508 . 673 . 4880 | Lindaonstage@aol.com
ON Stage Academy of Performing Arts
Faculty
Linda Mercer-Botelho | Owner/Artistic Director
Celebrating 40 years in Business in the City of FALL RIVER, Massachusetts.
Specializing in children's programs, Pre-Ballet, Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theater,
Founder and director of On Stage for the past 39 years, Linda studied Dance with a concentration in Pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory of Music, Dance Department. She also studied in New York at the Broadway Dance Center with world renown Jazz teachers Charles Kelly, Frank Hatchett, Susan Samuels, and Phil Black. She is a graduate of the American Ballet Academy’s teachers Intensive from Vassar College. Linda is a certified "LEAP AND LEARN" teacher specializing in classes for children ages 2 1/2- 8-year-old using the
"Leap and Learn System."
As A Member of IDEA (International Dance Educators Association) Linda has continually attended the "DanceLife Teacher Training Conferences," gaining valuable insight into the continually changing world of dance education for children.
Linda continues her training with world renown teachers throughout the year as a Member of Dance Teachers Club of Boston and the National Dance Education Association, adding innovative techniques and choreography to the companies repertoire. Having produced, directed, and choreographed performances for the school for the past 39 years. As the President and Artistic Director of On Stage Theatrical Productions Linda is the founder of the "Give Kids a Chance Program" dedicated to sharing the performing arts with the underserved children of Fall River. Linda is looking forward to the 39th season of On Stage being a vital part of the arts community in Fall River, MA
Certified
Certified Teacher
Roger Botelho | Musical Director/ Musical Theater
Voice/Piano
Roger has a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from the University of Lowell and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Bridgewater State College. After working as a music teacher in the Fall River School Department for 17 years, Roger has recently retired from his position as a special education teacher at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School. The leader of the Bavarian Brothers, Roger has performed throughout the country with the authentic Bavarian Band. Having performed the national anthem for the New England Patriots seven times, he now enjoys performing for the elderly in area nursing homes and with the On Stage Vocalists. Roger is the Music Director at On Stage where he teaches group, private, and harmonizing voice lessons, and works with all of our musical productions.
Eivar Martinez
Classical Ballet/Boys Classes
Pointe/Modern/Contemporary/Classical Coaching/ YAGP Coaching and Choreography
Eviar graduated from Youth Ballet of Venezuela and was offered a contract with the National Ballet of Caracas under the Artistic Director Vicente Nebrada, where he quickly rose to the rank of principal dancer. He was featured in Nebrada’s Coppelia, Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Paquita, Diana and Actaeon, Le Corsaire, Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pa De Deux, Nuestros valses, Batucada, La Luna, Pentimento, Fiebre, among others. He has toured Europe, the USA, China, and South America. As a Finalist competitor in the June 2000 New York International Ballet Competition, critics and audiences noted his technical virtuosity and athleticism. Mr. Martinez danced for three seasons as a member of Tulsa Ballet in Oklahoma. He was featured in Romeo And Juliet, Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Lila York's Celts, Paul Taylor Company B, Amadeus Amodio Carmen, Balanchine’s Who Cares? and many other contemporary works by Nacho Duato. Eivar then joined Festival Ballet Providence as a Principal dancer during its 25th season, RI audiences enjoyed his technical brilliance and virtuosity in many roles, including Giselle, Don Quixote, Diana And Acteon, Le Corsaire, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Anthony Tudor's Leaves Are Fading, Agnes De Mille's Rodeo, Spring Waters, Victor Plotnikov Carmen and Coma. Mr. Martinez then danced as a Principal dancer of Dance Alive National Ballet for its 2009/2010 season. Eivar has appeared as a Guest Artist with Colorado Dance Theatre, Coastal Youth Ballet, State Ballet of RI, Minnesota Ballet in their production of Sleeping Beauty and others, as well as Guest Principal Dancer for Kentucky Ballet Theatre
Karen White
Musical Theater/ Musical Theater Dance/ Competition Choreographer
Assistant Director A CHRISTMAS CAROL- THE MUSICAL
Karen specializes in musical theater instruction after appearing in dozens of college, regional and local productions, her favorites being A Chorus Line (“Val”), Annie (“Lily St. Regis”), and 42nd Street (“Anytime Annie”). She has directed and choreographed casts of up to 88 middle school students in
Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Bye Bye Birdie, High School Musical, most recently she has directed "A Christmas Carol", Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Lion King, And Frozen Jr. for On Stage Theatrical Productions.
An English Journalism/ Theater graduate of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Karen has taught master classes in musical theater instruction for Dance Masters of America Chapter 5 teacher workshops and served as a competition judge for the Greater Brockton Dance Teachers Association.
Her work with dance competition students at various New England studios has been recognized with numerous judges’ choice and choreography awards.
She is also certified to teach jazz and ballet by the Dance Teachers’ Club of Boston.
Karen worked as a freelance writer for Dance Teacher, Pointe, and Stage Directions magazines, and most recently as editor in chief of Dance Studio Life magazine where she interviewed theater and dance luminaries such as Ben Vereen, Mia Michaels, Chet Walker, Benjamin Millepied, and Leslie Browne.
Lisa Mailloux- Tap / Jazz / Mommy and Me/ Choreography
Lisa Mailloux is the former owner/Director of Steppin’ Out Dance Studio of Portsmouth, RI. The studio was in operation for 25 years, with hundreds of students passing through its’ doors. Her students have gone on to dance in higher education, own studios, perform in companies, on cruise ships and in national tours.
Lisa is a founding board member of The International Dance Entrepreneur’s Association (I.D.E.A.), founded in 2016 by Mr. Rhee Gold. She is a Certified Instructor of Rhythm Works Integrated Dance, a clinical hip hop program for students with individual learning differences. Lisa is a member of Dance Masters of America (DMA) and is a past Secretary of DMA, NE Chapter #5. She has also been a judge for several dance competitions in the Northeast.
