Maria Cherniske

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Teacher Bio

Maria Cherniske was born and raised in Connecticut where she took her first class at the age of three. Since then, her passion for the arts has continued to flourish. In addition to being a performer, Maria has taught dance to students of all ages for the past twenty-one years and is a coach for competitive level gymnastics.

Maria was a competitive gymnast trained by 2004 Olympic coach Alan Hatch and 2004 two-time Olympic silver medalist Annia Hatch. Following college...read more

Maria Cherniske was born and raised in Connecticut where she took her first class at the age of three. Since then, her passion for the arts has continued to flourish. In addition to being a performer, Maria has taught dance to students of all ages for the past twenty-one years and is a coach for competitive level gymnastics.

Maria was a competitive gymnast trained by 2004 Olympic coach Alan Hatch and 2004 two-time Olympic silver medalist Annia Hatch. Following college, Maria continued her dance education at the Broadway Dance Center in New York. She trained under Rhapsody James in the 2012 winter session of Motivating Excellence. She was also a member of New York based dance companies Jamie J & Co and Humans Collective.

Maria has worked with choreographers such as Lisette Bustamante, James Jackson Jr, Dana Foglia, Rhapsody James, Luam Keflezgy, Kelly Peters, Derek Mitchell and Tanisha Scott. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, in an ad for Rocawear clothing, with supermodel Coco Rocha at NYC's Fashion's Night Out, on national television with Icona Pop, in a live performance with Jordan Fisher for Nintendo and in a national commercial for the Wendy Williams show. She was also a principal in a commercial for Affinity Bank. In addition, Maria has done work for Nike and Adidas. She appeared in Music Videos with popular up and coming artists and performed live with artists Matt Hunter, Carey Nokey, and L Michelle. Maria was the assistant choreographer for Rob Thomas’ music video “I Trust You”, an ad for New Jersey Lotto “Cash Pop” and co-choreographed for the Off-Broadway hit La Cancion.

Maria travels internationally to teach Acro and dance. In 2012 she was selected to be a mentor for the program Creating Opportunities developed by world-renowned choreographers Lisette Bustamante and Chonique Sneed. In 2021 Maria became a member of the staff at Acrobatic Arts as a course conductor and adjudicator.

Maria is dedicated to perfecting her art and the love of performance. She believes that dance is a universal language and enjoys getting to know others and helping people get to know her through dance.

Maria holds a B.A. in Psychology and Masters in Reading Education from Sacred Heart University. She also holds a Connecticut Teaching Certificate and is certified through Fitness, Gymnastics and Acro federations (listed below).

Certifications:
AFAA Group Fitness Certified
bodyART Certified Instructor
Adult and Pediatric First Aid, CPR and AED certified
Acrobatic Arts AAC 1 and AAC2
USA Gymnastics Safety Certified - Artistic Gymnastics Coach

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Class Descriptions

AcroDance

This class is designed to introduce students to basic AcroDance skills that they can incorporate into their choreography. Each session begins with cardio, strength, and stretch exercises to prepare the body for the skills that will be covered in class.

Throughout the course, we will cover fundamental AcroDance skills with a focus on building proper technique and using proven progressions to teach these skills safely and effectively.

Our goal is for students to feel confident performing these skills on the dance floor without the use of mats. As such, there will be a heavy emphasis on technique, and we will work on progressions that will allow students to build the strength and flexibility necessary to execute these movements.

Whether you're a beginner or looking to enhance your existing dance skills, this class is perfect for anyone interested in developing their strength, balance, flexibility, agility, and basic inversion skills.