Maggie received her Master's Degree in dance from UCLA and was the Director of the Dance Department at the State University of New York at Fredonia before moving to Connecticut.  She opened The Dance Extension in 1984.  Maggie has choreographed for community theater including the Pfizer Players productions of "Can-Can" and "Oklahoma," and has continued to stay current in her field by attending professional workshops throughout the U.S.

"The quality of the teacher is evident in the quality of her students."  Many of Maggie's students have gone on to dance professionally and others are teaching on the university level or at private dance studios.  All will continue, for a lifetime, to enjoy and appreciate the art form of dance.

Nancy earned a Bachelor of Arts in dance from the State University of New York at Brockport where she received the Rose L. Strasser award for excellence in dance.  She has performed at the American Dance Festival, Tisch School of the Arts and the Doris Humphrey Dance Festival, and has studied with Jennifer Muller the Works Company, Garth Fagan and Ronald K. Brown.  She has been on the faculty of the Dance Extension since 1995, and has attended dance teacher conferences sponsored by Dance Teacher Magazine, Project Motivate, and the Little People's Creative Workshop,^TM  American Academy of Ballet, and the Broadway Dance Center.  She married John Gaviglio in June 2010.

Dance has been a part of Michele’s life as far back as she can remember – she may be a scientist and engineering professional, but she will always be a dancer at heart. Growing up, Michele had the opportunity to study ballet under several different teachers including Andre Harper of the El Paso Ballet and Robin Haig of the School of Royal Ballet. Her ballet training includes Vaganova, Cecchetti, Royal Ballet, and Imperial Ballet methods and she has studied in studios across the United States and in Europe.

While ballet is the basis from which all her dancing stems, Michele has experienced dance in many forms and encourages all those who dance to do the same. Michele has performed in tap, jazz, modern/contemporary ensemble pieces. Her newest challenge is ballroom dancing – including the lovely smooth dances like waltz, foxtrot and tango, as well as the more rhythmic cha cha, salsa, and rumba.  It has been exciting for Michele to return to teaching ballet, as she is eager to share her passion for dance in all its forms with students who are just beginning to discover its power.

Gayle McKinney Griffith

Professor Gayle McKinney Griffith studied at the New York Juilliard School of Music and Connecticut College. She became the first ballet mistress and soloist of the original Dance Theatre of Harlem and has extended her career to film, television and musical/theatre productions. With her husband, Professor Donald Muldrow Griffith, she is co-founder/director of Fountainhead Tanz Theatre, XXV, Black International Cinema 2010 Interdisciplinary Film Festival, The Collegium forum and television program, in association with Cultural Zephyr e.V., which are based in Berlin, Germany.

Professor Griffith teaches classical ballet, jazz and modern movement, and Pilates structured body placement. The Griffith’s have two talented children, Donald II (UConn, political science/athlete) and Khadija (Connecticut College, dancer).

Khadija Griffith was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, where she learned to speak both English and German fluently. Since she was a child, she had been exposed to various artforms, thanks to the occupations of her parents, Gayle McKinney and Donald Muldrow Griffith. Khadija has studied ballet at the Ballett Studio Marlen, in Berlin, Germany.

Khadija had never taken a hip hop class, but received the opportunity to perform her work on television. At 16, Khadija taught her first hip hop class and two years later, became a member of a modeling and dance agency, where she had the opportunity to come in contact with part of the German professional dance community, touring and performing live as a background dancer for various artists and on television in videos.

Khadija came to Connecticut upon her acceptance to Connecticut College where she, among many other interests, trains in ballet and modern to become a professional dancer. Upon her return to Berlin, she will, with a newly developed friendship, continue to study with a hip hop professional, Kris, advancing in as many styles as possible.

Paula started dancing at the Sylvia Reynolds School of Dance where she studied ballet.  She received her degree in physical education with a concentration in dance and gymnastics at the University of Massachusetts .  While there, she danced with the University Dancers Touring Company and had the opportunity to dance in Italy, Greece, and Iran.  She continued her dance education at the American Dance Festival and Wesleyan University .

In 1975, Paula began choreographing and performing in the area with DANCEWEAVE, a local company.  More recently, she and a small group of dancers produced two modern dance concerts in 1992 and 1995 called Collaborations I and Collaborations II, respectively.  Lee Howard of The Day penned Collaborations I as the best local dance performance of the year.  Paula also performs Denishawn dances with Robin Rice and others.  The group has performed at the Dancing in the Millennium 2000 conference in Washington, D.C.

