Joann Cistone (Owner/Director)
Miss Joann has a degree in elementary education from Holy Family University. She taught third and forth grades in the Catholic schools for 8 years. In 1980, she changed her career path and became the manager of the Fox racquetball clubs in Southampton and Trevose, PA. In 1982, Joann took ownership of the Babylon Fitness and Racquetball club in Horsham, PA. This is where, in 1988, due to her strong love for children, she started her Babylon School of Dance. In 1994, she decided to concentrate entirely on the kids and dance, so she moved the school to the third floor at Highpoint in Chalfont before it became PSC. Miss Joann is constantly looking for ways to offer better dance education and dance opportunities to her students and her teachers. In 2013, she wanted to support the Chalfont community so she joined the Chalfont New Britain Business Alliance. In an attempt to broaden dance interest in the community, in 2015, she produced a professional dance concert, “Convergence: Community Harmony Through Dance” held at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown. Finally, in June of 2022, Joann along with her daughter Miss Jaye Chiavon opened their own place. After 35 years, The Babylon School of Dance, well known in the community, has grown into 5 studios, 55 classes a week and over 300 kids.
Brandie Iampietro (Artistic Director/Company Director/Teacher)
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 performed at Delaware Valley University in the dance production, “Convergence: Community Harmony Through Dance”. 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 (Artistic Director/Company Director/Teacher)
Jaye has been involved with the Babylon School of Dance since it opened in 1988. Miss Jaye has a BA in Dance from DeSales University. She started her training at the Focus On Dance School and was a member of their dance company. 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 & Bronxville, 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 and Philadelphia. She has choreographed for corporate & special events including the Philadelphia Youth Dance Festival. Miss Jaye recently performed in “Philadelphia In Motion” which premiered at the Rochester Fringe Festival. She is the Producer of the dance production of “Convergence: Community Harmony Through Dance” at the Delaware Valley University and also performed in the show. 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. Both girls are dancers in our school.
Emily Palmieri (Teacher)
Emily is so excited to join the teaching staff after 11 years as part of the Babylon family! An alumnus of Babylon School of Dance, Emily took ballet, tap, and jazz classes for 6 years. Prior to Babylon, Emily trained at Branchville Dance in Lafayette, New Jersey and That’s Dancin’ in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania for a collective 16 years. While attending high school, Emily participated in many theatrical productions including The Little Mermaid (Ariel), Pippin(Fastrada), and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Hedy LaRue). After high school, Emily attended The Pennsylvania State University where she earned a degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Business. During her time at Penn State, Emily was an active member of The Penn State Thespians, where she served as the head choreographer for many projects. In addition to teaching dance, Emily works as a sales manager for PepsiCo Frito-Lay. Shoutout to her fabulous momma, Babylon’s very own Miss Carolann, for not only being her first dance teacher, but also for being her biggest inspiration when it comes to teaching.
Katie is a graduate of DeSales University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. Her degree is a culmination of sixteen years of dance training. During this time, she studied various forms and styles of dance including ballet, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary, and musical theatre. She studied under professional performers and choreographers through DeSales, as well as connecting with many guest artists from around the country.
In 2015, Katie had the opportunity to take part and perform in a reconstruction of Doris Humphrey’s famous work Partita V. She also performed as part of New Street Dance group in their 2013 and 2015 repertory, and was a member of the DeSales University Touring Company. This company traveled to local schools to perform and share their love of dance in an educational setting. Beginning in 2013, Katie took part in the organization and development of Dancer for a Day, a program that allows young dancers to experience what dance is like in a pre-professional and collegiate setting. She is incredibly excited to join the Babylon staff and inspire her love of dance to the next generation and we are thrilled to have her. Katie joined Babylon’s staff in 2016
Jen Gill Schmilewski (Teacher)
Jennifer Gill has been enjoying every rewarding aspect that comes with teaching dance since 2004. She has been dancing since she was two years old and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance from DeSales University. While attending DeSales, Miss Jen received her dance training from her professors as well as guest artists from all over the country. She also attended two American College Dance Festivals where she performed and took a variety of dance classes from many talented teachers. Jen is currently dancing for the MarDelDance Company, as well as some independent choreographers. Her solo “Patsy” with MarDelDance won Dance Magazine’s editor’s choice video of the month in October 2009, and was featured in the January 2010 issue. Jen has performed with MarDelDance in numerous locations, such as Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, Detroit and Washington D.C. Miss Jen has been with Babylon since 2012. She is the mom of two beautiful little girls.
