THE 2007 Emerald DANCE TEAM

The 2007-08 Albany Emeralds Dance Team, along with Albany Patroons head coach Vincent Askew.
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CARLA (dance team director)

Carla has been teaching jazz and hip hop dance classes in the Capital District since 2000. She graduated from Russell Sage College with her BS/MS in Physical Therapy. While at Sage, she was a founding member and later the artistic director for the Sage Dance Ensemble. Over the last 8 years, she has taught for several studios in the capital district. Carla has coached for the AFL Albany Conquest Treasures for the '03, '04, and '05 seasons. She currently teaches Hip Hop as an adjunct professor in the visual arts department at Union College and also at EBA in downtown Albany. Carla works full time for Weston Paxxon Health Care Services as a Senior Physical Therapist for the Capitol District and Western NY areas. She is excited to be coaching the Albany Patroons Emeralds in their third season in the newly renovated Armory.

ALYSSA

Alyssa landed professional work at the young age of fourteen backup dancing for Jive recording artist, Nikki Cleary, on a 25 city tour. Aside from touring, she danced in rapper Mike White's music videos "Lets Get Started" and "Alcoholic" and other various TV performances. Alyssa choreographs for the RPI Dance Team, teaches hip hop classes at Dance Dimensions and Xfactor and spends most of her time working the desk at Gregory's Barbershop in Delmar. Alyssa is very excited for her first season of dancing for the Emeralds!!
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BRITTANY

Brittany, who was a member of the Emeralds dance team last summer with the USBL Patroons, is very excited to be back and dancing with the Emeralds again in her first CBA season. Brittany began dancing when she was six years old with tap and jazz classes, and then was a top cheerleader throughout her four years in high school. She helps out her old high school cheerleading squad in her spare time. Brittany loves being on the Emeralds, and performing in front of big crowds - and is so happy to be back on the team!
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CHRISTINA

This is Christina's first season with the Emeralds. She has danced since she ws three years old, excelling in tap, jazz, and hip hop. She also has cheered since I was 7 and was on the varsity cheer squad in her junior and senior years of high school. Christina currently attends Sage College of Albany, where she majors in Photography, and hopes to find a career in the Advertising Photography field. She loves performing in front of crowds, and looks forward to a great season!

JACLYN

This will be Jaclyn's first season dancing with the Emeralds. She has 12 years of dance experience where she studied both tap and jazz. Jaclyn has a B.A. in Mathematics from Marist College, in addition to her M.B.A. from the college of St. Rose. She currently works for Time Warner Cable as a Financial Analyst, and is the President of her family foundation. Jaclyn is thrilled to be a member of the team and is looking foward to a great season. Go Patroons!!!
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JAMIE

Jamie started dancing at the age of 3 at Ferrara's Dance Studio. While there, she studied tap, jazz, and ballet. Jamie went to Ithaca College where she graduated with a BS in Television Radio and minors in Dance and Psychology. She was also a part of the Ithaca College Unbound Dance Company. Professionally, Jamie has danced for the Albany Conquest and the Albany Metro Mallers. Jamie enjoys watching basketball and is very excited to once again be dancing for the Albany Emeralds.

JAMIE

Jamie graduated from the College of Saint Rose with a Bachelors Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders this May. She is currently in graduate school pursuing her Master's degree. Upon completing her education she hopes to have a career as a speech-language pathologist in a medical setting. This is Jamie's second season being on the Emeralds dance team. She enjoys being an Emerald dancer and looks forward to another great season!

JENNIFER

Jennifer is proud to be part of the Emeralds Dance team and the Albany Patroons organization. Jennifer has enjoyed dancing since the age of 3 and studied tap, jazz, and hip hop at the Ferrara Dance studio. She also was a cheerleader throughout her 4 years of high school. Jennifer currently is a student at Sage College of Albany where she is pursuing a degree in Business Administration. Jennifer's goal is to become a Pharmaceutical sales representative. She enjoyes spending time with her family and friends and great times at the Jersey Shore. Jennifer looks forword to a great season with the Emeralds and the Albany Patroons.

