THREAD CITY CLASSICAL DANCE
A 501c3 non-profit dance school serving the Windham area and surrounding communities
Celebrating 10 years of artistry, community & excellence!
Meet Our Teachers
We have an excellent team of caring, supportive and highly skilled instructors.
All Thread City Classical Dance staff are passionate about making a lasting impact in the lives of their students.
Lilah Nowostad
Ballet Instructor
Abigail Boyce
Ballet Instructor
Abigail is the second youngest of eight children in her family. She started ballet along with her younger sister in the spring of 2021, at the age of thirteen. Since then, her love for dance has only grown stronger and she continues to take a variety of classes to improve both her teaching skills and her technique. Additionally, Abigail enjoys volunteering for library story hours, helping with costumes for the show, and choreographing. "My favourite part about teaching and dancing in general however" she says, "is sharing and cultivating this love of ballet. Ballet is such a beautiful and precious art form, and it is something to be preserved in today's world."
Aside from dancing, Abigail loves reading, writing, baking scones, and dabbling in a variety of crafts or visual arts. She is also a fond drinker of both coffee and tea, and currently attends Eastern Connecticut State University for a double major in English and Communication, Film, & Theatre.
Ballet Instructor
Mira Sidhu
Mira Sidhu is from Dayton, Ohio, where she trained in classical ballet under Barbara Pontecorvo at Pontecorvo Ballet Studios. As a student at PBS, she became a principal dancer with the school’s pre-professional ballet company, Gem City Ballet. Mira continued her dance education at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where she earned her BFA in Ballet with hours. Mira brings years of experience teaching ballet, pre-pointe, and pointe technique to dancers of all levels, from beginning to advanced. She currently dances professionally as a member of New England Ballet Theatre.
Erica Deane
Ballet & Modern Instructor
Erica Deane began her dance training in Portland, Connecticut at age six and has remained dedicated to the art ever since. Throughout her training, she studied in both Connecticut and New York. She also performed with the Central Connecticut State University Dance Company and completed numerous collegiate dance courses.
Committed to lifelong artistic growth, Erica regularly participates in professional classes and teacher workshops throughout the Northeast. She has been teaching dancers from preschool age through adults since 2012. She is passionate about cultivating strong technical foundations while fostering confidence, discipline, and a genuine appreciation for the art of dance.
In addition to teaching, Erica has also choreographed a variety of youth and community productions over the years. Outside of the studio, Erica enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.
Myla Reddy
Ballet Instructor
Myla Reddy has over eight years of dance training and specializes in ballet. She particularly enjoys creative expression through dance and is constantly experimenting with new music and choreography. Over the past two summers, she’s expanded her training to studying dance at the University of Hartford. As a teacher, Myla’s main goal is to inspire her students and build a welcoming community in the classroom. Outside of regular classes, she loves sharing dance with the community, which she has done through multiple library story hours—introducing young children to classical ballets like Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. She looks forward to connecting with families and sharing ballet with her students.
Abigail Daly
Ballet & Tap Instructor
Abigail is a senior at the Connecticut IB Academy. She has been dancing for 15 years and loves all forms of dance. She has been dancing ballet for 15 years and contemporary/ modern and tap for 11 years. She has been a choreographer for five years. Her favorite thing about teaching dance is helping encourage a love for dance for young children, just like her teachers did for her when she was young.
Claire Bonafine
Ballet Instructor
Claire has been dancing for 13 years and has been teaching ballet for 5 years. She loves being able to foster the joy of dance in her students and helping them develop lifelong memories and skills. She's expanded her performance and classical storytelling skills with UConn's Ballet Company. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing how rewarded the children feel when they proudly show their family and friends their new steps at the end of class. Outside of dance Claire enjoys science and advancing her studies at UConn in medical labratory sciences.
Tap, Jazz & Modern Instructor
ALANA MAHDALIK
Alana J. Mahdalik holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Dance and Economics from James Madison University in Virginia. She's received training at the Hartford Conservatory and Trinity College. She's been teaching various styles and levels of dance to all ages since 1989, first with Dance & Company, in Virginia, next with Greater Mansfield Council for the Arts and with the former Arts in Motion (AIM)from 1995-2007 where she also served on their Board of Directors for several years.
She's been the Artistic Director, instructor and choreographer for the Dance Ensemble she founded in January 2002 and historically the group had performed for numerous public events throughout Eastern CT. She began teaching at Capitol Theater Arts Academy in the summer of 2007 through 2016 and is currently enjoying teaching at Thread City Classical Ballet in Willimantic.
Alana enjoys gardening in her spare time and is an avid collector of frogs (not real, of course!).
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