Our classes are led by qualified and compassionate dance teachers who have many years of professional training and teaching experience.  Though our faculty comes from a variety of dance backgrounds, they all share a passion for the art and are dedicated to creating a nurturing environment that cultivates curiosity and ambition in our students.

MISS TRICIA BELSANTI

Miss Tricia is the Founder and Director of On Your Toes.  Tricia has danced and trained in Pennsylvania, California, and Boston.  She trained and taught at the prestigious California Dance Theater and performed at Pepperdine University.  Tricia also performed and trained with Jeannette Neill Dance Studio and Reagle Players.  She started teaching at age 13 and hasn't stopped since.  She studied Child Psychology at Northeastern University.  Prior to opening On Your Toes, she was the director of Dancer's Workshop in Sudbury for 13 years. Miss Tricia celebrates her 13th year owning, directing, and teaching many classes at On Your Toes.  She teaches over 20 classes a week, specializing in OYT's childrens programs.

MISS REBECCA SHELTON

Miss Rebecca started dancing ballet at the young age of 4.  She started training with Judith Koeckovhen at Academy Balley Arts at 13.  At 16 she was asked to join the Massachusetts Youth Ballet by Jackie Cronsburg where she trained with Jackie Cronsburg, Carter Alexander, Jessica Wilson, Adam Ludars, Gloria Govrin, and Sandra D'Amelio on full scholarship.  In 2005 she attended Orlando Ballet School (voted best ballet school in the country by the Youth American Grande Prix) on full scholarship where she worked with Peter Stark.  She was asked by Director Fernando Bojonas to join Orlando Ballet.  She has attended American Academy of Ballet, Boston Ballet, The Kirov Academy of Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theater.  Recently, she appeared in Moscow Ballet's commercial for Cinderella.  Currently, Rebecca dances for Dance Visions Contemporary Ballet in Boston, MA.   Miss Rebecca was promoted to the On Your Toes Ballet Director role in 2018.  She helps to oversee our Pre-Professional Ballet Program.  She also directs and choreographs many of the On Your Toes ballet performances. 

Jaime McGovern (dance Company director)

Jaime is a dancer, choreographer and teacher born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She trained at multiple local dance studios before beginning her training at Boston Youth Moves (BYM) in 2009.  The program, under the direction of Jeannette Neill and Jim Viera, helped her realize her love for dance and her desire to pursue it as a professional career.  BYM gave her multiple performance opportunities, including performances with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and performances alongside Broadway legend Chita Rivera.  In 2014, Jaime received the Dorothy Rogers Connelly Memorial Dance Scholarship, which is given to a deserving high school senior annually. She continued  her dance education at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), under the direction of Susan Jaffe, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (B.F.A.) in Contemporary Dance in 2018. While at UNCSA, Jaime performed works by Larry Keigwin, Robyn Mineko Williams, Dawn Marie Bazemore, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Charles Czarny, Shen Wei, Brenda Daniels and Sean Sullivan and several others. She received a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence scholarship, awarded to her for both excellence in dancing and academics. Jaime also attended the Boston Conservatory, Windhover Dance and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater summer programs on full scholarships, where she had the pleasure of working with Ray Mercer, Adrienne Hurd, Sidra Bell, Clarice Young and The Dusan Tynek Dance Theater among others.

After college graduation, Jaime moved to New York City.  She has performed works by David Parsons with Parsons Dance Co as well as Creators, Life, Movement Dance Company under the direction of Karen Arceneaux. Jaime is also the founder and Artistic Director of Vega Dance Project, a performing dance company based in New York City and Boston. She has always been a fitness enthusiast and is currently pursuing certifications in group fitness, personal training and cycling. 

Jaime is extremely excited to be a part of the On Your Toes faculty!

Miss Kathlyn Morgan

Miss Kathlyn started dancing at the age of two, training at the Cathy Taylor School of dance in Auburn, MA specializing in Contemporary/Lyrical, while also training in Ballet, Jazz, Musical Theater, Modern, and Tap. She started competing around the United States at the age of six, and had the pleasure of being chosen in 2009 to represent the United States in Germany for Worlds. In 2010 she also traveled to Shanghai, China to dance and be a part of the International Cultural Dance Festival. She continued to attend various conventions and master classes while attending college at Rivier University, and also continued to take dance classes at The Savannah College of Art and Design while living in Georgia. Upon moving back home to MA, she became a judge for various regional and national competitions. She also found the opportunity to teach at On Your Toes and hopes to continue her dance career throughout the years within the studio.

Nicole Butterworth

Nicole has taught gymnastics & acrobatic skills since 2004. She was a former Junior Olympic coach for 7 years and coached many athletes to State, Regional & National Championships. In her youth, she was a competitive artistic & rhythmic gymnast.