Lisa is a former NFL cheerleader with the New England Patriot “Spirits” and has studied with many of the leading names in dance today. She regularly attends continuing education conferences throughout the country and has also been the Director of the Tiverton and Portsmouth High School Color Guard/Dance Teams for the past 20 years.
Lisa is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with today’s families and future generations. She is presently a faculty member at two dance studios in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts and is an Independent Consultant for Dance Studio Owners. She resides in Portsmouth, RI with her three children.
Tara McCally - Classical Ballet / Pointe / Contemporary/ Competition Choreography
Tara, will join our professional staff of teachers here at On Stage. Tara is a classically trained dancer who also loves contemporary dance. We look forward to having her join the team at On Stage.
Born in Houston, TX, Tara began dancing at the age of 3 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and continued training at the Feijoo Ballet School. Tara has performed in various productions, including Dracula, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, many mixed repertoires, and 15 seasons of The Nutcracker with the Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre. Tara has performed roles ranging from The Sugarplum Fairy, Snow Queen (The Nutcracker), Kitri (Don Quixote), Effie (La Sylphide), Anastasia (Cinderella), to The Canary Fairy (The Sleeping Beauty). In 2015, Tara was honored to be the recipient of the coveted Lynette Mason Gregg scholarship. She has had the privilege to receive training from schools, such as Ellison Ballet in NYC, the School of American Ballet in NYC, Tulsa Ballet, The Harid Conservatory and Feijóo Ballet School. She has competed in the Youth American Grand Prix and placed first in Classical and 2nd in Contemporary, as well as placing 1st with a Pas de Deux. Tara has also received the Grand Prix Award in the Dance open America competition for classical variations and works by Yury Yanowsky and Alexis Zanety. Tara is honored to have trained under Lorna Feijóo, Nelson Madrigal, Lorena Feijóo, Natalie Zundel, Laura Massague, Ayman Harper, Dominic Walsh, Rolando Sarabia, Yusha Sorzano, Yury Yanowsky, Luis Fuente, Alexis Zanety, Heather Steele and Caitlin Cannon Fagan.
Nikki Camara- Hip Hop and Hippity Hop Classes
Nikki started dance at the age of 4 at On Stage and danced until graduating high school. She studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, and musical theater. She traveled to Walt Disney world and performed with the On Stage jr/sr company. While in high school she joined the hip hop dance team and that is when the love for hip hop started. She danced for four years and was captain of the team Senior year. After graduating, she went on the BCC and earned an associates degree in Health Science. During this time she also joined a local hip hop dance crew called the Movement Specialist, based out of Fall River, MA. The hip hop group traveled to various competitions and Monsters of hip hop dance conventions winning first place and overalls numerous times. They also took the title of New Englands Best Dance crew. Nikki has been working at local dance studios teaching hip hop and jazz for the past 15 years. She is a competition choreographer who has won first places, overalls, and specialty awards for her work. Her favorite part of her job is seeing the confidence grow within her students inside and outside of the dance room. She is excited for her first year of teaching at On Stage. Nikki is a resident of Swansea with her husband and four children.
Stacy Wong- Assistant Teacher/ Jazz / Tap / Contemporary
Stacy is a graduate of Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River MA . She is currently a Senior at Providence College with a double major in Bio- Medical Engineering, Accounting and Accounts Management. A member of the Providence College Dance Team, Stacy has been dancing at ON Stage since the age of 3. Throughout her studies at On Stage she concentrated on Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Modern Dance, Musical Theater, Acting, and Voice. As a member of the dance company she was awarded many 1st place awards in Ballet, Tap, Contemporary and Jazz. She has traveled to and performed with the Company in Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Six Flags. Stacy is happy to be back in the studio sharing her love of dance.
GUEST TEACHERS
Alexander Cruz
Boys Classes, Senior Company Jazz/Tap
-
Featured Dancer- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
-
Featured dancer- Saturday Night Live
-
West Side Story National Tour
-
A Chorus Line-National Tour
-
EVITA- 5TH AVE THEATER
-
Graduate of RI College- BA in Communications and Dance
Direct from New York
Alex is a member of
SAG and AFTRA
with professional experience in
television and stage.
Alex is currently on the road touring with the Broadway Show
Moulin Rouge
Deborah Y. Wilson (Debbie)
Deborah Y. Wilson (Debbie), a native New Yorker, is a performer, choreographer, and dance educator. After majoring in dance at Brooklyn College, she joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Certificate Program. From there, she attended Broadway Dance Center and became a Frank Hatchett Dancer and teacher, and eventually got her own class. During her more than 30 years of teaching at BDC, she is one of the only teachers that has taught, Jazz, Commercial Jazz, Musical Theater, Street Jazz, Jazz Funk, and TV/Video Jazz.
Recently, Debbie got accepted into the Stage Director and Choreographer’s Foundation Observership Class which led to her being an Apprentice Director/Choreographer to Jerry Mitchell for the Pretty Woman National Tour (101 Productions).
Performance credits include “Sesame Street Live” and “The Wizard of Oz” national tours, “Porgy & Bess” (Bregenz, Austria), and “The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.” Debbie has
assumed the role of Performance Director for “Sesame Street Live” and Production Assistant for “American Prophet – Frederick Douglass...In His Words” at the Apollo Theater, and “Dancin Feet” Video Series featuring Lane Napper.
Debbie’s international teaching gives her a unique perspective on dance and music styles from around the world. She is currently on faculty at Broadway Dance Center and has taught at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Steps on Broadway, Peridance Capezio Center, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.