Meet Our Family
Miss Jackie
Miss Jackie has been teaching dance for over 15 years, the highlight of which has been working with all of you and your children! When she was only six years old she knew she wanted to open a dance studio, she knew it would be named Jaclyn Carol's Dance, and she had even designed the logo. Flash forward to 2008 - Miss Jackie officially opens JCDA in Niagara Falls, NY while still in her sophomore year studying Dance and Interdisciplinary Arts for Children at The College at Brockport, commuting back and forth between teaching and studying to make her childhood dream a reality. The business grew quickly from a small shared space at the Summit Park Mall, to the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center, to a three-story property on Niagara Falls Blvd, to our most recent and largest expansion yet - our incredible new facility in Meadowbrook Square. Our dance family has grown from just 9 students and 3 staff members that first year, to over 300 students and 12 staff members today; but the dream continues.
Miss Jackie was the choreographer and founder of Destiny In Motion Dance Team of Niagara Falls, New York, where her choreography consistently earned High Silver, Gold, and Platinum scores. She also teaches and choreographs for a community theater troupe, the Niagara Experience Players. Miss Jackie was choreographer for the college dance team at Canisius College, The Dance Griffs from 2012-2014 (National Champions 2012, Regional Champions 2012, 2013). She has also choreographs for the Niagara Wheatfield Senior High School Musicals and has choreographed for Edward Town Middle School Musicals.
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Miss Jackie has extensive experience teaching Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical/ Contemporary, Modern, Hiphop, and Musical Theatre. She has received dance training from such schools and individuals as Rachel Novelli, Kathy Abondanza, and Patti Hewitt of the Lewiston Dance Center, Courtney World, Marianne Reilly, Suzanne Oliver, Eddie Murphy, and Bill Evans of SUNY Brockport, and many workshops and classes at Niagara Community College, Tanzen Dance Company, Niagara Dance Centre, Niagara University, Buffalo State College, and The Broadway Dance Center. Miss Jackie holds a Bachelor Degree of Science in Dance and Interdisciplinary Arts for Children from The College at Brockport; State University of New York.
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Miss Jackie is also available for private lessons, please inqire for more details. Thank you for being a part of this dream!
Miss Shari
Co-owner and office manager of JCDA, Shari Palmer, has over a decade's worth of experience in the world of performing arts. Artistic Director for the Niagara Experience Players and dance mom for 20 years - Shari has been on both sides of the production. Miss Shari has been considered a dance mom by hundreds of kids throughout the ten years and has touched every child’s heart that she has worked with. Shari Palmer was also the President of the Wheatfield Music Parents Club 2009-2010. She has been a highly respected Real Estate agent with Hunt Real Estate for twenty-years. Her great organizational, business and customer service skills make her an asset to our team. Without Miss Shari JCDA could not exist. Find Miss Shari behind our front desk nearly every day!
Miss Julianne
Miss Julianne is a graduate of Buffalo State College with a Bachelor degree in Music Education and Medaille College with a Masters degree in Special Education. She has danced at Lewiston Dance under Rachel Novelli, and Kathy Abondonza as well as at Adell’s School Of Dance. She is a founding member of the Destiny In Motion Dance Team and of Jaclyn Carol's Dance Academy. Miss Julianne is now a competition teacher at Jaclyn Carol’s Dance Academy where she has taught for ten years. Miss Julianne was the assistant vocal director for The Niagara Chorale Experience for two years. Miss Julianne has been the vocal director of the Niagara Experience Players, for eleven years and also was the Music Director, Choreographer, and Director for Annie Jr. at St. Andrew’s Country Day School. She has been a Music Teacher at Southside Elementary School for 3 years where she teaches general music and chorus for grades K-8. She also teaches private vocal and instrumental lessons to students of all ages. Miss Julianne is looking forward to another great year at JCDA! She can’t wait to see what more her students will accomplish!