In addition to teaching at The Dance Extension, Paula teaches health, physical education, and dance at Waterford High School.  She is the director of the WHS Dance Club and has choreographed many of Waterford’s musicals in the past.

Marcia began dancing in Escondido, California where she grew up.  She was inspired to teach by her dance teacher Georgia Copeland.  Marcia started teaching for Maggie over 20 years ago when The Dance Extension opened.

Marcia is the advisor for the Junior Company and loves working with these talented dancers.  She is very active in local community theatre and has choreographed 12 Waterford Week Musicals, including “Oliver.”  She has also worked with many other theatre groups including Montville summer theater.  Marcia has a liturgical dance group at her church, which has performed in Pittsburgh for an international audience.  Her hobbies are reading and singing in her church choir.

Marcia is married to Ron and has one son, Charlie, who is an honor student at  at the University of New Haven.

Christine began dancing with Jenny Rocha in 1995 and in 1998, became a founding member and the managing director of Rocha Dance Theater.  During her years with the company Christine has assisted the productions of Gaining Voice, Ponder Me, Not so Soft in NYC, RI, and Boston .  She graduated with honors from Roger Williams University with a BA in Dance Performance Studies.  Christine has performed with Sonia Plumb, Works/Laura Glenn, and Joseph Albano of Hartford , CT.   After moving to NYC she began performing for many small pick up companies getting exposure to the NYC dance scene. In 2005, she joined Heidi Latsky in Club Riot as “Valkeries”, this production took place at LaMama Experimental Theater.  Performance credits include dancing for Monica Bill Barnes, Mary Fullam, Full Force Dance Productions, Guta Hedwig, Noel MacDuffie, Oil and Water Productions, Vanessa Paige and Angela Jones. Theatrical dance productions include Shirley and the Tropicana, Fishbowl, Her Mom’s Feet, and Queen Juniper all of which were directed by Christine Henry and choreographed by Jenny Rocha. She has also co-choreographed STUCK with Jenny.  This piece has been presented at such events as Dancers Responding to Aids, Dixon Place, New Dance Group and Spoke the Hub. During 2000 – 2003, Ms Poland was a guest choreographer for Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn , NY . Her choreography has also been in a silent film short by Christian Zuccoro, Serenity.  In 2005, Christine had the great pleasure of dancing as the evil seagull for Gary Shore of RI in Ode his silent dance film.

Kim, a native of southeastern Connecticut, began her ballet training at the Sylvia Reynolds School of Dance.  She also took classes at The Dance Studio and was asked to be a member of “The Company,” a concert group of students now called The Dance Ensemble and based at The Dance Extension.  She was a member of the Waterford High School Dance Club and after graduation continued to work with the dance club as an assistant to the director.  Kim was also accepted into the Hartford School of Ballet Teacher Training Program.

Currently, Kim studies modern and tap at The Dance Extension and teaches children’s dance classes for the Ledyard Parks & Recreation program, and Creative Movement at area elementary schools.  She lives in Ledyard with her husband, Bill and three children, Denielle, Justin and Trevor.  She enjoys hiking and biking with her family and has recently started taking ice skating lessons with her daughter.

Lauren began dancing at the age of four with former Dance Extension faculty member, Lila Nicholson, in a community recreation program. She began studying with Maggie Dennis in 1980.

Lauren became a member of the Company (the precursor to the Community Dance Ensemble) in 1988 after four years in the Junior Company. Currently she takes classes in both tap and modern at The Dance Extension, in addition to master classes at Wesleyan University and in New York City.

Lauren is a teacher and marine biologist working for Project Oceanology in Groton. Her interests include mountain biking, kayaking, going to the theater and spending time with her family.

Helen Stack has been involved in dance most of her life.  As a child, she began her formal ballet training with Max Froman of the Froman School in New London.  A charter member of the Dance Arts Council, she also studied with Sylvia Reynolds, Libby Nye, and various teachers at Connecticut College and the American Dance Festival.  She began studying with Maggie Dennis in 1971 and was asked to join The Company (now the Dance Ensemble) in 1984.  In addition to her participation in the Dance Ensemble, Helen has performed in numerous local theater productions, including the Coast Guard Academy’s production of Camelot.  She was asked to join The Dance Extension faculty in 1995, and since then “Miss Helen” has been admired for her patience and gentle manner with our littlest dancers.

Helen was a medical secretary for a New London neurological group for 18 years.  In her free time she enjoys traveling (mainly to warmer climates), exercise classes, reading and walking with friends.  Helen makes her home in Quaker Hill.  Her son Teddy and daughter-in-law, Barbara, have two daughters, Olivia and Gabriella, future little ballerinas!