Meet Your Instructors

For more information Email us! or Call Strictly Ballroom Dance (845) 569-0530
 

BALLROOM, LATIN, SWING, HUSTLE

Joseph C. Maraday Jr.  is the owner and founder of Strictly Ballroom Dance Studio and dance has been a part of his life for the past 30 years.  First as a member of the Springfield College Exhibition Dance Team, Joe continued his dance experience at a nationally recognized chain studio participating in local and regional competitions as well as part of the teaching staff until graduating college.

“I feel very fortunate to have studied ballroom, latin and swing dance with some of the most recognized names in the field for over 25 years and I enjoy sharing these years of experience with others”.  Joe’s study of dance is ongoing in order to provide the highest quality learning experience to all his students.  This is evident by his constantly remaining current with updated figures, techniques and new material.  All instruction is based on standards set forth by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD) and the newly developed Dance Vision International Dance Association (DVIDA).  These are two of the most highly recognized programs in the ballroom dance industry.

Aside from owning Strictly Ballroom, Joe has been teaching the cadets at West Point how to dance for over 20 years and became instrumental in seeing the cadets participate in the youth / college network as intercollegiate ballroom dance competitors for the first time.  In addition, Joe teaches dance in the Physical Education Department at Orange County Community College and in the past has taught for numerous other schools and organizations.  These include Middletown High School, Mt. Saint Mary College (continuing education and student activities), Newburgh Free Academy (Adult Education), Sacred Heart Parochial School, and Sportsplex Health Club to name a few.  Joe has also served as guest Instructor for the dance department at Springfield College and a variety of local community events.

Tina Husinko   has been passionately teaching the time honored hustle at Strictly Ballroom Dance Studio for years.   Her love of dance is clearly passed along through her simple and effective method of instruction.  The hustle remains one of the most often danced social dances and Tina enthusiastically shares her knowledge and skill of this dance with all who want to learn.
 

WEST COAST SWING

Lee Mansfield    has been dancing West Coast Swing for 10 years.  She has studied in both group and private settings with many champion level dancers.  Lee travels the country attending West Coast Swing events, and has competed and won at the national level.  Lee currently competes at the advanced level.   You can find her dancing socially throughout the tri-state area.  Lee say's "Why stay home when you can be out dancing!

ARGENTINE TANGO

Walter & MariLynne Kane     have been dancing together their whole adult lives. Dancing has been their favorite social activity as well as their own personal obsession. When they crossed paths with Argentine Tango it was love at first step. Since then, they have concentrated on that form, studying with Argentine masters here and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They practice daily for their own pleasure and to hone their techniques.

Together with friends interested in creating a tango environment here in the suburbs, in 1999, they formed the tango community of Hudson Valley Tango which holds regular dance events, attended by dancers from Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster counties, as well as northern New Jersey and western Connecticut. Since early 2005 they have been hosting monthly tango dance parties at Strictly Ballroom. 

They have been teaching Argentine Tango professionally for ten years, performing exhibitions at various venues to promote and popularize tango, and at fund-raising events for worthy causes.

Ellen Chrystal   is a dancer who loves to share her ability to interpret different kinds of music into improvisational movement. Her goal as a teacher is to help others discover the joy of movement and expression. 

Ellen studied ballet, jazz, and modern dance in Toronto and San Francisco from 1970 through the 80's.  In the early 70's she travelled and performed with Tisziji Munoz's Improvisational Jazz Troupe.  In the 1980's she taught and choreographed dances for women and children in San Rafael, California.  In 1995, Ellen discovered Argentine Tango at the Sandra Cameron Dance Studio in New York City.  She remembers "looking through a glass partition, while a tango class was being held, my eyes fell on a woman, gently passing over the leg of her partner and then softly sweeping her body back in front of his."  Ellen felt she had discovered the perfect dance for one who loves improvisational expression and social dancing, while at the same time giving one the opportunity to dance with a partner.

Ellen has taken tango classes and workshops in New York and Buenos Aires with many of the greatest Argentine Tango masters, including Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, Omar Vega, Pablo Veron, Juan Carlos Copas, Carlos Copella, Fabian Salas, Gustavo Naviera, and Miguel Zotto.  Her main studies were with Mariela Franganillo, Pablo Pugliese, Carolina Zokalski and Diego DiFalco, and Daniel and Maria (the godparents of the New York City tango scene). In addition, Ellen had a chance to study and perform choreography by Diego and Carolina for Tango Fest 2000 at Broadway's Town Hall in New York City.  Over the past ten years, Ellen has had the opportunity to travel to many places around the world and dance tango. 

In 2006, Ellen moved to the Hudson Valley and founded Tango New Paltz with Nina Jirka.  (www.tangonewpaltz.com)   Together they have been teaching and developing a progressive curriculum for Argentine Tango while participating in the growth of the tango community in the area.

Nina Jirka  has comprehensively studied  various forms of dance, movement, music, and theatre at the legendary Russian Dance Academies in Moscow and Perm.  Concentrating later on classical dance, she graduated with highest honors.  Nina toured extensively through Europe and Asia, dancing as a soloist with the Moscow Festival Ballet, Perm Opera, Kremlin Ballet, and Stars of Bolshoi, as well as being featured in a number of films for German and Russian Television.   Moving to New York ten years ago, Nina continued to perform, study, and teach dance and yoga.   In 2006, she received her MA degree from the State University of New York and, together with Ellen Chrystal, founded Tango New Paltz (www.tangonewpaltz.com).  Currently, Nina is also working with private students, through Vanaver Caravan Institute, Figures in Flight Dance Company, and RTA (Rehabilitation through the Arts) Program. 

YOGA