Miss Audri
Audrianna Yates is a celebrated dancer and choreographer in the Western New York area. She started her dance training at a young age with Janet Dunstans Dance Academy and the Niagara Royaletts. Not only did she train in dance but in Musical Theater as well. At the age of 15 she was accepted into the New York State Summer School of the Arts. She continued her education with NCCC and SUNY New Paltz. Prior to teaching she has danced with companies including; Destiny in Motion, (Dancer), Tanzen Dance Co. ( Dancer/ Choreographer), Buffalo Contemporary(Dancer), and The Mone't Dance Co (Dancer). This will be her 8th year at JCDA. She is also currently the director of the Niagara Experience Players, a youth theater organization. Audrianna loves her JCDA family and is so excited for the next 10 years!
Miss Jill
Dance has been a part of Miss Jillian’s life since she was three years old. She grew up in Rochester, NY and took classes at (Denise’s) Dance Connection for 10 years. She attended many workshops through Dance Rochester and also assistant taught students ages 3-Teen for three years. Her teaching experience includes modern, jazz, hiphop, tap, ballet and lyrical. Miss Jillian graduated from the College at Brockport, State University of New York in May, 2011 and has her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts for Children with a Dance Concentration. This gave her the opportunity to teach creative movement collaboratively, with IAC majors, to many children throughout the Rochester area. She also participated in workshops such as Doug Varone and Dancers Company and performed in the Sankofa African Dance and Drum Ensemble. She was also a member of the College at Brockport Emeralds Dance team for three years where she performed hiphop and jazz choreography.
Miss Jillian works for the Institutional Advancement Division at Daemen College and is also has her Master’s of Science degree in Executive Leadership and Change in Higher Education. Miss Jillian is so excited to be back in the studio and grateful to be a member of the JDCA family for her fourth year.
Miss Michelle
Michelle has been dancing since age three. She is proud to be an original member of the Destiny in Motion dance team, which allowed her to gain experience at the competitive level for many years. Michelle has been teaching at JCDA since 2009. Her experience covers teaching for all ages and styles, and she is grateful for the opportunity to work closely with the Competitive Team and Company Team at JCDA. In 2021, Michelle’s choreography won the prestigious award, “Regional Grand Champion” with the Starpower National Talent Competition for her lyrical dance Rainbow. This mini competitive lyrical dance had the highest score in the region. She has also received choreography awards for her character dance Clue during the 2022 season, and her lyrical dance Big Love, Small Moments during the 2023 season. Michelle is also a certified instructor through Acrobatic Arts.
Additionally, Michelle is a NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor and currently works at Niagara University as the Director of Counseling and Student-Athlete Liaison. She promotes healthy well-being for her dancers through her instruction which allows her to combine her clinical and athletic worlds together. Michelle received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Buffalo State College, and a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Canisius College. She is a current member of the American Counseling Association and the Collegiate Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association.
Michelle brings great passion and energy to the dance studio. She strives to provide her dancers with a learning environment that is positive, encouraging, and enjoyable for each student!
Miss Susan
Having started dancing at a young age, Susan has had the privilege to dance with many in the forms of tap, jazz, pointe and acrobatics. It was when she went to The University at Buffalo for dance and psychology that she began to focus on tap and acrobatics. She performed with the American Academy of Ballet, The Zodiaque Dance Company, and the Melanie Aceto Dance Company at Jacobs Pillow. She has since gotten her Masters in Physiology but is excited to share her passion and knowledge of dance with her new students.
Miss Jacquie
Jacquie has been dancing since the age of three. Although Jacquie moved several times growing up, dance remained in her life. Jacquie has trained with many local instructors including Patty Neal, Gary Marino, Cindy Carr and Judy Pickhardt. While dancing competitively at the local and national levels, Jacquie trained with many prestigious performers such as Gregory Hines and Luigi. She continued to share her love of dance and taught at Dance Spectrum for thirteen years. Jacquie took a break from teaching dance to start a family and focus on her elementary school teaching career but is excited to be back. Alongside teaching at JCDA, Jacquie has also choreographed 10 musicals for Sweet Home Middle School in Amherst, NY.
