Meet Our Amazing Staff
Tim Chester (Artistic Director/Owner)
Tim took his first dance class at the age of 12. He attended college at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts. At Stockton, Tim worked on over thirty productions in all capacities, including actor, dancer, director, designer, choreographer, and producer. While in college, Tim danced with the Philadelphia based jazz company Monarch. He also trained and apprenticed with the Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre, where he danced many professional parts in such ballets as, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Carnival of the Animals, Vision’s, and Etudes.
Upon graduation at Stockton, Tim was hired as a production cast dancer for Celebrity Cruises aboard the ship Horizon. After sailing on the Horizon, he went on to sail on the Celebrity Millennium, Infinity, and two contracts aboard the Constellation. With Celebrity, Tim performed all over the world, including Russia, Scandinavia, Argentina, Spain, Alaska, and Brazil. While sailing, Tim became the choreographer and dance captain for singer/musician Perry Grant and his one-man show.
Between performing on the seas, Tim came back to the states, and joined the Atlantic City Ballet as a company member. With ACB, Tim performed in several ballets including new works, originating the roles of Demetrius in Midsummer’s Night Dream and Van Helsing in Dracula.
During this time, Tim also started attending graduate classes at Temple University where he studied not only modern dance technique but also Martha Graham technique with former Graham Company member Kun-Ya Lee, Dance Improvisation with Merian Soto, and Choreography with former Limon Company Principal Dancer, Anne Vachon. While at Temple, he studied at one of Philadelphia’s most renowned modern dance companies, Koresh, where he studied with Roni Koresh, Melissa Rector and many members of Pennsylvania Ballet.
Tim has also performed with Figments Dance Ensemble, a New York City based company that brings modern dance into elementary schools. Besides company work, Tim has performed in many industrials in Philadelphia including performing as a back up dancer for 80’s pop star Deborah Gibson.
In June of 2010, Tim joined In-Sight Dance Company, a Queens based contemporary ballet company as a company member and has danced in three of their ballets and also choreographed the pieces Rewind and Right Angles for the Company. Tim had his first Off-Broadway experience in February 2011, performing in Maria Colaco Dance's Eye Candy. Also in February, Tim appeared in Brice Mousset’s Gala at Manhattan Movement and Arts, performing in his piece Temptation. He joined Becky Radway Dance Projects to perform in her piece Roam at Triskelion Arts and the 92nd Street Y Theater. Tim danced for choreographer Diego Funes and his company in the PeriDance showcase. Tim also appears in artist Dan McCarthy’s video Two Left Feet and J. Michael Reeds’ video Unwell.
Since opening TLC, Tim has also had the pleasure of dancing in both DIVAS DO AC and DISCO LADY with MAXINE NIGHTINGALE at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has also set choreography for South Jersey Wind Ensemble and the Wax Works Dance Festival in NYC. He also works at an adjudicator for various dance competitions throughout the country.
Upon graduation at Stockton, Tim was hired as a production cast dancer for Celebrity Cruises aboard the ship Horizon. After sailing on the Horizon, he went on to sail on the Celebrity Millennium, Infinity, and two contracts aboard the Constellation. With Celebrity, Tim performed all over the world, including Russia, Scandinavia, Argentina, Spain, Alaska, and Brazil. While sailing, Tim became the choreographer and dance captain for singer/musician Perry Grant and his one-man show.
Between performing on the seas, Tim came back to the states, and joined the Atlantic City Ballet as a company member. With ACB, Tim performed in several ballets including new works, originating the roles of Demetrius in Midsummer’s Night Dream and Van Helsing in Dracula.
During this time, Tim also started attending graduate classes at Temple University where he studied not only modern dance technique but also Martha Graham technique with former Graham Company member Kun-Ya Lee, Dance Improvisation with Merian Soto, and Choreography with former Limon Company Principal Dancer, Anne Vachon. While at Temple, he studied at one of Philadelphia’s most renowned modern dance companies, Koresh, where he studied with Roni Koresh, Melissa Rector and many members of Pennsylvania Ballet.
