OUR MISSION

Michelle Kelly Wurf has been teaching dance throughout New York City, Westchester and Philadelphia for over 25 years. She began dancing at the age of 11 and hasn’t stopped since. After spending many years dancing and performing in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she continued to study dance at NYU and went on to earn her BFA in Modern Dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She danced professionally in New York City and Philadelphia with various choreographers and was a company member of Ausdruckstanz Dance Theater, Copperworks Dance Company and TeatoLocal. She began teaching for Kids Co-Motion in 1994 and became the Director of their Westchester Division for 10 years. In 2013, she opened her own studio, MK Dance, in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. In 2020, Michelle merged MK Dance and On Hudson Fitness & Dance and opened the new studio as MK Dance On Hudson. Michelle has taught throughout Philadelphia, NYC and Westchester at various studios and schools, including: the Lamm Institute Pre-School in Brooklyn; the Grafflin Elementary School of Chappaqua; the Katonah Elementary School; the Riverdale Neighborhood House; the Children's Garden Center in Tarrytown; the Temple Beth Shalom Nursery School and Hillside Elementary School in Hastings-on-Hudson; the Chabad Pre-School, the Christian Pre-School, and Springhurst Elementary School in Dobbs Ferry: and the Virginia Marx Children Center at Westchester Community College. She was the Division Chair (Dance for Early Childhood) at the Y Dance Academy in Tarrytown and taught at the Rivertown Dance Academy in Tarrytown. Michelle resides in Dobbs Ferry with her husband and two children.  

Alex Martin graduated in 2010 from Wayne State University with a B.F.A. in Dance. Throughout Alex’s career at WSU, she performed works by Melissa Allen, Twyla Tharp, Meg Paul, Penny Godboldo, Ben Munisteri, and Nicholas Leichter.  One of her choreographed works, “Area of Stability”, was selected to be featured at the American College Dance Festival East Central Gala in 2009. Invited as a guest performer in 2009, she performed with Nicholas Leichter Dance at the Joyce Theatre for the premiere of “Killa”.  She is currently a member of Evolve Dance, Inc. and has recently travelled with the company to perform in California at the MixMatch Festival.  Alex is also a member of John J. Zullo Dance where she has performed at the HOT! Festival, Dixon Place, and Theatre for the New City with the company. In addition to actively pursuing her career as a professional dancer, she teachers and choreographs at several dance schools throughout the Metropolitan area.  

Billy Cohen, hailing from outside Boston, started his hip hop training at the young age of six at Joanne Langione Dance Center with his identical twin brother, and continued his training at Hofstra University while receiving a B.S. Degree in Dance Education.  This training at Hofstra gave him the opportunity to work with artists such as Fredrick Earl Mosley, Doug Varone, David Parker, Heather Waldon, Ellie Kusner, Bill Young, and Barbara Angeline, as well as train with Hofstra’s most notable Dance Department alumni, Larry Keigwin, on scholarship. Billy also created two works that represented Hofstra at American Collegiate Dance Association Conferences, and co-choreographed his own fully-produced evening dance show, “jux•ta•po•si•tion”. Outside of school, he continued his training with Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester and at Generation IV, learning and performing choreography from Teddy Forance, Devin Jamieson, Derek Mitchell, Emily Greenwell, Candace Brown, Jeff Lapes, Noel Bajades, Jonny Forance, and Emma Portner. Recently, Billy’s choreography was included in a segment of MTV’s Episode 2 of “Lit!” sponsored by Beats by Dre. Signed to Bloc Talent agency, Bill has worked with Reebok and was casted as a Principal Dancer in the upcoming season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, choreographed by Marguerite Derricks. Earlier this year, Billy starred in a viral video called “Student vs. Teacher Battle”, totaling over 22 million views on all social media platforms and appearing on multiple news networks, including a short segment on “Inside Edition”. With his education background, Billy Cohen hopes to have continuous success in the dance industry, and to someday travel the world doing what he loves best: creating, performing, and sharing his knowledge of dance to next upcoming generation of artists.  

Davon D Chance is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer with an extensive background in modern, ballet, jazz and hip-hop. This Native to Westchester County graduated from SUNY Purchase College where they double majored in Dance (BFA) and Arts Management (BA). Davon also has a background in personal training, dance fitness and sports rehabilitation. Davon has been teaching and choreographing since they were 15 years old. Davon hopes to one day have their own dance company as well as their own dance, fitness, and wellness center. Davon currently teaches in Westchester County, Brooklyn and New York City and is a dancer with DiMauro Dance Company. 

