JoDe Romano “La Chispa” was a guest teaching artist & graduate of the High School for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas where she was featured in the Houston Grand Opera’s Carmen. She also performed in the Franco Zeffirelli original production of Carmen, starring Placido Domingo and Maria Benitez at the Metropolitan Opera, attended by president Clinton, which was broadcast for PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center and toured Japan with the Three Tenors. For over 20 years, Ms. Romano lived, studied, and performed Spanish dance in Spain and Japan, was soloist and choreographer for the José Greco Dance Company at The Joyce Theater, the Town Hall New York City, and toured the US and Spain. She was also a dancer in The Charo Show in Las Vegas with Jerry Lewis, Joel Grey and others, and taught a castanet workout on the Dr. Oz Show. JoDe Romano choreographed the Broadway Workshop production of Rita Hayworth-Hollywood Goddess, numerous Zarzuelas, and the mixed media dramatic presentation, Picasso’s Guernica, at The Thalia Theater in New York. Ms. Romano has conducted Spanish dance, Flamenco, and castanet classes throughout the NY metropolitan area including Alvin Ailey, NYC public schools,Steps on Broadway, Ballet Hispanico, the Joffrey Ballet trainees and Joffery summer intensive NYC, the 92Y Harkness Dance Center and is a graduate of the 92Y Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) program. She has been a guest teacher at Hunter College and co-developed and taught a DEL workshop at the 92Y. Ms. Romano also taught a master class and workshop at NYU for NYSDEA and at Fall for Dance at NY City Center. She has completed a series of instructional DVDs now on Vimeo. Castanet and movement techniques and produced and played castanets on her Spanish Classical Piano and Castanets CD. Her Carmen Entr’acte castanets were played with the beautiful artwork of Moulen Noir in the Netherlands on YouTube. Ms. Romano was honored to have choreographed and designed the costumes for La Jota Dolores on her NYC Ballet Hispánico pre professional students for the Tina Rameriz memorial at the 92Y/ 92NY. She is currently on the faculty at the Joffrey Ballet School NYC and Ballet Hispánico.