Candace A. Carriger, MA
Artistic Director

 

Candace holds an MA in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland. She also obtained teacher certification through the Dance Education Laboratory at the 92nd Street Y, in New York City. Candace is a specialist in early childhood dance education with a focus on the artistic and physical development of young children. Her professional dance training includes study at The Maryland Youth Ballet, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She has performed with a variety of independent modern dance choreographers, several community-based ballet companies, as well as developing her own choreographic projects. Her New York teaching experiences include; the Bank Street School for Children, STEPS on Broadway, the Weekday School at the Riverside Church, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, Ballet Hispanico, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech, and Ballet Academy East. Candace developed the Dance Lab in order to share her many years of teaching experience, dance training and education, and love for moving with another generation of creative movers. Candace is also a certified Pilates teacher and kids Yoga instructor.

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In 2020, Candace had two full hip replacements to repair both hips that had been overworked and overused from so many years of dancing and teaching. As part of her recovery, Candace got herself back into the studio alone to strengthen and heal her new "bionic" hips. She gathered all of her dance and movement knowledge and experience and began developing a workout program that would enhance her healing without causing any harm after these two major surgeries. She revisited her years of training in Pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Laban work, and Ballet. Slowly, she developed a workout that had her moving stronger and without pain. She turned her pain-into-passion and now offers a variety of adult classes designed to strengthen, stretch, tone, reshape and build better body-confidence that she now shares with lots of adults who are also finding benefits from this work.