Our team
Connie KATsarikAS
Connie is the director of Kinetic Dance Studio. Due to her passion for the art of dance, Connie made the decision to begin her journey as a dance studio owner starting as of Summer 2016. Connie grew up dancing under the direction of Paulette Harwood, a well-respected figure in the dance community and a former Radio City Music Hall ballerina.
Upon graduating high school, Connie was bestowed the honor of joining Paulette’s Ballet Studio as a full time faculty member, where she went on to instruct from 2007-2016. During this time, she also earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology while attending Emmanuel College. While at school, Connie danced with and competed on the Emmanuel College Dance Team. In addition to being a member for all four years, one of which she was Dance Captain, she is served as a head coach from 2015-2019.
In 2012, Connie was accepted into the Summer Intern Program at Broadway Dance Center in New York City, where she studied under world-renowned dance instructors such as Sheila Barker and Ricky Hinds. While in NYC, she had the opportunity to perform in the beautiful Symphony Space Theater as well as dance for Liza Minnelli in the premier episode of “Good Afternoon America.” Connie has performed in a variety of prestigious settings including the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival at the Paramount Theater and a long-standing three-year performance at the Oberon Theater in Cambridge, MA titled “Heartbeat: A Modern Dance Rock Concert.” Connie also instructed and ran the dance program at a City of Boston Pilot School from 2012-2016. In September of 2015, Connie became an official member of the Dance Educators Club of Boston, which is the oldest dance organization in the country. In 2020, Connie joined and became a board member of the Massachusetts Dance Education Organization (MaDEO).
Connie thrives on positive energy and loves sharing her knowledge and love for the art of dance with each and every one of her students. As the director of KDS, Connie strives to give her students an outlet and desires to instill a passion in each of them that they can carry with them for the rest of the their lives. . Her goal is to make every class as informative as it is meaningful and fun.
Amanda katsarikas
Amanda is the Assistant Director of KDS. She began dancing at the young age of three under the direction of Paulette Harwood. Throughout her years of dance education Amanda cultivated a love and passion for the art, which ultimately lead to her love for teaching. Amanda enjoys teaching young children and hopes to instill in them the importance of having a passion in their lives. Amanda has taught for several years at Paulette’s Ballet Studio, conducted class at the CatchFunk Convention in Wakefield, and choreographed several flash mobs around the Boston area.
In addition to her dancing and teaching, Amanda is currently earning her Bachelors of Art in Graphic Design at Emmanuel College. She enjoys using her creativity in a multitude of ways through both her dancing and graphic designing. Amanda is also a member and captain of the Emmanuel College Dance Team. The team has lead her to perform in venues such as the Boston University Tsai Performing Arts Center, the Hatch Shell Boston, as well as competing in the UDA Competition in Westfield, MA. As the Assistant Director of KDS, Amanda strives to provide her dancers with a quality dance education as well as create a caring relationship with each and every student.
Yanna Kostaki
Yanna is the studio manager of Kinetic Dance Studio. Having been a business owner and a dance mom herself, she is able to bring a special and unique flare to KDS. She is the backbone of the studio as she can assists our parents, dancers and teachers with their every need. She helps make KDS a home away from home for our dancers and makes sure that the inner workings of the studio run smoothly!
She is a woman of many talents! Yanna is originally from Athens, Greece and moved to the states to attend Northeastern University for her undergraduate degree where she earned a bachelors in Psychology. Since then, Yanna has owned and managed restaurants in South Shore and Boston. In addition to her time at KDS, she currently owns and operates an Italian restaurant in Framingham, MA known as Bella Costa Ristorante. Yanna enjoys fusing her business knowledge with her love for watching children grow through the art of dance and looks forward to building relationships with every family in the KDS dance community.
Ricky Cushing
Ricky is an industry experienced dancer, choreographer and teacher. He began his dance training at the age of 9 on the North Shore. Over the past many years, he has been intensely studying Tap, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet, Modern and Hip-Hop. Ricky has received several awards such as the “Future Star Award” presented by Dance Spirit Magazine and “Young Choreographer of The Year” at the American Dance Awards.
Ricky studied dance arts and choreography at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. After training at Marymount, Ricky decided the Los Angeles dance industry would be the best fit for his work. He choreographed for singer/songwriter, Kate Nash whose music has been featured on So You Think You Can Dance. Aside from years of company work, Ricky has been featured on television shows such as Pretty Little Liars, House, Criminal Minds, Gilmore Girls and many others.
