Faculty
Learn more about the amazing people behind Jazziak’s Dance School in Boylston, MA. Take the time to read the biographies of our talented and dedicated dance teachers!
Jessica Bourque
Owner and Lead Instructor
Jessica (Jasiak) Bourque began dancing with Dawn's School of Dance in Northborough at the age of 4. During her 14-year stay there, she acquired skills in jazz, tap, ballet, and lyrical dance. She also served as the captain of the jazz company for 3 years. In addition, she also competed in several local and national competitions including Showstoppers in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Jessica continued to study dance at Jo-Anne Warren Studios in Worcester and New England Dance Quarters in Amherst, MA. She further gained skills in salsa dance and studied intensively with the dance majors at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas in the fall of 2001. In December of 2003, she received a bachelor’s degree in Dance School Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Jessica continues to be active in the community, having choreographed for Boylston/West Boylston Pop Warner Cheerleading, for the Berlin/Boylston Regional Acting and Voice Organization (BBRAVO), and for the Tahanto Musical Theater program.
Jessica’s keen eye for detail and creative spin on her choreography has earned her several competitive and choreography awards and her dances continue to entertain audiences year after year. Her organization and enthusiasm for her job has also helped her studio to rank as one of the top dance schools in the area for several years in a row and earned Jazziak’s the name as “Best Dance School in Central Mass” in 2016.
Andrew Howarth
Andrew Howarth began his desire for dance at age 6 with the Mary McInerney School of Irish Step Dance, where he studied for 5 years, and competed at Feiseanna and Oireachtais . He then chose to pursue training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Musical Theater at the Jo Ann Warren Studio in Worcester, MA where he competed regionally and nationally and achieved the national title of “Teen Mr. Dancers Inc 2010” at the Dancers Inc National Competition in Hershey, PA. Andrew then trained with the Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center in Franklin, MA, where he received training in Vaganova Russian Ballet from Russian Ballet Master Zhanat Baidaralin and also competed regionally and nationally. While at Patti’s, he was cast for the role of the Nutcracker and Prince in her production of “The Nutcracker”. He was a dancer and choreographer for the non-profit dance organization “Stylized Movement”, principal dancer, choreographer and promotional model for the dance company “Shadows - Dance Art Experience” where he was also honored to have been Assistant Producer for the dance company’s first showcase. Andrew also performed and choreographed for “DCW - Dance Company Worcester”, where he was also a rehearsal director for the company. He performed with the Project Movement Dance Company in the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra “Holiday Pops” Concert.
Babrara Ostromeky
Barbara Barry Ostromecky has been dancing since the age of 2. Growing up she studied dance under Mindy Kay McGovern and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Boston Conservatory where she trained in Cecchetti & Vaganova ballet styles and Limon modern. She has trained under many famous instructors including Luigi, Edward DeSoto, Clyde Nantais, Ruth Ambrose, Joe Tremaine, Rhee and Rennie Gold. She has performed on tv, commercials, theme parks, & dance companies in Boston and Dallas.
She has recently taught and performed at the Majestic Theatre in Boston for the TD Bank Wow Awards, choreographed several musicals for Worcester County Light Opera and other area theater companies. Her "Jazz It Up" dance team performed in Walt Disney World for Magic Music Days. Barbara has been teaching & choreographing in the Worcester area for more than 20 years.
Her students have gone on to become dance educators and also perform in various dance companies, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, cruise ships, Nickelodeon, Miss Massachusetts & Miss America pageants, as Patriots Cheerleaders, and in Broadway musicals.
Barbara is a certified member of Dance Masters of America and continues to further her dance education attending dance seminars and conventions.
She is an award-winning choreographer in both the regional and national level but her main goal as dance educator is to make every dancer believe in themselves!
She is a proud mom of three wonderful grown-up kids and two rescue dogs, and loves Walt Disney World and photography. She teaches fun and inspiring classes and loves teaching here at Jazziaks
Colleen Burkhardt
Irish Program Director
Colleen Burkhardt learned to dance from Michael Smith at the Michael Smith Academy of Boston. She started dancing at the age of 5, but she did not learn Irish step dancing until she was 12. This brought the opportunity for Colleen, along with her brother and sisters, to compete at the Irish festivals "Feis" and "Oireachtas."
When Michael Smith relocated his dance school back to Boston, Colleen began her training with Mary McInerney. When her daughter Shannon was born, Colleen took a break from dancing until Shannon was 4 years old. When Shannon was 4 years old, she also started taking lessons from Miss McInerney. This gave Colleen the chance to help with her daughter's Irish step classes and the many programs they participated in including the March Madness.
Heidi Verock
Heidi Verock started dancing at the age of 3, learning tap and ballet from Mrs. Healy's Dance School in Boylston. At the age of 9, she began Irish step dancing under the direction of Michael Smith of the Michael Smith Academy in Worcester. Here, she studied reels, jigs, slips, hornpipes, and ceili dances.
At the age of 13, Heidi, along with her sister Colleen, won the privileges to compete in the Oireachtas with a chance to compete in Ireland. When the Michael Smith Academy relocated back to Boston, Heidi continued studying through private lessons with the Mary McInerney School of Irish Dance. She has competed and performed in many shows and feiseanna throughout the states of MA, RI, and ME.
