Babylon School of Dance

Joann Cistone (Owner/Director)
MaryBeth Lambert (Secretary)
Brandie Iampietro (Company Director/Teacher)
Joann "Jaye" Chiavon (Company Director/Teacher)
Amy Druce (Teacher)
Melissa "Missy" Theivon (Teacher)
Nora Filewicz (Teacher)
Tracey Blythe (Teacher)
Annie-Laurie Hens (Teacher)
Alicia Sehn (Teacher)
Katie Daggett (Teacher)
Jen Gill (Teacher)
Amy Jackson (Teacher)

	Joann Cistone (Owner/Director) Miss Joann has a Degree in Elementary Ed. from Holy Family College. She taught at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in South Philadelphia and at St. Martha's in Northeast Philadelphia. Later, making a career change, she became manager of the Fox Racquetball Clubs in Southampton and Trevose. In 1982, Joann took ownership of the Babylon Fitness and Racquet Club in Horsham. This is where, in 1988, because of her love for children and the arts, she opened her Babylon School of Dance. In 1994, she decided to concentrate solely on dance and moved the school to the third floor at Highpoint, now the Philadelphia Sports Club. Joann's devotion for these last 19 years has grown into five studios, 77 classes a week, 375 families and over 550 students.
	Marybeth Lambert (Secretary) Miss Marybeth graduated from Gwynedd Mercy College with a degree in Cardiovascular Technology. She has been employed by hospitals and cardiology offices in the Montgomery and Bucks County areas as an echocardiographer for over twenty years. She has three beautiful daughters, Courtney, Ali and Casey, all students here at the Babylon School. Marybeth has been Babylon's Office Manager since September, 2004.
	Brandie Iampietro (Company Director/Teacher) Miss Brandie has a Bachelor's Degree in Dance from DeSales University. While in college, she was a teacher for their Dance Conservatory and choreographed for some of their student produced dance concerts. She was also a member of Chi Tau Epsilon, the National Dance Honor Society. Before college, she studied jazz,tap, ballet and moden for over eleven years and started teaching during the last four years of of her training. She continues her education by attending teacher workshops as well as continuing to take classes in New York City. She has worked with children throughout her life, from dance instructor, to day care worker, to camp counselor, to helping care for the younger children in her own family. Miss Brandie is the co-Artistic Director of Babylon School as well as the co-Director of its dance company “Momentum”. She has been here since September, 1996.
	Joann "Jaye" Chiavon (Company Director/Teacher) Miss Jaye has a BA in Dance from DeSales University. She studied dance since she was three years old. She started her training at the Focus On Dance School. She was a member of their dance company”The Wiz Kids”. While performing and competing with this troupe, she received many awards in the Delaware Valley and New York areas. Through the student exchange program at Focus On Dance, she experienced studying dance in France, Germany, Italy, Monaco and Austria. In 1993, Miss Jaye traveled to Germany with a dance troupe representing the United States in a World Cup dance competition. They placed second out of 16 countries. For nine years, She lived and continued her training in New York City. In Manhattan she taught classes and choreographed a few small plays and reviews. Since moving back to Pennsylvania, Miss Jaye has been attending teacher workshops as well as continuing to take classes in New York City. Miss Jaye has been involved with the Babylon School of Dance since it opened in 1988. She is the Co-Artistic Director of the school and the co-Director of its company “Momentum”. Her husband Mark has been the emcee of our recitals since 2002. Together they have two beautiful daughters, Stella and Alessandra. Mark and both girls are dancers in our school.
	Amy Druce (Teacher) Miss Amy studied classical ballet at the Hamilton School of Dance for 13 years. She was the choreographer and captain for Conestoga’s popular “Kickline” for 3 years . While at Westminster College, she continued to dance and choreographed song and dance show numbers. Enjoying working with little children, she became a camp counselor and student teacher. Miss Amy has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. Besides teaching dance, she works for the Pennsylvania House of Representaives and for her sister’s Hot Air Balloon business, “Air Ventures”. Miss Amy has three boys; Ty, Zac and Jake. All three are involved in helping back stage during the Babylon School of Dance recitals. Ty is emcee of the evening show.Miss Amy has been teaching at Babylon since September, 1995.
	Melissa "Missy" Theivon (Teacher) Miss Missy was two years old when she started dance lessons at Dance Dimensions School of Dance. She has studied and performed ballet, jazz, tap, and acrobatics for over twenty years. Some of the dance companies she has performed with are; Stephen Love’s “Next Generation” in Philadelphia and the Elite Dance Academy Competition Team in Richboro, Pennsylvania. Miss Missy has received many awards from regional and national talent competitions such as a gold medal and the special “MTV” award. Some very special teachers who helped in her dance training are Pamela Bolling, Gus Giordano, Karen Hebert and Frank Hatchett. Miss Missy and her husband Ed have a handsome little 3 year old, Eddie Jr. and a beautiful new daughter, Madeline, who is two. She has been teaching here at Babylon since 1999.
