18 Hemlock Street, Latham, NY 12110
518-783-1800
First Day of Classes
Monday September 19th
Halloween Celebrations
October
Costumes may be worn to class.
24th- 30th
October 31st- Closed
Trunk or Treat
October 20th
1-3pm
Thanksgiving Recess - Closed
November 27th-30th
Holiday Recess - Closed
December 23rd - January 1st
Martin Luther King Day- Closed
January 20th
Winter Recess - Closed
February 15th-21st
Spring Recess - Closed
April 14th-20th
Memorial Day - Closed
May 24th-26th
Picture Day
Sunday June 1st
Recital
Saturday June 14th
11:00 am & 3:00 pm Show
The Egg - Empire State Plaza
Rose O’Brien - Assistant Director and Instructor
Rose has been involved in the dance industry for over 20 years. She started dancing at the age of 10 and continued her love for ballet as a teenager. Along with ballet, Rose also studied pointe, jazz and tap. In 1993, she resumed dancing and she began teaching in 1997. Rose has taken master classes from different choreographers as both a dancer and a teacher and has also participated in several dance teacher seminars.
Frankie Soldevere (she/her) - Instructor
Frankie is an Upstate New York-based dance educator, choreographer, and scholar. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from SUNY Brockport and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dean College where she was the 2016 recipient of the Board of Trustees Prize for the Joan Phelps Palladino School of Dance. Her legacy lives on at Dean College as the Founder and President of Loose Screws, the Dean College Tap Team. She has performed with Ryan P. Casey’s Off Beat Tap Company, The Boston Tap Company, and Dropkick Murphys. Currently, Frankie travels nationally to set choreography, teach master classes, and adjudicate for StarQuest Dance Competition. Frankie is so excited to share her passion for dance with the students at TPDC!
Andre Robles - Instructor
Andre Robles is now in his eighth season with the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company. Prior to joining the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, he has performed with The Joffrey Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Teatro Colon Ballet (Argentina). His training includes The Joffrey Ballet School (NYC), School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.
Emilie DeGroff - Instructor
Emilie started her dance career at TPDC in 2011. She has trained in various styles of dance including Tap, Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip-Hop and Musical Theater. She has received numerous scholarships and awards at both the regional and national level. She attends Russell Sage College where she majors in Expressive Arts in Mental Health with a Concentration of Dance. Emilie is super excited to share her love of dance with younger students. When not studying or teaching, she is a volunteer firefighter at Shaker Road Loudonville Fire Department. Emilie says, "Success is not driven by wanting to be better than your peers or your biggest competitor but it is driven by wanting to be better than who you were yesterday and showcasing something you are proud of!"
Kaylen Travison (she/her) - Instructor
Kaylen began her dance training at the age of 13 at Turning Pointe Dance Center where she became diverse in styles such as ballet, jazz, musical theater, tap, lyrical, and contemporary. As her love for dance grew, she decided to continue her dance training at Dean College in Franklin, MA. Kaylen studied dance and criminal justice while at Dean College, furthering her technical studies in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, contemporary, improvisation, hip hop, dance pedagogy, dance history, dance composition, and Pilates. Kaylen was also a member of the Loose Screws Tap Team and the Dean College Step Team. While studying at Dean, Kaylen spent time teaching at the Bates Dance Festival’s Youth Arts Program in 2023, substitute teaching at studies in the Franklin area, and choreographing as well as performing on the Main Stage at Dean. Kaylen graduated this past May with a B.A. in dance and an A.S. In criminal justice from Dean College. Kaylen is looking forward to returning to Turning Pointe as a teacher and alumni, and she is excited to share the love of dance that Turning Pointe instilled in her! Outside of the studio Kaylen enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and pets, and one of her most favorite activities is family camping trips in the summer!
