We are a team of experienced dance educators with over 25 years of collaboration. We’ve worked in various settings, from private studios to international productions, and have successfully guided students and professionals through auditions, competitions, and examinations.
REBECCA TSIVKIN (Founder/Director) As the director of International Dance Acclaim, Rebecca adjudicates IDA’s Awards and teaches workshops across the United States and internationally. She has been teaching ballet in New York City for 20 years, at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Ballet Hispanico, Steps On Broadway, Joffrey Ballet School, and Ballet Arts NYC. Her contributions include launching the children’s ballet program at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, and designing and implementing a curriculum, including teacher training, for Ballet Hispanico.
Rebecca is a graduate and licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and is an Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD).
DIANNE SCHILLER (Tap Program Creator and Director) Originally from South Africa, Dianne is a distinguished graduate of the International Dance Teachers Association (member of the British Dance Council).
Dianne’s vast performance and choreography experience has taken her across the U.S. and throughout South America. Credits include Follies Bergere, Bare Touch of Vegas, Fire and Ice, the David Copperfield show, Wayne Newton, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, and Tony Orlando. A career highlight was working with the renowned Argentinian Gauchos, whose act incorporated fiery Boleadoras, drums and rapid fire flamenco style footwork.
BRIAN LOFTUS, 1944-2025 (Artistic Advisor) in memoriam.
MERLE SEPEL, 1951-2022 (Founder). Our memorial page for Miss Merle.
Ballet choreography and staging by Merle Sepel, Rebecca Tsivkin and Brian Loftus, with the additional choreography of Le Foulard by Robynne Edwards and Dame Rose by Heather White Hagar; tap choreography and staging by Dianne Schiller. Music created and arranged by Steven Mitchell and Brian Sepel.
