Meet the Staff
MEET THE STAFF
Elisabetta Spuria
JESSICA MUDINSKI
It is a great honor to teach all the wonderful dancers at Performer’s Edge Dance Academy and Jessica is delighted to see how much to studio has grown and evolved over the past 10 years. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing the dancers you work with weekly perform on stage doing what they love.
DANIELLE MEDICI
MIA LATONE
Mr Marcello
Mr. Bernard received his early training at “Armonia Danza” (directed by Mariangela Bernacchia) in his native Italy; during this time he also trained with Member of International Vaganova Method Society’s Marit Bech, as well as receiving numerous awards in well renowned European competitions such as “Eurocity” and “DanzaEuropa”. In 2011, after a brief visit at the Contemporary Academy , Codarts, in Rotterdam, he joined the Ajkun Ballet Theatre, under the Artistic leadership of Leonard and Chiara Ajkun, where he performed a wide variety of traditional repertory ballets such as “Don Quixote”, “The Nutcracker” and “La Bayadère”, as well as being the lead role in multiple contemporary masterpieces choreographed by Mr. Ajkun, including “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” &“Goya, the Spanish Master”. In 2018 Mr. Bernard joined Connecticut Ballet as a featured dancer directed by Brett Raphael, as well as joining the Carole Alexis Dance Company, first as company member then as ripetitor for the company. As a guest Artist over the years, Marcello has appeared and performed with companies like Orange County Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania Youth Ballet & Kodiak Dance Theatre, as well as international dance showcases and workshops like the Dance in Italy Festival and Danzainfiera.
Currently, Mr. Bernard is part of the faculty at Movement Dance Center, Dance Mixx Dance Studio, Ballet Des Amériques, Performers Edge Dance center and Diamond Dance Academy.
Ciara Mercado
Ms. Ciara grew up in the Bronx, NY. She began dancing at age 2, training in various genres such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and salsa. She joined the PEDA family and competition team at 11 years old. During her time at PEDA, she was a part of the regional and national award-winning company team and became an assistant teacher to Ms. Angelique Rodriguez. She also served as co-captain of the Preston High School Hip Hop Dance Team. After she graduated from PEDA, Ms. Ciara became a member and secretary of the Pace University Hip Hop Dance Club. In March of 2022, Ms. Ciara became a full-time teacher in our Eastchester location as our hip-hop teacher and just completed her first year-long season as a full-time teacher in June of 2023. Ms. Ciara recently graduated from Pace University in Pleasantville, NY this past May with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She will continue her education at New York University for her Master’s in Social Work while teaching at PEDA.
Ms. Ciara always wants her students to believe in themselves and be confident. She wants to pass on her love and passion for dance to the next generation.
“Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” -Martha Graham
Corey Wright
Corey Wright trained mainly in gymnastics growing up before starting dance at 16. After completing the professional semester at Broadway Dance Center Corey worked as a free lance dancer performing at the Museum of Natural history, upstate with Dance lab NYC and other interesting projects. Now he’s currently a member of the commercial contemporary dance company TreadFast under the direction of Steven Blandino