DARLENE PALLOTTA JASION - Owner/Director/Choreographer

Darlene has been teaching dance for more than 30 years.  She was trained by Judy Debenedicty, Helen Douglas and BDC.  She earned a bachelor’s degree from Centenary College, where she majored in Early Childhood Education and minored in Dance. 

Darlene has won hundreds of choreography, top studio, top group, and top duet/trio awards when she owned Dance By Darlene, a competition school.  Darlene closed the competition school after deciding to stay home and raise her three sons. 

After a short while, she started teaching again in the Hackettstown area.  In 1999, she opened Dance Expressions, a performance school where the emphasis is on a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere, and where the students are trained and geared towards all aspects of performing, not strictly competition.  Darlene and other members of her staff have had their students dance on Carnival Cruise Lines, Walt Disney World, the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, Hershey Park, baseball games, Morey's Piers in Wildwood, the New Jersey Devils at MetLife Stadium, and various locations in Myrtle Beach including the Palace Theater, the Carolina Opry, and Broadway on the Beach.  They have also performed at many community events.

MONIKA AIMOVA 

Monika has over 25 years of teaching experience in all levels of ballet, pointe, contemporary and gymnastics.  She was trained in the Vaganova method by Czech and Russian teachers.  She was also the Owner/Director of Ballerina-European Dance Academy for 14 years.  She choreographed hundreds of dance recitals, workshops, auditions and competitions.  Monika was also a member of the Czech Junior Olympic Gymnastics Team, and is certified in Pilates. 

Monika had an extensive professional career as a dancer with major Eastern European ballet companies.  She was a member of the National Ballet of Prague, as well as a Solist and Leading Ballerina for the State Theatres in Pilsen and Ostrava, Czech Republic.   Her career includes over one thousand performances at major theatres, operas, musicals and television shows in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Germany and Poland, including Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, Giselle, Peer Gynt, Cinderella, Don Quixote, and Romeo and Juliet.  She is a very gifted teacher, and a wonderful asset to our studio.

KARA CORTES

CASEY DRUGA

KAITLYN ESPOSITO

ALLY FERRY

Ally is a principle dancer for The Redef Movement professional dance company, training in hip hop and street styles: breaking, locking, popping, and more under the direction of John “Comix” Barrella. With the Redef Movement, Ally has performed in various shows throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania including being a speaker and performer at TEDx Asbury Park: Chaos. Ally has a B.A. in Dance Performance at Georgian Court University studying in ballet, modern, improvisation, and choreography. She has been trained under Silvana Cardell, Megan Mazarick, Michaela Mann, Erin Bonzeck, and William Robinson. Ally will be starting her Master’s Degree in Dance Education in the Fall of 2021 at Rutgers University. Ally studied abroad with New York University Tisch Dance Department in Berlin, Germany in July 2019. Training in contemporary and improvisation for three consecutive weeks, she trained under Judith Sanchez Ruiz, Megan Stuart, and Eva Duda. Ally believes that hard work, dedication and passion can help students grow even further as a dancer. She is excited to share her love of dance with her students

AMANDA KINNEY 

Amanda has been teaching at Dance Expressions since 2013, but it seems like she has always been here.  She came to us with more than 8 years of experience as a dance instructor and choreographer, teaching Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre.  She has a degree in Theatre Arts/Dance from Rowan University.  She is energetic, creative and passionate about teaching our dancers, and it shows in everything she does.  

MARION KNORR

Marion received a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland and an AS Dance degree from County College of Morris. While in college, she was a member of the University of Maryland Dance Team and also performed throughout the DC area. She also performed and choreographed for the CCM Dance Theatre group. She studied in NYC at Broadway Dance Center and Steps Studio, as well as in NJ at local dance studios. Marion loves teaching and is a seasoned Dance Instructor for over 28 years.

LAUREN PALMIERI

Lauren holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and has worked professionally as a performer for the past 10 years. She appeared in the first National Tour of Elf the Musical, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast National Tour (Belle cover), and regionally in Funny Girl, Tick Tick Boom, My Fair Lady, Carousel, Ragtime, Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes, and West Side Story. She most recently appeared as a headliner on a World Cruise with Princess Cruise Lines. Lauren has also been a teaching artist and choreographer for the NJPAC, MAYO PAC, Steps on Broadway, and Vanguard Theater Company. She previously choreographed pieces for an NYU Steinhardt School Showcase, The Atlantic City Jersey Boys concert at the Borgata Hotel and Casino (A.C), University of the Arts Theatre Dance Senior Showcase, the Teen Summer Showcase for Action Theatre Conservatory at The Producer’s Club in NYC, and various school musical productions around NJ. Lauren is currently working on her Master’s degree in Educational Theatre at NYU!

MONICA PESEK

VICTORIA PENA

Victoria has extensive teaching experience, teaching ballet technique and character dancing in Moscow Russia, as well as teaching ballet, character, and ballroom dance here in the US.  She holds a Bachelor's degree in Ballet Master/Choreographer from the Russian Academy of Theatrical Arts, formerly known as GITIS.  While studying there, she was part of M. Lavrovsky's choreographic laboratory, participating in completions for choreographers, doing her own shows, dance performances with professional dancers in Moscow, Russia.  She also graduated from Moscow Regional College of Arts in Moscow, Russia as a character and ballet teacher (Bolshoi Ballet curriculum), and is a certified Ballroom Dance Instructor.  

Victoria's performance experience includes a guest soloist dancer at the Pacific Festival Ballet in Los Angeles, performing "Russian Dance" in the Nutcracker, ballet and contemporary dancer with The Kennedy Dancers in Jersey City, a soloist dancer with Barynya Dance Company in NYC, a soloist with the State academic choreographic ensemble Beriozka (director Mira Koltsova), touring nationally and internationally with a large folk dance repertory, and also performed as a ballet dancer at the Russian Ballet Theater "The Crown of the Russian Ballet" in Moscow, Russia, performing the Nutcracker, Cinderella and Swan Lake.  We are th