FACULTY
Charlotte Doyle, Owner & Artistic Director
Ballet | Pointe | Hip Hop | Contemporary |
Charlotte E. G. Doyle began her training at the Connecticut Ballet, under the direction of Robin Welch and Robert Vickery. She was a member of the Junior Company, and toured New England in CB’s numerous Nutcracker productions. After graduating from the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, Charlotte received her BA in Dance from Mount Holyoke College.
While at MHC, Charlotte was honored with being chosen to represent her school at the American College Dance Festival, with her choreography The Place, and was a two-time scholarship student to the Bates Dance Festival. Charlotte has enjoyed learning from Lance Westergard, Trisha Brown, Ellen Sinopoli, Pam Lindsay, Debbie Poulsen, Therese Freedman, Jim Coleman, Peter Jones, Bebe Miller, Mark Taylor, Madame Darvash, Frank Hatchett, David Howard, Tekla Kostek, Violette Verdy, Finis Jhung, Mollye Maxner, Fritha Pengelly, Ruth and Noble Barker, and Lesley Makings. Currently, she studies with Teddy Forance, Chantal Aguirre, Noel Bajandas and other amazing stars every summer at the Generation IV Dance Intensive.
Professionally, Charlotte has performed with Mary R. Barnett’s In Good Company, Feuer/Matheke, Sandra Kopell, Molleye & Kelly Maxner, Sarah Eley, Katrina Hawley, and Nancy Hughes. Charlotte has been teaching full-time since college, has been a guest artist at Yale University, the Chautauqua Institution, and the Boston Symphony’s Days in the Arts program, which breaks down social barriers through arts immersion. Charlotte was a founding member of Ruth and Noble Barker’s East Street Ballet, directing the Children’s Program, the Adult Extension, and the East Street Youth Ballet Apprentice Company. Charlotte is very grateful for her experiences teaching at the Hackworth School and New England Dance Quarters.
Now, Charlotte teaches and directs Pineapple Dance, where everyone is welcome. She strongly believes that everyone can enjoy learning to dance, develop their artistic awareness, and learn to move correctly for their own bodies with strong technique.
Charlotte resides in North Amherst with her husband, Jon, their sons, Tommy and Geoffrey, two dogs, and two cats.
CRISTINA HAYES-MENDEZ
Acro | Ballet 
Cristina is an avid dancer and an alum of Pineapple Dance, focusing on ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop. She joined the faculty in 2023 teaching both Acro and Ballet classes, excited to pass on her knowledge and love of dance and gymnastics to our students.
Cristina started gymnastics at the age of 4 at Hampshire Gymnastics School in Amherst, MA and joined their Junior Olympic competition team at age 6. Her time as a gymnast included winning several events at the USA Gymnastics Massachusetts State Championships, coming in first place for the team title at States in 2015, and competing at the USA Gymnastics Regionals Championship. After over 10 years in the sport, she had to stop competing due to injury and shifted her focus to dance.
Cristina is an alum of Amherst Regional High School and is currently majoring in BioPhysics at Amherst College.
CARISSA LANGE
Ballet | Contemporary | Jazz
Carissa began her dance training at the Dance Conservatory of Pittsburgh, where she specialized in ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz. She later went on to attend Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, where she performed in shows such as The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, The Music and the Mirror: A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, and Jesus Christ Superstar. While attending Lincoln Park, Carissa obtained an Associate Arts degree in Dance from the Community College of Beaver County. Upon high school graduation, Carissa attended Allegheny College where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Environmental Science and obtained a minor in Dance and Movement Studies. During her time at Allegheny College, Carissa participated in several dance organizations including the Orchesis Dance Company, the Jazz Dance Ensemble, and the Allegheny College Dance Team. Additionally, she choreographed for a wide variety of showcases and taught modern and ballet at Movement Unlimited Dance Studio. After graduating from college, Carissa judged dance competitions for Creation Dance Championships and served as a substitute dance instructor while completing her Master of Science at Duquesne University. Currently, Carissa is attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she is doing a post-doc in Environmental Health Sciences.
Lindsay LaValley Fuller
Tap | Jazz
Lindsay LaValley Fuller has been dancing for over 30 years. She has studied tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, and Irish step dancing. She is currently teaching tap and jazz, which have always been not only her favorite styles of dance, but also the styles she feels she can truly express herself with.
Lindsay began taking classes at Carol Butler's at the age of 3. She then went on to dance at the Hackworth School of Performing Arts for 12 years, where she competed in groups, productions, duos, and solos. She began assisting at the age of 14 and was paired up with Charlotte Doyle. Since then, she has been working for Charlotte for 20 years, assisting and teaching at both CJ Studios of Dance and now Pineapple Dance, which is currently her home away from home.
Lindsay has been fortunate enough to take classes from many amazing dancers. She grew up taking classes from all of the wonderful teachers at HSPA and mainly studied with Alison Forance and Lisa Heath. She has participated in many conventions and competitions such as Dance Masters of America, American Dance Awards, and Star Power. She has taken classes at Broadway Dance Center, where she has learned from such dancers as the late great Frank Hatchett (to whom she owes her love of jazz) and Germaine Salsberg. In recent years she has had the amazing opportunity to take classes with Chloe Arnold, Maud Arnold, the Syncopated Ladies, and Aubrey Cheek. She has attended the Syncopated Ladies Mini Bootcamp in New York City and the NYC premier of Tap World Film.