	Nora Woods Filewicz(Teacher) Miss Nora has a BFA in Dance from Kutztown University. While at the university, she performed with the resident company “PDP”, was the dance chairperson for their related arts festival, and minored in Theatre and English/Professional Writing. Miss Nora has performed in the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant and in Disney World, Florida. She has teaching certifications from Dance Olympus and the Broadway Dance Center. Some of her training has been with the Paul Taylor Company, Alvin Ailey and Ballet Hispanico. Miss Nora has choreographed the musical “Godspell”, performed by the Quakertown Youth Group. She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Saucon Valley Ballet Theatre in Hellertown, which features many Babylon students. Miss Nora is a certified Power Centering instructor at Carpenter Family Chiropractic. In addition to the 2 years she ran Babylon's summer program when we were in Horsham, she has been teaching with our full year program since 1999.
	Tracey Blythe Price (Teacher) Tracey graduated in 1996 from Bucknell University with a degree in Dance. She was awarded a two year scholarship to Alvin Ailey American dance Theater and a performing arts scholarship to Edge Performing Arts Center. In 1997, Miss Tracey trained and performed at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina and at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 2003, she was on faculty at Bucknell University as a guest artist. Miss Tracey has been part of the Babylon staff since 2004.
	Alicia Sehn Alicia Sehn is 2004 graduate of Muhlenberg College, earning degrees in both Dance and Psychology. Her professional experience includes productions of "A Chorus Line" and "Annie Get Your Gun", as well as modern dance performances in the INFLUX Concert series at the Mascher Space Coop., the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and for the University City Arts League. Miss Alicia, in 2007, was the director of dance for the Arts After Hours program, a state-funded grant running through the Montgomery County Cultural Theater Center, bring theater arts to underprivileged children and communities. She is presently the choreographer for Central Bucks East High School's annual spring musical productions, staging The Music Man in 2007 and 42nd Street in 2008. Miss Alicia is a performing member of the contemporary dance company, Artists in Rhythm, and of the tap company, Loose Screws. She loves being a part of the Babylon School of Dance staff and would like to thank her new husband, Dan, for all of his love and support. Miss Alicia has been teaching with us since 2006.
	Annie-Laurie Hens Annie-Laurie Hens graduated from West Chester University with a B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education and a minor in Dance Education. While at WCU, Annie performed in Dance Production Workshops and was also a member of the WCU Dance Team. Annie taught mathematics at North Penn High School , in Lansdale , PA , for 6 years. Annie is responsible for starting the Dance Team at NPHS, which has received many positive responses and is about to start her third year with the organization. Having just completed her Masters Degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2005 and obtaining her Principal's Certification, Annie is currently working as an Assistant Principal for North Penn High . Miss Annie danced with Opus1 Contemporary Dance Company for 6 years. Miss Annie has been teaching with us since 2006.
	Katie Daggett Miss Katie has danced since she was three years old back in her hometown of New Berlin, Wisconsin. In high school at Catholic Memorial, she belonged to the offical Milwaukee Wave's dance team. As captain of her pom squad, she choreographed many award winning dances. Later, while in college, Miss Katie danced with the "Claire Burns Dance Company" of New York and also with "Danceworks" in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She studied with one of Milwaukee's Ballet principal's, Miss Lori Romito, and later became part of the teaching staff. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a BFA in Dance, she moved to Philadelphia where she danced for about a year with a local Hip Hop company, "International Dance Crew". We are thrilled to have Miss Katie on out Babylon staff.
	Jen Gill Miss Jen has been dancing since she was two-and-a-half years old. She took jazz, ballet, modern and tap from 1989-1993 at various schools in the area. She then studied with the Central Bucks school of Gymnastics and Dance, as well as North Penn Gymnastics from 1993-2006. While attending North Penn High School, she took classes at New York City, at the Broadway Dance Center. Miss Jen is presently working for her Bachelor's Degree in dance at DeSales University. She taught deaf children dance technique at the Mary Katzenback School of the Deaf in New Jersey. She has also taught various levels of jazz, ballet and tap at the Central Bucks School of Gymnastics and Dance. In addition to performing in plays while at school, Miss Jen has had the opportunity to dance on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line with the CBSG Dance Company in May 2001 and April 2003. In May 2004, she performed at the Philadelphia Zoo. In April 2001, she appeared on The Morning Show with CN8 and CBS. She also worked at Sesame Place performing as Rosita and Ernie from March 2005 to August 2007. Miss Jen is very happy to be teaching at Babylon.
	Amy Jackson Amy Jackson, a 2007 graduate of Delaware Valley College, has been tap dancing since the age of two. She received her training at The Dance Connection in Rockaway, New Jersey, as well as being a member of the Advanced Dance Team at Roxbury High School for four years. Amy is an accomplished tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet and pointe dancer winning many competition titles. These titles include Miss StarQuest, Miss CoDance, and Miss Rising Star to name a few. She has received many overall placements as well. After winning a position on the Adult World Tap Team her senior year of high school, Amy traveled to Reisa, Germany and placed 6th in the World Tap Championships. She has also performed in an off-Broadway show with �Break the Floor�, and has been in several Nutcracker performances for various charity events where she performed as Clara. Amy has taught tap, jazz, lyrical and ballet, as well as gymnastics. She is looking forward to beginning her teaching career in her new residence state of Pennsylvania.