Master Faculty
Kat Wildish
Kat is one of those rare ballerinas who has appeared with both New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She performed with NYCB in 1981, dancing works by legendary choreographer/founder George Balanchine, who hand-picked her to perform in Adagio Lamentoso. In ABT (1986), then under artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov, she performed in more traditional ballets like The Sleeping Beauty (in his version for ABT, Sir Kenneth MacMillan created the role of the “knitting lady” for Kat; Julie Kent was one of her assistants!).
Kat has also been a guest artist with such companies as Zurich Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, The Eglevsky Ballet (then directed by Edward Villella), Fokine Ballet and the American Dance Machine. Until she retired from the stage in 2007 she danced the Sugar Plum Fairy in annual Nutcrackers in the New York area.
Kat is a radiant and popular presence on the New York City studio scene: She was scholarship director and manager at Steps, a longtime teacher at the Broadway Dance Center. Her approach to teaching is both witty and rigorous, creating a noncompetitive, nonjudgmental atmosphere that is encouraging to beginners and professionals alike. At the barre Kat pays special attention to placement, injury prevention—important for adult students—and careful, anatomically sound work. Yet her classes are also eminently “danceable,” emphasizing musicality, harmony, line, and stage presence.
Justin Boccitto
Justin Boccitto is an international dance instructor and an award-winning director/choreographer. He is a current faculty member at Broadway Dance Center, CAP 21, Marymount Manhattan College, Circle in the Square Theatre School, and guest faculty at The Juilliard School. Some of his students have included Adam Chanler-Berat, Sean Fosse, and Lady Gaga.
Justin's select NYC credits include: One Night With Fanny Brice (Off-Broadway), What Do Critics Know? (NYMF), Dance/Speak: The Life of Agnes De Mille (National Tour), In The Heights (Gallery Players). Regional credits: Side Show (Westchester Broadway Theatre), Singin' in the Rain (MacHaydn Theatre), Sweeney Todd (White Plains Performing Arts Center), and Orpheus in the Underworld (Virginia Opera). He has appeared in MTV’s Made, Oliver (Papermill Playhouse), A Salute to Chita Rivera (Drama League), and Otello (The Metropolitan Opera).
Justin has been honored with the Kennedy Center Best Director College Award (Hairspray, Nashville, TN), and the NYMF Best in Fest Award (What Do Critics Know? Choreography). He has curated several dance concerts here in NYC including the 92nd Street Y's Broadway Takes Two as well as his own Choreographer's Canvas. Justin is the Executive Producer of The Group Theatre Too, a theatre collective producing musicals, plays, and dance projects throughout the country.
Geo Hubela
Geo is one of the most popular and sought after teacher, dancer/choreographers in the music industry thanks to his extreme talent and versatility. He is currently choreographing for (European Pop Star) Billy Crawford. He has worked with French Pop sensation "Lorie." and as a recurring choreographer on a hit MTV show BeComing JLo, BeComing Dream, and BeComing 'NSYNC.
Before he stepped into choreography, he assisted Darrin Henson with the Spice Girls, industrial shows for Tommy Hilfiger and American Express and also danced in Darrin's Dance Grooves. He now has his very own instructional video, GEO's Dance Party!, and you can find commercials for this hot Hip-Hop instructional video on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel. As a performer, GEO has danced with some of the biggest stars in the music industry such as Will Smith, Michael Jackson, PINK, Britney Spears, 'NSYNC, Jessica Simpson, Macy Gray, Selena, Smashmouth, Deborah Cox, and on two world promotional tours with JLo.
Geo has performed on MTV with JLo and has several TV credits including The Miss America Pageant,The Goodwill Games, and the 69th Annual Academy Awards. He choreographed a national TV commercial for Jet Blue. Film credits: The Wedding Singer, and Boys and Girls. Geo has worked with hundreds of dancers and teachers master classes all over the world, and was part of the MSA Audition Workshop at BDC.
Hedy Perna - DanceladyCEO
Hedy Perna and husband Patrick are celebrating over 30 years as owners of the Perna Dance Center in Hazlet, New Jersey. Hedy has created a non-competitive business model for her school and is constantly innovative programs and ideas for her students. In addition to producing a high energy and creative year end annual production, Hedy works hard year-round to provide great performance opportunities for her students that also benefit the community and her studio. Hedy is also an expert at organizing families, dancers and her staff as they journey across the country performing at theme parks, sports arenas and benefits. Her creative concepts for recitals, props, and show time organization have made her a favorite speaker among school owners across the United States and Canada.
Hedy’s creative and artistic credits include: Choreographer for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; Founder of DanceFest for 6 Flags Great Adventure; Choreographer for UDMA Costume Show; Founder/Director of the Sun & Dance Festival on Carnival Cruise; Founder/Director of the Union Beach Dance Mob; Choreographer for PDC in the QVC Christmas Parade and the Annual Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington DC. She is President Emeritus of Associated Dance Teachers of NJ and a lifelong member of Dance Educators of America and is also certified from their training school.
As DanceLady CEO, she has presented at Dance Teacher Summit, The Pulse, Rhee Gold’s Dancelife Conference, Hollywood Connection, UDMA and various other dance groups and organizations. Hedy is proud to be a founding member of I.D.E.A., the International Dance Entrepreneurs Association.