Carissa Bellando is originally from New Jersey but she is currently based in Burlington, Vermont. She holds a MFA in Contemporary Dance from Case Western Reserve University and a BA in Theatre and Speech with a concentration in Musical Theatre and a minor in Dance from Wagner College.

Before moving into teaching and choreographing full-time, Carissa performed professionally for thirteen years throughout the US, Taiwan, and at sea with Norwegian Cruise Line and Aida Cruises. She has taught and choreographed in the US and Germany for colleges, conservatories, theaters, dance companies, and studios.

Some of Carissa’s favorite performance roles include Broom Queen in Wagner’s Busted Nuts: The Dance Project, Tumblebrutus in Cats, Carpet in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Die Hexe (The Witch) in Es War Einmal (Once Upon a Time), the Summer Fairy in Polaris, and Mandy in Zack Zack.

Carissa was an Adjunct Professor at her alma mater, Wagner College, for four years. During that time she taught Musical Theatre and Dance majors and minors in multiple levels of jazz, modern, contemporary, ballet, pointe, and choreography/composition. She also choreographed five original full-length dance concerts and multiple musicals.

Some of Carissa’s past choreographic credits include Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (2010) and Dance Project 2017 for Wagner College, Rivela and Sea Swept (both original Modern dance works) for Case Western Reserve University (2013), and Comeback! Das Karl Marx Musical (2015) in Berlin, Germany.

In addition to being a professional dance teacher and choreographer in VT, Carissa is a Registered Vinyasa and Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RYT, RPYT) and a certified Zumba teacher. She has been an Instructor-Counselor at ADTC in Vermont & Maryland since 2021. She loves bringing her high energy and extensive dance training and knowledge to dancers of all ages and levels.