Cardell Dance Studio

Cardell Dance Studio opened in 2019 as a home for Silvana Cardell's artistic practice and the educational programs growing around it. Located in a renovated industrial building at 1713 Melon Street in the Art Museum neighborhood, the studio serves as a welcoming artistic and cultural resource for local, regional, and international communities.

The studio is led by Silvana Cardell, a bicultural choreographer, educator, and 2022 Guggenheim Fellow in Choreography. She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of the Arts and an MFA in Choreography from Temple University, and directed the Dance Program at Georgian Court University from 2009 to 2024. Silvana founded Cardell Dance Theater in 2002 and has an extensive history creating spaces for dance and artistic exchange in Buenos Aires and Philadelphia. She is the Artistic Director of Cardell Dance Projects, the nonprofit home of the dance company.

Cardell Dance Studio offers recreational and professional dance classes, workshops, and cultural programs taught by movement artists and dance innovators. Children's classes include Ballet for Ages 6–8, Modern Dance for Ages 10+, Creative Dance Foundations for Ages 5 to 7, Beginner/Intermediate Ballet for Ages 9–12, Hip Hop for Ages 6–9 and 10+, Modern Dance Techniques for Ages 7–9, Jazz Dance for Ages 10–12, Creative Dance and Pre-Ballet for Ages 3–5, and Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet for Ages 3–5. The studio also runs Day Camps in Fall.

Adult classes include Contemporary Technique with Silvana Cardell (Monday Evenings and Thursday Mornings), Adult Hip-Hop with Esmeralda Luciano (Wednesday Evenings), and Fascia Flossing (Sundays). Classes are offered at all levels for beginner movers, intermediate dancers, and professional movement artists. The studio's faculty includes Loren Groenendaal (Children's Program Coordinator and Instructor), Olivia Jenna Brown (Studio Manager and Children's Program Instructor), Nicole Sabella (Children's Program Instructor, formerly a core member of the Mark Morris Dance Group), Esmeralda Luciano (Children's Program Instructor), Alex Brazinski (Adult Program Instructor, teaching acrobatics and contemporary floorwork), Kevin Kim (Adult Program Instructor, with over 12 years of partner dance training), and Priscilla Ruilova (Adult Program Instructor, specializing in salsa and bachata).

The studio cultivates creativity, confidence, and artistic skill while providing affordable dance education in a space for artistic experimentation, embodied learning, and community gathering. The studio's mission is to foster a welcoming environment that embraces diversity in age, experience, cultural background, artistic perspective, and ways of moving, expand access to dance education for historically underserved communities, and provide programs for professional dancers to train, create, discuss, and produce dance performances. Studio rentals are available. The space features a big, beautiful dance area described by visitors as open and large.

You'll enter a renovated industrial space in a welcoming artistic environment designed for people of all ages and experience levels. Classes are taught by experienced movement artists in an open, spacious room, with offerings from contemporary technique to hip-hop and partner dance.

Silvana Cardell, a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and MFA-trained choreographer, leads the studio as Artistic Director. The teaching team includes Loren Groenendaal (MFA, Certified Movement Analyst), Olivia Jenna Brown (MFA from Bennington College, trained at the Ailey School), Nicole Sabella (BFA, former Mark Morris Dance Group core member), Esmeralda Luciano (MFA, Temple University), Alex Brazinski (licensed acupuncturist and movement practitioner trained in acrobatics and contemporary floorwork), Kevin Kim (12+ years in ballroom, salsa, bachata, and brazilian zouk), and Priscilla Ruilova (13 years in salsa and bachata with 8 years of competitive experience).

The studio welcomes beginners of all ages, with classes explicitly designed for beginner movers and a mission to provide affordable dance education in a welcoming environment.