Helen Clare Samoskevich is a performing and teaching artist based in the NYC area. She has worked with students from preschool through middle school ages as a dance and theatre instructor, director, and choreographer. Regional theatre performing credits include Ensemble in Sunset Boulevard (Music Theatre of CT), Lucy Van Pelt in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (STONC), and Pit Singer/Darlene Cover in Honky Tonk Angels (STONC). In her classes, Helen strives to create compassionate, safe spaces where students can grow as dancers and as people. She earned her BA in Arts Management from UMass Amherst and is currently pursuing her master's degree in Drama Therapy at New York University. Helen is excited to be joining the MK Dance On Hudson team!

Jessica Whitehorne originally hails from the Boston area. After earning a B.A. in Dance from Dean College she enjoyed dancing as a Soloist for Boston Dance Company. As a teacher, Jessica held positions at some of the areas top schools, most notably The Boston Ballet School. After leaving Boston, Jessica spent time in North Carolina where she performed as a Principal dancer with the Greensboro Ballet. Now settled in New York, Jessica resides in Hastings on Hudson with her husband and daughter and loves teaching ballet and modern to the next generation of dedicated dancers! She is also currently performing with the Classics Dance Theatre, Mooney Cooley Dance Company and Signature Dance Company.  

Tanja Whited grew up in Santa Barbara, California where she began her ballet training with Lisa Abshere at the Goleta School of Ballet.  In 2001, she moved to New York City to earn a bachelor of arts in dance and English from Barnard College, Columbia University.  In 2004, she also participated in Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Professional Program.  Since graduating magna cum laude, she has danced professionally with companies, such as Charleston Ballet Theatre, Northern Ballet Theatre, Albano Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Dances Patrelle, and others.  For the past 10 years, she has been teaching ballet to all age groups, passing on her passion and love for dance to the next generation. 

Samantha Siegel's dance journey began at a young age at a competition dance studio in the Bay Area of California before eventually heading to NYU / Tisch School of the Arts to major in dance. At Tisch, she studied ballet and modern but found her true joy while taking classes at the NYU Swing Dance Society, an extracurricular club on campus. After college, her specialty in swing dance led to a career performing, choreographing, directing, and instructing in a multitude of industries including film & television, musical theater, cruise lines, and Lindy Hop events around the world. Notable accolades include dancing in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Blues Clue's Big City Adventure, Mrs. America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Red Hot Chili Pepper's music video "Go Robot", and directing the Broadway show Swing! for Norwegian Cruise Lines to 8 different casts. She has traveled to teach Lindy Hop to students in England, Paris, Costa Rica, and India and is so excited to share swing dance with MK Dance On Hudson! 

Olivia graduated from the University at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, where she performed as a member of the Zodiaque Dance Company. This past year she moved from Michigan and is currently performing as a member of the Mo.vement Dance Company. Olivia is also passionate about teaching and choreographing which she has been so fortunate to do for various dance studios, conventions, and workshops around the country. In addition to dance, Olivia is a certified fitness instructor and loves teaching Pure Barre classes around New York City. 

Described as “awesomely fiery” by the NYTimes, Rebeca is the artistic director of A Palo Seco Flamenco Company, which she founded in 2010 after performing for other well-known Flamenco companies throughout the U.S. (Flamenco Vivo, Noche Flamenca).  For her choreographic work, Tomas has received support from Arts Westchester, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Jerome Foundation, Connecticut Office of the Arts, and she is a two-time recipient of the NYFA/NYSCA Artist Fellowship in Choreography (2013 & 2019).  Tomas and A Palo Seco have performed throughout the U.S. at venues such as New York Summer Stage, (le) Poisson Rouge, the Chicago Flamenco Festival, Eastman School of Music’s World Music Series, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Pocantico Center, and the New Victory Theater. A firm believer in Arts-Education, she conducts workshops, residencies, and Lecture Demonstrations to students of all ages and backgrounds throughout the country.  Rebeca began her formal dance training in Granada, Spain and later moved to Madrid, where she studied at the internationally renowned Flamenco Academy Amor de Dios.