Miss Chelsea
Miss Chelsea started her dance career at the age of 4 with Stephanie Szalany at The Dancenter in Medina. Knowing she wanted to further her dance education, she auditioned for NCCC’s Tanzen Dance Company. In her time with Tanzen, she danced and choreographed for multiple semesters. When Miss Chelsea was getting ready to graduate from Niagara University, she wanted to continue to grow and learn, and that’s when she met Miss Jackie. In 2015, she enrolled in a few classes at JCDA and was very fortunate to be an assistant teacher and substitute right from the beginning and learn from the best.
Miss Chelsea is a graduate of Niagara University with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. When she isn’t dancing, you can find her working at Elderwood Administrative Services as a senior accountant. She is looking forward to this dance year and watching her students blossom!
Miss Kimmie
Miss Kimmie has been dancing since she was three years old, under many different styles. She is the director of the Niagara Experience Players, a summer theater program for kids. She has directed and choreographed shows like The Jungle Book Kids, Seussical the Musical Jr., and Moana Jr. While studying at NCCC she was a part of the Tanzen Dance Company. Miss Kimmie has been with JCDA since we began in 2007, competing with the JCDA Competition team for 9 years, earning Top Scores at National level competitions. As a competition dance teacher she has also earned a number of achievements including first place trophies and a Title for one of her soloists. Outside of teaching dance, she is currently a practicing Nail Technician. She was an assistant teacher with JCDA for many years and joined the teaching staff in 2017. Miss Kimmie is very excited to work with your kids and can’t wait to see them on the big stage!
Miss Abby
Miss Abby started with JCDA as one of our first students. Miss Abby performed with the Jaclyn Carol’s Dance Academy Competition team, competing regionally and nationally. She is now our Social Media Director and one of our regular substitute teachers. Miss Abby has participated in dance and theater since she was 7, but found her love backstage and behind the scenes. She has been is productions with Lancaster Opera House, Creative Allusions Productions, as well as shows with her school. Miss Abby has worked for both Creative Allusions Productions and Encore as an intern, stage manager and most recently Choreographer. She performed countless seasons since the age of 7 with the Niagara Experience Players, where she is now Assistant Director and Administrative Assistant. Miss Abby is currently attending SUNY Oswego studying Public Relations and Business Administration. While at school Miss Abby works for Starpower Talent at both their National and International Competitions as a Backstage Manager.
Miss Merissa
Miss Merissa is currently attending NCCC studying liberal arts and social sciences and currently holds a diploma in early childhood education and care. She started dancing and cheerleading at the age of 6 and joined Jaclyn Carols Dance Academy in 2010. She performed on the Jaclyn Carols Dance Academy competition team at regional and national levels and has studied various styles of dance including tap, jazz and ballet throughout the years and is excited to share the knowledge with her dancers!
Miss Eden
Eden is a new addition to the JCDA family! has been dancing since age four, training in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. While studying at the State University of NY at Oswego receiving a bachelors in Marketing, Eden was able to gain valuable experience teaching classes and developing choreography for Del Sarte Dance Club, where she served as Secretary and Vice President of the club during her time in school.
Her official teaching career began in 2018 teaching in various styles and ages. She joined the JCDA team in 2020 and has been excited to share her experience and passion with the students at JCDA. In 2022, she became an assistant choreographer / coach for the Canisius College Dance Team. Outside of the studio, Eden works as a Marketing & Technology Strategist for an advertising agency.
Mr. Josh
Mr. Josh is the Technical Director and an Office Assistant at Jaclyn Carol’s Dance Academy. Josh received his Bachelor degree in Broadcast Journalism and Digital Media from SUNY Brockport in 2011. Josh is responsible for the online face of the business managing the website, sending our email updates and implementing all of our digital marketing. He works our front desk and is also lead prop builder, set designer, road crew supervisor, sound engineer, videographer, head of facilities maintenance, and any other jobs we can throw at him! He also helps manage the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Josh is humbled to be a part of this amazing dance family and so proud of Miss Jackie for all she has worked so hard for.