Sarah Richardson
Sarah started her passion for dance at the age of 2 with Diane Kelley Studios in West Boylston, MA, where she participated in jazz, tap, ballet, and, modern dance at the recreational and competitive level. Sarah also spent 11 years cheering with Pop Warner and served as Varsity Cheer Captain at Wachusett Regional High School in 2003, where she led her team to win many championships.
After high school, Sarah started coaching and choreographing for Pop Warner as well as middle and high school cheer teams. Sarah continued taking dance lessons with CCS Dance Academy in Holden, MA. She also trained with some amazing choreographers from Monsters of Hip-hop, SHOCK intensive, and Nappy Tabs.
In 2009, Sarah began dancing with Dance Company Worcester, where she was named DCW Choreographer. In 2012, Sarah became the choreographer and creative director for the new dance company, Twisted Techniques. Sarah continues to choreograph with many local dance schools, high schools, and fitness facilities.
Erin Ostromecky
Erin grew up as a competitive dancer in the Central Massachusetts area at Diane Kelley Dance Studio and Elite Academy of Dance where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theatre, contemporary, and pointe.
While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, she continued to dance through her college days as the president of Framingham State University's Dance Team for two years. She has performed and choreographed pre-shows for the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Wang Theater.
After college, she moved to the sunshine state to pursue her childhood dream of performing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, and was a Character Performer for 6 years. Her performances there included the Let the Magic Begin Welcome Show, Disney Villains After Hours Cavalcade, Disney's Hollywood Studios Pixar Pals Cavalcade, and performances at special events like Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and other various venues like cast events, weddings and conventions.
She also performed at Universal Studios at Halloween Horror Nights as well. Tap has always been Erins favorite form of dance, and her love of tap was revived when she became a member of the Orlando Tap Dance Collective.
Laura Motta
Laura received her gymnastics and dance training while enrolled at Interstate Gymnastics, Dance & Fitness (Methuen, MA), where she reached the status of a level 8 gymnast. While earning her bachelor's degree at Worcester State College, she found her true calling when joining the Dance Company as a dancer and choreographer. She is also a USA Gymnastics member and has been certified in Safety & Risk Management. She currently resides in Worcester, MA with her husband and three children.
Laura has been teaching dance for 19 years and is looking forward to bringing her years of experience with Acro Dance to Jazziak's Dance School this season!
“My passion is working with children of all ages. To see my students try something new and succeed is one of my greatest joys. I am a firm believer in positive thinking and know from experience that it is contagious. I try to instill the best habits in my students, both physically and mentally.”
Zhanat Baidaralin
Russian Ballet Master Zhanat Baidaralin gained his training in classical ballet education from the State Ballet School in Kazakhstan and the Russian University of Theater Arts in Moscow, Russia. His renowned talent and skill in teaching and choreography has spanned across the globe and includes such accolades as serving as artistic director and choreographer for the official opening of the new capital of Kazakhstan 1998 and as the chief choreographer for the opening ceremonies of the XX Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia. In the U.S. Zhanat has worked as a Master ballet instructor and choreographer for many notable dance schools and companies. In 2007 he expanded his love for ballet in the opening of his own ballet school- Ballet Prestige- where he shared his gift for teaching for over 15 years. Jazziak’s is honored to share Zhanat’s talents with our students.
Lacy Donnelly
Lacy Donnelly is a passionate and highly skilled dance instructor with 26 years of experience in teaching various styles such as Hip Hop, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Musical Theater, Tap, Acro, Cheer-dance and Cardio Kick Boxing. Miss Lacy has trained with The Funky Bunch, Off the Curb, Manhattan Dance Project, The Patriots Cheerleaders, and the professional choreographers for Janet Jackson. In 2006 and 2008 Lacy attended the Dance Teacher Conference in New York where she studied with master teachers Rennie Harris, Greg Russell, Sheila Barker, Pat-Y-O, and Luam Keflezgy. Lacy was fortunate to attend classes in Contemporary, Hip-hop, Jazz, Musical Theater, stretch and technique at "The Movement" dance convention. It was here that Lacy was trained by the top finalists from "So You Think You Can Dance" as well as instructor's Jamie Goodwin, Ivan Koumaecv, Allison Holker, and 2007 winner Sabra Johnson.
Most recently she has attended Excel In Motion where she was able to train in animation, popping and robotics from Cyrus Spencer- runner up from season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance; trained in musical theater with Kent Boyd- star of the Teen Beach Movies; and attended the Nuvo Dance Convention in Boston where she was mentored by Travis and Denise Wall; and attended Radix Dance Convention was where she was able to meet and train with Tricia Miranda and Brian Friedman who both are award winning choreographers and Legends in this amazing world of dance.
Lacy has also choreographed and performed for recording artist Susan Tedeschi at Berkley College of Music. Lacy has won choreography awards at such competitions as Headliners, Kars, Starbound and Dance Ovations. She has recently had the opportunity to choreograph and tour with Jordan Jones, Nia Sioux and JoJo Siwa from Abby Lee's Ultimate Dance Competition.
Miss Lacy believes in creating an inclusive and supportive environment where students of all levels can explore their creativity, develop their technique, and express themselves through the art of dance. She hopes to bring her years of specialized training and love for dance to dancers who have the same passion, commitment and love for dance that she has.