THE RIVER RHYTHMS
DANCE CENTER STAFF

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Kristyn Ewald, Studio Director/Instructor
Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary,  and Musical Theater

Kristyn Ewald is the artistic director and owner of River Rhythms Dance Center. She is a graduate of LeMoyne College where she was the head choreographer of the LeMoyne Student Dance Company and received a BA in Psychology with a minor in Elementary Education. Working with the children and students in the educational atmosphere inspired her to combine her love of teaching children with her passion for dance and the arts and she decided to open a dance studio where she could get the best of both worlds.

Her choreographic versatility has earned her students and studio numerous recognitions and awards. She has earned choreography awards at the regional, national, and even international level when she took students to compete at the World Dance Championship. Her studio has repeatedly won admission into the Association of Dance Conventions and Competitions for their success at dance competitions. Students in her competitive dance program consistently win scholarships and titles at conventions and competitions for their technique and performance quality.

Kristyn is always looking to advance her knowledge and training by studying new teaching techniques and participating in ongoing educational opportunities. Yearly she attends the Dance Teacher Summit which is a collaboration of classes, exhibits, and performances which is designed to give dance teachers ongoing motivation and inspiration to continuously re-energize their passion for their art and improving their business. She is also a member of CLI studios which is the leading online industry resource for dance studio owners which connects top choreographers and dance studio owners all over the world. Her affiliation with the Association of Dance Conventions and Competitions allows for the opportunity to work with an association which unites studios and dance teachers to promote quality, integrity, and opportunity for their dance students.

Continued education is something that Kristyn also continues to promote to her students. River Rhythms Dance Center has a well trained and well rounded staff all of whom are experienced and dedicated professionals, however Kristyn also continues to constantly seek opportunities for her students to take classes from other professionals in the industry. Because dancers can get used to the way that their studio teachers present information and their teaching style, Kristyn brings in master instructors once a month to give dancers an opportunity to be exposed to the endless varieties of style in the dance world and give them the chance to work with adults who may provide information and training to them in a new and different way. Kristyn is also the owner and founder of Rhythm Revolution Dance Convention which brings some of the best and brightest dance talent right to Central New York. This 2 day convention gives her dancers the opportunity to receiving challenging dance instruction without having to travel or pay more money to attend dance conventions out of town.

As a respected teacher and award winning choreographer for almost 20 years, Kristyn is dedicated to teaching and inspiring young dancers to believe in their dreams and help them reach for the stars. “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars”.

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Lisa Stuart, Instructor
Ballet, Jazz, Tap

Dancing for half a century now, Lisa began her dance training in her home state of New Jersey.  She was a trained in the Royal Academy of Dance Ballet graded syllabus/exam program through the Intermediate Level, held a Modern dance scholarship at the Princeton Ballet, and studied Modern with Joe Villane, a former Martha Graham dancer.  Living close to Manhattan, her parents exposed her to the magic of Broadway, and gave her the opportunity to commute in to NYC at age 16 to take jazz and theater dance classes in the “Big Apple” from some of the legends in the jazz world such as Frank Hatchett and Jo Jo Smith.  Of course, in the “old days,” there was no competition dance, but Lisa participated in many dance workshops through Dance Educators of America and Dance Masters.

After college, Lisa returned to the streets of NYC, and continued studying all styles of dance at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway and David Howard Studios; favorite instructors included Michael Owens, Joe Lanteri, Daniel Tinazzi, Leslie Lockery, and Jo Jo Smith.  Lisa has performed professionally in various shows through the US and Caribbean.  She danced in productions at the Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Holland America Cruise Lines & Royal Caribbean/Admiral Cruise Lines, where she also held the title of Production Manager.  Lisa has also danced in and held the position of dance captain in various musicals on the East Coast.  Favorite performances include the Actor’s Equity productions of 42 ST at the Jupiter Theater, Fla., Chicago at the Miami Shores Theater, Fla.  She also was in a touring company for three seasons based out of the Bucks County Playhouse, PA.; there she held positions as dancer, dance captain, and choreographer.  A few favorites there included 42 ST, Oklahoma, A Chorus Line, Man of LaMancha, and Sugar Babies.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Hampshire with a Dance Concentration.  At UNH, Lisa was a credited teaching assistant for the dance department, dance captain for the University Dance Theater Company, and recipient of the Jean Mattox Dance Scholarship Award.  Lisa’s studies included proficiency in dance history, ballet, jazz, modern, and tap.  UNH Faculty also extended the experience with weekly trips to Boston Dance Studios to study jazz with Jeanette Neill and tap with Leon Collins. 