Carolann Palmieri has been at Babylon School of Dance since 2011 teaching some of the youngest members of our studio in our Mommy and Me class. She is now also teaching our slightly older students Creative Rhythm, Creative Rhythm with Tap and Pre Ballet. Carolann has been dancing since she was 8 years old, having been classically trained in ballet, jazz, and tap at some of the finest schools in New York City, such as, Christine Nubert’s Children’s Ballet Theatre of Carnegie Hall, Mozartina Musical Arts Conservatory, Westchester Dance Center and the Rolynn Dance Studios. Carolann was on the faculty of Rolynn Dance Studios as both jazz and ballet mistress, teaching all age groups from 3 to adult. She has also taught Mommy and Me, Creative Movement and Pre-School tap/ballet combo classes at Branchville Dance in Lafayette, New Jersey and That’s Dancin’ in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Miss Carolann has two beautiful daughters, Emily and Elizabeth. Emily goes to Penn State and Lizzie is a dancer at Babylon. She is very proud to be a teacher and a member of the Babylon family.
Christine Sweeney is a teacher as well as a dance professional in the Philadelphia area. Along with teaching at various dance studios, Christine continues her professional dance development through professional-level classes, workshops, and yoga practice. Christine is currently a Special Education Teacher at the Hatboro-Horsham School District. During the summer months, Christine works as a Dean of Campers at Camp Ballibay, a performing arts camp in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. She received her master’s degree in Special Education with a specialization in Autism Spectrum Disorder from St. Joseph’s University and her bachelor’s degrees in Dance and Education from DeSales University. She has also attended The American Dance Festival in North Carolina for multiple summers and Bates Dance Festival in Maine as a Youth Program intern. Christine has worked with dance artists such as Rebecca Moyer, Tara Madsen Robbins, Kristin Alexander, Sydney Skybetter, Benjamin Levy of LEVYdance, and Sarah Carlson. She has also performed works by Alwin Nikolias and Twyla Tharp. After five years of substitute teaching for Babylon, Christine has finally join the Babylon School of Dance Staff. We are so excited to welcome her to our teaching staff.
Celina Glaush (Administrative Assistant)
Celina Glaush is the studios Administrative Assistant. She graduated from Bloomsburg University Cum Laude with a BS Degree in Business Administration. After graduation Celina began her professional career in Human Resources. While working in Human Resources, she obtained experience with recruitment, labor relations, training, and payroll. Later Celina accepted a position as an Operations Supervisor at Commonwealth Telephone. She was then promoted to Operations Manager. Celina and her husband Jeff are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters. Their youngest is a member of our performance team “Momentum”.
Stella has been a part of the Babylon School of Dance staff since 2016. Her dance training started at Babylon, where she was a student for fifteen years. She was an active member of our dance company, Momentum, where she served as one of the captains for two years. She graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 2023, where she continued dancing and participating in theater at the collegiate level. Stella continues her dance training, participating in various masterclasses in New York City and teacher seminars. She performed professionally in Convergence: Community Harmony through Dance at Delaware Valley University. She also took part in the Philadelphia Youth Dance Festival. Babylon School of Dance has always been a second home for Stella, and she is excited to bring that same joy to her students.
Miss Morgan(Teacher)
As an alumna of Babylon School of Dance, Morgan is thrilled to now be a member of the staff! During her 15 years at Babylon, Morgan trained in every style offered by the studio, and was a member Babylon’s company, Momentum. During that time, she had opportunities such as dancing at the Philadelphia Youth Dance Fest and performing professionally in Convergence: Community Harmony Through Dance in Bucks County. Morgan attended West Chester University, where she earned a degree in Early Grades Education. While at West Chester, she continued her dance career as a member of the WCU Dance Team through all four years. In 2022, Morgan and her team became national champions, placing 1st at the Universal Dance Association’s College Dance Team Nationals! Morgan’s greatest joy is being able to share her love of dance with the next generation of Babylon dancers!
Kate Work(Teacher)
Kate Work is a dance instructor and choreographer from the Greater Philadelphia area. In addition to guiding students at Babylon School of Dance, she teaches and choreographs for The Harlequin Club at Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown PA, and performs with The Ignite Dancing Artists and Studio 108 in Newark Delaware. Upon graduation from The University of Delaware in 2023, Kate received Honors in Dance and the Senior Choreography Award. She brings a wealth of knowledge in ballet, jazz, modern, and musical theater styles. As a member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), Kate aligns herself with a commitment to excellence and continued education in the field.
267-827-9976
babylondance@comcast.net
500 Horizon Drive, Suite 504 Chalfont, PA 18914