Perinton Dance Company is fortunate to have mature, professional adult Instructors who specialize in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre, Modern, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tumbling, Pilates, Voice, Piano, Drama and MORE. They offer a wide background of dance, music, drama and other expertise including competition and professional stage experiences. Each year our instructors attend conventions and workshops to keep abreast of current dance techniques. Our students have won numerous awards for excellence in all types of dance and music due to the dedication of our talented staff.

Mrs. Tammee LeClair, Executive Director/Dance Educator

Tammee began dancing at age three and has been teaching dance classes since 1989. Tammee received the majority of her dance training at Dianne Lynn Dance Theatre and continues to train at workshops and with talented professionals whenever possible, including private lessons with: Alicia Cutaia (Eisenhower Dance Ensemble - Michigan), Jon Lehrer, Artistic Director/Choreographer of LehrerDance (Buffalo, NY) and Pilates sessions with Meghan Haight. Tammee has performed in countless dance shows and competitions and has won many awards. Her dance students have received numerous local and national awards for routines choreographed/taught by Tammee. Tammee has been the Preschool Dance Instructor at the JCC since January of 2007 and offers weekly dance lessons at the JCC.   She also provides an Enrichment Creative Movement/Dance program at Trinity Montessori School each week.  In addition, Tammee is playing a very active role in her daughter Madalynn’s performance career in New York City after Madalynn was signed with Wilhelmina Models in NYC in April 2010. They have made 20+ trips to NYC for Maddee’s auditions and jobs in the past year.

Tammee has performed in many musical theater productions working as the Dance Captain for many of these shows. She choreographed for The Downstairs Cabaret's Summer Youth Program's 1997 production A Salute to the Tony's, East Irondequoit Middle School's 2004 production Annie Junior, and Brighton High School's JV Cheerleading Squad's award winning 2003 cheer/dance routine. Tammee was chosen as a choreographer for the Dance Rochester! Choreographer/Composer Concerts in 2005, 2007 & 2009. She volunteered as the Chairperson of the Fairport Canal Days Entertainment Committee from 2004 - 2008. She has taught numerous dance workshops for Girl Scouts, Youth to Youth, and other area organizations. Currently she is the elected President of Dance Rochester! and serves as the chairperson for the annual DR! fundraiser Gala. All Stars Talent was awarded the 2009 Culture and Arts Award by the Henrietta Chamber of Commerce for the studio's & Tammee's contributions to the community.

Tammee and her husband Jay opened All Stars Talent in 2000 with seven students in their home but outgrew this location in 2 seasons and moved to a ballet school where they rented space for one year. In September 2003, All Stars Talent purchased Dianne Lynn Dance Theatre, and merged it into All Stars Talent. In 2007 All Stars Talent moved to the current larger location that was specially designed by Tammee and other professionals.  In January 2009, All Stars Talent, Inc. purchased Perinton Dance Company and it became a division of AST. Perinton Dance Company was moved to its current new facility in August of 2010.  The new PDC facility was designed by a combination of Tammee and Jay LeClair, their family and friends, the AST/PDC Instructors and Gypsum Systems Interiors.  Tammee currently lives in Pittsford with her husband Jay and their daughter Madalynn.

Mr. John LeClair, Music Director/Vocal & Piano Instructor

John ("Jay") holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education (grades K-12) and a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary English Education, both from Nazareth College of Rochester. He trained at the Eastman School of Music and SUNY Fredonia. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Master's license, enabling him to drive commercial vessels at sea. He is currently a Captain and Senior Deckhand of the Colonial Belle which is owned and operated by his Father and Mother-in-law. He works as a bus driver of the Pittsford Central School District, is on the "safe rider team" that educates students about bus safety and serves on the accident review board for transportation in the district. John directed/taught a choir and taught an Elementary General Music class for a private Learning Center based in Webster, NY for two years. He is currently studying the Suzuki Piano Method with Karen Hagberg, Ph.D at the Hagberg Suzuki Piano Program (his daughter Madalynn also been enrolled there since 11/07) to continue to build his skills and to work to merge the Suzuki Method into teaching his own students.

John served as the Music Director and MC for the Dance Rochester! Composer/Choreographer Concert in the fall of 2007 and will again in the fall of 2009. He was the assistant conductor of the Nazareth College Concert Choir for two years and was a member of the Nazareth College Chamber Choir, Concert Choir and Jazz Choir for seven years. He served as the assistant conductor for the Irondequoit Chorale in 2001 and was the assistant conductor for The Penfield Methodist Church Choir from 2001-2002. John was a member of The Publick Musik and sang on a publicity recording for this group in 2000. John regularly performs as the primary vocalist at many weddings, special events, and church functions. He volunteered on the Fairport Canal Days Entertainment Committee from 2004-2008. John was the Music/Choir Director for St Salome's Catholic Church for two years and assisted with the music preparation of East Irondequoit Middle School's 2004 production of Annie Junior. John lives in Pittsford with his wife Tammee and daughter Madalynn.