Tim has also performed with Figments Dance Ensemble, a New York City based company that brings modern dance into elementary schools. Besides company work, Tim has performed in many industrials in Philadelphia including performing as a back up dancer for 80’s pop star Deborah Gibson.
In June of 2010, Tim joined In-Sight Dance Company, a Queens based contemporary ballet company as a company member and has danced in three of their ballets and also choreographed the pieces Rewind and Right Angles for the Company. Tim had his first Off-Broadway experience in February 2011, performing in Maria Colaco Dance's Eye Candy. Also in February, Tim appeared in Brice Mousset’s Gala at Manhattan Movement and Arts, performing in his piece Temptation. He joined Becky Radway Dance Projects to perform in her piece Roam at Triskelion Arts and the 92nd Street Y Theater. Tim danced for choreographer Diego Funes and his company in the PeriDance showcase. Tim also appears in artist Dan McCarthy’s video Two Left Feet and J. Michael Reeds’ video Unwell.
Since opening TLC, Tim has also had the pleasure of dancing in both DIVAS DO AC and DISCO LADY with MAXINE NIGHTINGALE at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has also set choreography for South Jersey Wind Ensemble and the Wax Works Dance Festival in NYC. He also works at an adjudicator for various dance competitions throughout the country.
Healani Harper (Ballet/Pre-K Director)
Healani Harper began her classical ballet training at Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre. After graduating early from the Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre’s academic program where she earned dance credits from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She also became a resident instructor at ACBT and joined the school’s parent company--the Atlantic City Ballet. She is a former Montessori instructor and a recently graduated Drexel University with 4.0. Healani is thrilled to be combining her two passions of dance and working with young kids as the Pre-K and Kinder-dance Director at TLC!
Phil Pagano (Tap)
Phil began his tap training at a very young age. As his love for the art grew, he expanded to other styles, being consistently recognized for his hard work and determination to perfect his craft. When his high school and dance competition days were up, he made the decision to pursue dance as a career and enrolled in Towson University's dance performance B.F.A. Program, with scholarship. After completing a year at Towson, he attended a summer intensive, training under the Artistic Director of the Atlantic City Ballet, Phyllis Papa. He spent the next year performing with ACB as a trainee, before being promoted to apprentice in 2014. Mr Pagano continues to perform with ACB as well as guest performances across New Jersey. He currently teaches and choreographs tap, jazz, ballet and more for many dance studios in the area. He hopes to instill future dancers with a strong work ethic and a love for performing for life.
Kirra Matthews (Ballet)
Kirra began dancing at the age of three at New Motion Dance Studio in Southern New Jersey, where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance. She quickly realized her particular affinity for ballet, and began more serious ballet training with Phyllis Papa at Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre. At the age of fourteen Kirra moved to Washington, DC to attend high school at the Kirov Academy of Ballet with a partial scholarship. In 2016, she graduated from Kirov as valedictorian and received both her high school diploma and a certificate for four years of Vaganova training. Upon graduation Kirra was invited to dance in the corps de ballet with Universal Ballet Company in Seoul, Korea for the 2016-2017 season. She danced in many ballets with UBC, including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, and The Nutcracker. Kirra is currently dancing with the Atlantic City Ballet under the direction of Phyllis Papa and is also a degree candidate at Harvard Extension School, studying psychology. Kirra is very excited to be joining the TLC family! She hopes to instill in her students her passion for ballet and encourage them to grow in confidence.
Maria Lorge (Tiny Stars)
Maria is thrilled to be starting her second year at TLC as a teacher. Maria has studied dance since the age of 3 and is over joyed to be sharing her experience and passion of dance with her students. Maria has worked as Miss Healani’s assistant teacher for over 5 years and as the oldest of 9 children, Maria loves working with our tiniest tots. Maria is currently a national champion soloist and member of the TLC competition team. Beside dance Maria has appear in operas, The New Millennium Summer Theater, National Honors Society, and is an active volunteer at her church.
