Founder and Artistic Director

Ceylan Gentilella is a professional dance instructor with over 16 years of dance teaching experience and has been dancing for over 25 years. She holds a BFA in Dance and a BS in Therapeutic Recreation from Montclair State University in New Jersey. In addition, she has a Massage Therapy Certificate from Helma Institute.

Ceylan is currently a member of Dance Educators of America and a former member of Associated Dance Teachers of New Jersey. She is very proactive in staying up to date with current trends and learning new techniques for her students. Her diverse background affords her the ability to educate individuals with various needs that cannot be found elsewhere. She remains totally committed to quality education and instilling a love of the arts within her students.

While in college Ceylan developed a program called "Inspire" to teach dance for wheelchair users and received a scholarship to study with the Cleveland Ballet Dancing Wheels.  In 2003, Ceylan was approached to teach a dance class specifically for children with autism. Through educational workshops, she acquired an abundance of tools to successfully design and implement a dance program for this special population that still stands today.

Her numerous accomplishments include gala performance at The Kennedy Center for The Arts, award winning choreography, and most recently being nominated for a Disney Teacher Award for the Arts. It is her personal belief that dance is not just about how technically proficient you are, but how passionate you are.

"Dance is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself."

~ Havelock Ellis