Jennifer James Church, Founder, Artistic Director, A.I.S.T.D., Advanced (Ballet, National, Modern), is a registered teacher and member of the Royal Academy of Dancing (R.A.D.) and holder of the Advanced Teaching Certificate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (I.S.T.D.) in Classical Ballet, National Dance, Modern, and Jazz also holding Associate Status in Greek Dance (natural movement) and Cecchetti Ballet.

Born in England, her studies in ballet began at the age of six progressing through the R.A.D. and I.S.T.D. Ballet Grade and Major Examinations. At seventeen, she was awarded a full scholarship to the London College of Dance and Drama, a three year teacher's training college. She also studied with some of the world's most renowned teachers at the London School of Contemporary Dance and Dance Works. 

Before coming to America, she danced professionally as a principal with the Northern Theatre Dance Company in England and taught at the Stella Mann School, a high school for performing arts in London. After arriving in America, she taught for Audrey Share in California, then in this area for Maureen Deakin and at the School of the Garden State Ballet. 

In 1985, she opened the Academy of Dance Arts and to date, along with a highly qualified faculty of 15 teachers, she directs the dance studies of some 600 students in her new 10,000 square foot state-of-the-art location at 59 Chestnut Street in Red Bank. In the same year, she founded The Company of Dance Arts, cultivating a small group of 12 to its present size of over 150 CODA dancers annually.

Ms. Church has choreographed works in ballet, jazz, and modern for many companies, commercials, and for her own student performances. The Celebrate Dance series that she developed for The Company of Dance Arts has exposed the dancers to a wide range of dance styles and innovative new choreography.

Most importantly, her students have graduated to the Royal Ballet School, School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Purchase University, North Carolina School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Garden State Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Boston Conservatory, and the Juilliard School to further their studies with several having been awarded full scholarships. Many of her former students have gone on to dance with professional companies throughout Europe and the United States.

Lorie Quinn, Assistant Artistic Director, is trained in both ballet and and modern dance. She was a principal dancer with the Deakin Dance Ensemble, Plan "B" Modern Dance Company, and the New Jersey Chamber Singers and Dancers. She taught ballet at the Colorado Ballet and the Denver Dance Center in Colorado. She studied modern dance with Cleo Parker Robinson in Denver and at the University of Colorado. More recently, she trained here at the Academy with Jennifer M. Church, Charles Nicoll, and Dieter Riesle, as well as at the Joffrey Ballet and Dance Space in NYC. Lorie is a certified teacher of  the Royal Academy of Dancing syllabi. Ms. Quinn, who teaches ballet at the Academy of Dance Arts, assumed the position of Assistant Artistic Director in 2004.

Peter Anastos, Artistic Advisor, Choreographer, has created ballets for some of America’s finest national and regional companies; for modern dance, theater, film, and television. He has choreographed in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and his ballets have toured worldwide. He was the subject of a New Yorker magazine profile by Arlene Croce in May, 1990. 

Mr. Anastos was one of the founding Directors of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (1974-79), Artistic Director of New Jersey’s Garden State Ballet (1987-94) and Cincinnati Ballet (1994-96). A frequent collaborator with Mikhail Baryshnikov, their  projects together include American Ballet Theatre’s Cinderella, the CBS-TV Baryshnikov in Hollywood, for which Mr. Anastos received an Emmy Award nomination, and the photography book The Swan Prince for Bantam Books. 

Peter Anastos has the rare honor of receiving two Guggenheim Fellowships in Choreography (1981, 1991) and four Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment. His theater credits include the Broadway play, I Hate Hamlet, the national tour of Chess, and Playwright’s Horizons production of When She Danced, based on the life of Isadora Duncan. He choreographed several television specials and two films, Addams Family and Addams Family Values for Paramount Pictures. 

Mr. Anastos has directed opera: Verdi’s Macbeth for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Bellini’s La Sonnambula for the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center. He was resident choreographer for the Sante Fe Opera in 1983. His published work include essays on dance for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Dance Magazine, Ballet News, Dance Ink, and Ballet Review where he also serves on the Editorial Board.

Mr. Anastos directed the Ballet Project at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1992, teaching and choreographing for a combined group of Russian and American students. He has taught extensively throughout America. In 1998, Mr. Anastos choreographed The Sleeping Beauty for The Company of Dance Arts.

During his tenure at Cincinnati Ballet, Mr. Anastos choreographed new productions of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, original full-length productions of Peter Pan, Cinderella, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in addition to many repertory ballets. He increased the number of dancers and performances, moved the company into a new facility, and inaugurated an affiliated ballet school.

Victoria Hall, Ballet Mistress, joined the New York City Ballet in 1977 and was promoted to soloist in 1985. Ms. Hall has danced principal parts in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Episodes, Four Temperaments, Union Jack, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #2, Who Cares, and Orpheus as well as in PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center and several solo parts in Balanchine’s, Martins’, and Robbins’ ballets. Since leaving New York City Ballet, Ms. Hall toured Europe and Japan as a guest artist with Karole Armitage, was a principal with the Garden State Ballet, performed with Ballet Arizona, and appeared at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. She recently appeared in the Addams Family and Addams Family Values and has been a guest artist with the Company of Dance Arts in The Nutcracker and in their spring productions. In addition, she has danced with the American Repertory Ballet Company in Princeton, performing Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante and William Forsythe’s Steptext, and most recently was a principal with the Cincinnati Ballet.