Lisa has over 25 years of teaching experience in New Jersey, and Upstate New York.  She has been the choreographer for CNS High School musicals for the last 18 years, has choreographed several pieces for Symphor!a, and has taught at LeMoyne College, Syracuse University, and several dance studios in Upstate NY.
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Lisa’s teaching style blends her experiences together in the classroom creating a passionate disciplined atmosphere.  Lisa grateful to all of her wonderful mentors such as her parents, Gay Nardone, Larry Robertson, and David Wanstreet, who inspired her to pursue her professional dance dreams and to teacher others the craft.  Her philosophy is that everyone can dance, as it is part of the human experience.  However, dance without understanding the value of training is just a bunch of steps put together to music.  Lisa’s goal as an educator is to help student respect the art of dance and the skill it takes to be a “dancer.”  Focusing holistically on both the technical and performance aspects, dancers are expected to work hard and be dedicated to refining their skills.  Lisa also understands dance is an evolution and with each generation comes ever-changing styles, as variations to the classics.  She is inspired by the student’s creativity and values collaborative work within the studio.  Lisa is grateful to share her passion, knowledge, and expertise to influence the development of next generation of “dancers.”

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Alexis Earle, Instructor
Toddler Creative Movement, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical

Alexis grew up in the village of Baldwinsville and has been dancing since she was 2 years old.  At the age of 8, she began dancing competitively and fell in love with it!  She trained in ballet, lyrical, jazz, tap, acro, contemporary, some musical theater and hip-hop at Tawn Marie’s Dance Centre, enjoying musical theater and jazz the most. Although most of her training came from the studio, Alexis also expanded her dancing at many summer camps in NYC and Rutgers University, along with master classes presented by the studio. 

​In 2004, she began privately training and assistant teaching under the direction of Kristyn Ewald. This is what paved the way for her career as a dance instructor in various styles and age groups for the past 12 years, specializing in the toddler and kinder levels.

Alexis is currently earning her Bachelor’s Degree in English Literacy and her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood/Special Education at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, as well as serving at Chili’s on the weekends and teaching dance at River Rhythms during the week. Alexis’ love for teaching dance is what helped her realize her true passion for teaching in general. She loves utilizing and sharing her new knowledge of teaching in each dance class so that every student can feel excited, motivated, focused, and free to learn! 

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Sarah McCombie, Instructor
Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Lyrical, and Jazz

Sarah began studying dance at a young age under teachers on the East and West coast and found a great passion in Jazz and Ballet. As a young dancer she danced competitively and performed shows in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and with the Syracuse Opera Company.  She spent her high school years studying Ballet, Jazz, and Modern at The Center Of Ballet & Dance Arts. 

After struggling with a recurring knee injury and not being able to dance herself, she decided to turn her passion towards educating the next generation of dancers. She's been teaching in Central NY for a decade and on a competitive judging panel for eight years. 

She currently teaches Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Jazz, Stretch, Contemporary/Lyrical and works with the Elite program. Sarah is proud to teach ballet and to share its tradition of elegance, beauty, and rich heritage.

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Kellie Bateman, Instructor
Fitness

Kellie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary and Special Education from SUNY Geneseo.  She was a 3rd grade teacher for 8 years until her youngest daughter was born and she decided to stop teaching to be a stay at home mom.
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In 2013, she tried her first Zumba class and instantly fell in love with the group fitness environment and with dance fitness as a form of exercise.  In 2014 she became a licensed Zumba Fitness® instructor and a member of ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network).  Currently she teaches Zumba at the Northwest YMCA 3 days a week.  Zumba has allowed Kellie the opportunity to share her love of dance and fitness with adults of all ages and abilities.
 
