Faculty

Michelle DelOrfano Higgins

Director & Owner

Michelle is a native of Stoneham, MA and has been teaching and dancing for many years. She began dancing at an early age locally with Dance Studio of Wakefield and finished with Kelly Kerr of Dance Track. Michelle graduated with a B.A. in Dance and Minor in Business from Dean College in Franklin, MA. Extensive dance studies included Pedagogy, Kinesiology & Anatomy, Dance Composition, Music Theory, and Dance Film & History. During her time at Dean she trained with professional faculty members such as Jill Silverman, Nailah Randall-Bellinger, Kelly Peters, Jean Wenzel, Jil Matrisciano, and Bob Thomas to name a few. She directed Dean’s “Coffeehouse Cabaret” performance, performed in musical theatre’s “My Favorite Year” and was a member of the elite College Dance Company and Dance Performance Team. She was also Producer for Boston’s Dance Complex show “Shared Choreographer’s Concert” in Cambridge, MA.

Since founding ECDC in 2009, Michelle gets to share her passion of dance everyday with the community and new generations of children! She teaches all class levels and ages beginner through advanced of Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern/Contemporary, Pointe, Kindermoves, Creative Movement, Pre-Ballet, Boys, and beginner Hip Hop. She is CPR/First Aid Certified. Her certifications include Mat Pilates for adults, Children’s Yoga through age 13, as well as teacher certifications with the Dance Teacher’s Club of Boston, and Dance Masters of New England organizations. She attends multiple continued education trainings every single year including Rhee Gold's DanceLife Teacher Conference, Dance Teacher Summit, drop in classes at Boston Ballet, and visits NYC regularly to take class with the industry’s top teachers at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. The faculty and dancers here at ECDC have built an amazing family atmosphere where students flourish and leave with life long skills obtained through dance!

Sarah Craffey

Dance Instructor

Sarah began her training at the age of 3 in Wakefield, MA and hasn’t stopped since! Her training includes Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Lyrical. Sarah was a Class Assistant at the age of 14 and found her love of teaching dance to younger children. After high school, Sarah began four years of training at Keene State College in theatre and dance. She graduated with a degree in Dance and Theatre with a specialization in Dance Education. She also completed her degree in Elementary Education leading her to teach full time in Wakefield Public Schools.

Sarah’s second passion besides dance, is Musical Theatre. This lead her to choreograph for Wakefield Repertory Youth Theatre where her work was nominated for a Dash Award on Disney’s: My Son Pinocchio. Sarah is CPR/First Aid certified. On ECDC faculty since 2018, miss Sarah teaches all levels from Creative Movement through high school. She is overjoyed to be in a dance studio where she can spread her knowledge of dance to the new generation of children!

Alexa DeLuca

Dance Instructor

Alexa is from Reading, MA. She is a graduate of Keene State College in NH, where she received a B.A. in Dance Education Specialization. She began dancing at an early age at LaPierre School of Dance in Reading, where she trained in all styles of dance. She continued her passion for dance in college by participating in “An Evening of Dance” for three years, the competitive Hip Hop KSC Dance Team. In 2016, her choreography was chosen to perform at this “Evening of Dance” which was an honor. She also served on their Executive Board for two years, and ACDA (American Collegiate Dance Association.) Alexa also competed with the Keene State Dance Team all four years at UDA Nationals in Orlando, FL. Alexa was also a member of the 2015 Lowell Spinners Dance Team. She is CPR/First Aid certified.

Alexa also trained and performed with Dance Works Boston, a local based dance company in Contemporary and Jazz. On ECDC faculty since 2017, Alexa runs all levels of classes including Creative Movement through High school. Miss Alexa says “Teaching at East Coast Dance is an amazing experience! I can’t wait to continue to watch our students grow each season!”

Nicolette Webber

Dance Instructor

Nicolette from Wilmington, MA, has been dancing for over 16 years. She is trained in dance styles from Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, to Pointe. At an early age she fell in love with dance at The Dance Company in Wilmington. She was a part of their advanced team and received numerous awards at competition. Nicolette performed locally with Melrose Youth Ballet’s annual Nutcracker performance as well! She continued to pursue her passion in dance at Keene State College where she graduated with a B.A. in Dance Education. She performed and choreographed for their competitive program “An Evening of Dance” and ACDA with miss Alexa.

Miss Nicolette is CPR/First Aid certified. She currently trains and performs with Dance Works Boston, a local based dance company! On faculty with ECDC since 2018, miss Niki loves teaching age 2 through high school.

Heather Cook

Dance Instructor

Heather brings over 25 years of dance instruction experience to the East Coast family! she has enjoyed teaching dancers of all ages in Melrose at On Pointe Academy of Dance (formerly Judith Clark Academy of Dance). Her training includes Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, and Hip Hop. Heather is a certified instructor from the Dance Teacher's Club of Boston. She holds a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Cambridge College and has been teaching 5th grade in Wakefield for the past 17 years. She's excited to join the East Coast faculty this season!

Amanda McInnis

Dance Instructor

Amanda began her training at age 3 in Melrose MA, ranging in genres of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip hop. She became a teacher's assistant at age 14, and developed a passion for teaching and choreographing. She graduated from the Dance Teacher's Club of Boston in 2014, and has been teaching ever since, specializing in Contemporary dance.
Amanda studied at Northeastern University and earned her Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy and a minor in Psychology, and currently works full time as a DPT at a sports outpatient clinic in Milton MA.
While at Northeastern, she danced/choreographed for NEU's Kinematix Dance Troupe, as well as Revolve Dance Crew, two competitive-level teams specializing in urban hip hop and modern dance. She is currently training with Dance Works Boston, a local Boston based performance company for 2024-2025 season. She looks forward to joining the ECDC family for her first season!

Lauren McInnis

Dance Instructor

Miss Lauren began her training at age 3 in Melrose, MA ranging in all genres of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop. She began assisting her teachers at age 13 and quickly fell in love. Lauren is currently in her second year of Graduate school for her Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology of Northeastern University, en route to graduate in spring of 2025. Miss Lauren also spent time teaching dance basics and Jazz choreography for ages 6-12 at the Melrose YMCA. She's so excited to complete her syllabus training here at ECDC and share her passion of dance with students ages 8 & under. Please give her a warm welcome this season!