Faculty

Danielle Brennan is the owner and director of Perpetual Motion Dance Studio (PMDS). In 2010, Danielle founded PMDS with just four students in the back of a local temple. From those humble beginnings, she navigated years of renting local fitness studios as her student base rapidly expanded, eventually establishing a permanent home at 674 Westwood Ave in River Vale, NJ. Today, the PMDS family continues to grow, and Danielle remains deeply proud of every dancer who enters the studio.

Danielle’s foundation in dance began at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, where she earned a BFA in Dance. Following graduation, she performed with several esteemed regional ballet companies across Pittsburgh and NYC, including The Move Dance Company, MorganScott Ballet, Staten Island Ballet, and Ballet Long Island. In 2001, she joined two of the most reputable dance conventions in the country—New York City Dance Alliance and Onstage New York as a convention manager where she was immersed in the global dance community, working alongside world-renowned dancers and choreographers. Beginning in 2002, she also served as the resident choreographer for Northern Highlands Regional High School’s seasonal musicals. Her work there has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Theatre and Paper Mill Playhouse, including a win for “Outstanding Musical” in 2011. Danielle is also a certified Power Pilates instructor.

The studio continues to thrive under Danielle’s leadership, earning national recognition through numerous choreography awards and the prestigious NYCDA Critic’s Choice honors. Leveraging her extensive industry connections, Danielle provides her students with access to master teachers and unique outside performance opportunities. She has developed a versatile curriculum designed to support dancers at every level of commitment; this includes a high-intensity company track that has successfully prepared dancers for collegiate study and professional careers, as well as community-focused programs for those wishing to explore dance as a meaningful part of their childhood.

Danielle Brennan teaches Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical/Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Preschool, Creative Movement, Tumble

Studio Office Manager – Ann Costello

Adriana Pierce – Ballet

Adriana Pierce is a New York-based dancer, choreographer, and director. After dancing with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, she expanded into Broadway and film, appearing in Carousel, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and Fosse/Verdon. She was recently the Associate Director/Choreographer for Justin Peck’s Tony-winning Broadway production, Illinoise. Recognized as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” Pierce is the founder of Queer the Ballet, an initiative dedicated to increasing lesbian representation and producing work by queer artists. Her choreography has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ashley Bouder Project, Ballet Academy East, and featured in festivals and galas such as Hamptons Dance Project, Kaatsbaan Fall Dance Festival, Fire Island Dance Festival, Hudson Valley Dance Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, The Joyce Theater’s Ballet Festival, and Adrienne Arsht Center’s Annual Gala. She has completed residencies with Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU and Bridge Street Theatre, and Baruch Performing Arts Center as a CUNY 2024 Dance Initiative grant recipient.. Her projects have been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, with the latter describing her choreography for the film Animals and Angels as a “velvet revolution.”

Alyssa Dinka – Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Creative Movement

Alyssa Dinka is a dancer, performer, and educator based in NYC, originally from Venice, FL. Past performances include NEW YORK: Phish New Year’s Eve Concert at Madison Square Garden, CANADA: Christmas Wonderland at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, THEATRE: Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, VA: 42nd Street (Ensemble), REGIONAL: Busch Gardens Williamsburg: Scrooge No More, Night Beats, Fiends; Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City: Dance to the Music, Euphoria Variety Show; Ocean Casino & Resort Atlantic City: Pop Divas; Borgata Hotel Casino Atlantic City: Christmas in Concert, Disco Forever (Swing), MGM National Harbor in Washington DC: Motor City Live, TOUR: Magic Rocks: Illusionist Leon Ettiene (Dancer/Magician’s Assistant). Alyssa is proud to hold her BFA in Commercial Dance from Pace University in NYC. Whether on a stage or in a classroom teaching, Alyssa shares in hard work and an immense love for dance!

