OUR MISSION
Because your child deserves joy.
At Broadway Arts & Dance Academy, our mission is to shape the minds, bodies and spirits of the performing artists of tomorrow. We help instill discipline, improve physical conditioning, and expand imaginations by teaching children and young adults how to focus their minds, strengthen their bodies and conquer their fears through the performing arts. Our classrooms are your child’s gateway into a world of expression, a garden of friendships and a sanctuary for their minds.
Meet the Team
APRIL BERRY
Owner / Dance Instructor
April trained extensively in the Los Angeles area at Dancemaker Studios, where she began at the age of 5. Her dance education covered all areas from ballet and modern to tap and jazz. She began working as a professional dancer and singer at the age of 18 on the national tour of Saturday Night Fever and moved to New York where she was in the original casts of Legally Blonde and Wonderland on Broadway as well as appearing on television in Ugly Betty and on MTV. She has been a member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra for the past decade performing for millions of people in arenas around the world, including at Amalie Arena in Tampa, every winter.
As an educator, her pedagogy skills have been honed over the years through teaching numerous classes, workshops and private lessons in Los Angeles and New York and by working alongside Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winning directors, choreographers, authors and composers.
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JASON WOOTEN
Owner / Vocal and Theatre Instructor
Jason graduated Magna Cum Laude from Shenandoah University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music Theatre and received the Cecilia award for vocal excellence. He immediately moved to New York City and over the course of 18 years starred in 8 Broadway shows including Jekyll & Hyde, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Footloose, Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show and was known as "one of the most alluring voices on Broadway". In Las Vegas, he sang and worked extensively with rock royalty Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen. He has toured the world performing with shows, bands, and symphony orchestras. He has appeared on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU and been voice-over talent for Rockstar Video Games and many cartoons. He is the composer, lyricist and librettist of the musicals Goodbye, Dali!, Imposter, and That Kid Dylan! as well as co-author of the rock musical The Existents.
As an educator, Jason has been teaching vocal and acting lessons as well as being an audition coach for the past 15 years. He's worked with and studied under Tony Award winning directors and choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Christopher Ashley, John Rando and Jeff Calhoun and award winning composers/song writers such as Charles Strouse, Kander & Ebb, Jim Steinman, Frank Wildhorn, Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt. His students have also gone on to perform on Broadway and in National Tours.
Nicole Assaad
Nicole Assaad started dancing ballet at age 8 at the Patel Conservatory. After a year, she moved to All American Classical Ballet School in Tampa, Florida where she received training from Julio Montano and Gisell Durand.
She won many awards and scholarships from competitions such as the Youth America Grand Prix, American Dance Competition, as a gold medalist and a recipient of the Fernando Bujones Award, and World Ballet Competition, receiving the bronze medal in the final round.
At age 15, she moved to New York City to study with the Gelsey Kirkland Academy under a full scholarship.
At age 16, she joined the Gelsey Kirkland Ballet Studio Company, performing various roles, such as “Marie” and “Sugarplum” in The Nutcracker, “Columbina” in Harlequinade, the Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, “Kitri” in Don Quixote, Diamond and Charity fairy in the Sleeping Beauty, along with many other roles.
At age 18, she joined the Hong Kong Ballet’s corps de ballet under the direction of Madeleine Onne, where she performed in many productions such as Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, Pinnochio, Carmen, Lady of the Camelias, and many other original productions that toured in Canada, the US, Macau, and Mainland China.
Now she is teaching in the Tampa Bay Area and has been dancing with the Tampa City Ballet for the 2020-2021 season.
Jovana Zaremba
Jovana holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA) as well as a Bachelor of Music from Stetson University (DeLand, FL). A St. Pete native, she is an alumnus of the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School where she received the Eikon Award for voice. Classically trained, Jovana has extensive experience performing in both the classical and operatic settings as well as musical theater. Most recently Jovana was seen as Miss Trunchbull in a local Pittsburgh area production of Matilda, performing with local choirs, as a soloist, including the soprano soloist for Mozart’s Mass No. 15 in C Major, and traveling around the US performing at various festivals. She has recently relocated home to Florida after actively teaching and performing in Pittsburgh, PA since 2015.
As an educator, Jovana has and continues honing her skills teaching voice and piano lessons. Her teaching approach is building a strong base with good technique with a strong performance emphasis while tailoring to the needs of the individual. The main goal is to help each student find his or her voice. Jovana has been involved in the theater program at various levels including director (The Wizard of Oz) and assistant director (Peter Pan among various other musical productions with Batavia Studios (Mars, PA). Jovana loves sharing her passion for singing, music, and theater with her students and has successfully seen students through leading roles and acceptances into summer programs and educational arts programs.