Mrs. Melissa (Kofod) Muszak, Dance Instructor

Melissa is happy to spend another year with Perinton Dance Co. & All Stars Talent. She recently spent two years living in New York City employed at an integrated communications technology consulting firm. While in NYC, Melissa studied tap at Broadway Dance Center, modern & improvisational dance at Spoke the Hub Dancing, and restorative yoga at Area Yoga of Brooklyn, NY. She also took courses in American Sign Language at the Sign Language Center of Manhattan.

Prior to moving to NYC, Melissa taught various forms of dance at All Stars Talent from 2002 through 2007. She also taught for nearly 10 years at Dianne Lynn Dance Theatre, where she began her own dance training & performing at the age of three. Her students have won many top honors at regional and national competitions with routines that she choreographed & taught. In addition to her principal dance training at DLDT, Melissa also took summer courses in ballet at Botsford School of Dance. Melissa was a competitive dancer from ages 6-18 and won many top awards at regional and national competitions. She was a member of the ensemble of many musicals in summer drama programs and in junior high & high school. She was highlighted as a featured dancer in each musical, including the principal dance role of Dream Ballet Laurey in Oklahoma! In high school, she was a member of the prestigious R-H Singers, Youth to Youth, National Honor Society, completed many Honors and AP Courses, and graduated in the top 10% of her class with a 4.0 GPA. As a 2000 graduate from SUNY Geneseo with a BA in History, Melissa was a member of the Dance Ensemble and the Knightline Precision Dance Team/Kickline. She was also a member of the Rhinestones, the professional dance team for the Rochester Rhinos Soccer Team, in 2003 and 2004.

Melissa completed her second Bachelor’s degree in English literature at SUNY Brockport this past May, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a 3.97 GPA. She is a member of 3 honor societies, Alpha Chi (top 10% of institution), Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor Society), and Tau Sigma (Transfer Student Honor Society). She will start graduate work in the fall and plans to ultimately obtain a PhD in Literature. She also continues to take yoga classes at studios in the Rochester area whenever possible. Melissa greatly enjoys sharing her love of dance and her talent with students. Her students and our staff are very excited to have her back on our teaching team! Melissa is a very talented dancer and instructor of a great variety of dance styles.

Ms. Bekka Bennett, Dance Instructor

Bekka graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Dance and History from the University at Buffalo in May of 2008. She was a member of the Zodiaque Dance Company and was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at UB. She has performed in countless dance performances and has won numerous awards at dance competitions throughout her life.

Bekka began her dance training at Dance 22 in Webster, NY where she later became a primary dance instructor (2003-2009). While at UB, she also taught dance lessons at Celebrity Dance Emporium in Amherst, NY (2007-2008). Bekka worked for the Spotlight Theatre Arts (Rochester, NY) Summer Stage & Star Camp (June 2006 - July 2007) providing choreography, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre dance workshops and helped with book keeping. In 2011, a piece that Bekka choreographed was chosen by a panel of independent judges to perform in the Dance Rochester Atrium at City Hall in Rochester, NY. Bekka has been a Dance Instructor at All Stars Talent, Inc./PDC since September 2008, teaching a variety of different dance styles to student of all ages and abilities. She loves sharing her knowledge and passion for dance with her students.

Mrs. Tonia (Goff) Finke, Dance Instructor

Tonia began her dance training at the age of seven at The DanceCentre where she studied Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Modern and Lyrical and later became an Assistant Dance Instructor at the age of 14. After graduating from Fairport High School in 2002, Tonia continued her study of dance at The Draper Center for Dance Education in various Adult Classes. Tonia has taken many dance classes at The Broadway Dance Center in NYC, other locations in NY City and at SUNY Brockport.

At age 19, Tonia began teaching students of all ages and abilities at Adazante Academy of Dance in various forms of dance. Two years later, AAD closed and Tonia had the opportunity to open her own dance studio, Encore Dance Productions.  At EDP she taught most of the classes and operated nearly all aspects of the studio for 2 years until closing it (due to a large number of graduating Seniors and many competitive studios in the neighborhood). Throughout her teaching career, she has won numerous top scoring and special awards, choreography awards, and “Top Teacher” in 2005. In March of 2009, Tonia choreographed and taught a half-time routine for students of Strike It Up Artistic Center that was performed at the St. Patrick’s Day game for the Rochester Knighthawks. It was the only time that the Knighthawks had permitted outside performers.