Cassidy Myers – Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Creative Movement, Pre-Dance

Cassidy Myers is a dancer based in New York City. Cassidy recently was a dancer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, where she performed in American Jukebox, Monster Stomp, Phantoms of the Festhaus, and Up on the Haustop. In spring 2023 Cassidy completed the Professional Semester program at Broadway Dance Center, where she performed in works choreographed by Chip Abbot, Mike Esperanza, Mallory Nolting, Sarah Juliet Shaw, and Ian Schmoke. She earned her BFA in Dance in May 2022 from Shenandoah Conservatory. Cassidy also performed as a dancer in the film “Cupid for Christmas,” directed by Blayne Weaver. Cassidy has been passionate about teaching and choreographing since 2016 and is so grateful to continue this journey at PMDS!

Kenny Hernandez – Hip Hop (headshot and bio coming soon)

Janel Weiss – Hip Hop, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Contemporary

Janel, former owner and lead instructor of Janel’s Dance Arts Fusion in Woodcliff Lake, is thrilled to be a part of the PMDS staff! Born and raised in Montvale, her years of dance instruction and commitment as a company member took place at AEDE. She also has fond memories of performing in the St. Joseph Regional High School’s productions of Footloose, Pippin, Les Miserables and The Prince and The Pauper during her high school years at Immaculate Heart Academy. Janel went on to Muhlenberg College, where she earned both a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance and Certification in Elementary Education. Along with her performance experience in college, she was given the opportunity to choreograph several student dance concerts. She was President of the Muhlenberg Dance Association, became an instructor for the Muhlenberg Community Dance Center, and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society. After college, Janel enjoyed opportunities to perform, choreograph, and teach. She performed at the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2014 and the Bruno Mars Super Bowl Halftime Show at MetLife Stadium. She has been a member of the dance fusion company, Bollywood Funk NYC, and was a dancer/choreographer for the Gotham City Cheerleaders. She then joined Broadway Theater Workshops to choreograph productions of Godspell, She Loves Me, The Drowsy Chaperone, Mamma Mia!, Punk Rock Girl, Prom, Mean Girls, and Chicago and also the SJR productions of The Addams Family, Mystic Pizza! , Into the Woods, and Footloose. She is now a member of the teaching staff for Woodcliff Lake Schools and is ready for another dance season here at PMDS!

Jennifer Golonka – Ballet

Jennifer Golanka is an award winning dance educator and freelance choreographer. Ms. Golonka was on faculty at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp for 13 years, ending her tenure as Director of Dance. Golonka has taught and created works at many dance studios, high schools for the performing arts, and Universities around the country.

Golonka is a Buffalo, NY native and longtime NYC resident. She has danced with the Jessica Lang Project, Hannah Khan Dance Company, Third Law Dance/Theater and Thang Dao Dance Company. She has performed with Battleworks Dance Company, Take Dance Company, Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Peter Chu’s CHU This, Darrell Grand Moultrie and Nicholas Villeneuve. Jennifer trained at the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance and the Limon Institute.

Marika Matuszak- Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Ballet, Tap

Marika Matuszak, based in NYC, has experience across the industry in dance education, choreography, production, and arts administration. She holds a BFA in Commercial Dance with a concentration in Pedagogy and a minor in Arts Administration from Pace University. Since 2017, Marika has been a faculty member at PMDS and has taught at numerous studios and intensives, including bring on faculty for the Steps on Broadway Children’s Program for two years. Her choreographic credits include serving as assistant choreographer to Lainie Sakakura and Alex Sanchez for the Golden Gate Theatre production of Roman Holiday, and to Scott Jovovich for Pace University’s The Pajama Game. As a performer, she has appeared at the Park Armory Gala under Larry Keigwin and the Rivertown Artists Festival with Jonathan Riedel amongst many other NYC performances. Marika spent four years as the Event Manager for the New York City Dance Alliance’s national tour, managing conventions and competitions while creating connections between dancers, master teachers, and dance leaders. Marika remains dedicated to creating organized, inspiring spaces where dancers can fully engage with their craft and the community.

Marissa Myers- Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Creative Movement, Pre-Dance

Marissa Myers is a performer based in New York City. Marissa spent the past two summers at the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute as Associate Director/Choreographer of Anything Goes and Gypsy under the direction of Jacob Brent. Marissa performed in multiple industrials for Mary Kay Cosmetics in Dallas and Nashville. She also got to eye-high kick in the holiday show The Jingle Belles at Six Flags Over Texas. Marissa has her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Shenandoah Conservatory, and upon graduation she was awarded the Terpsichore Award and the highly prestigious Conservatory Award. Marissa is a certified group fitness instructor and feels passionately about incorporating proper conditioning, body alignment, and strength training into her dance classes because she wants her dancers to have a long and injury-free career! She has been teaching and choreographing for numerous dance studios since 2012, and she loves sharing the gift of dance to all ages of eager dancers.

