Chelsey Arce

Chelsey has completed being the Resident Artistic Director on Cirque Du Soleil’s newest show ‘Twas The Night Before’ which premiered in Chicago, and New York in late 2019. She has was also the assistant choreographer in the Tony award winning production, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In addition, she is currently the Assistant Director and Choreographer on Cirque Du Soleil’s broadway style show PARAMOUR which currently resides in Hamburg. Finding her true niche,

Chelsey is bridging the gap between Directors/Choreographers and artists of all kinds from acrobats to actors. Speaking both languages fluently she is able to cultivate and support a creative experience for all. A graduate of The Boston Conservatory, and Helen Hayes Nominee, Chelsey has had a successful career in both musical theatre and the classical dance world. Some credits include Original Broadway Cast of Cirque Du Soleil’s PARAMOUR; Tony- Award Winning Musical MEMPHIS First National Tour; EVITA First National Tour; The North American Premiere of LOVE NEVER DIES First National Tour. International credits include Daniel Ezralow’s OPEN. Ms. Arce has worked in both film and television as a performer and creatively on such projects as Germany’s Next Top Model 2019 (Associate Choreographer), Italian hit TV show “AMICI”; Saturday Night Live; The Kennedy Center Honors (Rita Moreno Tribute); The Detour; Gone With The Bullets; China’s Got Talent; TED 2; Sochi 2014: XXII Olympic Winter Games (Creative Team). In addition she has had the pleasure of working and dancing alongside artists such as Katy Perry, Beyonce, Nicola Roberts, and DJ Fresh.

Diana Dart Harris

Diana’s passion for dance and her love for exercise science combine to create a unique approach to her teaching. Having technical training in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance, her focus is on creating healthy dancers who have greater body awareness and helping her students discover that everyone is truly a dancer.

Diana has taught and continues to teach technique classes in private studios and performing arts magnet schools, creative movement classes in Montessori schools, and general dance classes in outreach programs in public schools. She directed her own dance program, Dance Arts, from 1991-2001, created and implemented a dance curriculum for the Clinton Summer Schools program, has designed a curriculum that uses dance to teach geometry to elementary school students and another curriculum for using dance with children who are neurologically developmentally impaired. She enjoyed a long tenure at New Haven Ballet from 1992 – 2011, serving as Principal of the Guilford studio from 2004-2011 and acting as the Interim Artistic Director, directing the school’s Nutcracker in 2010 at the Shubert Theater in New Haven. Additionally, she has taught guest classes for Dance Masters of America, Eastern Connecticut Ballet, New England Ballet, Smith College and Albertus Magnus College.

Diana has over 30 years of experience in musical theatre, having worked as a director and in costuming as well as choreographing over 60 shows. Her college textbook, Beginning Musical Theatre Dance, will be published in December, 2015 by Human Kinetics. Her blog, The Healthy Dancer, combines her knowledge of dance and exercise science and seeks to aid the development of intelligent, thinking, healthy dancers and to draw attention to ways that dancers can improve their technique through cross-training, better nutrition and body awareness.

Diana serves on the board of Connecticut Dance Alliance, is the chairperson for the Shoreline Arts Alliance Dance Scholarship Committee and is a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science. At the University of New Haven, she teaches Fundamentals of Dance and Musical Theatre Dance and has the opportunity to serve as choreographer for the university’s musical productions.