Kelly Cannone
Jazz | Tap
Kelly Cannone has been an arts educator for more than 25 years. Throughout the last two decades she served on The Arts Advocate of RI, Dance Teachers Club of Connecticut, Dance Masters of America, The Arts Advocate of Rhode Island, and was a Board Member of the Warwick Consortium of the Arts & Humanities.
In 1981 she founded Dance Artistry, Inc. in Warwick, RI and became owner of the studio Dancer Magazine called “One of the four most successful studios in America.” She started her own dance company the Dance Artistry Dancers, a non-profit organization, for ages seven to twenty, who perform all across the United States. They have also performed internationally in a cultural exchange program visiting Copenhagen, Denmark, and Minsk and Moscow, Russia. In order to expand her teaching opportunities to the martial arts, she earned her black belt in American Kenpo Karate.
She used her martial arts experience to organize self-defense workshops for high school students. Outside the realm of teaching, Kelly has numerous career highlights, these include choreographing numerous corporate events, commercials, and music videos including the Miss R.I pageant, Koch Eye Associates Promotional Video, Market America’s Regional Convention and many more. Kelly has appeared in several televisions commercials and theater productions. She has been on staff with Dance Olympus and Candance conventions. Kelly was a special awards judge and guest faculty member at various performing arts competitions. She presents special awards recognizing unique talents in young performers and motivating them to continue achieving their goals. She was the jazz adjudicator for prestigious World Tap and Jazz Dance Championships to select a team to represent the US. Additionally, she established early education arts curriculums in more than fifteen preschools in Rhode Island.
Kelly instructed elementary students at local public schools and also established programs for private institutions. She gained special needs experience when she coordinated “Dancing Feat” in conjunction with the Warwick Chamber of Commerce at the Trudeau Center, to teach disabled individuals physical mobility and endurance. She has volunteered her time and expertise to many events in the Warwick Public School system such as “Peace Day,” and “National Dance Week.” She has supported local private schools at “Women in Sports Day,” and “Cultural Awareness Day.” To give back to her community she founded “Shades of Grey”, an educational program, where her students performed a dance piece for the Warwick School department warning students about the danger of drug and alcohol abuse. Other charitable contributions include providing choreography and fundraising for Dancers Responding to AIDS, and participating in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk.
Kelly and her students fundraised for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, RI Station Fire Fund, March of Dimes, Unicef, RI Paralyzed Veterans Association, Smithfield Lyons Club, and D.A.R.E. Now on the board of directors for “ The Weber Foundation of Helping Hands” Kelly presents a charity dance show “Better than Broadway” each year where New England studios share there talent to raise money for families and children in dire need. Kelly’s latest venture is writing motivational articles for children. Her work has been published in Dancer Magazine,The Gold Rush and Cheerleading Dance and Drill Magazine.
Kelly has been traveling around the country teaching dancers and dance teachers how to set goals in her Aspiring Dreamz Workshop. This past year Kelly has published a Book on Amazon titled “Choreograph your Dreamz, Goal Setting For Dancers” Coming soon “Choreograph Your Dreamz” the Pocketbook series.
