Miss Heidi
(Director and Teacher)
Heidi Klecak
Heidi Klecak (Director) is a member of the CT Dance Alliance and has been the director of Stafford Academy of Dance for 20 years. Heid earned a B.S. degree in Programs for Young Children at the University of Connecticut in 1983 and a Diploma in Dance Pedagogy from the Hartford Conservatory in 1991; Graduate studies at Wesleyan University in Dance & Movement Studies. Past student of the Marjorie Serafin School of Dance, and Instructor for 18 years. Hartford Conservatory faculty for 11 years. Faculty positions at ECSU and Saint Joseph College, among others. Resident choreographer for Hartford Children’s Theatre for over 5 years. Taught creative movement at the Preschool of the Arts, and choreographed for “Act Out, Sing & Shout” for many summers. Danced with Jazz Dance Theatre and Annex Dance Co. Performed professionally with the Sonia Plumb Dance Co. and currently performs professionally with Hartford-based Judy Dworin Performance Project. With JDPP Heidi has performed in multiple venues and cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Founder/Director of non-profit Figments Youth Dance Ensemble, whose mission is to provide a nurturing environment for young choreographers to create and produce their own work.
Miss Haley
(Teacher)
Haley Zdebski Fabrycki is a freelance performer, choreographer, and teacher living in Connecticut. Haley received her BFA in Dance and performance from SUNY, The College at Brockport. She has performed works by Bill Evans, Mariah Maloney, Claire Porter, Merce Cunningham, The Legible Bodies, Angie Muzzy, Shelley Ziebel, and Lorelei Chang. Haley attended the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC on full scholarship in the Summer of 2013, where she reconstructed and performed Merce Cunningham repertoire and studied Cunningham Technique. Haley has been studying Laban and Bartenieff Fundamentals under the direction of Bill Evans for 11 years and just finished her last summer of certification to be a Certified Evans Technique Teacher. She currently teaches a somatic based modern curriculum, along with teaching classes in jazz, ballet, and pointe. Haley has had the pleasure of presenting her own choreography throughout the Northeast including at the 5×5 Connecticut Dance Festival, Dixon Place, The Center for Performance Research, The Blackbox Theater in Hartford, CT, Charter Oak Cultural Center, Elms College Community Concert, and the Somatic Dance Conference in upstate NY at Hobart William Smith College. Haley is an ensemble member in the Judy Dworin Performance Project, and is a lead teaching artist for the JDPP Bridging Boundaries Arts intervention program and teaches in the JDPP Moving Matters! programs. She also works as a dance teacher at the Ethel Walker School, and Connecticut Concert Ballet. Haley spent two summers working as the modern, jazz and stretch teacher at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Summer Dance Intensive in Connecticut. Haley is the Director of the Stafford Academy of Dance Company, founded in 2018, and is also the Assistant Director of Figments Youth Dance Ensemble, a Hartford based non-profit pre-professional company for youth ages 10-18. www.figmentsdance.org
Miss Paula
(Teacher)
Paula Mayo earned an associate’s degree in Business Administration from Manchester Community College. While at MCC she took dance classes when they were offered. Paula began her very early dance training at Dance Express, then attended Stafford Academy of Dance, where she trained through high school graduation and into the present. Miss Paula also attended Manchester School of Dance Arts and participated in their Christmas Show. She was a member of Figments Youth Dance Ensemble for 5 years, where she strengthened her performance and choreography skills. She served as Rehearsal Director of FYDE in her senior year. Paula has attended the Dance Masters of America Student Honors Summer Intensive at the University of Buffalo, and the DancEnlight Summer Intensive. Miss Paula was a student assistant at Stafford Academy for many years and now is a teacher. Miss Paula is delighted to be able to share her love of dance with others.
Miss Lori
(Teacher)
Lori Landers- Carvalho began her dance training before her 5th birthday and has never stopped dancing since. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College with a minor in Dance, and she earned a Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. Lori has also trained at the New England Dance Conservatory, the Jose Limon Summer Dance Program, Springfield College, and Ballroom Fever, and has attended many workshops. She has performed locally with the New England Dance Theater, Springfield College Dance Ensemble, Sonia Plumb Dance Company, at City Stage in A Chorus Line, and most recently with The Legible Bodies. Lori has also taught at and choreographed for the New England Dance Conservatory. Lori is an attorney presently working for the Massachusetts Trial Court and finds that her life is nicely balanced between her legal career and the art, creativity and athleticism of dance. Lori is happy to join the Stafford Academy of Dance community and is excited to share her passion for dance.
Mr. Matt
(Teacher)
Matt Bader (He/Him) is an actor, singer, writer, and teacher who has trained and performed all over the world from New York to London to Tokyo. A graduate from the UConn BFAActing Program, he began working as an actor at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, with credits including The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Deputy) and It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play (Young George) During his time at UConn, he starred in Julius Caesar (Cassius) and A Kind of Sad Love Story (Vince) and he performed masses in St. Peter’s Basilica as a member of UConn’s Concert Choir. All the while, he worked meticulously to refine his craft, training at places including Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA, The Neighborhood Playhouse, Theatre Academy London, and most notably at the Suzuki Company of Toga in the mountains of Toga-mura, Japan. He was the youngest of 40 actors from across the globe selected to train directly under Tadashi Suzuki, a world-renowned Japanese theater maker and founder of the Suzuki Method for actor training. Shortly after returning from his work abroad, he wrote his first play, Journey from the Sun, which the UConn Department of Dramatic Arts then produced as their last show of the season. In doing so, Matt became the first UConn student to write and direct an official department production. These experiences have taught him a number of valuable lessons about life both on and off the stage, and he is now thoroughly excited to share those lessons with the students here at the Stafford Academy of Dance.
Miss Hillary
(Teacher)
Hillary Bowling started dancing, like most, at 3 years old at Can Dance Studio and stayed for 15 years dancing, and as a dance assistant for 5 years. During her time at Can Dance, she enrolled at ACT Magnet High School as a dance major. At ACT, she became the director of the student dance company where she had choreographed multiple pieces to be showcased, including musicals from the acting students, as well as taking every dance class offered. When graduated, Hillary pursued dance as a club in college. She joined the Repertory Dance Troupe to stay involved in dance while getting her History degree at ECSU. She got a seat on the eBoard as the treasurer while choreographing for large groups. Furthering her thirst for dance education, she studied abroad in South Korea and danced semi-professionally with a hip hop studio every day after classes. Aside from education, most of Hillary’s jobs have included dance in someway or the other. She was the dance director for the Capitol Theatre Arts Academy and Holiday Hill Day Camp for several years. She also ran several dance classes at Questers Way, and have taught students from various ages. Hillary always tries to include dance in her everyday life, whether it’s learning a new skill, finding a new song fit for a cool tap number, or watching other dancers continue their work in the dance community. Hillary is excited to share her knowledge and my passion for dance with everyone!
Stafford Academy of Dance 