Alumni Faculty

Abby Connors has been dancing for 16 years and trained at PMDS in ballet and contemporary from 2020 until she graduated in 2022. Following her graduation from PMDS, Abby attended Binghamton University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics, and law with a public policy concentration. While at Binghamton University, Abby had the opportunity to perform as part of the University’s Evolution Dance Company in ballet, contemporary, and jazz pieces. She also performed in the University theatre department’s production of the Jazz Nutcracker as a mouse and waitress in the fall of 2022. She prioritized dance training throughout her time in college, taking technique courses in ballet and jazz and additional classes whenever possible. Abby has been a substitute teacher and assistant teacher in dance classes for children between the ages of seven and twelve and enjoys working with children. Abby is currently working for the New York Senate while pursuing a master’s degree in human rights at Binghamton University. She continues to dance in her free time.

Briana Keenan (she/her) graduated from Perpetual Motion Dance Studio in 2023 after becoming a student in 2016. During her time at PMDS, she trained in tap, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and ballet and was a dance captain for several dances over the years. In 2023, she choreographed a tap number for the PMDS annual recital, “We Will Rock You.” Briana has also attended and was awarded the Patricia Woodward Scholarship at the Liberate Artists Summer Intensive. Currently, Briana attends The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) majoring in Speech Language Pathology & Audiology with a minor in Psychology. She is the Vice President of TCNJ’s Tap Ensemble, a student-run organization that participates in several tap performances including Homecoming, Winter Showcase, TCNJam, and Spring Showcase. She is also a member of TCNJ’s Dancers of New Jersey (DoNJ) where students choreograph and perform in styles such as jazz, ballet, musical theatre, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. For the 2026 Tap and DoNJ Spring Showcase, Briana is choreographing the tap section for their production number, “Teen Beach Movie,” and co-choreographing the Tap Ensemble executive board dance, “Clue.” She also co-choreographed last year’s executive board dance, “Peanuts.” Outside of dance, Briana is the Vice President of TCNJ’s Circle K and is a member of Best Buddies, the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, TCNJ Education Guides, Dancers of New Jersey (DoNJ), ROSCOE Educators, Tri-Alpha Honor Society, and mentors for TCNJ’s Career and Community Studies (CCS) Program. During her free time, Briana enjoys spending time with her friends and cat, painting, and crocheting.

Ella Connors danced at Perpetual Motion Dance Studio for two years. After completing high school, she attended Binghamton University, where she graduated in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in Writing. She now works professionally as a news reporter with the Daily Star in Oneonta, NY. Most recently, she was a member of Binghamton’s Evolution Dance Company, from 2022 to 2025. Through the company, she trained and performed in ballet, jazz, contemporary and lyrical. She also took both ballet and jazz classes through the University’s theater department, performing in their semester showcases throughout her time as a student. In her freshman year of college, she performed in the University’s production of the Jazz Nutcracker where she filled the roles of Snowflake, Toy Soldier and Waiter. This allowed her to become more immersed in Binghamton’s theater and dance departments, while additionally meeting fellow dancers who shared her passion for the art.

Ella Donnis trained at Perpetual Motion Dance Studio from 2010-2024 and was a member of PMDS’s Company from 2014-2024 where she trained in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, lyrical, tap, and hip-hop. While in the PMDS Company, Ella had the opporunity for leadership roles such as being a dance captain. Additionally to her studio training, Ella participated in various intensives with American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet School NYC, the Martha Graham School, and Houston Institute of Contemporary Dance. She also served as a co-choreographer for Westwood Regional High School’s production of “Annie”. Ella also received her teaching certification from PMDS in 2023. Ella currently attends Skidmore College, where she is pursuing majors in psychology and dance, and a minor in arts administration. At Skidmore, she mainly focuses on ballet, modern, and contemporary styles of dance. In addition to taking technique classes, Ella performs in faculty based workshops and student choreographed pieces such as “In Dreams, We Move” by Nayah Reagans, “The Underside of Light” by Andre Malo-Robles, “Locomotion Commotion” by Sophie Shin, and “Senses” by Lily Gould. Ella also serves as Vice President for Skidmore’s audition based tap dance club and is a member of Skidmore’s audition based jazz and hip-hop club.

