Our Directors
JOELLE IULIANO
Joelle Iuliano was born in Belleville New Jersey, and has 37 years of dance and performance experience, and 19 years of teaching experience. Joelle attended her first dance lesson at the tender age of 2, at Miss Maureen’s School of Dance in Nutley, New Jersey. By the time she reached 7, she was competing all over the East Coast winning numerous awards for solos and group performances. While continuing her dance training, Miss Maureen opened Gymnastic World where Joelle was chosen for their competition team as well. At the age of 12, she was crowned the all around New Jersey State Champion. Also during these years Joelle also studied voice, piano, violin and acting. She has performed in such productions as: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), The Best Of Broadway, Cats (white lead Cat), The Nutcracker and Fame, just to name a few. While attending her local high school, Joelle was selected from over 500 of her peers to represent her school, and attend the prestigious Governors School of New Jersey to study dance. Upon graduation, she headed to N.Y.C. to pursue and further her career. Joelle attended the highly accredited Herbert Berghof School (HB Studios), where Debbie Allen, Al Pacino, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Robert DeNiro have graduated. Here is where she learned from the best, in all aspects of the performance arts.
Joelle is also certified by Dance Educators of America (DEA) in Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Modern, Tap, Latin and Dance Sport (Ballroom). She is constantly furthering her education by traveling and studying around the country with master teachers such as: Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Brian Freidman, Wade Robson, Dave Scott, Tabitha and Napoleon D’Umo, Al Gilbert, Luigi, Cathy Roe, Daryl Retter, Steve Sirico, Angela D’Valda, Nan and Gus Giordano, Germaine Salsberg, Jermaine Brown, Rhapsody, Raymond Lukens, Franco DeVita just to name a few. She enjoys teaching all ages and levels of ability, from 2 years thru adult. She also instructs, coaches and
organizes the Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Contemporary and Hip-Hop programs and competition troupes at Rising Stars. Her accolades in teaching include numerous Platinum Hi– Gold and Gold awards for solos, small groups, large groups and production numbers in the category of Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Character Open and Lyrical. Joelle has been
bestowed with numerous awards for her unique choreography, best costuming, overall high score performance, most visually pleasing, best technique and many others that are to numerous to name. Her students have
appeared in the national tour of Les Miserable, on Broadway, have been accepted into Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Georgian Court College Dance program and the Howell High School Performing Arts (F.P.A.C) program.
Her greatest enjoyment comes from her students and their accomplishments. Seeing their eyes light up while learning a new move or combination and their burning desire to learn. Watching them grow from babies in a pre-school class, into accomplished adults. Not only as dancers or performers, but as fine young men and women. Knowing that the time she has spent with them, helped to mold them into the dancers, singers, actors, performers and people they have become. She is grateful everyday to have had the great privilege and honor to be a co-owner and co-director of Rising Stars and look forward to many more years with her business partner, Jody, creating the stars of tomorrow!
JODY MYSLINSKI
Jody Myslinski was born in Staten
Island, N.Y. and began dancing when she was 4 years old. She studied
under the guidance of Julia Brande, at Julia Brande’s Dance Studio, a
renowned Rockette and past President of DEA, Dance Educators of
America. Throughout her childhood, she has performed numerous solos,
danced with small & large groups, and performed in Pajama Game, The
Wizard of Oz, as well as other regional performances. At about 10 years
old, she began traveling to NYC to study with Al Gilbert and other
wonderful teachers at DEA workshops. Dance has always been a major part
of Jody’s life. Jody was also recognized artistically throughout her
teens and has had her art work showcased at many exhibits. She was the
only high school student in her area to be awarded a summer scholarship
to Pratt Institute for Art & Design, Brooklyn, NY, when she was 15
years old. At 17 years old, she was 1 of 2 students from her high
school accepted into New York University’s early admissions program,
thus skipping her senior year at high school. The NYU campus of
Greenwich Village only enhanced her understanding of dance & the
arts, and further provided her with easy access to train with the best.
She continued dancing throughout college while also achieving a
computer science degree.
Jody’s love of dance kept her
performing and competing until she was 31 years old. For the past 21
years, Jody has taught dance for students from 2 years to adult. She is
certified and qualified by DEA (Dance Educators of America) to teach
tap, jazz, modern, latin, acrobatics, ballet and pointe. She has and
continues to study with some of the best teachers in the world,
including Al Gilbert, Darryl Retter, Raymond Lukins, Charles Kelly, Gus
Giordano, Steve Sirico and Germaine Salsberg, just to name a few. As
she continues to keep up with the current dance trends and techniques,
she has recently begun studying the tap work of Anthony LoCasio and
Debbie Dee. She continues her studies several times a year at numerous
NYC locations, other cities scattered throughout the US, as well as
Broadway Dance Center and various dance conventions. To date, Jody’s
competition classes have been awarded numerous 1st places, golds,
hi-golds, platinums, etc. She has won “most entertaining”, “best
costuming”, “best musical selection” among a few. In May of 2006, she
was her proudest as she watched her Senior LID tap group perform on
stage at the Leonard Nimoy Theatre at 95th & Broadway, NYC, with
some of the greatest names in the tap industry. She was even more
delighted when a photo of their performance appeared in a major dance
magazine, Dancer. Her enthusiasm & supportive interaction with her
students makes it natural for them to bond with her. Most of her
graduated students return to visit and share their accomplishments with
her year after year. Some of her students have continued their dance
education after high school, excelling in their college/university dance
teams as dancers & choreographers! Here at Rising Stars, we say,
“It’s more than just dance!” Of course it’s about dancing & the
arts, but it’s also about feeling good about yourself, being able to
perform in front of an audience, acquiring a life long skill, building
your self-esteem, understanding the spirit of teamwork and forming life
long friendships. She is proud to be the director and co-owner of
Rising Stars School Of Dance & Performing Arts, LLC, with Joelle
Iuliano. Jody is the tap teacher for all the tap competition classes
and coordinator of the pre-school through 6-year-old programs. Her
greatest joy is re-living the joys of dance through her students and
watching them perform.
Congratulations to Our Directors
Congratulations to Joelle Iuliano and Jody Myslinski for being chosen as this year’s honorees at the 3rd. Annual Mayor’s Charity Ball which was held on November 14, 2009. They earned this honor for their dedication to youth development and consistent charitable work, as well as their outstanding community leadership and being role models for our area youth. Both are award- winning dancers with years of experience in the industry.
The studio, in its 23rd year, is often involved in community events by donating time, performances, and raising money for charities including Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (for children with cancer), the American Diabetes Jody & Joelle – enjoying some of the rich fruits of their labor of love! Association and Breast Cancer Foundations as well as the American Heart Association. Joelle and Jody have touched the lives of many people throughout the com- munity. A great big heart- felt THANK YOU for their never-ending hard work and love.
