Artistic Director
Erica holds her BA in Dance from Dean College where she graduated in 2006 with high honors. She has extensive training in Modern, Jazz, Ballet, and Hip Hop as well as dance history, pedagogy, creative movement, musical theater, and dance composition. She is a former member of Dean Dance Company, Rainbow Tribe, Kelly Donovan and Dancers, and Disney Cruise Lines. Erica currently performs with Velocity Dance Elite. Erica has over fifteen years of teaching experience with the Quincy Public School System and private studios. Having started her passion for dance with Holly Rendle at the Atlantic Middle School Dance Theatre, Erica continued on as a graduate of the North Quincy High Schools Renaissance Dance Program under the direction of Maria D’Arcangelo. She was also selected to perform in the Millennium Day Parade in London.
She is the former Renaissance Dance Director at North Quincy High School, has worked at The Germantown Neighborhood Center, Beechwood Knoll Elementary School, Broad Meadows Middle School, The Fall and Winter Institute, The Performing Arts Program, and has choreographed for the North Quincy High School’s Show Choir. She also taught Hip Hop at Quincy College, and D.A.R.E Dance, a national program to help students with drug and alcohol awareness, at Sterling Middle School. Erica is very well known and respected in the dance community, in the City of Quincy, and was recently nominated in the Patriot Ledger Education Program ,”Thanks to a Teacher” recognition. Erica was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and received numerous Performing Art Scholarships at Dean College. Erica has taken part in many dance teacher workshops such as the New York City Dance Alliance and the Broadway Dance Teacher Workshops. Most importantly, Erica is very active with charity foundations and the local community. Erica is proud to be back at her roots teaching in the city of Quincy.
Director
Vincent is the Owner and Director of Velocity Dance Company. He began dancing and acting at an early age in Southern California. He specializes in Hip Hop, Martial Arts, and Street Funk, and is known for his unique and creative choreography style. Vincent was a three time National Champion in Martial Arts and was selected to represent the United States. Vincent also performed for No Doubt during the early stages of Gwen Stefani’s career. He performed in Bruce Lee’s Anniversary Show Performance and was in the Hollywood film, Hiroshima, that starred Pat Morita from Karate Kid. In his latest accomplishments, Velocity Dance Company was invited to dance at the Russell Bowl in Orlando Florida. There Vincent worked with Mandy Moore, the four time Emmy nominated choreographer from So You Think You Can Dance and creative producer of Dancing with the Stars. His dancers performed with pop artist, Nico & Vinz singing their popular song, Am I Wrong. Vincent also works with other pop artists as a choreographer and dancer for their music videos.
In his early adulthood, he worked for the top fortune 500 companies in Business Management and Marketing and continued to dance and choreograph. Wanting to start his own business nothing made more sense then opening a dance studio with his wife, Erica. The dynamic duo was the first in the South Shore to start a “Not Your Average Wedding Dance” and the first studio in Quincy to start a Performing Group that performs professionally, for local charities, schools, and community events. Currently, Vincent is teaching multiple Hip Hop classes and Musical Theatre at Velocity Dance Company. Vincent also directs the Hip Hop and Musical Theatre program at MSE, a Milton Summer Enrichment Program.
Dance Instructor
Gabriella is a New York-born multidisciplinary artist who began her dance training at the age of three at the American Dance and Drama Studio in Queens. As she grew, she furthered her dance training under the guidance of David Howard and found her place soon after at The Ailey School. After being part of the Junior Division until she graduated from high school, she attended Dean College where she received her Associates in Dance. She has performed with various dance companies such as the BalaSole Dance Company for Emerging/Re-Emerging Artist Showcase and Parsons Dance Company. After graduating college, she returned back home to The Ailey School to further her dance training in the Certificate Program. In 2018, she graduated and received a Certificate of Dance from The Ailey School under the mentorship of Freddie Moore. During her time in Ailey, she performed works from Amy Hall, Earl Mosley, Winston Dynamite Jones, and Thang Dao. She has also performed in Memoria at New York City Center alongside the Ailey Company. She is a former company member for the Gloria Eve Dance Theatre, Bloodline Dance, At The Brink Dance Projects and Thistle Dance. Gabriella has worked in teaching and administration roles at The Ailey School. In addition, she worked as a teacher/choreographer for multiple dance studios in the Queens and Long Island area. Her teaching experience continued with MMDG’s Teaching Artist Training Program. Gabriella is currently teaching artist at the Mark Morris Dance Group as well as a Teaching Artist for New York City Ballet and Boston Ballet.