Daniel Catanach, Ballet Master, Choreographer, was born into a large Hispanic family and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Daniel Catanach's storytelling styles are highly influenced by his Hispanic heritage as well as the Native American cultures of the Southwest. He attended the New Mexico State University where he was first introduced to the arts. As a dancer Mr. Catanach went on to train on scholarship at New York City schools including The School of American Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. He has held principal positions with the Armitage Ballet, the State Ballet of Missouri, and many others, and has danced as a guest artist with companies throughout the country. He received critical acclaim for his performance of leading roles in the work of such choreographers as George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Todd Bolender, Karole Armitage, and Lew Christensen. 

During his career Mr. Catanach came to the belief that ballet is viewed as an elite form of expression, limited in its exposure to audiences outside of privileged social classes. Because of this, Catanach decided to take this classical art form and use it to express modern societal issues with a new voice attracting a vast range of audiences. He began choreographing and directing in 1981. He has been commissioned to create work for a broad range of dance, theater, musical theater, opera, recording companies, and most recently film. In addition, Mr. Catanach has served as Artistic Director of the Catanach Ballet Theater, Santa Fe Dance Company, Associate Artistic Director of the Staten Island Ballet, Rehearsal Director for the State Ballet of Missouri and the Armitage Ballet, and Ballet Master for the Company of Dance Arts. 

An acclaimed teacher, Mr. Catanach has taught ballet and jazz on the faculties of such schools as STEPS on Broadway, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Broadway Dance Center, New Dance Group, and Peridance in New York City; and has taught sellout master classes throughout the United States and internationally in Paris, Rome, and Stockholm.

Mr. Catanach has also become renowned for his outreach work with children through his work with such organizations as Henry Street Settlement, where he founded the Urban Youth Theater, New Alternatives for Children, Project Reach Youth, Project Reach Safe, TADA! as well as Catanach D Production's own children's outreach program, N(o)W. His work in the field has embraced children from diverse populations, including victims of abuse and neglect, the economically deprived, the developmentally and physically disabled, the homeless and the terminally ill. 

Through Catanach D Productions Mr. Catanach continues to use the classical form of ballet fusing dance with theater and film making to form a unique story telling structure. He has created a vocabulary that embraces the cultural experiences of both his rural upbringing and his current urban environment. Mr. Catanach's work has received funding support from the Harkness Foundation, NYNEX Corporation, the New York University Community Fund, Manhattan Community Arts Fund, and the Latino Arts Advancement Project.

Yvonne Lamb Scudiery, Choreographer, began her dance studies with Dimitri Romanoff, Eugene Loring, and the San Francisco Ballet. Her professional career brought her to New York City and from there she traveled throughout North America performing with a wide variety of theatrical revues, ethnic dance companies, and various stock circuits. Although trained primarily in classical ballet, the opportunity to perform in such a diverse spectrum of dance styles greatly enhanced Ms. Scudiery’s own dance technique, as well as broadened her choreographic scope.

Ms. Scudiery has been teaching in Monmouth and Ocean Counties for the past 28 years. She is a registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dancing, London. In the late seventies, she developed an acting improvisation class for dancers who were serious about a performance career. Initially meant for dancers, the classes have proven beneficial for anyone as a means of attaining greater self-confidence, self-esteem, and independent thinking.

She has worked with many professional children developing audition material and has choreographed for dancers who performed in and won top awards in the Garden State Talent Expo Competition (1985, 1987, 1990, 1993). A former student who went on to be well known to the TV audience of Fresh Prince of Bel Aire is Alphonso Ribiero, also known as Broadway’s original Tap Dance Kid. 

Choreographic credits for high school and regional theater productions include: Little Shoppe of Horrors, Annie, Annie Get Your Gun, Guys and Dolls, State Fair, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, South Pacific, Into the Woods, She Loves Me, Hello Dolly, Mame, They’re Playing Our Song, Fantastiks, and Bells are Ringing. Choreographic credits for operas include: Aida, Carmen, La Traviata, Rigaletto, Die Fleidermaus, and Merry Widow. In 1994, Ms. Scudiery adapted, choreographed, and directed the full-length dance fantasy Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs for the Company of Dance Arts. By popular request, the production was remounted for CODA in 1995 and played to sold-out audiences. Credits for children’s revues include Kid’s Kabaret, Lullaby of Broadway, and Bob McGrath’s Sesame Street. Original choreography for the movie, The South Philadelphia Story, is also credited to Ms. Scudiery.

Sori Gottdenker, Children's Ballet Mistress, teaches classical ballet, pointe, stretch, and choreographic workshops at the Academy of Dance Arts. She is a registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance and coaches candidates for the Royal Academy of Dance children’s examinations. She creates choreography for children, and has designed many ballet costumes and sets for the stage. In addition, she is a registered nurse. Trained primarily at the Academy of Dance Arts under the direction of Jennifer James Church and Charles Nicoll, she also studies at the Joffrey Ballet with Sidney Laurenstein, and at the American Ballet Theatre with Christine Wright.

Barbara Zablocky, Rehearsal Assistant, began dance training at the age of six with Helena Baron (Vaganova method), and for the past five years has studied at the Academy of Dance Arts. Her professional career began at Walt Disney World in Florida as a dancer/singer in both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center. Her credits include print work, conventions, film, community theater, and commercials. Ms. Zablocky currently teaches ballet at the Academy of Dance Arts.