Currently, Tonia works as a full time Nanny and lives in Pittsford with her husband Kevin and her brand new son Nathan Scott. She is was very excited to join the AST/PDC team in September 2009 and is looking forward to the future.  She loves to share her passion for dance with her students of all ages and abilities.

Ms. Andrea Lotzar, Dance Instructor

Andrea began her dance training and competing at Spins Dance Studio, where she later began teaching. She was also a performer in East Rochester's annual charity show "Sing Out," and was named assistant choreographer for 2 of her 4 years with the show. Andrea was also involved in coaching cheer and dance camps at the Penfield Recreation Center. After high school, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she attended The Ohio State University. Throughout college, Andrea was actively involved with choreographing and teaching for competitive cheerleading teams. In 2009, she was cast as a dancer in Xclaim Dance Company, where she has been for the last two years. Andrea graduated from The Ohio State University in 2010 with a BA in Criminology and a minor in Dance.

Mrs. Danielle Watters, Dance Instructor

Danielle is extremely excited to join the team at Perinton Dance Company/All Stars Talent! She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Dance (with a Concentration in Tap) from the University at Buffalo in May of 2002. She was a member of the UB Dazzlers Dance Team and participated in Dancers Workshop for three years while at UB. While in Buffalo, she enrolled at Kip Tom Dance Studio, where she studied tap with the owner/instructor (and UB Professor), Tom Ralabate. After college graduation, Danielle immediately began working on her Masters Degree in Education at UB and earned a M.Ed. in School Counseling in May of 2003. She moved back to Rochester and earned her Permanent Certification/Certificate of Advanced Studies from the U of R in School Counseling. She is going on her eighth year as a School Counselor at Greece Arcadia High School.

Danielle began her dance training in 1991 at Deborah MacKay School of Dance in Webster, NY where she later became dance instructor for several years. She has been a student at Park Avenue Dance Company for many years, enrolling in summer classes for Adult Advanced Tap and has also taken Adult Modern Classes at both Park Avenue Dance Company as well as Tango Cafe. She also has a strong interest and love for yoga and can often be seen taking class at Breathe Yoga in Pittsford.

Danielle has a true passion for dance education and is overwhelmingly enthused to be able to share this passion with the students at PDC/AST. She currently lives in Perinton with her husband, Craig and their beloved dog, Bo.

Mr. Andrij ("A.J.") Deneka, Guest Choreographer 

Andrij "A.J." Deneka, originally from Buffalo, NY, is a dance educator, choreographer, and performer. He has years of extensive training in many styles of dance on both the East coast, and West coast scene. Andrij has worked with such artists as Kylie Minogue, Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, Mary Mary, Gregory Hines, Donnie Osmond, and Selena Gomez.  He has many television, live performances, and music video credits to his name.  Some of these credits are the MTV Movie Awards, The TV Land Awards, Jackass 2, Wella Hair, NIKE, International Dance Festival, The Winter Olympics, American Choreography Awards, Jazz Dance World Congress, Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, LA Fashion Apparel Magazine, and has toured the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Mexico with "Instincts Live Media Dance Company."

Over his years of dance he has assisted many well known dance instructors such as Liz Imperio, Joe Tremaine, Doug Caldwell, Charles Klapow, and Desiree Robbins.  Currently Andrij is really focusing on instilling excellent education, and the love for dance to our younger generation. He is on faculty at many dance studios in NY, and is a guest choreographer/teacher at JMR Broadway Dance Center in Seoul Korea, and The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

Mr. Salmane Fekhari & Mr. Moncef Mzibri, Break Dance & Hip Hop Dance Instructors

Salmane Fekhari was introduced to Break Dancing by his best friend, Moncef Mzibri in 1997. After a year of practice and adding new members, they created the Shock Move Break Dance Team in 1998 in Morocco. They started with five members and began performing at local shows, festivals, and private parties to help advertise their team. In 2000 they competed in their first National Break Dance Competition called The Battle of the year 2000, Morocco with a team of six members. They competed against some of the best teams in Morocco. The team was ranked fourth for style and in third place for choreography. Their team continued to be involved in more "street battles" with other Break Dancing teams. This influenced them to improve their technique and style to help them compete with the advanced teams.

In 2001, Salmane moved to the United States and sadly had to leave behind his team. The rest of the team eventually broke up in Morocco. Moncef decided to move to the United States to reestablish The Shock Move Break Dance Team with its co-founder, Salmane. They have brought the Moroccan style of Break Dancing to the United States. That's where they met Arli (aka NuNu) the leader of Ground Control Crew, they met in Rochester, NY they "battled"each others' teams and admired each others style and skills. Arli asked Salmane (aka Coolshady) and Moncef (aka Sisifou) to join the Ground Control Crew, and that was the new start for the both of them.