JOELLE

This is Joelle's first season performing with the Emeralds. She began dancing at the age of 2 for Albany Academy of Dance. She has 19 years of experience in dance; her experience ranges from tap, jazz, hip hop, and lyrical. Throughout her years of dance training, Joelle has attend many Tremaine dance competitions. She currently has an associate's degree in Individual Studies, and is currently pursuing a Bachelors Degree in psychology. Joelle is extremely excited for the upcoming season and all the things that the Emeralds will achieve to create a great team. She wishes everyone "Good luck, and see you at the first game!"

KARA

Kara began dancing at the age of three. She has studied classical ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop and was an understudy for a NYC Ballet performance at SPAC. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Communication and currently works for St. Catherine's Center for Children. Kara is very excited to join the team, and looks forward to many great performances!

KATHLEEN

This is Kathleen's second season dancing for the Emeralds. She is very excited to return and to be dancing with a great group of girls. She is currently working for a company in downtown Albany. Kat also worked for the Albany Conquest promotional team for 3 seasons and is now involved with the North Albany Academy Mentoring Program for this year's fourth graders. She was a cheerleader throughout her 4 years of high school and loves performing, especially in front of the Patroons' fans and players.

KATIE

Katie started dancing when she was three years old at The Albany Academy of Dance. Katie first learned tap and jazz, then added ballet and lyrical a few years later. Next came hip hop. She competed in many competitions and cheered all four years of high school. She graduated from The New School of Radio and Technology, where she studied radio broadcast. She is also a remote coordinator at Jamz 96.3. This is Katie's first season as an Emerald. She is very excited to be on a dance team performing for a crowd again, and can't wait for the season to begin!

KATIE

This is Katie's first season with the Emeralds. She has danced for eight years, excelling in tap, jazz and ballet, as well as hip hop. She was a cheerleader throughout her four years of high school, and was captain of the squad for two years. Having received her A.A. in in Business Administration. Katie is currently attending Siena College to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Management. Katie is excited to be a part of Emeralds dance team!

LINDSAY

Lindsay began dancing at the age of three at MaryAnn Fortune's Dance Studio. Lindsay is trained in jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, and modern. Lindsay received second place at a National Dance Competition in Las Vegas in 1999 and was also named Allstar and All American Cheerleader in 2001. In 2002 Lindsay became an official member of the Radio Disney Dance Team. After graduating highschool she received an Associates Degree in Dance from Dean College School of Dance. Lindsay is currently attending UAlbany as a journalism major and teaches tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and cheerleading at Spendwood School of Dance & Gymnastics.  Lindsay was a member of the Emeralds dance team last summer with the USBL Patroons and is extremely excited about the upcoming season with CBA.

MELISSA

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SANDRA

Sandra is very excited for her second season with the Emeralds dance team! She has been on several dance teams, including the Adirondack Wildcats and the University at Albany's dance team. Sandra is also very involved in cheerleading, as she currently coaches the varsity cheerleaders in the school district that she works in as a special education teacher. Not only is Sandra looking forward to dancing with the Emeralds again, she is very eager to participate in the fun, charitable activities the team does within the Capital District community.

SARAH

Sarah currently works in Accounting and is the Industrial Gas Buyer for a small company in downtown Albany. She has been dancing her whole life and absolutely loves it. Sarah studied ballet for 13 years, and then cheered and competed with SUNY Albany's dance team in college. Being a part of the Emeralds means a lot to her and is an experience she will never forget.

STEPHANIE

Stephanie started dancing at the age of 3, at Flynn's School of Dance in Troy. While there, she studied tap and jazz dance, as well as one year of ballet, and hip hop. She also was a cheerleader throughout junior high and high school, and augmented her dancing by attending Spenwood School of Dance to study gymnastics. Stephanie is currently attending Austin School of Spa Technology to become a cosmetologist. She loves preforming in front of crowds and enjoys watching basketball. She was on the Emeralds' USBL Patroons squad during the 2007 summer season and loved it. Stephanie looks forward to a great season with the Emeralds and the Albany Patroons.

TIFFINAY

Tiffinay is excited to begin her first season dancing with the Emeralds. She is currently a student at The University of Albany where she studies English, Theater, Music, and Art. Tiffinay has studied dance for 19 years. She began dancing at Eleanor's School of Dance where she was trained in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, and hip hop. She furthered her interest by joining the competition team where she competed in both state, and national dance competitions. Tiffinay loves to perform, and is looking forward to dancing, and having a great time!