Elise Gaudino, Founder

Elise Gaudino has been teaching dance in the Greater Rochester area for 35 years, with 25 of those years running Visions Dance Studio, Inc. She began her training at local studios, and worked her way up to competitive dance, while also studying at workshops and convention classes across the East Coast. Elise performed for a year at the Walt Disney World Park in Florida as a dancer and character performer. Starting as a dance major at SUNY Brockport, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, a minor in Sociology, while also earning a place in Psi Chi, the National Honor Society for Psychology. Elise also spent two years at RIT as a graduate student in the School Psychology program. During her time in college, Elise worked part time as a childcare provider, learning firsthand about developmental norms of young children. Elise used her college education and years working in childcare to develop her dance curriculum, which has always allowed for all levels of children and dance, both typical and atypical. Elise continued to study dance locally during her teaching years, but also made trips to  Steps on Broadway in NYC. Her students have won numerous awards over the years, and some now have careers in the arts, including performers and teachers.

 

By 2010, Elise was diagnosed with grade 4 brain cancer, and her chances of survival were slim. She beat the odds by teaching dance every day and running her studio.

 

By 2022, Elise’s health deteriorated to the point that she knew she had to change her pace and asked her colleague Kate Bissinger to take over as Director.