Christine has been the owner / director of Dance Place for 31 years. She began her dance training at local studios and continued on to earn a Minor in Dance from UMass Boston. She loves to continue learning more about dance through online courses and local events. This summer she attended the Rhee Gold Dance Life Teachers Conference.

Outside of the studio, Christine has 2 boys – Alex & Nicholas (who both grew up dancing at the studio!) and her dog Snowball. She loves spending time with family, kayaking and crafting.

Bio to come.

Claire Lane is a Boston-based dance artist and educator. In May of 2020 she graduated summa cum laude from Smith College with a B.A. in Dance and French Studies with the distinction of highest honors. A recipient of the Five College Dance Department Virginia K. Wagner Scholarship and the Smith College Excellence in Dance Studies award, she has performed in works by Doug Varone, Bebe Miller, Ephrat Asherie, Angie Hauser, Chris Aiken, and Rodger Blum. Claire has presented her own choreography at Smith College, The Dance Complex in Boston, MA, and through virtual platforms including freeskewl's FERN performance series and NACHMO Boston's 2021 virtual showcase. A language enthusiast and global artist-scholar, Claire has pursued further dance training internationally at P.A.R.T.S under the direction of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in Belgium, and at Trinity Laban Conservatory in London. In 2015, she played the principal role of Dorothy in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" which was selected to represent the United States at the Surin International Folklore Festival in Thailand. As a freelance professional dancer, Claire is currently working on projects with Holly Stone/ StoneWork Productions and as a Shuffle Cohort Teacher and Community Outreach Coordinator for Midday Movement in Cambridge, MA.

Fun Fact: Claire is also a practitioner of Yoga, Pilates, and Franklin Method! She has incorporated her somatic knowledge into her teaching as a Debate and Public Speaking Coach for high-schoolers.

A language enthusiast and globally-minded artist-scholar, Claire believes in the transformative power of dance as a medium of communication that can bridge cultural, ethnic, and educational differences to create experiences of shared import. Her teaching embraces dance as a communal practice of developing somatic strategies to embody the fullness of our imagination, radiating from the studio out into the world.

Emilie Hurley began her dance career at Arlington Dance Place at the age of 5, when she started on a long journey of taking a multitude of classes (including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Modern, and more) and continued dancing with us until she graduated high school in 2017. While dancing at Dance Place, Emilie also performed in the Nutcracker All Jazz'd Up for many years, as well as, performed extensively with our Dance Team, On Broadway Dancers.

After graduating high school, Emilie attended Clemson University in South Carolina to pursue a degree in Health Science. While at Clemson, she continued dancing with two student organizations, Clemson Dancers and Tiger Strut Dance Company. Her senior year, Emilie was elected President of Clemson Dancers, where she was in charge of planning and executing their annual Spring Showcase. At Dance Place, Emilie serves as our Dance Team Director, Performance Group Director, and weekly teacher. When not at Dance Place, Emilie works as a Pediatric Physical Therapist at Emerson Hospital treating children with a variety of different diagnoses. Emilie is passionate about helping dancers acquire their full potential through strengthening technique, encouraging confidence, and instilling strong values and a passion for dancer in every dancer she comes in contact with!

Haley Hirsch proudly danced at Arlington Dance Place starting at the age of 3 through her senior year of high school. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern, and hip hop, was a member of the On Broadway dancers and danced in many Nutcracker All Jazz'd up performances. She continued her education at the University of New Hampshire majoring in Justice Studies and Sociology and minoring in Dance. She broadened her dance horizons at UNH as a member and Co-Captain of the UNH Jazz Tap and Aerial Dance Company honing in on her skills and adding Aerial to her repertoire focusing on trapeze and silk work. She currently works as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator for a local construction company and is a dancer with DanceWorks Boston.

Haley values the importance of using dance to promote confidence, empowerment and self-esteem and incorporates that into her teaching. Haley is most excited to meet all of her new students and see their bright shining faces each week!

Jennifer Kuhnberg (she/her) is a dance educator, choreographer, producer and performer based in Malden, Massachusetts. Jen is the founder and director of OnStage Dance Company, a non-profit organization for adult dancers and emerging choreographers. Her evening-length productions [What Is Love?; Selichot; Heartbeat: A Modern Dance Rock Concert] debuted throughout the Boston area, and her short form work has been featured in The Salem Arts Fest, Dance For World Community, Providence Movement Festival, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, NACHMO Boston & NYC Showcases, and more.

Jen's dance films were selected for the International Fine Arts Film Festival, From This Earth Film Festival, and Film Fest by Rogue Dancer. Her dance film "Strange" was awarded Audience Choice at the 2023 Boston Dance Film Festival. Jen is passionate about providing outlets for creativity and collaboration - producing performances, dance festivals and showcases, such as OnStage 360° and the Annual Dance Class Marathon in the Greater Boston area. She is also a board member of the Malden Cultural Council. A dance educator with over 15 years of teaching experience throughout the New England area, she is proud to be on faculty at Dance Place!! Follow Jen's work at @jen_e.k & @onstagedanceco

Jess Curran is a Dance Place alum who danced with us from age 2 until she graduated high school in May 2019. At Dance Place she took a variety of classes such as ballet, pointe, jazz, and contemporary. She also was a member of the Dance Team. After high school, Jess went on to College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. In May 2023 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Dance minor. As a dance minor she studied styles such as ballet, jazz, modern, and balinese dance. While at Holy Cross, Jess was also a member of the college's Dance Ensemble. As a member of the Dance Ensemble she was the jazz choreographer for 3 years and participated in both the jazz and contemporary ensemble classes. Additionally, she served as the Co-Chair of the club her junior and senior year, which involved organizing all showcases and choreographing all-ensemble performances.