This is Kellie’s second year teaching fitness classes to the competitive dancers at the studio. In her classes, she uses cardio aerobic exercises and anaerobic exercise programs like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Tabata.  Through isometric and plyometric training techniques, her goal is to help dancers gain cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and balance to enhance their performances.

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Rochelle Hummel, Instructor
Preschool, Kinder, Level 1 and Level 2 Dance

Rochelle grew up in Oneida Castle, NY and started dance training at the age of 2. Rochelle trained at Sandy Fukes Dance Academy in Oneida, NY and with Charlene Bauer's Center for Dance arts and Aerial Training in Whitesboro, NY from ages 2-16. Her background in dance includes training in Tap, Jazz, Classical Ballet, Pointe, Acrobatics, Lyrical and even Baton! Rochelle started competitive dance training at age 6, performing groups, duets and solos in tap, jazz, ballet, acrobatics and lyrical, and was a member of the traveling competition team at her studio with many regional, state, and national awards in her career. Rochelle was also an assistant teacher at her studios from age 12-15. She received much of her advanced dance training by traveling to NYC with her team every summer to study under David DeMarie, Leonard Castilone in the genres of tap, jazz and lyrical and with Arthur Mitchell for ballet and pointe from NYCB corps and Dance Theater of Harlem. Rochelle also broadened her dancing by taking master classes as often as she could. She also had the privilege to take classes with the Rockettes for two summers.

Rochelle holds a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science and an advanced degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Syracuse University and works part time as an outpatient Registered Dietitian for the Syracuse VA. Rochelle enjoys sharing her nutrition knowledge with her dance students as part of her teaching philosophy to care for the athlete's body. She believes in helping each of her students develop stronger character, greater self-confidence and positive body image, and a better appreciation and respect fro the art of dance.

​Rochelle has been teaching preschool, Kinder and levels 1-3 for the past 9 years as a recreational and most recently as a competitive level instructor at River Rhythms Dance Center. Dance has always been a big part of her life and with her three daughters of her own, who all dance competitively. She feels very fortunate to be able to share her passion with her students and her own children every day, and she plans to do this for many years to come. 

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Theresa Rutkowski, Instructor
Contemporary​

Theresa Rutkowski is a music teacher in the Mexico Academy and Central School District and has been teaching dance for the past 4 years.  She received a bachelor’s degree from the Fredonia School of Music in Music Education with a concentration in clarinet and a dual master’s degree from Le Moyne College in Elementary and Special Education.  She has trained for over 20 years in ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary and has been choreographing around the state for the past 3 years. 

​Some of her favorite credits include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Bye Bye Birdie.  Theresa has recently been back on the stage in Syracuse Opera’s production of Rigoletto and is currently a member of the Syracuse Silver Knights Dance Team. 

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Renee Valerino, Instructor
Acro

 

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Patty Lyons, Administrative Support
Front Desk Administration​

What is your hometown?
Rochester, NY

What is your favorite style of dance and why? 
Jazz, because​ it can be funky & fun or mysterious & fierce

What is your favorite Quote? 
“All ​our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” 
- Walt Disney

What music is on your playlist right now? 
Rather Be, A Sky Full of Stars, Bailando & Break Free 

What are your hobbies outside of dance? 
Traveling, Pilates, decorating, gardening & stamping cards


Pat DeKay, Administrative Support
Building Principal, Front Desk Manager​

What is your hometown?
Richfield Springs, NY

What is your favorite style of dance? 
Tap

What is your favorite Quote? 
“When you love what you have, you have everything you need.”

What music is on your playlist right now? 
Silence, I hear enough music at the dance studio.

What are your hobbies outside of dance? 
Reading, kayaking, hiking and finding my zen in Lake Placid.