Shelley Morgigno (owner/instructor)
Shelley Morgigno received her BA in Dance from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Shelley trained and worked with numerous companies and choreographers throughout her college career including Tara Madsen, Ursula Payne, Teena Custer, Lar Lubovich, and Pilobolus. After college, she moved to Pittsburgh to pursue ballroom dance with Arthur Murray Dance Studios and traveled throughout Pennsylvania, teaching and performing smooth and rhythm styles. Returning to her home state of Connecticut in 2016, Shelley became the owner and director of the Creative Dance Center of East Hampton, CT. Continuing to dance professionally, Shelley spent two seasons with DancEnlight and is currently in her 4th season as a company member of IMMIX Dance Project. Shelley is in her 7th year as a faculty member of the dance department at Choate Rosemary Hall and has extensive experience teaching and choreographing for students and professionals of all ages.
Danielle Watters
(Tap 2&3 Instructor)
Danielle Watters has been tap dancing for 26 years, and teaching for the last 8 years. Her dance education started at Miss Beth’s School of Dance in Middletown, CT, and continued at Stage Left Dance Studio. She studied tap under Kate Cavenagh, who encouraged her to attend tap festivals in Boston and New York City, and to continue dancing through college. While attending UConn, Danielle competed with the UConn Tap Team, studied under Ryan P. Casey as well as Kate Cavenagh, and served as treasurer and president of the team. Once she completed her undergraduate career, she and Kate co-founded the Connecticut Tap Collaborative: a tap company based in central Connecticut committed to keeping the culture and history of tap dance alive. Danielle also enjoys performing with Colchester Community Theater, and has been ensemble and a tap dancer in both Mary Poppins (2019) and Young Frankenstein (2023). Outside of dance, Danielle works as a clinical exercise physiologist in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation in the hospital setting. She is excited to be teaching at Creative Dance Center and looks forward to having a great year!
Allison Pietruszka
(Tap 1 & Jazz 1 Student Teacher)
Allison Pietruszka is a high school senior that has been dancing for 14 years. She began with tap and ballet, and had added worship dance, jazz dance, and square dance along the way. She has studied at the Creative Dance Center for the past 11 years and has assisted with younger student classes for the past 4 years. Allison also enjoys theater. Two of her favorite past credits include the title role in Matilda the Musical and young Clara in The Nutcracker. After graduation, Allison plans to continue her education in dance.
Cynthia Sorvillo Baloga (founder) began her study of dance at Matchie Studios of Dance and Drama in 1963. During her 15 years of study at Matchie Studios, Cynthia trained at the Central Connecticut Ballet Company, Area Youth Scholarship Ballet, Nutmeg Ballet, and John Barker School of Classical Dance. After graduation, Cynthia moved to New York City to pursue training of the Lennigrad Syllabus (previously referred to as the Vaganova Method of Ballet). Adult education dance courses were also pursued at Hartford Ballet and Nutmeg Ballet.
Cynthia’s first employment opportunity was at the Center for Performing Arts in Jacksonville, Florida, where she was appointed director of the ballet department. While living in Florida, Cynthia attended ballet classes at Jacksonville Junior College. In 1982 Cynthia returned to her hometown of East Hampton, CT to open the Creative Dance Center where she continues to teach ballet, tap, and jazz.
Cynthia’s passion for community service began with an invitation to volunteer at the East Hampton Senior Citizen Center from 1982 to present. She enjoys teaching line dancing and tap, as well as chair exercise classes. Her time at the Senior Citizen Center inspired Cynthia to create intergenerational dance performances donating proceeds to the local food bank. Cynthia’s many years of community service was recognized in 2007 when she was awarded Citizen of the Year.