Our
STAFF
DIRECTORS
Angela Thompson
Owner, Executive Director
Miss Angie has been dancing since she was five years old, and teaching for over 25 years. Over the years, she has had many wonderful opportunities studying dance under her mothers dance studio Terry Fyke Studio of Dance. She is proud to call that same studio her own since 2018, with Stilla Dance. She has had the opportunity to perform on many stages in her lifetime, most notably several stages at Disney World! In January 2021, she had the lifelong goal to take her performance team to perform on the Disney World stage under her direction!
While Miss Angle has studied all styles of dance, tap quickly became her passion! As teacher and director she has won several choreography awards over the years, as well as many other awards at local competitions. She continues to study many styles of dance with local master teachers, as well as continuing her dance education online.
During the day, Miss Angie works as a freelance Graphic Designer, and owns/operates a t-shirt printing company. She lives with her husband "Mr. Tim" and her daughter Emily.
"I believe that you are never too old to start something new, or to continue to pursue your passions in life!"
Cara Weinman
Artistic Director
Please join us in welcoming Miss Cara into this role at the studio! As artistic director, Miss Cara will continue to conceive, develop, and implement the artistic vision and focus of our studio.
Within this job she oversees all that happens within our classrooms such as; handling recreational and team class placements, our curriculum (what is taught in class), steering our dancers in the right direction for success, and continuing to lead our artistic vision for the studio.
Cara Weinman is originally from Dayton, Ohio where she began dancing at age 3 with South Dayton Dance Theatre focusing over the years in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and tap. At age 16, she attended the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York City on scholarship and fell in love with NYC. Cara stayed in NYC to pursue a degree receiving a BFA in dance from SUNY purchase college where she studied ballet, modern, and other styles intensively under world renowned teachers/choreographers. After college, Cara danced with professional modern and ballet companies throughout NYC, and taught dance full time at Ballet Academy East, and Brooklyn Dance Project to name a couple. Cara has been teaching dance for over 15 years and loves teaching all ages and styles! She has recently moved to the Rochester area from New York City where she lives with her husband and three young daughters.
Jena Morey
Director
INSTRUCTORS
Veronica Brace
Veronica has been dancing since she was three years old. She has been on the Stilla competition team for 6 years! She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theater. Her current favorite is contemporary ! Veronica also does musical theater and a performance company through Terry Fykes Main Street Players. Veronica loves working with kids and is so excited to teach at Stilla!
Gabby Cronk
Gabby has been dancing since she was four years old. She has trained in many styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, pointe, lyrical, and more. Gabby has attended many conventions where she learned from choreographers around the country. She also danced competitively for seven years. Gabby is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in dance at SUNY Brockport.
Michelle Harrington
Michelle has been teaching ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and modern in the Rochester area for over 10 years. She began her ballet training at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, where she performed corps de ballet work with the Rochester City Ballet in the Nutcracker, Cinderella, Firebird, and Balanchine’s Serenade. Michelle attended the University of Arizona where she earned her BFA in dance, performed in various jazz and modern works, as well as Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and performed Panorama with the Martha Graham Dance Company. After college, Michelle returned to the Rochester City Ballet to perform in Balanchine’s Serenade and Jamey Leverett’s LumaVoce. She also performed Levertt’s contemporary ballet Majestic Mountains at the Jacob’s Pillow’s iconic outdoor theatre. Michelle continued her professional career performing with Ballet Memphis working with choreographers such as Steven McMahon, Trey McIntrye, Matthew Neenan, and Julia Adam. She performed soloist, demi-soloist and corps de ballet roles in Ballet Memphis’ full length ballets Nutcracker and Peter Pan, contemporary works by Rafael Ferreras and Brandon Ramey, as well as on tour with Steven McMahon’s Wizard of Oz. Upon retiring from professional ballet, Michelle earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Adolescent Education from SUNY Geneseo. Michelle’s passion lies in creating an uplifting and encouraging environment, with the goal of helping students discover their own strength and power. Michelle is so excited to join Stilla Dance and share her joy of dance with new students!
Kennedy Light
Miss Kennedy has been teaching dance for 5 years now, and has a background in gymnastics, cheerleading, and musical theatre. She has choreographed a number of children's musicals, as well as the Five Point Performance Company, through Terry Fyke's Main Street Players. As a member of the Rush-Henrietta varsity cheer team from 2014 to 2017, she earned a number of team awards including Division I Sectional Champion (2016) & Class AA Monroe County Champion (2016, 2017), as well as personal awards including First Team All County (2017) & Eddie Meath All-Star Team (2016). Miss Kennedy also cheered for two years at SUNY Brockport, where she graduated in 2021 with a B.S. in biology. Miss Kennedy is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Health at the University of Rochester.
Ashlyn Abbey
Miss Ashlyn began dancing at the age of 2. She’s been trained in a variety of styles including tap, jazz, ballet, ballroom, lyrical, and hip-hop. She continued to dance in her college dance troupe, Orchesis, through her time at Grove City College where she pursued a Masters in Elementary Education with concentrations in the Arts and Special Education. When she’s not at Stilla, she spends her days teaching 2nd grade! She is also on her school’s musical directing team. Ashlyn also has a love for musicals and has been in, costumed, and choreographed many shows including Madagascar, Fame, Beauty and the Beast and You’re A Goodman Charlie Brown. She was also the president of her college’s chapter of Alpha Psi Omega. Ashlyn loves working at Stilla where she can combine her loves of working with children, and dancing in such a positive, supportive environment!
SUBSTITUTE INSTRUCTORS
Allison Gunderson
Maleda Herrera
Abby Hogan
Maddie Hogue
Colleen Stefano
Mission Statement
Stilla Dance is a studio based in Scottsville, NY. At Stilla Dance, our goal is to inspire and nurture creativity in each student we have the privilege to teach. We offer a wide range of dance styles for ages 2 to adult including: Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Adult Fitness classes.