Our Team

Chrys Lang, sole owner of Synergy Dance Academy has built a career in the banking industry over the past 17 years, starting as an entry level bank examiner for the Department of Treasury to her current role as an audit manager at one of the country’s largest financial institutions.

Her dance background is limited to being a Shaw Hi-liter in the infamous Shaw High School Marching Band of East Cleveland, Ohio, to a short stint teaching ballroom dancing at Fred Astaire Studios. Most importantly, Chrys has been a dance mom for the past 10 years, supporting both of her daughters’ growth and development in recreational and competitive dance.

Chrys plans to operate Synergy from a dance mom’s perspective. Together with Rosemary Vendetti Steinbrook, the artistic director of the dance program, they will lay a foundation of unity, collaboration and exceptional technical training.

Rosemary has been in dance education for 26 years. After Rosemary received her BFA in dance at Wright State University, she moved to Akron where she started her career teaching dance. While teaching, Rosemary was a dancer for the Cleveland Cavaliers Dance Team.

Over the years, Rosemary has trained and worked with over a thousand dancers, ranging from ages 3-18. She has judged dance competitions all over North East Ohio and Florida. Rosemary has had the honor of teaching master classes for Dance Masters, and various studios in the tri-state area, including, Cleveland, Rocky River, Bay Village, Stow, Youngstown and Fort Wayne Indiana. Rosemary has received multiple awards for her choreography regionally and at a national level. She has also taught many dancers who received first place overalls under her guidance and training.

Rosemary mostly enjoys being in the dance studio. This is where she builds a rapport with students and parents. She has returning students looking to her for private lessons. Rosemary’s passion is helping students, young and old, discover their love of dance in a positive, yet disciplined environment.

Rosemary has remained a respected teacher in the area while raising her four
boys. Her youngest son is autistic. She has created many dance pieces about her son that have performed at Cleveland Autism Speaks Walk, Akron Civic Theater and multiple competitions.

Rosemary plans on continuing her passion of teaching dance for many more
years.

Meghan started dancing at the age of 7 and competitively dancing a couple years after that. While in high school she was captain of the Dance Team her junior and senior year, while continuing to competitively dance. She attended Ohio University and while there she kept her technique up through the universities, rec center.

Upon graduation, she started assisting and fell in love with teaching. She knew teaching was what she was meant to do. The feeling of being truly in the moment is something she hopes every one of her dancers feels. Meghan has taught competitive teams and a variety of styles and ages in North Eastern Ohio. As a choreographer, she as won multiple overalls and just this past year an entertainment of the year award. Competitive teaching pushes her to become more creative and to tell a story with each of her pieces that go on stage.

Additionally, Meghan was also apart of a professional dance company in Cleveland. She has performed at the Alex Theater at the Metropolitan 9 Hotel and at Public Square in downtown Cleveland. Meghan loves the experience she has received from both dancing professionally, teaching a variety of different ages and styles, and at multiple studios. She applies the lessons, techniques, and discipline from those experiences to perfect her craft and better guide her students. Dance is apart of her and always will be.

Breanna is 20 years old and has been dancing for 17 years. Her love of dance started as soon as she could walk! She has been trained in all disciplines of dance. Breanna started choreographing at a young age. Currently, she is the state choreographer for the award winning Green High School Dance Team! Breanna enjoys all types of dance including, hip hop, jazz and contemporary. She loves to help dancers reach their full potential, nurture their love of dance, and makes sure they take time to enjoy every second of their performance! Breanna is thrilled to share her love of dance with the students at Synergy!

Niarra Gooden-Clarke was born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Kent, Ohio, where she began her dance training at competition-based studios in her area. Niarra continued her training at Kent State University where she spent two years on the Kent State Dance Team and two years in the Kent Dance Ensemble, serving as Student Artistic Director for the ensemble in her junior year. She has had opportunities to work with and perform pieces by esteemed choreographers such as Ray Mercer, Yoshito Sakuraba, Tiffany Rae-Fisher, Gary Abbott, Catherine Meredith, Gregory King, and Avery Walker, and attend summer intensives with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and Emerge125. While completing her undergraduate degrees, Niarra taught dance classes at nearby studios in various styles to students ages 3-18 and was an assistant cheerleading coach at Theodore Roosevelt High School.

