The Team
Monday classes: 6yr-9yr
Abdur-Rahim received a Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School and performed as a Principal Dancer with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for a decade and made his Broadway debut in "Soul Doctor". He has created ballets for Kansas City Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Co-Choreographer). Abdur-Rahim choreographed sections of the Beyoncé "Crazy in Love" Super Bowl XLVII Halftime performance on CBS and Co-Choreographed the Beyoncé "Halo" music video. He has directed fashion / dance shoots for PAPER Magazine and VIBE Magazine. Abdur-Rahim has also choreographed for Taylor Dayne, The Salt-N-Pepa Lane Bryant Campaign, Hair / Fashion Award Shows for JCPenney Salons, ULTA Beauty and Matrix (a division of L'Oréal) across the US and Mexico and Staud New York Fashion Week Show.
ABDUR-RAHIM JACKSON
Tuesday classes: 10yr-13yr
Lydia Holtz grew up in Jacksonville, FL and knew she wanted to be a ballerina by the ageof 12. Upon graduating Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, she became a scholarship student at Indiana University where she received a double major in Ballet Performance and English Studies. Lydia danced with several ballet companies including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. When she transferred to New York City, she started to pursue more acting, modeling and commercial dance roles.
She was on the silver screen next to Paul Rudd where she played a Russian ballerina in “Our Idiot Brother”. She has walked for NYFW, been seen in VOGUE, opened Victoria Secret Fashion show, danced backup for Liza Minnelli acted up with Jimmy Fallon for his “Let’s Dance” opening on SNL, was a featured dancer in Justin Timberlakes “Mirrors” video, openedthe VMA’s with Taylor Swift in 2019 as well as commercials for NYU, Sony, Neiman Marcus, Dropbox, Aloft hotels and more.
Lydia’s passion for her art form has lead her to teach ballet across the country and judge at numerous dance competitions. She loves to train dancers to reach their full potential as future artists in the industry. You may also have seen her appear twice asguest judge on the hit tv series “Dance Moms”. She is mom to two beautiful children and lives in Jersey City, NJ.
Lydia Holtz
Ayden Pratt
Wednesday classes: 6yr-9yr
Ayden Pratt is a Musical Theatre performer based in New York City. They most recently appeared in Moulin Rouge! The Musical (National Tour) as a Swing, and played Anybodys in West Side Story at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Ayden was a trainee at The Rochester City Ballet for eight years, and then received their BFA in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University.
Thursday classes: 10yr-13yr
Olivia Renteria is a professional dancer, singer and actress. She was most recently seen in The First National Tour of Mean Girls. Olivia has performed alongside artists such as Julianne Hough and Emma Roberts. Ms. Renteria is also the front woman of her own band and now performs all over New York City singing Country, Pop, and R&B covers. Growing up in Chicago and following the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, Olivia has a passion for teaching dance to children. Some of her teaching credits include Point Park University, Musical Theatre master classes all around the country, and of course teaching at her family’s dance studio since the age of 16! Olivia believes that cultivating the love of dance at a young age brought her to her success today, and she is passionate about passing dance along to the next generation.
Olivia Renteria
Friday classes: 10yr-13yr
With a versatile background as an entertainer beginning his career at 17 with Sesame Street Live and then Broadway for three years at the age of 21, CJ’s artistic wisdom and discipline opened the doors to work/learn/contribute alongside Madonna, Beyonce, Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, Ledisi and currently the understudy for Nigel in The Devil Wears Prada slated for Broadway 2024, a choreographer for Fox's "I Can See Your Voice Season 3", 5 seasons of the hit pop-culture phenomenon Lip Sync Battle with LL Cool J and Chrissy Tiegen airing on the Paramount Network & was a resident dancer on Saturday Night Live.
CJ TYSON
Grown-Up & Me and 3yr-5yr Combo Class
Born in New Jersey and started dancing at the age of three. During high school, she was accepted and attended the Academy for Performing Arts Dance (APA) and trained at the New Jersey School of Ballet. Veronica's choreography has been selected for performance at the Dance Up! Influencers of the Future showcase at the 92Y Buttenwieser Hall in New York City. She was a classroom assistant at American Ballet Theatre and helped teach ballet classes at the JKO Pre-Primary School for 3 years. Veronica is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She loves working with kids and looks forward to teaching the next generation as she obtains a degree in business at Fordham University.
VERONICA GREYDAK