Georgia Noon (Jazz/Twinkle Stars)
Georgia comes to us as an experienced dancer. She has been a dancer since she was 3 years old. Over the years she has gained experience in many genres, including Irish, Contemporary, lyrical, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and other forms. Georgia is a recent graduate from Atlantic County Institute of Technology. During her time there Georgia was a member of ACIT’s Dance Academy for 4 years, where she earned High Academic Honors all 4 years. In addition Georgia was the recipient of the Academy’s Leadership Award her senior year. Georgia was chosen as a featured dancer for the school’s musical, as well as being chosen as a soloist 3 years in a row for the Academy’s Spring Dance Concert. Georgia has represented her high school at the Teen Arts Festival, both regional and national level. She is a former competition team member, and she was also one of TLC’s assistant teachers for 3 years, teaching acro, ballet, and tap.
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Tullio Cata (Assistant Director/Ballet)
Tullio’s dancing career began at the age of 12 at “Centri Studi Musical” in Rome, Italy under the direction of Ranko Yokoyama, principal dancer of “Louis Falco Dance Company” and Lucia Colognato Principal dancer of “Opera di Roma”. From there he went on to study at the Accademia Nazionale Di Danza(Rome) and in 2011 he joined the American Repertory Ballet Trainee Program in Princeton, NJ where he completed his technique training with teachers such as Maria Youskevitch and Kathleen Moore and had the chance to dance company repertoire like Viva Vivaldi(Gerald Arpino) and George in Our Town (P.Jerry). After joining the Atlantic City Ballet in 2014 he had the change to dance several roles such as Cavalier in The Nutcracker, originating the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge, Demetrius in Midsummer Night Dream, Prince Sigfried in Swan Lake , Prince Florimund in Sleeping Beauty and many other like Drums, Tango, Clear Water, Mountain Legend, Dracula and Come Join the Dance.
Jaclyn Salerno (Jazz/Tap/Competition)
Jaclyn grew up in Manahawkin, NJ where she studied dance at the Rehearsal Hall Studio and then Broadway Bound Dance Academy. She danced competitively for 7 years where she earned the title of Miss Backstage. She has attended the Atlantic City Ballet's summer intensive as well as the Rockette Summer Intensive. Jaclyn has performed in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving day parade and several shows for Atlantic City Ballet. She is on Stockton's Dance Team and went to Orlando, FL for nationals. She is ver excited to be a part of the TLC team!
Danielle Monzo (Modern)
Danielle began the cultivation of her passion for dance after encountering the music of The Beatles paired with the inability to keep still. A South Jersey native, her dance education began in jazz, tap and ballet at the age of three. As a young adult, Danielle transitioned to formal training at JazzRock Ballet under the direction of Ann Stein-Heemskerk, where exposure to various styles of dance and the unique anthropology they evolved from expanded her love of movement and creative expression conducted through soul and song. Since then, Danielle has studied various disciplines of ballet and modern at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Stockton University, as well as flamenco under the direction of Eva Lucena. In addition to dance, Danielle has found joy through yoga, teaching, writing, and singing with her band. She is a published and award-winning poet as well as photographer. Being a part of the TLC Academy of Dance community as a teacher has been the ultimate rewarding experience, as well as being able to bring modern dance to TLC this year. She is so proud of her students & all the TLC dancers and the energy they dedicate to dance!
Gabriel Reyes (Hip Hop)
Gabriel is excited to be joining the TLC team as our new Hip Hop Teacher. Gabriel is fresh off of working the national tour of Gloria Estefan’s musical “On Your Feet” where he was a dancer and played Kenny. He also enjoyed touring around the country in the first national tour of “Saturday Night Fever.” Gabriel has also been seen on the 2017 Tony Awards, the 2017 Univision up fronts, the ABC Thanksgiving Parade and many other industrials, music videos, Cruise lines and Concerts. Locally Gabriel has performed in Disco Lady with Maxine Nightingale, Divas do AC, Diva Royale, and currently dancing at the 1925 cocktail lounge at Ocean Casino.
Victoria DeBenedictis (Acro)
Victoria started dancing at the age of two and has always had a passion and love for dance that has made it impossible for her to ever stop. She is a former competitive dancer and also a cheerleading coach. She is thrilled to be part of the TLC team and now that she is able to teach everything she's learned over the years she couldn't be happier.
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