Niarra simultaneously completed her senior year of university and danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a Jeraldyne Blunden Fellow. In the spring of 2022, Niarra graduated with a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Sociology and was hired as a full company member with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, where she also teaches for Jeraldyne Blunden School of Dance.

Niarra is interested in the retelling and retention of African American history through movement and the utilization of the dancing body to express the black experience. Niarra finds joy in viewing and being invited to experience the expression of other artists through physical movement and is extremely excited to continue her professional career as a movement artist, teacher, and choreographer.

Theresa (Bonvissuto) Holland began her training with Joanne Morscher and Ana Lobe at The Royal School of Ballet. She furthered her training in the Mercyhurst University Dance Department under the direction of Tauna Hunter, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. Her professional career began with Ohio Dance Theatre, continued with Neos Dance Theatre, Cleveland Ballet, and North Pointe Ballet. Theresa has danced principal and soloist roles in Paquita (Paquita), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dew Drop), Peter Pan (Wendy), Raymonda (Soloist), and Ramon Oller’s Coppélia (Friend). Noteworthy contemporary repertoire includes Robert Wesner’s Searching for the Find, Dracula, Homage, A 1940’s Nutcracker, Joseph Morrissey’s Suite for Strings, and a featured tango in Ramon Thielen’s My Cycle of Love. Theresa has performed as a guest artist with The Lake Erie Ballet, City Ballet of Cleveland, Canton Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Ohio, and Holmes Center for the Arts, appearing as Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker.

Today, she continues to perform as a freelance artist with Inner Edge Ballet and trains with the renowned instructor and former principal ballerina Pam Pribisco. Alongside her professional career, Theresa has been teaching and choreographing in the Northeast Ohio area for over thirteen years. She has had the privilege of judging at OhioDance Masters. In addition, Theresa was the Ballet Mistress at Artistry in Motion Dance Center for seven seasons and served as Ballet Mistress and Rehearsal Assistant for North Pointe Ballet. Her choreography has been presented in multiple avenues, including the prestigious OhioDance Festival, Kent State University’s Dance Concerts, Cleveland Dance Project’s Showcases, and Cleveland Dance Fest. Theresa is a part-time faculty member at Kent State University, where she pioneered a Contemporary Ballet class. She serves as the Ballet Director at Center Stage Dance Studio in Northfield and holds a Master of Education in Educational Psychology.

Ameeya Singh is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and multi-disciplinary artist based in New York City. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in 2020 with a BA in dance and nutritional biochemistry. At CWRU, Ameeya trained under artistic director Gary Galbraith and performed works by Larry Keigwin, Shannon Sterne, Yizhen Hu, and others. She is a recipient of the CWRU Department of Dance full-tuition scholarship and the Vera Orlock Award for excellence in dance. Ameeya has also trained with Gibney Company, Groundworks DanceTheatre and Gaga HomeLab. Last year, she served as a full-time teaching artist through ArtistYear Americorps to help expand dance education in a Title I middle school in Queens, NY. This year, Ameeya has had the opportunity to participate in Sidra Bell’s MODULE residency, train with and photograph the GALLIM summer intensive, and perform at ESTIA day fest. She is a 2023 MOtiVE Brooklyn space grant recipient. Most recently, she premiered her new work “resonant; remnant” during the Mare Nostrum Elements’ Emerging Choreographer Series residency, and under the mentorship of Sidra Bell. Ameeya is so excited to teach and dance with all the artists at Synergy this summer!

Caiti Basler, AFAA, DMA, is a dance and fitness instructor from the NE Ohio area with over 12 years of classroom experience.

She’s received her level 1 Certification from Dance Masters of America TTS, and is accredited by the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. She’s also a Certified Pilates Reformer instructor.

She serves as Lead Master Trainer and Director of Education for Zumbini, an early childhood music and movement curriculum for ages 0-6 created by Zumba and BabyFirst TV. She travels the country for speaking engagements and conducting trainings, providing professional development for early childhood educators.

Career highlights include TV credits on TLC and DCTV, traveling to China to launch Zumbini in Asia, presenting at Zumba’s Instructor Convention and being a featured presenter for Parents Magazine.

