Our mission is to provide our community with strong and inspiring dance, art, and vocal programs for all ages, while emphasizing proper technique and nurturing the artistic spirit in each student.
  We offer instruction in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hip-hop, and pre-school dance, as well as voice and visual arts programs. There are classes for beginners to advanced and all ages. Our compassionate and qualified faculty have extensive backgrounds in performing and teaching. We foster positive and healthy relationships in the lives of our students, and strive to create lasting partnerships with families. The Pennington Studio is the place to attend when choosing a quality arts education for your child.

Dawn Cargiulo Berman 
Owner & Artistic Director 
Dawn Cargiulo Berman studied at the University of the Arts and the Laban Centre for Dance and Movement in London, England, where she received a BA with Honors in Dance Theatre. 

She began her professional dance career with Transitions Dance Company, a London based collaborative group where she performed and taught throughout Europe, Japan, and Taiwan. Dawn joined internationally acclaimed MOMIX Dance Company, performing throughout the US and Europe, as well as teaching master classes at the university level. Additionally, she performed with NYC-based companies Neo Labos, Shoestring, and Isadora Dance Legacy and also collaborated with Vienna-based Blue Moon Productions performing in Vienna, Belgium, and NYC. 

Dawn created and directed the dance program at Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, NJ, for two years and then went on to direct the dance program at Middlesex Vocational and Technical High School. During this time Dawn continued her performance work with Philadelphia-based Junk Dance Company and Scrap Performance Group, creating and performing dance works throughout the Philadelphia area, including the Philadelphia Fringe Festivals and Princeton Arts Council galas. Dawn continues to collaborate with The Hopewell Valley Arts Council, The Princeton Ballet School, Rider University, and The Lawrenceville School. 

Bridgette Gan 
Bridgette Gan, acclaimed soprano, voice teacher and fitness professional is thrilled to be joining the faculty at The Pennington Studio! Ms. Gan has been singing, acting and dancing professionally for over two decades. Making her start in music theatre at only eight years old, Bridgette played leading roles in countless professional venues across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond.  In high school Bridgette was an arts week major prize winner for The National Foundation of Advancement in the Arts (NFAA.)  Since completing her Masters in Opera Performance from the Maryland Opera Studio and her Bachelors in Music from Westminster Choir College, Bridgette has enjoyed an active and diverse career performing a variety of leading and supporting roles for professional opera houses, theaters, and orchestras around the world.  
 
As a voice instructor, Bridgette has a strong background working with children of all ages. Ms. Gan was a guest voice teacher for the Palm Beach Opera high school residency program and acted as an Education Outreach Ambassador with the same company, teaching in elementary schools throughout the tri-state area of South Florida.  More locally, Bridgette was a Charlie Choo Choo enrichment instructor, teaching both Music and Drama curriculums at various Learning Experience daycares throughout NJ and a performing artist specializing in children entertainment with “Beauty and the Beast” NJ Party Entertainment. 

​Bridgette is also an accomplished fitness instructor and presenter holding certifications in Zumba Fitness , STRONG by Zumba and AFAA. She has taught all over the country and currently maintains an active following in the Central New Jersey area, particularly at Pennington Ewing Athletic Club and New Jersey Athletic Club.  

Gabriella Proffitt 
Gabriella Proffitt holds a BFA in Dance Education with a specialization in Ballet Performance and a minor in Musical Theater from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. While attaining her degree, Gabriella became a peer tutor in ballet for which she was acknowledged with an Excellence In Tutoring Award and an Outstanding Student Teaching Award. After graduation, she danced professionally with Ballet Fleming, Ballet 180, and Roxey Ballet. Gabriella has several ballet teaching engagements in central New Jersey and at Penn Ballet at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior teaching experience includes ballet instruction at Princeton Ballet School and Mill Ballet School, pre-ballet instruction at The Rock School in Philadelphia, ballet, lyrical, and beginning jazz, acro, and modern at Studio 180 in Paoli, PA, and ballet and lyrical at competition dance studios. In addition, Gabriella has a 200-hour certification in Prana Yoga from Princeton Center for Yoga and Health. Her supplementary interests lie in music, alternative somatic modalities, and multidisciplinary collaboration – all of which inform her work as an artist and arts educator. 

Brandon Joshua Jones 
Brandon J. Jones– is a professional dancer and teacher who has performed internationally, and is currently dancing for the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. His broad-based training in seven different dance styles led him to great success in dance competitions in his early years of training. Brandon then attended the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University in Pittsburgh on a full artistic merit scholarship, receiving a B.A. in dance. Brandon’s performing career has included appearing in works by choreographers Ron DeJesus of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; Cleo Mack; Michele DeLaReza and Peter Kope; and NYC choreographers Kim Gibilisco and Obediah Wright. He also toured internationally with dance music artist Crystal Waters, with appearances in Amsterdam, Belgrade, Brisbane, Bucharest, Moscow, Tel Aviv, and Vienna. Since 2012, Brandon has been collaborating with Mod Arts Dance Collective and Tiny Starr Productions Theatre Group, both in New York City. Brandon lives in central NJ and teaches jazz, funk, lyrical, and modern dance. He is also an Adjunct Teaching Artist through NJPAC’s Arts Education Department. 

