NYC Teaching Artists
We are blessed with the best. Just a few years ago we were only an after-school program. Now our teachers are working with the public schools across the city to teach electives and creating cross-curricular classes for students. C’mon growth!
Meet some of the new additions to our team!
Aaron Thomas
Aaron is a profession dancer from New York City. He is currently a teaching artist for Ailey’s Arts in Education & Community Programs, and is also the Program Administrator for AileyCamp New York and New Jersey. Mr. Thomas is currently a psychology major at Hostos Community College and has worked with youth for over 15 years in various settings and dance programs. Mr. Thomas is trained in various styles of dance such as: Hip-Hop, Jazz, Modern, Ballet, West African and Heels. A believer in giving back what he has learned over the years, Mr. Thomas is passionate about teaching dance to members of his community. He has experience working with school aged children (K-12), children with special needs, active adults, active seniors, & seniors with disabilities & dementia. Mr. Thomas currently performs with the Masters @ Work Dance Company and showcases his work in a variety of industry shows. He has an extensive dance background and can be seen dancing with various artist such as Remy Ma, Todrick Hall and Tiffany Haddish. Mr. Thomas has performed for BET, MTV, and VH1. Mr. Thomas enjoys teaching and seeks new ways to create spaces of positive expression through dance.
Brett Tubbs
Brett is a native of Indiana who has made NYC home for the past nine years. He trained in musical theatre, acting, and dance at Purdue University, FW. Today, on top of acting, Brett also writes, produces children's podcasts including script writing and song writing, and works as a portrait, headshot, and event photographer. Brett lives in upper Manhattan with his partner Luis and their pup, Bella.
Patty Als
Patricia Als was born and raised in NYC and began dancing at the age of 9 years old and was trained in ballroom dancing through her elementary school P.S 11. She has done competitions and even won the championship for her school in 2002. As she went into middle school she was introduced to hip-hop from her brother and automatically felt in love with the dance style and taught herself how to dance by watching dancers online like Phillip “Pacman” Chbeeb, Michael Jackson, Missy Elliot videos and more. In High School she then worked and performed at Lincoln center Institute for the performing arts and graduated from the The Maxine Greene high school for arts in 2009. Although she didn’t go to school for dance she graduated New England College with a bachelor of arts in developmental psychology and theater. After graduation she was hired to be a dance instructor at Shockra dance studios for 3 years in NYC . After Shockra dance Studios closed in 2016 the owner of the studio transferred all her clients interested in hip-hop to Patricia. She then started her own side gig teaching dance then made it to a small business called Style Your Motion in 2018, teaching absolute beginners how to dance. Her target was mostly absolute beginners because as a self-taught dancer herself she understands the struggle it takes to find your style in movement and wants to be that guide for others. She now rent out studios at Ripley Grier and also teach online and in home dance lessons. As she likes to say “Anyone can dance, it’s all about looking deep inside yourself and putting in the time to find your own style” - P.Als.
Ella Boureau
Ella Boureau is a bilingual playwright, teacher and events coordinator. She has taught at Barnard College, San Francisco School of the Arts, and Hunter College. In both her teaching and writing, she focuses on creating safety to take risks, and using movement to access deeper language and emotion. Her plays have been performed at Cloud City, Dixon Place, Hunter College, and The Wild Project. She has an MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College.
