Faculty

Owner/CEO of Business Operations

Ms. Suzette has been teaching for over 30 years and has trained students that have gone onto professional dance and performance careers for the Broadway touring cast of "Hairspray" and "High School Musical", Chicago's Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, and at Bally's in Vegas. Suzette's credits include being a certified member of the Cecchetti Council of America, a member of Dance Masters of Michigan as well as Dance Masters of America. Suzette has toured the United States performing for the International Auto Show, was a featured dancer in an impersonation show derived from "Legends in Concert" and also has performed in many Industrial Shows. She is involved in all facets of the Miss America Program including title holder Miss St. Clair Shores 90-91, second runner up to Miss Michigan 91, emcee, choreographer, and has trained multiple other title holders for the Miss, Teen, and Little Miss St. Clair Shores Pageants as well as other contestants for Miss Michigan. Suzette has been involved in many competition and convention circuits as a faculty member and adjudicator including Dance Olympus, SADM, and OTDA to name a few. Suzette attained a business degree and achieved her ultimate goal: to own her own dance studio. She is now the RJDA Artistic Coordinator for Dance Education. Her personal motto, "Believe to Achieve" has gotten her this far, and she is excited for the opportunity to inspire students of all ages at RJDA to reach their goals. 

Ms. Beth is a graduate of Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a focus on Autism.  She has performed throughout the US and was a member and choreographer for the Central Michigan University's Orchesis Dance Theatre for many years. Ms. Beth has been on faculty touring the country at major dance conventions including Jazz on Tap on Tour, ODTA, SADM and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters as well as teaching master classes and setting competitive choreography from New Mexico to Washington DC.  As an RJDA faculty member, Beth teaches intermediate and advanced Tap as well as Lyrical and Contemporary a long with running our studio Facebook account.  Her eclectic personality and individualized approach in the classroom make her classes exciting and full of energy!

Ms. JoAnn has enjoyed a long and diverse career as an accomplished academic and arts administrator, faculty member; professional dancer and choreographer; teacher, coach and mentor. She holds a BFA in Dance/Theatre and a MA in Administration from Marygrove College in Detroit. As a professional dancer/actress, JoAnn performed with such companies as Detroit City Ballet Company, Michigan Ballet Theatre, Dance Detroit, Michigan Opera Theatre, to name a few. Ms. Cusmano has served on the faculty and taught dance at numerous colleges and universities, schools and dance companies, conventions and intensives including: Marygrove College in Detroit, Froebel College in London, The Royal Academy of Dance in London, Dayton Ballet Summer School, Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, R and J Intensive, and more. In addition, JoAnn is a private ballet instructor and coach to semi-professional ice skaters and gymnasts, and is an instructor for Kinderdance®, teaching movement and dance to young children in numerous preschools and child care centers in the metropolitan Detroit area. Since 2000, she has held the position as Children’s Rehearsal Director for the Michigan Opera Theatre production of the Nutcracker Ballet at the Detroit Opera House working with the Joffrey Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet Company, Ballet International, BalletMet Columbus and the Grand Rapids Ballet Company.

Ms. Rachel has been with RJDA since its opening. She teaches jazz, hip hop, ballet, lyrical, and tap, but her true passion lies with jazz dance! She is a faculty member for our competition team and also teaches our amazing Adult Special Needs Program each Monday. She has been dancing since age 6 and has danced under fellow RJDA teachers before she became one herself! Miss Rachel is certified in teaching jazz and tap through Dance Masters of Michigan and has toured the US assisting professional choreographers for JOTOT.

Additionally, Ms. Rachel is an elementary school teacher with her Master’s Degree in teaching reading. Her passion and love for teaching is evident in both of her professions. 

Ms. Kelly graduated from University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. Ms. Kelly danced at the studio for 14 years. She was on the Lake Shore dance team all four years of high school and coached the dance team for 3 years. Ms. Kelly assisted at the studio for seven years and is now on her eighth year of teaching. The kids will love Ms. Kelly’s fun and exciting classes!

Ms. Danielle has had a passion for tumbling for as long as she can remember. She was a competitive gymnast for 10 years reaching JO level 10. Ms. Danielle has been a tumbling and gymastics coach for 14 years and currently coaches at Warren Gymnastics Center. She has also been around the dance world for an extensive amount of time because her sister was a competitive dancer! Ms. Danielle was on the competition team with her sister for two years. She finds so much joy in watching students get new skills and watch them develop confidence within their talent. Ms. Danielle has been with Rhythm N Jump for 4 years and our dancers absolutely love her classes. We are so lucky to have her!

Ms. Alyson is currently a student at Western Michigan University studying Elementary Education and Dance. She was also a member of Western Michigan University Dance Team for 2.5 years. Ms. Alyson was a student with Rhythm N Jump since its first year and up until she graduated high school. She taught and assisted classes throughout her time here, including the Special Needs/Inclusive Dance Program, which she helped develop. She is trained in ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz, tap, contemporary, pom and hip hop. Under the direction of Suzette D'Andrea, She is also certified in Cecchetti Grades 1-3. She was the Captain of the L’Anse Creuse High School Varsity Dance Team under the direction of Diana Balgenorth and was apart of the Pankow Performing Arts Dance program under the direction of Niki Thuman. She has danced in numerous productions of BalletMet’s The Nutcracker directed by Dmitri Suslov, Darielle Eberhard, Daryl Kamer, JoAnn Cusmano, and Judith Molina. She also had the opportunity to be apart of ABT’s production of Sleeping Beauty. She has also won scholarships and titles through DMI, 24/7, Nuvo, and Showbiz. Ms. Alyson is a delegate for the Miss America Organization where she has won scholarships to help her continue with her platform and passions. Ms. Alyson has always had a love for dance and leadership and she loves to use her knowledge from school to help better our programs. She also works at Ballet Kalamazoo under the direction of Amy Russell in the aspiring artist mentorship. She gets to choreograph and perform in their winter and spring productions and is loving every moment with her students. She is also behind all of Rhythm N Jump's social media and website posts. Ms. Alyson is so excited to teach all she knows! 

Miss Diana has been teaching and training dancers for over 20 years, with numerous former students advancing to major in dance and then establish careers in NYC and LA. Her choreography has garnered national awards in Tap, Hip Hop, and Jazz, alongside many regional honors. Currently, she is the Varsity Dance Team Coach at L’Anse Creuse High School and Head Coach of the Warren Woods Middle School dance team. Miss Diana's training began under Charmaine Schick of Vaudeville for two decades, and she furthered her dance education with various studios and teams across Michigan. She takes pride in sharing the love and passion for dance that was instilled in her from a young age with her students and team members.