They have competed in local competitions with great success, including a 2004 competition at MCC in which they won first place, as well as the 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 Monroe County Fair. Salmane and Moncef have also worked with many school groups and at All Stars Talent (2004-2005) in the Rochester area, introducing their unique style of Break Dancing to others.

Salmane and Moncef are pleased to re-join the teaching team at All Stars Talent and now Perinton Dance Company as well. We are excited to have their talent and skills back at our studios.

Ms. Laura Isabella, Vocal Instructor

Soprano Laura Isabella is a native of the Capital District. The versatile singing-actress has presented such favorite roles as Nora in Ralph Vaughan Williams' opera, Riders to the Sea, Fiordiligi in W. A. Mozart's Così fan tutte, Helene in Paul Hindemith's Hin und zurück, and Madame de la Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast. She has performed in several venues including a recital at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY with other selected Nazareth College students, and also in several benefits such as Nazareth College's MENC's Musical Theatre Night Instrument Drive and Nazareth College's Lambda association's AIDS Awareness/The Trevor Project "Miscast" Musical Theatre Benefits.

Her extensive range and exquisite musicianship allows Ms. Isabella to enjoy the realms of opera, oratorio, and art song as well as musical theatre. Ms. Isabella received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Nazareth College in May 2011. She currently resides in Rochester, NY.

Mrs. Mary Zeigler, Piano Instructor

Mary began her music training on piano at age 6 in San Diego, California. She studied music at the University of Redlands and at San Diego State University. She completed her Masters of Music Education at Nazareth College in 2003.

In 1983, Mary began her teaching career as a Suzuki Piano teacher. Since then she has taught private piano students in San Diego (California), Raton (New Mexico), Tallahassee (Florida) and Rochester (New York).  She currently is a music teacher in the Penfield School District where she has taught for 13 years.

Mary enjoys working with young children; she believes that every child can learn to play music given a supportive environment. Mary also enjoys performing with various community orchestras, her church praise team and her husband’s rock and roll band. She lives in Pittsford with her husband, her 3 year old daughter, and standard poodle.

Ms. Heather Fields, DPT, Injury Prevention Workshop Educator

Mr. Jon Lehrer, Guest Dance Instructor

Jon Lehrer, who was raised in Queens, NY, is the Founder and Artistic Director of LehrerDance. Jon took his very first dance class at age 19 on a dare while attending the University at Buffalo. After only two years of training, Jon was asked to join the University's Zodiaque Dance Company. In the summer of 1994, Jon received a scholarship to study at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, training with such esteemed faculty as Carolyn Adams, Danny Buraczeski, Gail Gilbert, Margie Gillis, Danny Grossman, and Mark Morris.

As a professional, Jon has danced with the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Paul Sanasardo, John Passafiume Dancers, in Merv Griffin's "Funderful" in Atlantic City, NJ, and the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. In May 1997, Jon was hired by Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and after three years, was promoted to Rehearsal Director and then given the position of Associate Director two years later. During his ten years with Giordano, Jon choreographed seven original works on the company that received rave reviews all around the world.

Jon has choreographed for several dance companies in Chicago and around the world including; Thodos Dance Chicago, Instruments of Movement, Momenta Dance Theatre, Configuration dance Theatre, Louisiana Dance Theatre, Le Jazz Groupe from Monterrey, Mexico, and Kannon Dance of St. Petersburg, Russia. Jon's choreography can also be seen on numerous Universities around the country including University at Buffalo, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Nevada Reno, East Central University, Northern Illinois University, Oakland University, and Hope College. In 2002, Jon was one of four Chicago choreographers selected to participate in the first ever Dance Chicago Choreography Project, sponsored by the Chicago Community Trust and Sara Lee, and was selected to participate again in 2004. Through the Project, Jon set an original work on dancers from the Joffrey Ballet.

Jon teaches master classes throughout the U.S. and around the world, is on the faculty of the Jazz Dance World Congress, Dance Masters of America, Dance Teacher Summer Conference, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, and is a guest artist at numerous colleges around the country. In 2003, Jon had the honor of receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University at Buffalo's Zodiaque Dance Company for his accomplishments as a dancer and choreographer. Jon is on the Advisory Board of Dance Spirit Magazine, was featured on the November 2007 cover of Dance Teacher Magazine, and has appeared in Dance Magazine numerous times.

In July 2007, Jon moved to Buffalo, New York, to begin his much anticipated professional dance company - LehrerDance. The company showcases his unique choreography and definitive style. Jon's extensive background in both the modern and jazz dance idioms fosters choreography that is organic, artistic, accessible and often humorous, reflecting life experience and the human condition. In its short history, LehrerDance has received international recognition and kept audiences on the edge of their seats from coast to coast with their trademark athletic style.

Jon has been offering monthly group and private Master Classes at All Stars Talent since August of 2008 and at PDC since January of 2009.