She serves as a national competition adjudicator and prides herself on creating an encouraging atmosphere where students feel safe to explore and grow their craft. With a heavy focus on musicality and artistry, she believes that dance and movement are gifts that everyone should enjoy!

Lexi Baines is a well rounded dancer and Instructor that has stepped foot in every corner of the dance community. She was born and raised in Akron Ohio having attended two different performing arts schools and received 14 years of training In Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary Tap and Hip Hop.

She is currently teaching Tap and Hiphop in the Cleveland, Akron and surrounding areas. She travels around the US to be an assistant Choreographer to Dejan Tubic on the Dancemakers tour. She also is the assistant Director of Elevated dance crew and was apart of the winning team of World Of Dance.

Originally from a small town in Ohio, Marisa Ervin began her dance training at the young age of two, and her passion for dance only grew as she did. After training with choreographers: Cat Cogliandro, Chaz Buzan, and Talia Favia she discovered her love for improvisation and contemporary dance. Marisa furthered her studies at both collegiate campuses of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). She began her AMDA training at their New York campus, then finished her degree in Los Angeles earning her BFA in Dance Theatre. Continuing to develop her artistic voice, Marisa’s choreographic work has been featured in various concept films, showcases, productions, conventions, and competitions. She can be seen in multiple live and video performances such as Chad Future's "Butter" Music Video and "Summer In City'' performed at New York's Insonia Theatre.

As a complex dancer and choreographer, Marisa Ervin works with improvisation and contemporary dance for stage and film. She’s interested in exploring immersive and lively movement to portray transcendental and intense narratives. Marisa continuously spreads inspiration through movement, and creates a lively environment for each dancer to discover their individuality.

Alexandra Grabowski grew up dancing and training for 16 years at her home studio, Elite Dance Academy. She graduated from New York University with a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace. Recently, she was a finalist for the Young Choreographer’s Festival in NYC. She can be seen in Sech ft. Ozuna’s music video “Si Te Vas”. Alexandra has performed at the Capezio Ace Awards, Carnival, and VAN’S U.S. Surf Open. While living in NYC for 4 years she studied with Theresa Stone’s company ‘AbstraKT BEINGS’. In 2019 she trained with the Rockettes at their summer intensive. Alexandra has also performed with the San Jose, Pennsylvania, and Joffrey ballet productions of the Nutcracker. She has had the opportunity to work with Tessandra Chavez, Liz Imperio, Mallauri Esquibel- Hansen and many others. She modeled for Danskin and had some industrial and commercial work at the young age of 8. Recently, she has been focusing on choreography where she has won numerous awards, including the choreography award at Velocity Nationals in 2016 and 2022. She also had several routines win a national title at the 2021 and 2022 Contest of Champions. She now resides in Ohio where she teaches and travels on the weekends to choreography. The pandemic really opened her eyes to the value of teaching and the impact she is able to leave on her students. That has become her focus the past 2 years.

Madison Bauza is an emerging choreographer and dance teacher who has studied at the Ohio University B.F.A dance program. Originally from Kent, Ohio, Madison has spent the last 19 years studying various styles of dance. She has studied jazz, tap, Cecchetti ballet, modern, contemporary, African, and hip-hop. She has performed for various choreographers such as Travis Gatling, Kristen Messner, Christie Camper-Moore and Anna Sullivan. She has also taught at multiple locations including Factory Street Studios and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and All About Dance by Kristen in Stow, Ohio. She has also taken and passed her teaching exam for the grade one syllabus within the Cecchetti method. It requires proficiency in physical ballet technique, terminology, and history. She is excited to start her journey with Synergy Dance Academy for the 2023-2024 season!

Natalie began dancing at the age of 5 and has since continued her love for dance. Throughout the years this has lead to competitive dancing, convention scholarships, and assistant teaching. She trained in many styles, with contemporary & jazz being her favorite. During college while working on her Bachelors of Science, she stepped into a new role and started teaching classes & choreographing. This is where she found her passion and has continued since. Natalie is Acrobatic Arts certified and has experience in teaching ages 2+ in all styles of dance as well as choreographing competitive pieces. Natalie looks forward to fostering an encouraging environment where she can guide dancers to grow and learn in their unique way. Her goal is to have dancers leave class feeling uplifted and inspired.