Alexandra Lahaye
Alexandra, also known as Alex grew up in Salem, New Hampshire were she fell in love with dance at the age of two. She danced at Nancy Chippendales Dance Studio where she studied: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Hip Hop, & more. At a young age she auditioned for her studios competition team and she was able to travel all around New England each year to compete for 10 years. While training at her studio she was also able to be a part of many occasions including; Dancing with Dance Moms Miami & The Rockettes. She has recently moved to Tampa, FL for a change in her life and decided to pursue a career in dance. She has been teaching students from ages 8-18 in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, and Hip Hop for a year at Miss Sheila's. While teaching at this studio Alexandra was able to be a part of their production of Alice in Wonderland. Alexandra’s passion for dance has grown strongly in the past year, and has always been a part of her life. She hopes to express her passion and love with her students.
Nikko Arroz
Nikko has been performing since he was 5 years old in cultural events at school where discovered his love of dance. He began his formal training at the age of 15 learning hip-hop dance fundamentals and formulating them into choreography. Nikko started teaching professionally at the age of 16 leading the choreography of his College’s Dance Team as a freshman. Shortly after, Nikko began taking on his own clients as a dance coach and trainer for high schools and colleges that had annual hip-hop dance competitions. He eventually gathered excellent individuals and formed his own hip-hop dance team (Athletes of God) in 2018, establishing a hip-hop dance studio (Nthlvl-Studio) in the Philippines. While doing this, he strived to update his skills by attending multiple local and international dance workshops, training with some major choreographers such as Brian Puspos, Bam Martin, Ysabelle Capitule and Lyle Beniga. In 2021, Nikko had the opportunity to perform in the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show in Tampa with the 8-time Grammy award winner, THE WEEKND. He occasionally teaches adult hip-hop choreography classes at VYB Dance Studio in Tampa (World of Dance Atlanta Champs 2017). Nikko really enjoys practicing and performing on the streets of St. Pete nearly every day to vibe with the locals and enjoy their reactions. With the ever growing and changing space of hip-hop dance, Nikko takes the time to learn and adapt to new moves and trending dances. He approaches hip-hop choreography with a mix of old school and new school that he is more than happy to share with the lovely students of Broadway Arts & Dance Academy
Sara Parker
As a former competitive gymnast and professional dancer, Sara
developed the knowledge and skills to bring her joy of dance, cheerleading and gymnastics to students young and young-at-heart. A former member of the Las Vegas Locos Dance Team, she brings professional skills along with a heart full of fun to every class.
Come see why our adult hip hop & dance fitness class is so popular!
Ryan Bisson
Ryan studied piano performance at Belhaven University in Jackson MS, and went on to record two albums, both produced and recorded by himself. As a piano teacher, his goal is to bring the excitement of mastering new songs, while also providing a solid foundation through learning musical notation, chord progressions, and scales, which are imperative for tackling more difficult pieces. He also hopes to provide his students with the tools for exercising their own creativity, and discovering the joy of improvisation, allowing them to create their own musical masterpieces.
Jen Jennings
Jen began dancing at the age of 8, performed in her first musical at the age of 12, and graduated with a degree in dance from the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts at the age of 17. After receiving her degree in Musical Theatre from James Madison University, she moved to New York City where she spent the next 14 years performing and choreographing professionally. As a performer her credits include National and International Tours of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (starring Lea Salonga), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. As a choreographer, she’s worked in regional theatres across the country on shows like A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Paper Mill Playhouse), Snapshots (Goodspeed Opera House), The Music Man (Riverside Theatre), Abraham Lincoln’s Dance Party (Theatre Row, NYC), Swingtime Salute (Virginia Stage Company), and Good News (Goodspeed Opera House). As an educator, Jen has taught classes in jazz, contemporary, and musical theatre at dance studios in NY, NJ, PA, and CT. She’s taught master classes in musical theatre dance at Murray State University in KY, James Madison University in VA, and Hampshire College in MA and she spent three years as the Dance Director for the Columbia Gorge School of Theatre in Portland, Oregon.
Emily-Kate Maronilla
Emily went to school in New Jersey where she studied early childhood education, until she found her true passion for teaching music. She is now pursuing an undergraduate degree in Music Education at the University of South Florida. From a young age, Emily found interest in Broadway and acting which started her pathway to music. Originally from New York, Emily has been a pianist for 11 years. Since then, she has performed in multiple recitals and taught music to people of all ages, including children with learning disabilities. Throughout her early years of college, Emily played many sports including basketball and cross country, however she knew that her passion for music was much stronger, and she wants to share that passion by inspiring others to pursue the arts. Fun fact about Emily; she plays 15 different instruments, although her strengths lay in Piano, the Ukulele and Guitar. Emily's main goal is to show that anyone can learn music, all you need is patience and determination.​
Laine Wirth
Laine Wirth began her dance training in the suburbs of Boston at her local dance studio and captained her high school dance team for three years, competing throughout New England with both groups. She was also lucky to perform and further her dance education in New York City, including representing her team at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and summer intensives with The Rockettes and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Laine is trained in the styles of jazz, tap, hip-hop, pom, ballet, modern, contemporary, and broadway jazz. You can see her performing at Tropicana Field representing the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the Ray Team spirit squad. Laine is excited to share with students her passion for performing and storytelling through the art of dance.
Come Join the Fun!
