DANCE
Shining Brightly
Diamond Dance Works offers ‘something special’ By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
D
iamond Dance Works has been sharing its techniques with North Valley students for five years, and each year it’s grown. “People love bringing their kids to us, and we love serving the community,” says Nick Cicogna, who co-owns Diamond Dance Works with his wife, Danielle. “We have every genre of dance—ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and contemporary. We really do everything.” Recently, they launched the Diamond Conservatory of Ballet, led by Juliana Fisher, a Sandra Day O’Connor graduate. It is designed for serious, professionally minded students who are at a high-intermediate or advanced level and want to achieve their highest level of ability in ballet. The program is selective, and students are chosen based on their mental readiness and professional potential. “A lot of people will travel downtown or to different conservatories that specialize in ballet,” he says. “We have an amazing ballet
The co-owners of Diamond Dance Works recently launched the Diamond Conservatory of Ballet, which is designed for serious, professionally minded students who are at a high-intermediate or advanced level. (Photos by Pablo Robles)
teacher who’s been with us since we opened. We thought, ‘We can do that.’ “Our ballet instructor has the background. She’s danced in a lot of prestigious ballet companies. Danielle and Juliana met through the dance community. The dance community is a very tight knit.” Danielle has been dancing since she was young, while Nick’s background is in business. “She grew up dancing,” he says. “She and her sister danced together since they were kids.”
Danielle is a Queens, New York, native, while Nick hails from Upstate New York. Both families moved to the North Valley. Nick and Danielle were in the first graduating classes of Boulder Creek and Sandra Day O’Connor high schools, respectively. The couple met in the Valley and have been married for eight years. Danielle earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance education from ASU and is certified to teach dance to students in kindergarten to 12th grade. Danielle is Dance Masters of America certified in tap and jazz and is also a member of the National Education Dance Organization. For the past five years, Danielle has been the Cactus High School dance director, junior varsity spirit line coach, pom coach, performing arts lead and drama instructor. At Diamond Dance Works, Nick handles the administrative and legal work and Danielle is the creative one. “She has to focus on overseeing our staff,” he says. “She oversees our competitive team, although we have a competition director since we started. She wants to make sure she’s in every aspect of the business and knows what’s going on.” At the beginning of the pandemic, DiaThe Diamond Conservatory of Ballet program is selective, and students are chosen based on their mental readiness and professional potential.
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85085 | SEPTEMBER 2020