Jess was also a member of the Holy Cross Dance Team for 3 years, where she performed jazz and hip-hop routines at the college's football and basketball games. In addition to teaching dance, Jess works as a College Advisor and Admissions Counselor at a school in Lexington. She also is the school's intramural dance team coach. She is very excited to be back at Dance Place as a teacher, and she is ready to share her passion for dance with her students and help them learn and grow as dancers this year!

Karis began dancing at Dance Place when she was three years old. She took various classes from all different styles but her favorite is contemporary. After graduating high school she attended the University of Rhode Island and was a member of the dance company there for one season. She then went on to dance with Danceworks Boston for one season. Karis no longer dances herself, but she finds so much joy in being able to share her passion for dance by teaching others. Outside of Dance Place, she is also an assistant preschool teacher at Fidelity House in Arlington. She is a junior at Lesley University where she is studying to be a social worker and hopes to work within Child Protective Services once she gets her masters. 

Kasey has been dancing since the age of three and became part of the Dance Place family at twelve. During her time at Dance Place, she trained in ballet, jazz, and tap while also performing with the On Broadway Dancers. After high school, she continued her passion for dance at Bridgewater State University, where she choreographed two tap pieces for university productions. In addition to her collegiate dance experience, she has remained involved with Dance Camp since high school. Currently, Kasey is an elementary school teacher in Lynn. She is excited to continue working with dancers, watching them grow as individuals, and helping them discover the joy and love of dance. 

Lauren has been dancing since the age of 2. She grew up dancing at Dance Place and continued her love for dance by becoming a class assistant and then Dance teacher. She went to Dean College and got her A.A. in the arts.

Lauren has been working with all ages at Dance Place since 2006 and providing the love for dance for so many students. Outside of the studio you can find her spending time with her family out and about on an adventure.

Lella (she/her) danced at the Dance Place for nine years and is now in her fourth year of teaching for us and her third year of choreographing for our On Broadway Dancers. Along with working at Dance Place, she works at Ready Set Kids as a preschool teacher and goes to school at Boston College for her Masters in Social Work. She is excited to watch all her students grow as individuals and dancers!

Megan (she/her) began dancing at the age of 4 and since that time has studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop and various street genres. After 13 years of training with Dance Place, she has been back teaching for 3. Megan has taught at a variety of studios in the New England area, both recreational and competitive. Megan also teaches the Hip Hop portion of Arlington Community Education after school classes for K-3. She performs with Boston based freelance groups, including, Boston Community Dance Project and Dance Works Boston.

Megan is always looking to continue to expand her skills for teaching dance by participating in workshops and conventions. As a dance teacher, Megan strives for her students to feel confident, comfortable, motivated and inspired by the environment they are in. Megan wants to see her students feel proud of their accomplishments, and enjoy each small step of their growth on their dance journey!

NaShaya Wornum is a female artist of the African diaspora whose distinct combination of techniques of dance communicates humanities existence through storytelling. NaShaya began her dance career in Hip Hop and African Dance. She danced locally with her community already immersed in the culture, learning the significance of carrying on tradition. Through a respite from Boston's mainstream dance community NaShaya discovered her own methods of speaking to her audience. Within a year she was independently performing her own choreography. The solidification of her foundations derive from street dance styles, time spent at Uptown Dance, and Stajez. Soon after she began a more formal introduction to ballet and modern dance at 4 Star Dance studio. From there, she went on to train at Boston Arts Academy where she furthered her knowledge of modern and ballet.

Going back home; NaShaya has been training in Hip Hop's Popping form at Stiggy East under Ashton "Stackz" Lites. NaShaya stands to pay respect to the street styles that are so often taken from and origins forgotten or erased. Her Hip Hop studies continue in the form of participating in the myriad aspects of the community's culture. Using a blend of learned techniques and forms, NaShaya strives to unite people in a global understanding that transcends race, gender, and class.

Young b-boy from Russia and experienced break dance teacher now based in Boston. By dedicating his life to this direction of hip-hop culture, he became the champion of his region and founded a break dance school in Russia. Having a huge layer of knowledge in the field of teaching kids and anyone that was interested just by using simple English language, about each direction of breaking: top rock, go downs, footwork, freezes, and power moves.

Sam has been going to dance camp at Dance Place since she was 4 and started dancing there for real when she turned 10. She excitedly joined our dance team freshman year of high school. Sam continued to dance at Stonehill College in their dance club. She has been back teaching (and dancing in the Nutcracker) at Dance Place since 2015. Outside of her time at Dance Place she is also a teacher during the school year.

Shannon Hirsch is a proud alum of Dance Place, and she is so excited to be spending her Saturday mornings at the studio again! Shannon danced for 15 years at Dance Place and is trained in a multitude of styles, including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, and Contemporary, as well as performing in The Nutcracker All Jazz'd Up and being a member of The Dance Team. She also has an extensive background in Musical Theatre performance, and she incorporates these skills into her dance classes whenever possible.

Shannon is a graduate of The University of Massachusetts Amherst and currently teaches High School English in North Andover. She is so happy to share her love of dance with your child and looks forward to dancing through the year together!

I have been teaching at Dance Place since 1998. Fun fact, Christine and I danced together as children and have been close friends ever since. Positive coaching, empowering children and creating an all inclusive, supportive dance environment is very important to me.

My goal is to have every child/teen leave my class feeling good about themselves and spreading that positivity to people in their circles. I wear many hats, in addition to teaching dance, I am a counselor, business owner, essential oils connoisseur and spiritual intuitive teacher. In my free time, I enjoy snowboarding, learning to ride a motorcycle, hiking and exploring. Boston is my favorite city in the world.