He recently decided it was time to get back to his roots and relocate back to Boston. Ricky looks forward to continuing his training, while sharing his love and knowledge of dance with his students.
Joelle Young
Joelle has been a dancer since the age of 3! Trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, contemporary, and belly dance, Joelle finds joy in dancing and is thrilled to be sharing her knowledge and love for the art form with her students. As a Paulette’s Ballet Studio alum, Joelle continued to dance throughout her time at Colby College as a dancer and choreographer in Colby Dance Company and a student in the dance department. As a student, she took choreography and technique classes, performed in department shows, and attended guest artist workshops while double majoring in anthropology and environmental science.
Joelle is a graduate of The Dance Education Teachers Training Course (DETC), has participated and performed at The American College Dance Conference (ACDA), and has performed in The Boston Contemporary Dance Festival (BCDF). Joelle received a MSc in Environmental Anthropology, from the University of Kent, in England. While attending graduate school, she was a member of Kent Dance and their jazz competition squad traveling throughout the UK to compete. Joelle is also a USFSA figure skater who grew up competing in singles, synchronized skating, and theatre on ice. A member of The Skating Club of Boston, she also performed in their annual Ice Chips show. As a dancer and figure skater, Joelle is aware of the benefits of dance for building strength, musicality, body awareness, and artistry and how the skills learned in dance can be transferred to other sports and areas of life.
Joelle strives to be a life-long learner in dance and uses the experiences she has had to create a positive, fun, and motivating environment where her students can confidently embrace the challenges and joys of dancing!
Elizabeth Avakian
Elizabeth was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts where she began dancing at the age of five years old. She trained and danced competitively at a local dance studio in Norwood, MA. Since then, her love for dance has grown tremendously. She recently graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a concentration in jazz under the direction of Garfield Lemonius. Elizabeth has had the privilege of working with Mark Burrell, Kiesha Lalama, Yoshiaki Nakano, Michelle Van Doeren, Chantel Aguirre, and Michael Keefe. Continuing training from summer intensives including River North Summer Dance Chicago and Houston METdance Professional Intensive.
Elizabeth continues to train weekly which not only allows for her growth as a dancer but as a teacher as well. She creates meaningful relationships with her students no matte what age and aspires to pull the best out of each of them. She encourages her dancers to be well-rounded dancers by implementing the importance strength, flexibility and grace into all of her classes. She is very excited to share her love for dance and knowledge with Kinetic.
Hannah Leffelholz
Hannah began dancing at age four under the instruction of Paulette Harwood, former renowned ballerina at Radio City Music Hall. During her years at Paulette’s Ballet Studio, Hannah trained in various dance styles and assisted many young dancers at the studio. Hannah is currently completing her undergraduate degree at Skidmore College, where she will receive a Bachelor of Science in Dance Performance & Choreography as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. While at Skidmore, Hannah studies Ballet and various Modern dance techniques. She has had the privilege of performing in numerous faculty, student, and guest choreographed pieces, as well as the chance to choreograph several of her own works. Hannah is also a member of a tap dance club where she choreographs and performs. During her time at Skidmore, she has served as a research assistant for the dance department and completed internships at both Park Terrace Elementary School and AIM Services, using her knowledge of dance to teach both adults and children.
Hannah has a passion for working with others and continues to find ways to utilize dance to serve others. Hannah believes that dance is a powerful expression and that dance can be done by anyone, at anyplace, at any time, whether it be the stage, the kitchen or the studio!
Roxanne Nichols
Roxanne grew up in Boston, Ma and has been training dancers for fifteen years. Although she is knowledgable in many styles her favorites consist of Jazz, Contemporary and Hip hop. At the age of three she started what she now calls her passion. This love for dance started at The Dance Center in Dedham, Ma and only grew deeper when she attended The Boston Arts Academy( a high school of the visual and performing arts).
After graduating she packed up and moved to New York City. There she trained at The Broadway Dance Center to further her dance education. This chapter helped create many of her most proud moments like performing around New England with Impact Dance Company, choreographing for students whom won her 1st place choreography awards and guest judging summer intensives. This ultimately fueled her for one more big move. California was still on her bucket list so off she went. She was able to train with some of the best choreographers at Movement lifestyle, EXPG, EDGE and Millennium. Since returning to Massachusetts Roxanne has had the pleasure of opening for Reggaeton Artist El Alfa. It has been nothing short of a blessing for her to have traveled and been taught by so many amazing artists. She wishes to be the influence she was given and help others build their dreams.