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Faculty

Nicola Boutin – Founder/Artistic Director

Originally from Birkenhead, England, Nicola studied at Merseyside Dance and Drama Center where she gained her ISTD teaching qualifications graduating with honors. Nicola has been a dance educator for over 30 years, adjudicating and choreographing in Europe and America. Nicola performed professionally on stage, film, television and cruise ships in and around England, Greece, Cyprus and the Middle East. In 2014 Nicola received a Vermont Business Magazine Rising Star award for her commitment to business growth, professional excellence and involvement in the community. Nicola is the Founder and Artistic Director of Fusion 802.

Maggie Danis

Maggie has studied a variety  of dance genres including ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, hip-hop, tap, and ballroom. Maggie began her teaching career at Fusion 802 over five years ago, also choreographing at multiple summer intensives and other small theater companies. Maggie has been an early childhood educator and a personal care attendant for children and teens, providing her with a wealth of tools, knowledge and experience that makes her a valuable faculty member at Fusion 802.

Outside of dance and early education, Maggie enjoys cooking, baking, drawing, painting, and yoga.

Kimberly Volkari

Kim Volkari has been a dedicated member of the Fusion 802 family since its inception, training as a student, then as a teaching assistant and now as a faculty member. Kim graduated from Hofstra University in December 2020, with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Minor in Educational Studies. In addition to working at Fusion, Kim is the Humanities Program Paraeducator at CVU high school. Aside from dance and teaching, Kim loves creating visual arts and spending lots of time outside.

Savanna Bechard

Savanna Bechard was born and raised in Georgia, Vermont, and began dancing at the age of 3 with Electric Youth Dance Company (EYDC), where she trained and competed until the age of 18. During her time with EYDC, Savanna had the exciting opportunity to perform several times in the Boston Celtics pre-show, one of the standout experiences of her dance journey.

She competed in a wide range of styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Irish, and Hip Hop. At 16, she began teaching classes at EYDC and continued until 2016, developing a strong passion for mentoring young dancers.

In high school, Savanna was a dedicated member of her Varsity Dance Team. In 2019, she began coaching the Junior Varsity Dance Team at South Burlington High School, and has also contributed choreography for Rice Memorial High School’s Stunt Nite productions for several years.

Savanna is passionate about all aspects of dance and is excited to continue sharing her experience and energy with the dancers at Fusion 802.

Ali (Farber) Gingras, M.Ed.

Born and raised on Long Island, Ali began dancing at the age of three at the Jan Martin Dance Studio in Huntington, NY and has not stopped moving since! Ali started taking combination tap and ballet classes and then tap and jazz classes up until high school. In high school, she joined her school’s kickline team. Ali completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont, where she was a member of the Catamount Dance Crew (predominantly dancing hip hop) and also minored in dance, ultimately touring New England and Nebraska. Ali started teaching dance at Studio 3 in 2010 to 2019 and began coaching the South Burlington Dance Team in 2015. Additionally, in 2018, she became a licensed ZUMBA instructor. Ali is very energetic and excited to be back in the studio sharing and teaching her love of dance.

Amanda Moxley

Mandy began dancing at the age of eight. She studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern and Pointe at Berkshire Dance Theatre in North Adams Massachusetts, as well as Hubbard Hall Dance Theatre in Cambridge, New York. She was captain of her high school dance team, and became a member of the Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Hip Hop dance clubs at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Mandy moved to Burlington in 2008 to attend the University of Vermont. She took a short hiatus from the dance world, but reconnected with her passion in 2013 when she started taking adult tap classes at Studio 3 Dance. In 2014, she began teaching for Studio 3, and throughout the years has choreographed several pieces for both competitive and recreational dancers. She continues to teach Hip Hop, Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical and Tap to competitive dancers, and is very excited to share her enthusiasm and knowledge of dance with the dancers at Fusion 802.