When not at dance, Lindsay works in the Mount Holyoke College Admission Office as the Assistant Director of Admission, Campus Visits and Events. She lives in South Hadley with her husband, son, and cat. She loves crafts and anything Disney (especially her favorite accessory, mouse ears for any occasion).
Lindsay's philosophy on dance is that it should be fun first and foremost. She is excited to share her love of dance with the students at Pineapple Dance.
RACHEL MARTIN
Tap
Rachel started dancing at the age of two years old. She trained in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, and contemporary at Charlotte Klein Dance Centers in Worcester, MA, where she was also a part of the competition team for 10 years. As a competitive dancer, she had the opportunity to perform countless group dances, duos, trios, and solos in a variety of styles. Rachel discovered a love of teaching during her time as an assistant instructor for dancers in a range of ages, ability levels, and genres. The part she loves most is helping dancers achieve things they didn’t think they could! She has a passion for many styles of dance, but tap has always been her favorite. She even choreographed her senior year tap solo, which earned her third place at nationals. In 2020, she attended The Intensive, where she learned from many tap greats, including Jason Samuels Smith and Derick K Grant.
Rachel is currently pursuing her BS in Computer Science and a minor in English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Outside of academics, Rachel is an active member of the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, where she plays the trombone and is part of a student-led Administrative Staff as Web Staff Manager. She is also the president of the Delta Delta chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, a co-ed national honorary band sorority that serves collegiate bands and uplifts women in music.
Rachel has been a member of the UMass Tap Company since the Fall semester of her Freshman year. She has performed in a number of showcases with the company and choreographed a trio and a large group dance. She is super excited to join the faculty at Pineapple this year!
Jen root
Contemporary | Composition | Jazz | Acro | Hip Hop
Jennifer Johnson is a dancer, choreographer and dance educator who grew up and trained at LHQ Danceforce in Agawam, MA with the Dance Intensive program. Jen has been dancing for 25 years and competed as a dancer for twelve years. After graduating high school Jen went on to study the art of dance in New York while dabbling in costume design, and choreography. She studied at Manhattanville College while also training with the great Peter Pucci. Jennifer was a featured soloist in a number of shows, some of them including SYNC, Change-A 2015 Freshman Project, and Our Fight Against Cancer-A Senior Thesis. While in New York, Jen was also a dancer with a creative dance troupe called the Valliant’s. She also spent time working for a competition company, Step Up 2 Dance, working in the crew as well as guest judging.
Jen has been teaching for ten years now in dance studios, workshops, master classes, and local venues and preschools. She has a plethora of experience with early childhood students and young children while also loving working with high school and collegiate level students. Miss Jen is extensively trained in all genres of dance, and specializes in the jazz, lyrical, acrobatic and contemporary fields. She has been cast in music videos for local artists, and has choreographed many competitive numbers for students wanting to push themselves. When she’s not in the studio, Jen teaches special education at a therapeutic school in Springfield. Jen is a certified Integrative Dance Instructor through Rhythm Works, which is a class based for students with special needs. Her acrobatic background comes from the Acrobatic Arts course. Jen is very proud to be YPAD certified (Youth Protection Association in Dance), which is an amazing organization that trains leaders in the dance community on the best ways to keep our students safe in the ever changing dance climate. Miss Jen loves furthering her education to be the best she can be for her students, and she has attended many master classes and conventions, including The Dance Teacher Summit in NYC and is apart of the CLI teacher training organization. Jen is eager to share her passion with her students; her whole purpose being to share the magic of dance to all students in an equitable and accessible way.
Mari Washburn
Hip Hop | Jazz | Contemporary
Mari has been dancing for over 20 years now. She began at the age of 5 and continued training and performing in tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, musical theater, contemporary and lyrical for 10 years at both New England Dance Quarters and Hackworth School of Performing Arts. During her training, she competed in small, large, and production groups throughout southern New England and attended various master classes, summer dance intensives, and conventions taught by highly esteemed choreographers from LA and NYC. Her passion for teaching dance developed while in high school when she became an assistant to Cheryl Veasey, a former PD faculty member at NEDQ for 4 years and various faculty at HSPA for 2 years.
After graduating high school, Mari continued assisting at PD for another year before being offered a position as PD faculty. She has dance captain credits with the Amherst Leisure Services Community Theater for their productions of Mary Poppins, Shrek: The Musical, and Beauty & The Beast. Mari has been a member of the PD family for over 10 years and is now proudly the co-director of the Pineapple Dance Competition Team. She also continues to expand her training through online courses and in-person classes whenever possible.
Outside of dance, Mari holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and works in management and social media/content creation at a local small business pet store. She is also the Co-founder and Co-Host of Alternative Lately, an alt/pop/rock Radio Show and Digital Blog (alternativelately.com), alongside her best friend and cousin Jacklyn. When she isn't in the studio, she is most likely traveling and going to concerts.
“The true essence of dance is the instant the artist has taken a risk”