Dance Instructor
Stacey began her love of dance at the age of four when she took tap, jazz and ballet at Peggy McGlone Dance Studio in Waltham, MA. During her adolescent years, she transitioned to the Studio of Creative Movement in Waltham, MA where she discovered her true passion for Tap and Hip Hop. Stacey loves performing and was active in dance and drama during her time at Waltham High School. She performed several dances each year in her school’s production of “Dance Theater”, and was a Masters of Ceremonies during her last year in the Senior Review production of “Cinema Adventure”. Her love for dance continued while attending Lasell College, when she became a member of the Creative Movement Dance Company and performed with them for several years. As her dance career evolved, she began attending master classes through The Dance Teachers’ Club of Boston. Stacey has taught several classes in Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop for all ages at The Dance Connection in Stoughton, MA (formerly Judy’s School of Dance); The Dance Shop in Holbrook, MA; Duval Dance Studio in Scituate, MA; as well as a competitive dance team for Scalzi School of Dance in Watertown, MA. Stacey has an effervescent personality and truly loves to share her passion for dance with her students.
Dance Instructor
Alexandra is an artist inspired by dance as a universal language, currently pursuing a BA in Dance as well as a Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Springfield College. She desires to perform professionally and work with other active performing artists as a dancer and physical therapist. MacPherson aims to combine her love of movement and science to enhance the ever-changing world in which we live. With experience ranging from concert to commercial dance, MacPherson’s training embodies a diverse movement vocabulary from athletic contemporary to old school hip-hop. She is an active dancer, choreographer and educator. She enjoys the athleticism and adrenaline rush of hip-hop, jazz funk and African as well as the control and variation in contemporary and musical theater. MacPherson has performed diverse choreographic works by professional artists Monica Bill-Barnes, Jason Aryeh, Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre, Monica Baroni and Sarah Zehnder. She was invited to be a guest performer for Zehnder Dance Company in NYC in 2019 and MacPherson’s choreography has also been presented at FlorenceSummerDance (Florence, Italy) and was selected for the American College Dance Association’s New England Regional Festival (Middlebury, VT) informal showcase. She has been a member of the Velocity Dance Company since the beginning and loves teaching classes to all age groups.
Dance Instructor
Miss Marina, from Waynesville, North Carolina, began dancing at MusicWorks Studio of Performing Arts in 2008 where she studied ballet, jazz, lyrical, pointe, and tap. In high school, she also studied dance at the Rockettes Summer Intensive in 2016 and 2017, and at the North Carolina Governor’s School in 2017. After high school, Marina attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she graduated with honors with her BFA in Dance Choreography and Performance, and K-12 teaching licensure in dance. While at UNCG, Marina choreographed work, performed in various repertory works, and completed a semester abroad with Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Marina is excited to be moving to Quincy, MA and looks forward to creating artistic experiences with her students at Velocity Dance Company.
Dance Instructor
Lisa Carpenter has been teaching dance for the last 20+ years, specializing in Tap, Jazz, and Hip-Hop instruction. She began her training at age three with Beverly Carella in West Hartford, CT. As a teen, she assisted with class instruction and choreographed solo performances. She later studied at the Alyce Carella Dance Centre also in West Hartford, CT.
During her years at Clark University, Lisa served as co-director of the Variant Dance Troupe. She subsequently taught at the Acton-Boxborough Dance Center in Acton, MA and Step by Step Dance Studio in Waltham, MA. When Velocity opened down the street from Lisa here in Quincy, she walked through the doors, introduced herself to Miss. Erica, and instantly became part of the Velocity family! In the many years since, Lisa has taught, substituted, volunteered and performed as a proud member of the Velocity team. Lisa resides in Quincy with her husband and two sons who are regulars in the cheering section.
