Marissa Markiewicz
Director
Marissa Markiewicz began dancing at the age of three. She has been trained in all disciplines in dance throughout her life and she knew she wanted to share her knowledge with others. She grew up dancing competitively and attending multiple workshops, competitions and conventions. When competing Marissa won many overall placements, scholarships and convention awards. Marissa is an accomplished performer, choreographer and dance instructor. Here passion and dedication for dance has shown through her dancing and choreography.
As a professional, Marissa has taught Lyrical, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop, Pre Dance Class, Technique/Flexibility to dancers ages 2-adult. Her students have won National and World Dance Championships. She has received recognition for her choreography and entertainment, winning 2017 “Best Choreographer of the year” Marissa has expanded her dance training and knowledge working with Imagine Dance Challenge and in local grade schools in Hunterdon County. She continues to strive for excellence and knowledge. Marissa completed two years of education programs at Hunterdon County Polytech. In her senior year she was the Chapter President for The Family Career and Community Leads of America (FCCLA) student organization. She won state and national competitions through FCCLA and has remained active as an alumni. Marissa continued her love for teaching through Prestige Dance Academy. Marissa is excited to continue directing Prestige Dance Academy and training dancers. She cannot thank her teachers, mentors and educators enough for their training and guidance and hopes to continue to become a mentor for her own student for years to come.
Rachel Allen
Rachel has a BA in dance from Rutgers University, New Brunswick where she also has a BA in chemistry and a minor in French, Summa Cum Laude. She led Rutgers Performing Dance Company as its head choreographer and competition team captain in her senior year. Growing up she trained at the Starmaker School of Performing Arts for 15 years where she studied jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, baton twirling, lyrical, modern and contemporary. She competed with the school and worked with Leesa Csolak, Elisabetta Spuria, AC Ciulla, Amber Perkins, and others.
Performance highlights include halftime at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks, the Prudential Center for a Liberty game, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, and Rock of Ages. Rachel studied ballet and pointe at the New Jersey School of Ballet and Princeton Ballet School. In high school, Rachel danced with Hunterdon Central Regional High School’s dance team, leading them as captain to their first state championship awards.Rachel currently trains at Broadway Dance Center and Princeton Ballet School. She is also working towards her PhD in chemistry at Rutgers University. Dance is one of the many aspects of her life that Rachel is most proud of and most passionate about. She’s loved sharing her passion with the dancers at Prestige for the last 4 years and can’t wait to keep helping them grow into dancers and people that aspire to their highest potential.
Julia Grouleff
Julia started her dance training at the age of 2 at the Mill Ballet School in NJ. She trained in various styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern and musical theater. She performed in many shows with the Roxey Ballet Company including The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, Pied Piper of Hamelin, Cinderella, Carnival of the Animals and more. During this time Julia also traveled and trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and American Ballet theater for many summers. At age 10 she became a competitive dancer at Premiere Dance of Flemington and competed with her studio winning numerous awards and recognitions. She attended Break the Floors “Dancer Palooza” in California where she was taught by some of the most well known choreographers around the world. As well as dancing, Julia appeared in many dance catalogs modeling for dance costumes and dance wear. After graduating high school and retiring from competitive dance, Julia continued her dance training at Broadway Dance Theater in NYC while also auditioning and making it to the final rounds for the Philadelphia Eagles cheer team as well as Jets Flight Crew in NY. Today, Julia is a part- time nanny for an amazing family and attends Bucks County Community College pursuing a degree in child psychology. She is a very passionate choreographer and teacher at Prestige Dance Academy. Julia absolutely loves educating and supporting children though her love of dance. She is so proud and honored to be apart of such an amazing dance family.
Jamie McNally
Jamie McNally has been teaching dance, twirling, and gymnastics for 20 years. She attended Somerset Vo-Tech for two years where she studied all forms or dance and dance history. She boasts top dance routines for students who have won regional and national competitions, receiving the top teacher prize for choreography at the Star Systems Regional Championships and Show Stoppers Nationals. Jamie enjoys teaching all styles of dance including Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Pom, Contemporary, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Baton Twirling, Musical Theatre, and Cheer Dance. Jamie started dancing at the age of 3 and started competing in dance and twirling by the age of 6. She has accumulated state, regional and national titles in baton and dance. She has won advanced senior state titles in solo and strut including National World Corps Princess, National World Two Baton, National World Color Guard and National World Duet with partner, Krista Salerno. As a soloist, she won national titles in dance, pompom and flag and represented New Jersey as Miss Majorette. At Somerville High School, she participated in gymnastics and was honored as Somerset County Gymnast of the Year in 1999 and was inducted into the Somerville Hall of Fame in 2005. With her background, she adds to the curriculum of the International Gymnastics School in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania as an instructor. In 2013 Jamie assisted in teaching Madonna twirling for her MDNA World Tour. Jamie is a graduate Cum Laude from East Stroudsburg University with her degree in Sports Management. Jamie’s passion for dance is seen in all her students, and she is excited to share her passion for dance with students of Prestige Dance.
