Administration
Armanii Shults
Artistic Director
ID: A Black woman with medium skin tone in a green jacket smiling.
Armanii Shults is the owner and artistic director of Rahway Dance Theatre (NJ Certified M/WBE), and former student of the late Mrs. Jay Skeete-Lee. Ms. Lee founded RDT in 1996 as a school for students of diverse backgrounds, namely for African-American students who wished to pursue dance beyond just recreational classes. She was successful at creating a safe space for dancers to train at a high level, while also gaining life benefits such as discipline, structure, and health consciousness. Ms. Lee has raised generations of alumni who have gone on to pursue professional careers in dance as performers, company directors, arts administrators, and educators. Armanii was fortunate to train with Ms. Lee for over 10 years, to then accept her mentorship post-grad as the then “someday” future torch holder of the school’s legacy. She has since assumed ownership in 2020 and led the school to a new location during the pandemic.
Armanii holds a Bachelor’s of Arts & Sciences from Rutgers University: Anthropology & Dance. She is a former K-12 Special Education teacher, an advocate for children’s education, mental health, and physical fitness. She has been successful at using her own training, performance experience, and service in public education to sharpen her skills as a dance educator. Armanii seeks to provide the highest level of training and support to underserved students. Some of her proudest accomplishments include helping guide her students to gain access to higher learning opportunities in the arts. Rahway Dance Theatre students have earned acceptances to performing arts high schools (UCVTS, MCVTS, Arts High), scholarships to summer intensive programs (Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Hispanico, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey Ballet, Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts), and acceptances to college BFA programs (Rutgers University, University of the Arts, AMDA). Armanii equally takes pride in encouraging the dancer who is too shy to speak in front of the classroom to eventually become class president. Or, to inspire the dancer who is insecure academically to find empowerment in their strengths. Whether a student’s dance training leads to a career in the arts or not, the skills gained from studying the arts are skills necessary to create a life.
Kristine Leslie
Administration and Communications Director
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Ms. Kristine is a Union County native who has a strong professional background in Arts and Culture, and Education. She received an A.S. in Liberal Science – Deaf Studies (conversationally fluent in American Sign Language) from Union County College and later earned a B.A. in Sociology/English-Writing from Kean University, where she spearheaded the creation of Afro-Latinx Dance Project and directed WOMANITY Union, a franchise location of her Bachata and Heels training under Maria Ramos (Harlem, NY).
While attending Kean University in 2018, Ms. Kristine was introduced to Carolyn Dorfman Dance as a NJ SummerDance scholarship student and joined the Marketing team as Communications and Development Associate in 2022. Before joining Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Ms. Kristine worked as a teacher, particularly with Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing children and adults with disabilities in Hillside Public School District, not-for-profit community organizations, and private institutions. She completed internships with Nimbus Dance as Marketing Coordinator and ARTS By The People as an apprentice Grant Writer. Her experience further led her to work as Community Building Associate at The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking and Equity and Access/ADA Coordinator for each workplace thereafter.
Ms. Kristine has always had a passion for fine, literary, and performing arts, and has been involved in various forms of dance, theater, and music since childhood. As an adult, and overall, her assorted yet comprehensive experiences have given her a unique perspective and skillset that she brings to her work in the non-profit arts and advocacy sector and beyond, including Administration and Communications Director at Rahway Dance Theatre. Some of her professional affiliations are New Jersey Citizen Action (Paid Leave Organizer), Strike For Our Rights (Guest Board Member), The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (ADA Advisory Committee), Freelancers Union, The Osgood Group (Research Fellow), New Jersey Arts and Culture Administrators of Color, and The Network for Arts Administrators of Color (NAACBoston).
Additionally, Ms. Kristine offers support in capacity building to communities and organizations as an Integrative Arts and Well-Being Specialist, Creative Activist, and Healing Justice Organizer through her consultancy, Consult with Kristine (NJ Certified Small M/WBE). She is a 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher certified in Yin, Mindfulness, and Breathwork. Other certifications include Mental Health First Aid, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Digital Advertising, and Mailchimp Essentials.
Teachers
Jean'ette Bailey
Pre-School Teacher & Early Childhood Dance Teacher
Ms. Jean'ette has been a daycare professional for nearly 15 years. She grew up in Rahway, NJ and began her career by babysitting the neighborhood kids throughout high school while also dancing at RDT. She used that experience to work with infants and toddlers in daycare centers and as a teacher for pre-school dance. Ms. Jean'ette LOVES kids and now teaches the Pre-Dance I class.
