Originally from South Amboy, NJ, Sarah is a dynamic dancer, actress, and singer whose journey began at a local dance studio in Spotswood. There, she trained extensively in tap, jazz, musical theatre, lyrical, hip hop, and ballet.

Sarah continued her education at the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City, where she earned her degree in Dance Theatre. At AMDA, she refined her technique in styles including tap, jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, and musical theatre, while also training vocally under Heather Petruzelli. She performed in numerous showcases as a featured vocalist and dancer under the direction of Cynthia Murray-Davis and choreographed original works in tap, contemporary, and jazz.

Following her time at AMDA, Sarah was featured in a Broadway-style production aired on Japan’s WOWOW network for the Japanese Tony Awards. She later joined the MCC Dance Ensemble, performing and choreographing throughout Middlesex County.

Sarah has taught and choreographed for dancers competing at both regional and national levels. She has worked with major competition organizations including Step Up 2 Dance, Groove, and Throwdown Dance Challenge as a judge and event staff. Her choreography—particularly in tap, musical theatre, and lyrical—has received numerous accolades.

Most recently, Sarah has taught and trained dancers at Powerhouse (Cherry Hill, NJ) and Move Dance and Fitness (Central NJ). She is currently on faculty at Waves of Motion Dance Center, specializing in tap, and also serves as the head coach for the East Brunswick Varsity Dance Team. In addition, she is a certified Barre instructor and a graduate of Montclair State University with a degree in Physical Education and Health. Sarah now teaches full-time in Middlesex County, combining her passion for movement, education, and the arts.

Miss Julianna (Jules) has been teaching and choreographing at studios and for dance teams throughout New Jersey since 2017, working with both recreational and competitive students ranging from preschool aged to high school. Her jazz, lyrical, and musical theater competition choreography has earned many National championships, overall placement awards, and special awards for choreography, entertainment, cleanliness and dynamics.

Jules is entering her third season as a coach of the nationally ranked competitive dance team at The College of New Jersey Dance Team, helping lead her team to a historic 3rd Place finish at UDA Nationals last year! Prior to coaching, Jules was a 4-year member of the team. She performed at athletic and school events in addition to competing at regional and national competitions, including the UDA College Dance Team Championships in Orlando, FL.

Jules was also a long-standing member of Move Dance and Fitness of Central Jersey, both taking and teaching adult dance classes. She also choreographed for and performed with their dance company.

When she’s not dancing, you can find her working in Brand Management at Church & Dwight.

She’s looking forward to dancing through season 10 with the WDC!

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Marissa Aucoin is a passionate artist who utilizes dance to empower individuals and build communities through shared physical expression. She holds a MFA and BFA in Dance from The College at Brockport and Montclair State University, respectively, and is committed to providing accessible, high quality dance education for both dancers and non-dancers alike. Marissa joined the Waves of Motion staff in 2022 and is thrilled to be a part of their 10th anniversary season. Outside of the studio, Marissa is an adjunct professor at Raritan Valley Community College where she leads courses in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Dance History, Dance Composition, and Improvisation. She is also on faculty at Yvonne's School of Dance and teaches for several New Jersey non-profit arts organizations.

In addition to her work as a teaching artist, Marissa continues to choreograph, produce and perform professionally. Recent performance credits include the Espressione Corporea Project (Loretta Fois), Reframe Dance Theatre (Nathan Forster), Monica Bill Barnes, Wild Beast Dance (Tammy Carrasco), and Big Fish Movement (Jordan Demetrius Lloyd) to name a few. Marissa currently serves as movement director for Idyll Shift, a contemporary dance theater company that fuses classical plays and contemporary dance in an effort to shift perceptions of well-known narratives. She is also the founder and artistic director of her own company, mla | Format Dance, and has presented and performed works at the Rochester Fringe Festival, Dixon Place, Visual Studies Workshop, GreenSpace, Hollins University, Montclair Art Gallery and GEVA Theatre Center among others.

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Jackie, originally from Chatham, NJ, started her dance journey at New Jersey School of Ballet in Livingston, where she performed the Nutcracker for several years. Jackie received her Associate of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the County College of Morris, where she received the award for Outstanding Contributions in Dance. She has performed in and choreographed for the County College of Morris Dance Theater Concert. Jackie participated in and performed at the American College Dance Festival in Springfield, Massachusetts; The Summer World of Dance Intensive Program at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia; the 2,000 Feet Festival and the American Theater Dance Workshop at Hofstra University. Jackie attended the Paul Taylor School in NYC, where she was taught by Paul Taylor’s students and performed many of his works. She has performed professionally with, AP Motion Dance Company, a Modern Dance based company, in Warren.

Jackie’s strength is in the studio teaching. She has been a dance educator for over 25 years in NJ. Schools such as; Garden State Ballet, Harbor Haven; Program for children with special needs, & Gotta Dance LLC. where she choreographs and Educates dancers of all ages. She has directed and choreographed; Sound of Music, Grease, Mary Poppins, & The Lion King, to name a few, for the Morris School District; Summer Plus Program, for school aged students.  Jackie currently holds a acrobatic arts certification and progressive ballet technique (PBT) certification.

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Miss Katherine has been dancing since she was 3 and has trained in multiple styles of dance, including, tap, jazz, ballet, modern, lyrical, musical theatre, and pointe. As a senior, she was recognized with a choreography award, along with Raquel Simao and Julianna Marsh, for her student choreography solo project.

She danced at Waves of Motion Dance Center up until she graduated in 2022. At the age of 10 she became a volunteer teacher assistant at her studio, working with children from the ages of 2-12 in numerous different styles of dance. She became a student teacher at the age of 16 and now choreographs for the Waves Dance Company. Her dancers have won National Championships, titles, placed in the overalls across various divisions, and received a variety of judges awards with her choreography.

Katherine was a four-year member of the Monroe Township High School Varsity Dance Team. With the team she competed in Jazz and Hip Hop. During her senior season as captain she co-choreographed the team’s halftime performances for basketball games, football games, and various team performances,

Currently, Katherine is a senior at The College of New Jersey where she is the Senior Co-Captain of their nationally ranked Dance Team. Under the direction of Julianna Marsh, Cierra Edwards, & formerly Jennifer Whitford she trains in the styles of Jazz, Pom, and Hip Hop and has had the opportunity to work with renowned choreographers. During her time on the team, the team has medaled twice, making program history in the Open category at UDA Nationals in Orlando, Florida.

She hopes to one day become a Kindergarten Teacher while also continuing teaching dance, choreographing, and sharing her passion for dance with her students. Katherine also works as an Administrative Assistant and Social Media Manager at Waves!

Alex is an accomplished street dance educator, choreographer, and performer with a background in hip-hop, popping, street jazz, breaking, and locking. He began dancing in his senior year of high school and has since trained at Broadway Dance Center, The Pulse, Urban Dance Camp, and Monsters of Hip-Hop. His performance credits include work with artists such as Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Jax, and Vita Chambers, and he has also been featured as a dancer in Glee. In addition to choreographing and teaching at studios across NJ, Alex is also a visual effects artist working in film, TV, and commercials.

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