Megan Grabowski - Administrative Director and Instructor
Megan started dancing at the age of six at The Studio For Dance in Blue Ash, Ohio where she studied clogging, ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical. Soon after beginning dance, Megan joined The Studio Company and began competing in regional and national dance competitions and taking extensive ballet training at CCM (Cincinnati Conservatory of Music) and The Cincinnati Ballet. Megan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from Kent State University and was a member of the Kent State Dance Ensemble and the KSU Dance Team. After graduation, her training in modern dance continued in New York City at Dance Space and in Boston at Green Street Studios. She has had the honor of performing with the Cincinnati Ballet and modern companies Bryce Dance and Kelley Donovan and Dancers. In addition, Megan is thrilled to have performed on NBC’s “Today Show” and at New York City’s world-famous Carnegie Hall with Eric Kunzel and The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Megan is very excited to share her passion for dance with the students at TPDC and helping them grow as artists.
Kathleen McGrath – Instructor (ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, adult)
Kathleen grew up in Greece, NY where she spent her childhood studying dance at Danc’letics of Rochester. In addition to taking her own classes, Kathleen became an assistant dance teacher at age 13, a co-teacher at age 16, and an instructor by age 18. Throughout her life, Kathleen has studied many types of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, modern, liturgical, and musical theater. She has attended several master classes and seminars. Kathleen performed shows with Danc’letics in Walt Disney World during the summers of 1997, 1999, and 2001, and again returned to Disney for a performance as a Danc’letics “legacy” dancer in the summer of 2017. Kathleen earned degrees in Political Science (B.A.) and Psychology (B.A.) from the University at Buffalo. Kathleen lives in Latham with her husband and two children. She knows first-hand how important dance education can be for physical and emotional development and is excited to begin a new year at TPDC!
Karyl Bell (she/her) - Instructor
Karyl has been involved with dance since she was 3 years old. She has danced competitively throughout her younger years, dancing at various studios in the Albany/Saratoga area and NYC and became very diverse in different styles of dance such as tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, ballroom and many others. She spent a year at The Ohio State University in their dance program where she worked on modern styles, ballet styles and choreography where she was a member of the dance troupe. She relocated to the Boston area and graduated from Dean College in Franklin, MA where she received a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in dance. Not only has Karyl taught dance at a variety of different studios in the Albany area, she also has taught gymnastics/acro to many students who have gone on to compete at regional and national gymnastics events. When Karyl is not teaching, she is drag racing and working on her race cars with her family. She travels all over the east coast to compete in the excitement of side by side action of racing. Karyl is devoted to dance and loves to help each student reach their goals and to see them grow to their potential. Karyl is thrilled to share her passion and experience with the dancers at TPDC!
Tara Haswell - Artistic Director and Instructor
Tara has been dancing since 1990 and teaching since 1999. She has won many awards, both locally and nationally in dance, and has taken master dance classes from some of the most renowned teachers and choreographers in the dance industry. Tara opened Turning Pointe Dance Center in September of 2009 and created the Turning Pointe competition team in September of 2010. The competition team has already won many overall, entertainment and choreography awards in the short time that they have been competing. Most recently, Tara has studied at The Pulse Dance Intensive, taking classes from choreographers such as Desmond Richardson, Wade Robson, Chris Judd and Brooke Lipton, among many others. Tara has a Bachelor’s degree in child psychology from Alvernia College. She is the director of Turning Pointe Dance Center, and is looking forward to another enjoyable year of dance!
Abby Burkhard (she/her) - Instructor
Abby is a TPDC alumni dancer and was part of Turning Pointe’s first ever competition team and competed on the team for 6 years until she graduated from Shaker High School in 2016!Abby graduated with her MBA in Business Marketing from The College of Saint Rose in 2020 and currently works full time as a Digital Campaign Manager. Her favorite styles of dance are lyrical, hip hop & jazz! She’s excited to get grooving this fall! ** fun fact, Abby was one of my very first students before I even opened an official studio [❤️] [😊]