Cayla Rae Pavol
Cayla Rae Pavol is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She began dancing at the age of 2 at Star Maker Performing Arts and continued her education at Stewart Johnson Dance Academy. Cayla trained in contemporary, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip hop, pointe, ballroom, and musical theater. Cayla has been the honored recipient of performance awards and scholarships from numerous competitions and conventions such as Dance Master of America, West Coast Dance Explosion, NYCDA, Legacy, Showstoppers, Onstage NY, and Starpower. Cayla is currently represented by CESD Talent Agency and has performed with multiple companies like Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Synthesis Dance Company, and Generation IV. She has worked with Kristen Hoagland, Kellie Hoagland, AC Ciulla, Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson, David Gamboa, and Jeffrey Lapes. Along with dancing herself, she is also a very passionate teacher. Her classes offer a safe environment for dancers to explore their own abilities as well as learn from others. She prides herself on keeping a positive attitude and pushing students harder then they thought possible. Cayla truly loves sharing her passion with others!
carrie sivo
Miss Carrie started gymnastics and the young age of 2. By 6 years of age she was competing. Miss Carrie was an accomplished gymnast for many years, winning various titles before becoming a coach. As a coach Miss Carrie lead young gymnasts through training for USAG and Joga, many gymnasts winning accolades at local, State, and National Competitions. Now an acro instructor Miss Carrie has taken classes with internationally known Acro Group Acro Alliance to further broaden her gymnastics and Acro background. Outside of the studio Miss Carrie is a Physical Education and Health Teacher in the Readington Township School District and holds a degree in Exercise Science and Sport Studies.
Miss Carrie loves teaching and has a true passion for passing her knowledge of gymnastics onto young acrobats and gymnasts.
Allison Tarriff
Miss Allison received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from DeSales University in Center Valley, PA. At DeSales, she studied Modern and Ballet Technique, Musical Theatre, Classical Jazz, Dance Composition, as well as Theatre Technology. She also served as “Dance Director” for the Conservatory of Dance at the University, a group which dance majors instructed local students. Since earning her degree, Allison as performed in a number of musicals, and served as head choreographer for several school musicals including: “Anything Goes,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Guys & Dolls,” “Annie, “The Music Man,” and “High School Musical.” Miss Allison now has more than 10 years of experience teaching dance in the area. Allison is excited to be a part of the Prestige family, and is constantly working to pass on her love of dance to all her students, as well as her three children: Dean, Clare, and Cecilia.
Sydney Wilson
Miss Sydney Wilson started dancing at the age of 2, and trained competitively by the age of 11 in Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet and Hip-Hop at Dance Attitudes in Marlboro, NJ. She attended Wagner College in Staten Island, NY and graduated in 2014 with a B.S. Degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Dance. She later pursued her M.B.S. at Rutgers University in 2015, and ultimately a second B.S. in Dental Hygiene in 2016. Throughout her 4 years at Wagner, she was a member of the nationally ranked Wagner College Dance Team who competed in Orlando, Florida at UDA Nationals. Alongside her years of schooling, she always continued to pursue her love for dance and continued teaching classes. Miss Sydney currently works full time as a dental hygienist in Randolph, NJ, however she keeps her love for dance a priority and truly loves to inspire her students through the art of dance. She is extremely excited to continue her passion for dance, choreographing, and teaching here at Prestige Dance Academy!
Jennifer Lucisano
Jennifer has a life-long passion for dance and she shares this with her students over her past 17 years as an instructor. She began dancing at the age of three at Summit School of Dance, NJ. Over the next 15 years, she was trained in ballet, jazz, tap, pointe, lyrical, hip-hop, and acrobatics. At the age of six, she joined the competitive dance team that competed and traveled the entire East Coast, winning numerous, prestigious awards. After finishing out her years of dancing at the studio, she became part of their instructional staff where she taught students of all ages and different styles of dance. Jennifer pursued her passion further and continued her dance training at Raritan Valley where she studied ballet, jazz, hip-hop and modern dance. During the year, Jennifer became a member of the Freespace Dance Company in Verona, NJ where she performed in benefit concerts and many other different shows. One of her most memorable performances was participating in the Walt Disney World’s Magic kingdom, A Dream Come True Parade in 2009. Throughout her career she has choreographed for multiple dance and cheerleading teams. Many of her choreographed performances have won awards, some of which she performed herself! She is excited to continue sharing her passion for dance and teaching at Prestige Dance Academy!
Emily Dupont
Emily Dupont started dancing at the age of five at Adams School of Dance in Rutland, Vermont where she took classes in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and contemporary. She then trained with Vermont Center for Dance Education until graduating high school, where she performed the title role in Alice in Wonderland her senior year. After graduation, Emily went to Connecticut at The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts to be a part of their Postgraduate Program, where she was also an Resident Assistant. During her time there, she was educated under Victoria Mazzorelli, Tim Melady, and Eleanor D’antuono. She performed in Nutmeg’s production of The Nutcracker as Snow Queen and other roles, the ballet Paquita, and an original pas de deux choreographed by Mazzorelli. In past summers, Emily has assisted in instructing kids dance camps all over the state of Vermont. In May 2021 she finished the two year Trainee Program at American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School (PBS) in New Jersey. There she was taught by Aydmara Cabrera and Ian Hussey. Emily has performed in the company’s productions of The Nutcracker and Giselle, and the school’s production of Swan Lake. She performed the Swan Lake Pas de Trois as well as Little Swans. During the summer of 2021, she performed with Ballet Vermont in their annual production of the Farm to Ballet Project as well as instructed their kids’ summer dance camp. While training and performing, Emily is also earning her Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education through the Community College of Vermont. She began instructing ballet classes at Prestige Dance Academy in the fall of 2021. She is passionate about providing a safe, fun, and enriching environment in which her students can learn. Emily hopes to share her love of dance and movement with her students and support them throughout their dance journey.