches ballet classes for children and adult beginners as well as professional dancers. She is respected as an international scholar of dance, dance history, and dance pedagogy, specializing in dance for young children and classical ballet.

She attended schools of the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. In addition to meeting with her classes at Posey School, she is President of the National Registry of Dance Educators, Past President of the National Dance Education Organization, and a national advocate for arts education. Ms. Posey serves on the Board of the New York State Dance Education Association recognized by the NYS Department of Education.Ms. Posey works with many organizations such as the Dance Notation Bureau, Dance Critics Association, Congress of Research in Dance, National Association Schools of Dance, Dance History Scholars, International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, World Dance Alliance and Dance and the Child International. Ms. Posey is the recipient of the National Dance Education Organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nicole Reuther graduated Magna Cum Laude from Missouri State Univeristy with her BFA in Dance Performance. She performed with the Inertia Dance Company in Missouri and the Dodge Dance Company in New York City. She has experience teaching dance for several years at the Ozark Dance Academy. We welcome her to Posey School where she will be teaching creative dance, modern dance, jazz and tap as well as choreographing for The Children's Dance Company.

Renée Kurz is originally from Van Buren, AR. She graduated from Missouri State University earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance and a minor in Fashion Design. She is a professional modern dancer and costume designer in New York City working and performing with various modern companies. Upon moving to New York she has studied modern dance with Doug Varone and Dancers, Jennifer Muller/ The Works, Bill Young and Dancers, and other modern artists at Dance New Amsterdam. She has also studied at American Dance Festival, Maryland Youth Ballet, Joy of Motion Dance Center, and Western Arkansas Ballet. Renee completed an internship with the National Dance Education Organization in 2004 and continues to advocate for art centered dance education. She has experience teaching creative movement, modern, ballet, jazz, and tap.

Isabella Eredita Johnson, former chairman of the Northport Arts Coalition, cultivates diverse interests in the arts. A former student of "Serena,"renowned dancer and teacher of the "Serena Technique of Belly Dancing," Isabella has performed at Lincoln Center's "Damrosch Park," as well as Northport Park, and numerous museums and libraries. Her teaching and performing experience as a Middle Eastern dancer has given her great pleasure throughout the years. Isabella holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and is both a concert pianist and piano teacher. She is the director of the Opera Night series in Northport,currently taking place at the St. Paul's Methodist Church every first Friday of the month.

Mike Soloway is a veteran singer/songwriter and guitarist who appeals to all ages, but has a special gift for writing and performing music that resonates with children. He has recorded several albums of original music for children and has been sharing his love of traditional and contemporary folk music with audiences for over 20 years. He has taught at NYU, Jersey City State College, CUNY and the Third Street Music School and is music counselor at Crestwood Country Day School’s summer program in Melville, NY.

Ghislaine Grillo was born in Paris, France. She began studying dance at the age of 9 and by age 13 was performing on stage all over Europe. She continued to study many dance techniques including ballet, modern dance, jazz, tap, African, and Spanish dance with internationally renowned teachers. By 17, she was assisting the ballet master of The Paris Opera and was performing with the modern dance troop, Les Ballets Contemporains de Paris. She was certified in ballet and modern dance by the Ecole Superieure d’Etudes Choregraphiques de Paris and established her own school of dance, developing her own method of free expression through movement, “Expression Corporelle”. In America, Ghislaine discovered Danskinetics, another form of movement that encourages the body/mind/spirit connection and became a certified Danskinetics instructor in 1998 (Kripalu Center, Lenox, Mass.). She will be teaching Danskinetics on Thursday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30, and drama class on Thursday afternoons.

Jeff Bennett spent his early professional life teaching theatre, English, vocal music and public speaking. In addition to staging over fifty high school shows, he has directed plays at Queens College, Port Jefferson's Theatre Three, Huntington Village Theater Company and New York City's Cafe LaMama. Many of Jeff's students have distinguished themselves professionally. Jeff Bennett is the author of Secondary Stages, a guide to organizing and implementing a successful and dynamic high school theater program. The book was featured on NBC's Today Show in April, 2002 and is published by Heinemann Drama.

Jeff Bennett founded the Bare Bones Theatre Company in the fall of 1999. The Company, which began life as a CED course, took up residence at Posey School in 2001. Two eleven-class sessions are offered during the fall and spring semesters. Each class focuses on fundamental acting skills: believability, concentration, sense memory, intention--and then progresses gradually to the preparation of scenes from established plays performed for invited audiences.

Sanj Hira

George Graf