FACULTY

Carly Schwartz / Director

Carly graduated Adelphi University with a B.S in Physical Education, minoring in Dance. Being Dorothy's daughter, she is a DSD alum. She has studied Dance in Italy with World Dance Movement and has taught dance classes in Taiwan, Asia. Carly has appeared in music videos for a number of artists, instructional dance videos, performed with Neyo in NYC, and can be seen in commercials for Lovesac, Kodak, phone companies, and Beneful to name a few. She has been in both movies & TV series. Carly was a dancer for the North American Soccer League's NY Cosmos. She assisted Broadway star and music producer, Thommie Retter in tap classes around the country including Abby Lee Miller's booty camp (Dance Moms) in Pittsburgh and performing on live TV. Besides acting and dancing,

she has modeled professionally for many ads and catalogs (including dance). Carly has recently modeled for Sephora, Lancôme, and may be seen among other places as she is signed with a Top NYC Commercial agent!

Dorothy Medico / Founder

Credentials

Dance Educators of America - 2009 Teacher of the Year
Lifetime Member of Dance Educators Of America
National Champions at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports
- CONTEST of CHAMPIONS
DSD is home to 2009 Tony Award Winner Trent Kowalik - Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical in Billy Elliot

Recipient of the 2007 Town Of Hempstead Pathfinder Award for "Arts and Entertainment" in honor of Women's History Month
Member, Dance Educators of America & Professional Dance Teachers Association
Named in Who's Who Among America's Teachers

Business & Community Involvement

Past President, Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores
Past Kids Expo Chairperson, Bellmore Street Festival
Nassau Chamber of Commerce Council - 2000 Small Business Person of the Year

Erin Wolm - Toddler, Jazz, & Tap

Miss Erin started dancing at the young age of two at her mother's dance school. Throughout her years of studying at many prestigious dance centers throughout LI and NYC, she graduated college with a Fine Arts degree in Photography along with attending the dance program and child development coursework. Miss Erin adores working with our youngest students (and they adore her!). She is always busy creating new curricula as her ideas are very innovative, just to make her classes even more exciting each year.

Before joining Dorothy's School Of Dance over 25 years ago, Miss Erin co-owned KJM School Of Dance for 13 years with her mother. In addition, she is a certified personal trainer, a member of PDTA, DEA, and the American Council of Physical Fitness. Miss Erin has also worked as a governess for the past fifteen years. She is certified in Early Education with specialty in Elementary Education.

Greta Rolandi - Ballet

Greta Rolandi is originally from Genoa, Italy. She began formal dance training with Il Gatto Danzante. From the ages of 8 to 11, she attended with La Nuova Alacritas and later began professional training in Milan at the Accademia Ucraina Di Balletto. Greta further trained in modern and contemporary dance with M.A.S (Music, Arts e Show). She moved to New York to pursue training in the Independent Study Program and the Certificate Program at The Ailey School. Greta has performed works by Jacquelyn Buglisi, Holly Wright, Amy Hall Garner, Salvatore La Russa, Massimo Perugini, Ivan Testini, Simone Nolasco, Ciro Venosa, Daniela Borghini, Macha Del Prete, Melanie Futorian, among others. She has attended summer intensives at Parson Dance, Peastum, Lago di Garda, Alessandria, and Rapallo in Danza, Bari. She is company member at APDANCE and company of Salvatore La Russa. She is a graduate of The Ailey School Certificate Program, class of 2022 and plans to continue her higher education while pursuing a career in a modern/contemporary repertory company.

Jill Gittleman - Jazz & Technique

Jill Gittleman is an NYC based dancer and performer. She recently served as the Dance Captain on the International Tour of West Side Story where she had the privilege of maintaining and teaching the original choreography to cast members as well as to students all over the world. Other favorite credits include Elf The Musical, My Fair Lady and HBO’s The Gilded Age. She now teaches at Steps on Broadway in NYC as well and can be found traveling to choreograph shows around the country.

Kathy Eisenstein - Toddler, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and Musical Theatre

Kathy’s passion for dance began at a young age in Queens, where she studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and acro at the Robert Mann Dance Centre under Bob Mann and the late Anita Ferrari. As a teenager, she further developed her skills in jazz and musical theatre at the American Dance Machine School, later majoring in Theatre and Dance at Queens College. Kathy's dance career blossomed through performances as a backup dancer and as part of the girl group “AngelBleu,” including two USO Fleet Week shows aboard the USS Intrepid. While balancing a successful career in nursing, Kathy has remained deeply connected to the dance world. With 25 years of experience as a Registered Nurse across a variety of settings, she is also a faculty member and Nursing Simulation Specialist at LIU Post School of Nursing. Her diverse background in both healthcare and dance informs her approach to teaching and inspiring the next generation of dancers.

Eric Decaminada - Tap

Eric Decaminada, born and raised in New York, began dancing at the age of 5 at his hometown studio, The Pulse Performing Arts Studio. Throughout his years of training, he was able to work with and perform choreography by some of the best in the business, including Derick K. Grant Jason Janas, Sarah Reich, and many others. He is currently working as a Professional Tap Dancer based out of NYC where he is a part of CHR Project (directed by Charles Renato) and Project Convergence (directed by Vikas Arun and Apoorva Nataraja) as a company member. Most recently, he has been working alongside his longtime mentor and friend, Dexter Jones, as an assistant and dance captain while workshopping new choreography. Eric’s performance credits include “Tap Family Reunion” (directed by Dormeshia Sumbry, Derick K. Grant, and Jason Samuel Smith), “Gotta Dance” (directed by Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia Sumbry), “Tap Kids” (directed Lisa Hopkins), and he has performed in a variety of locations such as Dizzy’s Jazz Club at Lincoln Center, the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, and the Ted Shawn Theater at Jacob’s Pillow. Eric is also currently working as a teacher and choreographer at numerous dance studios around the tristate area.

Melaina Rairamo - Technique & Ballet

Nicolette Ciociano - Lyrical & Technique

Nicolette Ciociano grew up in Long Island, New York. She grew up dancing competitively, and is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop and pointe. Nicolette has won multiple regional and national titles as a competitive dancer, in addition to many technique and dance artistry awards. Nicolette enjoyed spending many summers furthering her dance education by taking class at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center. She also enjoyed attending dance intensives such as Joffrey Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet and The Protege Movement. Nicolette is signed with the Dance division at CESD talent agency in NYC. This past year she attended Adelphi University earning credits toward her BFA in dance and recently was recruited to be a member of the nationally ranked Rutgers University Dance Team in which she will begin in the fall. Nicolette feels honored and looks forward to sharing her passion and knowledge with the dancers at DSD.