MEET THE STAFF
Anne Margret O'Malley
Anne Margaret, a native of Philadelphia and graduate of The University of the Arts (BFA in Ballet), will be teaching Dance Combo, Musical Theatre and Jazz. As a Teaching Artist she continues to enjoy a career that spans over 25 years and 2 continents. She was a Soloist with the Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company, resident Choreographer and dancer with the Camerata and Delaware Valley Opera Companies and has performed and Choreographed in Musicals throughout the Delaware Valley and Europe. She has performed in 2 European tours with Ballet des Jeunes and was commissioned to create 3 original Ballets and Jazz concert pieces for their international programs. As a Spanish Flamenco dancer she has been a guest Artist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, an adjunct professor at Eastern University’s Dance Department and has been featured on local and national television programs. Presently she is an Adjunct Professor in Arts integration at Temple University’s College of Human Development and Education, runs her own dance company, Flamenco y Más and performs regularly for educational programs at Olé Tapas Restaurant in Newark, Delaware. When she is not dancing she is enjoying the great outdoors spending a lot of time developing her archery skills.
Stephanie Vasta - Youth Company Director
Joshua Schwartz
Mr. Josh began his teaching journey at JDA in 2020 and is best known for his positive attitude and infectious energy. Joshua J. Schwartz s an AEA Actor from Brooklyn, NY. Mostly known for the sounds he makes with his feet, Josh has toured the country in the National Tour of 42nd Street where he cemented his Tap dancing roots. He has performed the lead role of Jack Kelly from Newsies and recently was the director of Newsies Junior.
Other credits include: Chasing Rainbows (Paper Mill Playhouse), Singin’ In The Rain (Barter Theatre), Gypsy (Engeman Theatre), Crazy For You (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), and much more! Also working on camera, Josh can be seen in HASBRO’s Jenga Tetris Commerical, Netflix’s The OutCasts, and Amazon Primes The Vanishing of Sydney Hall. Aside from performing, Josh is an artist manager for Hip-Hop Emcee A-F-R-O, as well as a choreographer and dance educator. He studied at CAP21 and is represented by ATB Talent Agency.
Stephanie Vasta began teaching at Jenkintown Dance Arts in 2015. She is the Director and Choreographer of JDA’s Youth Company. She has also developed and grown JDA’s Acro Dance Program. Additionally, Stephanie’s co-director of C&S Productions.
Stephanie is a graduate of Penn State Abington. During her four years at Penn State she participated in the University’s dance company as a dancer and student choreographer, and after graduating she moved on to become one of the company’s associate directors. Stephanie has been teaching since 1998 at local dance studios, fitness centers, and community centers, and has had the pleasure of working with dancers ranging from toddlers to senior citizens.
Stephanie began doing gymnastics at 9 months old, and was introduced to dance at the age of five. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. Her professional career began in 2004 with Contempra Dance Theatre, a modern-jazz company. She has also toured the country with New Vision Cirque and Dance Company, has performed throughout Philadelphia with Vada Dance Collective, Dangerous and Movin’ Dance Company, Underground Dance Works, The Checkmate Experience and enjoys local, site-specific performances with Jenkintown Dance Company.
Kelli Thompson
Kelli Thompson is a movement-based performance artist and choreographer raised in Huntington Beach, CA. The bulk of her dance training took place at Huntington Beach Academy of the Performing Arts directed under Marie Hoffman, where she performed with the programs company (Repertory Ensemble). Kelli continued her dance education at the University of the Arts (UArts) where she earned her BFA in Dance spring of 2022, under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. While at UArts, Kelli performed in numerous works by artists including Curt Haworth, Jesse Zarrit, Doug Varone, Tommie Waheed-Evans, Mark Casserta, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Katie Swords Thurman and more. Since the age of 18, she has spent many of her summers participating in B12 in Berlin where she trained and performed with artists Guy Nadar and Maria Campos, Fabian Wixe, Christina Mertzani, Lenka Vagnerova and others. Kelli's main focus in her performative and choreographic work is contemporary dance with an emphasis on floorwork but also enjoys curating alongside character work.
Beth Hansen
Beth Hansen has been dancing since she was 4. At 15 she joined the Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company. She moved to New York City at 18 and joined the Antonioni Company who she toured Europe with. Soon after she went into teaching dance and has been teaching ever since. She loves to teach pre school age and ballet/lyrical most. She is very happy to have joined Jenkintown Dance Arts and is looking forward to another great year!
Erica is a Philadelphia based dancer and choreographer. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Erica received her BA in Dance Studies and Integrative Art from Penn State, University Park. She danced with The Chocolate Ballerina company during their 2022-2023 season in The Nutcracker Dipped in Chocolate and Black Swan: A Swan Lake Premier. She has taught at several studios within the PA/NJ area for over 6 years within the genres of contemporary, modern, jazz, hiphop, ballet, and tap. In May Erica graduated from Temple University where she received her MFA in Dance. Currently, Erica dances with contemporary company BF and Artists under the direction of Britt Whitmoyer Fishel. Their most recent work “Aura” premiered in Philly Fringe Arts Festival Fall 2023. Beyond dancing, Erica works as an interdisciplinary artist: acting, modeling, and in 2D design.
