Faculty

Claire Coolidge has been dancing since the age of four, she started her training at All for Dance dance studio in Robbinsville, New Jersey, taking a wide array of classes in genres such as Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Modern and Contemporary. She furthered her education and training during high school at the Burlington County Institute of Technology: Performing Arts Academy, studying in Ballet, Modern and Jazz. For her senior year, she moved on to The Joffrey Ballet Schools Jazz and Contemporary Trainee Program in New York City under the direction of Angelica Stiskin and Michael Waldrop, training in styles such as Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop, Improvisation, Theater, Partnering, and Modern. She just recently graduated after four years of training and had the opportunities to work with choreographers such as Billy Griffin, Gabrielle Lamb, Michael Peña and Amy Yakima. After graduating she has been featured in multiple works by independent artists, performing in “Spring4Spring” at Mignolo Dance, and “8 in Show” at Dixon Place. She currently is a member of the Hip Hop company Empire Dance and has performed at World of Dance Boston and The Power of Now as a company member. This past spring she was proud to set a new piece of choreography on the dance program students in BCIT’s Performing Arts Academy. This year will be her 7th year teaching and choreographing here at AFD and is so excited for this coming season!