Kate Kehoe  
Kate Kehoe began her training at Princeton Ballet School where she was the recipient of the Petit and Estey scholarships for outstanding talent and promise.  While at Princeton Ballet, she played the role of "Marie" in American Repertory Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" for three consecutive years, as well as the role of Aurora in Princeton Ballet's School production of "Sleeping Beauty".  She has studied with the San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and American Ballet Theater's summer programs on full tuition merit scholarships.  After high school she danced professionally with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater appearing in "Serenade", "Giselle", "Swan Lake", and "The Nutcracker".  Following this, she attended The College of New Jersey where she double majored in Elementary Education and English and served as a guest artist with American Repertory Ballet, performing in Graham Lustig's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Nutcracker".  She currently works part time as a reading specialist with Readington Township Schools and is certified and highly qualified to teach students in Kindergarten through 12th grade in the New Jersey Public School System.  She resides in Pennington Boro with her husband and twin girls, and is excited to be a part of the ballet community in Pennington.  ​ 

Christina Eltvedt 
Christina Eltvedt "Ms. Chrissy" is a Philadelphia based dance artist and educator. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in dance from Temple University and is currently finishing her certification in Pilates at Drexel University. Prior to moving to the Philadelphia area almost four years ago, Christina lived and worked in Chicago IL as a performer, choreographer, and dance teacher. Within that time, she danced with the Joel Hall Dancers, was a Danszloop Chicago ensemble member, and worked extensively with dance master Paul Sanasardo. Furthermore, she co-founded Fôr Dance Co., and has produced several full-length concerts showcasing her choreography and the work of others. As an independent choreographer and self-produced artist, her work has been widely showcased on stages and site-specific locations nationally with an international debut in Gujarat, India in the summer of 2017. Christina is an adjunct professor of dance and Temple University and on faculty at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia. In the upcoming season, she is looking forward to sharing her love for dance at The Pennington Studio. 

Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch 
Carrie is a professional performing artist, teacher, choreographer, Reiki Practitioner, and gardener. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music. She is a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and continues as a freelance artist with many other companies and collaborators. In 2009 she received her Basic Teacher Training at the Integral Yoga Academy in Yogaville, Virginia. 

She is the founder of "Exploratory Dance," a workshop created for non- professionals to explore their own unique movement vocabulary. The workshop encourages the exploration of intuitive, guided expression through movement resulting in the creation of an original dance work.   

​Other teaching credits include La Guardia High School of the Performing Arts, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, SUNY Purchase College, Talent Unlimited Performing Arts High School, Personal Trainer, and Hatha Yoga at Integral Yoga of Princeton and Princeton Center for Yoga and Health. Carrie also teaches workshops and master classes throughout the United States as well as setting Martha Graham's master works on dance companies, colleges, and school. 

Carrie's own choreography, film, and installations have appeared at the Walt Whitman Theater at Brooklyn College, Westbeth Studio Theater, Tea Lounge, 92nd Street Y, Dohm Alley Princeton NJ, and Stravinsky's L'Histoire Du Soldat at the Carl Fields Center at Princeton University with a live orchestra. 

Carrie's deep affection for the earth and community led her to found the P.E.A.C.E. Community Garden in Jersey City at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in 2012. The garden produces organic produce for the community and local food pantry and is a part of an emerging eco-village committed to urban permaculture, eco-art, and composting. 

Donna Heffner 
Donna has been tap dancing her whole life, performing and learning with some of the most influential tap dancers of our time.  She is a company member of Uniting Colleges Through Tap- a Philadelphia based tap company that performs in Philadelphia, NYC and Washington DC.  She has performed in DC Tap Fest, Big Apple Tap Fest in NYC, in solo and group showcases, and in many tap shows in Philadelphia.  Donna has taken master classes with Jason Samuels Smith, Derrick Grant, Karen Calloway Williams, and Heather Cornell, among others.  She loves passing on the knowledge from these masters to her students  and being a part of keeping this great American art form alive.  She has also trained at University of the Arts Philadelphia and Broadway Dance Center NYC. 

Donna is one of the few toetap dancers performing today, dancing en pointe in pointe shoes with custom made taps in the toes. She has performed with Lady Greys Lovelies, a vintage dance company from Upstate Pennsylvania.   

Donna is also a championship-level Irish dancer with the Crossroads Irish Dancers of Bucks County.