Currently, Nicole is the Studio Manager and Acro Instructor at On Your Toes. She is a certified Personal Trainer with a specialization in Youth Fitness, Functional Training & Corrective Exercises.

"My philosophy on teaching youth sports is simple- we must educate in a safe, progressive format through quality fundamentals to help athletes achieve their greatest potential in themselves and the sports they love."

Michelle Barnes

Miss Michelle Barnes is very excited to join the staff of On Your Toes this year.  Miss Michelle studied with Edmund and Irina Novak of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as well as other professionals from the major ballet companies around the country. She was a founding member of the Bangor Youth Ballet in Bangor, Maine.  She has her BA from Smith College and MA from the University of Southern California. She has taught dance in New England since 1991, and was artistic director of Miss Michelle’s Center for the Performing Arts which she founded in 2008. She has choreographed and staged many full-length ballets, including The Nutcracker Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Don Quixote, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, La Fille mal gardeé, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, among numerous others.

MISS KYRIANNA SMITH

Miss Kyrianna is a recent graduate from Dean College where she earned her B.A. in Dance Performance with a concentration in Studio Management. Kyriana has studied with well-known teachers such as William Evans, Kristina Berger, Todd Shanks, Jill Silverman and Lindsey Klein. This past year, Kyriana completed an independent research study with Joan Phelps Palladino, the founder of the dance program at Dean college, which lead to the publication of her book “The Journey to My Goal”. Kyriana was a member of Dean College’s title holding Pom Team, and performed with The Providence Ballet Theater this winter. Kyriana takes extreme pride in spreading her knowledge of dance to others, and strives to make learning the art of dance an enjoyable experience for all ages. 

miss laura

Laura has been a licensed Zumba instructor since 2014. She is licensed in Zumba Pro Skills and has extensive training in Jazz and Ballet. She lives in Sudbury, MA with her husband and two daughters. Her day job is Program Director at an Adult Day Center. When not working Laura enjoys traveling, performing with her glee group and singing and dancing anywhere! Laura is happiest when she is with others creating joy! Zumba is one of the best ways to feel happy, and carefree! Come try a Zumba class and feel what it means to enjoy working out!

miss jen

Jen has been enjoying Zumba since 2009, and earned her Instructor certification in 2010, and is licensed to teach Zumba, Zumba Toning, and Zumba step, and completed training in Pro Skills.  Teaching Zumba is a great way for her to utilize her background in education in a totally different kind of setting: teaching people how to get fit while having fun!  She loves that Zumba incorporates musical styles from across the globe, and her favorite musical styles to teach are salsa, reggaetón, and hip-hop. Jen lives in Sudbury with her husband and two sons.  When not teaching Zumba (or working her day job), Jen enjoys cross-training for Zumba with triathlon! 

miss Patricia

Patricia (Dish) Woodard comes to On Your Toes with a 250-hour Core Fusion certification (a Lotte Berk-based barre discipline), earned in 2010.  She taught Core Fusion, Core Fusion Sport, and Core Fusion Cardio classes full-time at both Exhale locations in Boston’s Back Bay and the Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel.  As a former college athlete (Connecticut College) and marathon runner, Core Fusion pushed her physical and emotional boundaries in ways other mainstream workouts could not.  In addition to teaching barre, Patricia also spent several years as the owner/proprietor of a critically acclaimed Boston restaurant and is a realtor with Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty.  She lives in Concord with her husband Jon and her three children.  

miss concessa

Concessa Shearer lives in Loxahatchee, FL. She’s been a ZIN™ Member since Nov 2010 and absolutely loves teaching Zumba classes. The reason is simple: Every class feels like a party! She is currently licensed to teach Zumba, Zumba® Toning, Zumba® Step, completed training in Pro Skills and Zumba Virtual Pro. Come join her, I guarantee you will have a blast! Got questions, don't hesitate to drop her a message!

Bernie Baldassaro

Bernie is beyond excited to be joining the OYT family! Holding a BFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College, Bernie has worked extensively as a performer, choreographer, director, and theatre educator. Locally, he has taught dance and acting for North Shore Music Theatre, The Young Co. at Greater Boston Stage, Artbarn Community Theatre, The JCC of Greater Boston, Venturing Studios, and Noel Smith Voice Studio. He also served as a choreographer and company member for Rockhard Dance Co. in Ithaca NY from 2014-2018. Some favorite directorial and choreographic credits include Disney’s High School Musical, Godspell, and The Dinosaur Musical all with the Young Co. at Greater Boston Stage.

Bernie has performed across the country on the Broadway National Tour of Elf the Musical and in the original company of Baby Shark Live! (Dance Captain). Other recent performance credits include A Christmas Carol and Disney’s Freaky Friday both at North Shore Music Theatre.

berniebaldassaro.com