ID: A Black woman with medium dark skin tone, wearing a black Rahway Dance Theatre t-shirt smiling.
Alonzo Hall
Middle School Dance Teacher
Alonzo Hall began his dance training at a young age in his home city’s local dance studio in Plainfield, NJ. He later received his BFA in dance performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. While there he was a member of their pre-professional dance company where he performed works of Benwoit Swan Pouffer of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet company, and Randy James of Ten Hairy legs dance company. Hall has also performed in works by Ronald K. Brown of Evidence Dance, Savion Glover, George Fasion and toured as a guest dancer alongside the NJ Symphony Orchestra. Hall has performed in musical productions of Plays in the Park’s “Aida”, and NJYT’s “Oklahoma. As a dance educator Hall has trained many young dancers at all levels in ballet, modern, jazz and tap. He is honored and delighted to be a member of the faculty with Rahway Dance Theatre.
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Katrina Isaac
Elementary School Dance Teacher
Born and raised in New York, Ms. Katrina started her dance training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem when she was 9 years old. Her ballet teacher, Ms. Iris Cloud, asked her to assist with the younger students every Saturday morning. She didn’t know how that experience would pave the way for her future career as a dance educator. Ms. Katrina continued to dance throughout high school and college where she received her B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College. She later received her M.A. in Dance Education from New York University and currently teaches dance at an elementary school in the Bronx. She resides in Rahway with her husband, son, and daughter who started dancing at RDT when she was 4. Ms. Katrina enjoys sharing her love of dance with all of the students at RDT and can’t contain her smile when they shine bright in class and onstage!
ID: A Black woman with medium skin tone smiling in front of a white background.
Sandi Rivera
Teaching Artist
Sandi Rivera is a Puerto-Rican dancer and choreographer based in the NY/NJ. Ms. Sandi received her BFA in Modern, BA in Teaching Arts, and Minor in Business in 2020 from Marymount Manhattan College where she performed work by Nancy Lushington, Anthony Morgeriato, 10 Hairy Legs, and more. Starting in 2019, she worked with ImmaBeast/ImmaBreathe, a commercial hip-hop and contemporary company in Los Angeles, California under the direction of Janelle Ginestra, MaryAnn Chavez, and Monika Felice Smith and continues to freelance in NY. Her teaching and choreography career began in 2016, interning at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Step’s Pre-Professional Showcase Program, and teaching contemporary, ballet, dance conditioning, and commercial styles within the tri-state area, and beyond. She continues to choreograph both regionally and nationally recognized contemporary, contemporary ballet, and commercial works for pre-professional dancers, companies, and studios across the country. In the 2023/2024 season, she is currently teaching hip-hop, ballet, and/or contemporary with Rahway Dance Theatre, Moderne Academie of Fine Arts, and Evolution Dance Center.
ID: A woman with medium light skin tone and straight black hair, wearing a black shirt, smiling in front of a white background.
Anneliese Burns Wilson
Teaching Artist
Anneliese Burns Wilson has been teaching for 40 years. Ms. Anneliese’s career has allowed her to travel and work on 6 continents and in 40 of the 50 states (and counting). Her performance career included regional ballet companies, music videos, film, tv and regional theatre as well as being an internationally ranked competitive ballroom dancer. Her early training was at the School of the Garden State Ballet, The Ailey School, and with top teachers in Ballet, Modern, Musical Theatre, and Jazz, both in the US and abroad who continue to influence how she teaches today. She continues to travel as a guest teacher working with Man in Motion and the 360 Dance Experience. Outside of the studio she spent several years designing dance and wellness programs for senior living facilities, and was a teaching artist for Dancing Classrooms North Texas. She has been teaching academic school teachers how to integrate dance into their classrooms since 1998.
Ms. Anneliese is certified to teach through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance in London and the Pan American Teachers of Dance. She has been a long time member of the National Dance Council of America and the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science and was the ViceChairman of National Dance Foundation 9 years, where she remains an Honorary Board Member. Her company, ABC for Dance, has been writing curriculum and teaching material and training teachers in dance related subjects since 1999. Her materials are now in use in over 1800 schools and studios worldwide. Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Magazine and many teaching organizations use her as an expert in the field of dance education and injury prevention. In addition to her dance teaching credentials she is a fully certified pilates instructor (with 15 years experience as an Instructor Trainer) and has been trained in Muscle Activation Technique, Fascial Fitness, Movement for Neurological Conditions, Myofascial release, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, and Hypopressive Technique. She loves anatomy and has been lucky enough to work with Deborah Vogel, Irene Dowd and the amazing doctors at Icahn School of Medicine’s anatomy and orthopedic departments.