Erin Brunda graduated from Perpetual Motion Dance Studio in 2023 after joining in the summer of 2020. While at PMDS she studied ballet, contemporary, and jazz styles with the competition company and successfully completed Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) exams up to and including the Advanced 1 level. She then went on to pursue the BA(Hons) Management for the Creative Industries and Performing Arts degree at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in Liverpool, UK. In March of 2025, Erin joined Dance Consortium UK on a 1 week placement with company management during the Ahn Eun-Me Company’s production of Dragons. In the Autumn of 2025, Erin then endeavored on a 3 month placement with the English National Ballet on the production team for shows such as The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, & Re:Evolution working directly with dancers and organizing logistics for various future productions. Erin also choreographs works and created the burlesque show Poe’s Seduction based on “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe in 2024 and has been working on the original musical Knight’s Dream as the official choreographer since early 2025. Additionally, in the summer Erin Brunda works in live events, specifically music festivals with Cream Global Ltd and Ticketmaster UK to bring large scale events to fruition. Having previously worked at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, Erin is accustomed to the management of large events and VIP clientele.

Fiona Costello danced at Perpetual Motion Dance studio for 15 years, where she trained in a variety of styles and was a part of the company at PMDS until she graduated in 2025. At PMDS she was a dance captain for her company and for the Petite Company. Fiona is continuing her training and pursuing a BA in dance at Western Michigan University. At WMU she takes daily technique classes, has rehearsals for the various performances throughout the year, and is part of multiple of the student run dance clubs. She has also taken the teacher training course at PMDS, where she learned how to teach a variety of dance styles, for all ages. Fiona has trained at various summer intensives and programs including Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive, CLI Conservatory, Point Park International Summer Dance, Houston Institute of Contemporary Dance, NYCDA National Outstanding Dancer, and Liberate Artists Summer Intensive. Over the years at PMDS she has subbed many classes from Creative Movement to company classes and rehearsals.

Julia Schwartz is an alumni of Perpetual Motion Dance Studio where she trained for four years in all styles of dance as a member of the PMDS Company. Julia attends Penn State University where she is a Psychology Neuroscience major on the pre-med track as well as continuing to pursue her love for dance. She began dancing at two years old and is currently on a dance club team, Penn State Dance Alliance. Julia also participated in the teaching program at PMDS and earned her certification in teaching. Additionally, Julia has spent summers training at the Houston Institute of Contemporary Dance, Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive, and NYCDA National Outstanding Dancer. While a student at PMDS, she taught two Creative Movement classes as well as a 5-7 year old Jazz/Ballet class and choreographed recital pieces for all. She also currently choreographs for her college dance team and performs in up to five showcases/competitions a year. Julia loves teaching dancers of all ages and styles.

Lucy Brennan is an alumni of Perpetual Motion Dance Studio where she trained for 15 years in all styles of dance and was a member of the PMDS Company. After graduation, Lucy moved to Orange, California to attend Chapman University where she is majoring in dance. She is currently in her first year as a BA dance major where she trains weekly in ballet, modern, and jazz and attends rehearsals for the many performances at Chapman. Lucy is also a member of Chapman Dance Alliance, a student run club focusing on collaboration, community, and showcasing student choreography. She has taken the teacher training course at PMDS and is now certified to teach dance to all ages and all levels. Lucy has spent many summers receiving additional training at intensives such as Joffrey Pre-Pro Ballet Intensive, Houston Institute of Contemporary Dance, Jacob’s Pillow 360, NYCDA National Outstanding Dancer, and Liberate Artists Summer Intensive. From being dance captain to substituting often, Lucy is an excellent leader and not only loves to work with all ages, but she is an effective communicator that works to make every class enjoyable. In her free time, Lucy enjoys being in nature and baking.