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Instructors

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Meet Our Instructors 
    
LORI ACHEY-DECKER - Instructing in Troupe, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Extended Combination, and Child Creative Movement.
Personal Quote: “These words have been a constant in my personal life, and in my teaching”…. It takes courage to go places we’ve never been before, to test our limits, to break through barriers.

For every day I have taught, I have also learned.

Lori is director of L.A. Dance Galaxy and has been teaching dance since 1973.  She has studied with Gus Giordano, Frank Hachett, Charles Kelly, Andrew Pap, Jean Sebatine and many others at Penn State, Temple University, Philadelphia Dance Academy, Broadway Dance Center.
 
Ms. Achey-Decker has instructed classes, choreographed, and/or directed programs for  Villanova Dance Camp, Pathway School for the Physically and Mentally handicapped, Eastern College, YMCA’s, Montgomery County Cultural Center, Rittenhouse Center for Performing Arts, High School Sports Teams, High School Musicals, and Pageants. Her Students perform in annual recitals, Community events, nursing homes, competitions, as well as 76er’s pre-game shows, Boscov’s parades, and theme parks.

Miss Amanda discovered a love of dance at age seven and continued to study, compete and perform Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Lyrical throughout high school and college in Lancaster, PA.  Amanda enjoyed competing in regional and national events, performing in Walt Disney World and choreographing for school theater productions and cheerleading competitions.  She began teaching for a local recreation center during college and her passion for both dance and working with children led her to open her own studio shortly after graduating.  Miss Amanda decided to close her studio in order to spend more time with her two young children and is now thrilled to be sharing her passion with the students at LA Dance Galaxy.  Miss Amanda's goals as an instructor are to teach the technical aspects of dance in a fun and inspiring manner and to instill confidence, an appreciation for one's body, and a love of movement in each of her students.

Chrissy Lindley - Instucting in Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Tap and Competition Team 

Chrissy began her formal dance training at the age of 5 in the areas of jazz, tap and ballet.  She began her dance training at La Chic School of Ballet and continued her dance training at Theatrical Dance Arts Academy and Barn Studio of Dance.  As a competitive performer, she was selected to compete in dance and national dance competitions for “I Love Dance”, “Dance Expressions”, “Rising Star Talent Competition” and many more.  She continued her areas of study and pursued jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, tap and modern.  During her training, Ms. Lindley had the pleasure of studying under the direction of Rex Henriques, Shelia Barker, Cathy Tubolino, Tisa Della Volpe, Andrew Pap, Robert Christopher, Bob Rizzo and many instructors at the University of the Arts where she participated in their summer intensive program.  Chrissy has participated in many workshops and master classes with famous dancers such as Mia Michaels and Dan Karaty (featured choreographer on (So You Think You Can Dance), Gil Stroming (choreographer from Break the Floor) and hip hop choreographer Darrin Henson

Ms. Chrissy graduated from DeSales University in 2002 with a B.A in Business Management and a B.S. in Management of Information Technology while participating and studying in the DeSales Dance Program while she was a member of the XTE Dance Team for 2 years.  Chrissy performed in both faculty and student productions while attending DeSales University.  Chrissy was the lead choreographer for Plymouth Whitemarsh High School where she choreographed “Fame”, “Grease”, “Footloose”, “Roaring Twenties”, “An American Tribute”, and “Little Shop of Horrors”.  Her teaching experience includes preschoolers through adults in Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Creative Movement, Modern and Hip Hop. 

Most recently Chrissy directed and founded competition teams where students participated in local competitions and conventions such as Access Broadway, Showstopper, Stawpower, Dance Xplosion, International Dance Challenge, Dance Expressions and I Love Dance.  In 2006, she was awarded “Most Creative Choreographer” for her dance choreography at Dance Expressions dance competition.  In 2007, her piece “Hot Lunch Jam” was awarded the Excalibur Award which notes the highest score a division at Dance Xplosion Dance Competition. Chrissy continues to teach and choreographer for many studios in the area as well as furthering her dance education at competitions, seminars and conventions.   Ms. Chrissy is an enthusiastic, motivational teacher able to impart her love and passion of dance to students of all ages! She is very excited to be on staff at LA Dance Galaxy and looks forward to sharing her talent with others.  LA Dance Galaxy is very proud to have her on board with her extensive experience.
 

Joe Donato - Instructing in Ballroom Dance
Personal Quote: “Looking good is a By-product of feeling good” 

Joe believes that his job is to make the student feel good, both physically and emotionally. “Once that is accomplished, looking good follows naturally. A good teacher will leave the student intrinsically motivated and compelled to continue.” 

Though both his parents met as dance instructors, Joe never had aspirations for being a dance teacher growing up. Coming from a background in music and Video production, he decided to explore teaching Ballroom as a part time gig. At age 32, after two weeks of “boot camp” at the local studio, he told his teacher that it just “feels right” and started down a life-altering path. During his 3 year stint at Arthur Murray, he received training from local ballroom and rhythm professionals, along with private instruction from professional ballroom dancers Bob and Julia Powers, John Clark, Cynthia Long, Nick and Elena Kosovich (one of the professional teams from Dancing with the Stars) and Gene LaPierre. He received awards for Top Specialist, and successfully led students from their journey of never having danced before, to choreographed student exhibitions and competitions.

After his time at Arthur Murray, he continued to fuel his passion with private Argentine Tango lessons, workshops, and even an intense experience on a “Tango At Sea Cruise. “We were stuck out on the sea for 3 days as Hurricane Wilma ravished the Caribbean. So instead of going stir crazy, I spent the time mastering the Tango.”  

Joe delights in simplifying the complicated; demystifying the intimidating.  Students regularly use words like “nurturing”, “non-threatening” and “enlightening” to describe his teaching style. “Obstacles in the road are usually much smaller than they appear:  Many times there is just one recurring road block that will hinder a student’s progress. If I can serve the student by isolating that one obstacle and changing it, it can transform their dancing experience from night to day.” Joe truly believes his students are capable of far more than they ever thought possible. “Armed with little more than devotion and perseverance, people can accomplish anything.” 

Joseph has just begun his fifth year teaching professionally. He is skilled in the basics of over 15 traditional Ballroom, Latin and Rhythm dances and dances at a Silver level in well over half of those. He has even created a few dance styles of his own combining moves from various dance traditions for times when the music doesn’t quite serve the foot patterns or timing. Do a Youtube search to see some of his choreographed routines and performances from the past year.

Michelle Dudek - Instructing in Creative Movement, Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Hip-Hop
 
Michelle started dancing at the age of two. She trained at the University of the Arts, the Broadway Dance Center in New York City and at Koresh Dance Studio in Philadelphia. She has also received additional training at many dance conventions throughout NYC, Philadelphia and Monsters of Hip-Hop in New Jersey. As a teenager, Michelle performed with the Marriott Dinner Theater and began her teaching career. She has taught independently and at dance schools in Montgomery County, Philadelphia and West Chester.

Michelle’s styles include ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop. She has experience working with ages two through adult. With patience and a positive approach, Michelle helps her pupils enhance their dance skills and have fun learning. In her free time, she loves spending time with her large family.