Our Award Winning Staff
Ashley Magaddino
Ashley holds a bachelors degree in business management from Farmingdale State College.
Dancer, choreographer and studio owner, Ashley has had a strong passion for dance since the age of 8. Since the age of 10, she has competed in numerous cheerleading and dance competitions across the United States. Aside from being an amazing performer, Ashley has a strong connection to children.
Lydia Magaddino
Lydia studied dance for nearly 20 years in a large Brooklyn studio. Her area of study concentrated in Ballet, Jazz and Tap. With strong community ties in Massapequa she has worked directly and indirectly for the good of her communities children. She was a cheer mom, and has served in both regular and Special Education PTA’s. As a catalyst, she used all of her resources to make Cheerleading a sport in the Massaqeua School district, ensuring that as a sport, it would to be properly funded.
After many years of observing her daughter’s dance studio and obtaining information about other studio’s she was convinced there was a need for a studio with a new model, one where students learned the art of dance while having fun. In 2009 Lydia made the dream happen and opened, A Step Above Performing Arts. Her charge was: to ensure the studio had a fun family atmosphere, while presenting a strong commitment to her students and parents, hiring only qualified professional instructors, and bringing students’ skills to new heights. As a dance mom she witnessed the stress caused by a lack of studio organization and vowed to change this with her studio. As such, A Step Above, is a well maintained and organized studio that values sharing clear and concise information in a transparent way. Lydia’s, A Step Above Performing Arts, is a proud studio who’s competition/company teams have distinguished themselves with many national and local awards, garnering recognition for sportsmanship and excellence.
Miss Nicole
Miss Nicole is an award wining teacher who has been teaching professional for six years. She teaches a very energetic style of Hip-hop, tap and kick-line. She has 18 years dance experience with tap, jazz, and hip-hop at Ella Marie School of Dance. She was captain of Varsity Kick-line at St Anthony's High School. She is currently studying dance at Broadway Dance Center NYC and majoring in Ballet and Modern dance at Nassau Community College. Consistently over the past two years, her hip-hop classes have won the most prestigious honors and scored Platinum First Place Awards, High Gold, and Gold at major Long Island Dance Competitions such as Thrive, Dance Explosion and Starpower. She strives to have her students advance and improve to the best of their ability while gaining self confidence and having fun!
Mr. Joe
Joe Duffy is one of NY’s most versatile and innovative young educators and choreographers. With over 18 years experience, he has trained at numerous studios on Long Island and NYC’s Broadway Dance Center. Joe has studied Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz-Funk and Musical Theatre. He has been recognized at competitions with numerous awards and is known for his fresh style and clean routines. Joe has also danced and choreographed in many music video’s and concerts for upcoming pop artists. He now tours the U.S. as director and choreographer for The STAR Dance Workshop. His inspiring and fun style are a perfect mix for dancers of all ages and abilities.
Miss. Sabrina
Sabrina has been at A Step Above for 7 years now as both a student and a teacher. Her background in dance includes attending BOCES Long Island High School for the Arts, Adelphi Dance Intensives, and SUNY Brockport as a dance major. She also participated in a Rose Mary Kennedy dance collaborative teaching children with special needs. Currently she is studying at LIU Post as a psychology major. Her goal is for her students to feel comfortable in class as well as having fun.