Anneliese believes that good dance education provides students with more than just the option to pursue a career in dance. It fosters a lifelong appreciation of the arts; improves creativity and problem solving abilities, self discipline, time management and self efficacy; and a safe place for people to explore their self expression.
ID: A woman with light skin tone and straight, brown hair, wearing a black shirt, smiling in front of a white background.
Maurice Chestnut
Teaching Artist
Newark, New Jersey native Maurice Chestnut began dancing at the age of five, under the direction of Mr. Alfred Gallman. He became a professional dancer at the age of nine as an original member of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble under the direction of Ms. Deborah Mitchell. As one of tap's brightest young stars, he was featured on The Sally Jesse Raphael Show in the "My Kid's A Star" segment, where he proudly proclaimed that he loved to dance and would keep doing it "until I die". He was a gold medalist in the NAACP Act-So competition and was crowned "Top Dog Performer" at The Apollo Theater. At the age of fourteen, the Newark Star-Ledger's arts reviewers named Maurice, "one of the twenty New Jersey faces to watch for in the new millennium". In 2003, Maurice was recruited by tap master Savion Glover to join the national touring company of the Tony Award winning Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Maurice received critical favor in that role. He has continued to work with Savion as a member of his Improvography and Bare Soundz tours, as well as performing in productions such as Classical Savion, Tappin' Into Monk, Invitation To The Dancer and on ABC-TV's Dancing With The Stars. Off-Broadway credits include Shades of Harlem, The Wiz, Bubbling Brown Sugar directed by George Faison at Atlanta's Fox Theater and Can I Hit That. Maurice has developed an impressive list of credits. In addition to performing with his own band, he is often invited to perform or tour as a special guest with such prominent jazz musicians as Christian McBride, Cyrus Chestnut and Thelonius Monk III. His high profile engagements have included the JVC Jazz Festival, the Playboy Jazz Festival, The Apollo Theater and Birdland, as well as appearances at Carnegie Hall and throughout Europe with the Geri Allen Trio. As a featured soloist and choreographer, Maurice skillfully uses these venues to further develop his signature style of "playing tap" as a "live instrument". He seamlessly weaves complex dance steps to interplay with musical notes, creating a powerful and distinctive energy that resonates with his audiences. Inspired by such hoofing greats as the Nicholas Brothers and Jimmy Slyde, yet equally influenced by and connected to urban culture, Maurice Chestnut dances with truth, soul and power. As his appearance on BET's 106th and Park demonstrated, watching him dance is like walking through Harlem in the 1940s...while bumping a hip-hop beat.
ID: A Black man with dark skin tone wearing a hat, plaid suit, and tap shoes, sits on a stool against a white background.
Karen Miles
Teaching Artist
Born and raised in Jersey City, NJ. Her professional dancing career began in 1982 with the Suliman Dance Company. After college Karen felt a need to give back to her community, so she started teaching African dance to the Girl Scouts of America in Jersey City. She was so inspired from watching the youth learns and enjoy the art of their heritage that she founded her very own Zawadi School of African Dance which has been in existence for 10 years and is still going strong.
Karen was a principal dancer with Maimouna Keita School of African dance, Umoja Dance Company, Message From our Ancestors and Universal Languages. She has free-lanced her dance talent with various other companies and organizations. Karen was the director of African dance for Sankofa Dance Theater by way of African Globe based out of Newark, NJ. She has performed throughout the United States and in July 2004 has had the pleasure of bringing her performing arts company to St. Croix, Virgin Island, where the company performed at the University of the Virgin Island and St. Croix most famous Island Center. Karen has appeared in Njinga, the Queen King and Color Girls who Committed Suicide. Karen has shared her gifted dancing skills with the Brooklyn’s very own Brooklyn Academy of Music during Dance Africa, the teaching Artist Program at New Jersey Performing Art Center (NJPAC), Sankofa Dance Company of the Virgin Island and many other schools, colleges, retirement parties, weddings, funerals and scholarship ceremonies.
One of Karen’s greatest aspiration is to enhance the souls and minds of the community through traditional African dance, song and history. She also endeavors to develop our youth into being culturally motivated and aware, respectful of themselves, others and most of all their elders.
Karen believes that she has found a way to honor our ancestors and dedicates each performance to all of those who have left their mark in society.
Karen thanks her family, friends, students and most of all her husband and children for their support, encouragement and understanding for her dream of dance.
ID: A Black woman with medium skin tone wearing a headpiece, neck scarf, and curly, red-brown hair, standing against a white background.