Maria Cherniske
Choreography
View Upcoming ScheduleAbout Maria Cherniske
Maria has been hooked on dance since she took her first class at the age of 3. She is now a professional dancer in New York City and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, on national television, in commercials and for live events for Nike, Adidas, and Athleta.
Maria is passionate about dance education and loves helping dancers and gymnasts build their confidence and find their voice as an artist. She has taught dance to students of all ages for the past 23 years and has choreographed floor routines for gymnasts for the past 20 years. Maria is also a judge for dance competitions. As a leader for the dance mentorship program Creating Opportunities for 7 years, Maria had the opportunity to mentor many aspiring dancers in NYC. She is on guest faculty at world renowned Broadway Dance Center in NYC, and in 2021 became a member of the staff at Acrobatic Arts as a course conductor and adjudicator.
Certifications:
Acrobatic Arts AAC1, AAC2, AAC3
USA Gymnastics Safety Certified - Artistic Gymnastics Coach
bodyART Certified Instructor
Adult and Pediatric First Aid, CPR and AED certified
AFAA Group Fitness Certified
State of Connecticut Certified Teacher – K-6
Check out Maria Cherniske's Sessions:
Cleaning Beam Choreography: Adding those finishing touches Cleaning Floor Choreography: How to “sell” your routine and shine on the floor
Hometown
Milford, Connecticut
Favorite Gymnastics Event
Floor
How do you motivate gymnasts to do their best?
I find that breaking things down into little steps is very helpful. Breaking things down so there are lots of little successes, helps the gymnasts I work with build confidence. I also use lots of positive language and encouragement ... and make sure the gymnasts I work with speak positively as well. Negative speech and self sabotaging is not going to help them. Something a mentor encouraged me to do (and I use often) is to create an "I am" statement for myself. An "I am" statement is a strong statement about yourself that you can say in your head (or out loud) when fear starts to creep in. My mentor used to say that F.E.A.R. is "False Evidence Appearing Real" and you need to put the F.E.A.R. monster to sleep. One way to do that is with positive speech ... and one way to use positive speech is with a powerful I Am :-) [Shoutout to Lisette Bustamante and Chonique Sneed for introducing me to "I am" statements to get rid of the F.E.A.R. monsters :-) ]Favorite Quote
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." - Thoreau
What is a fun fact about yourself?
1. One of the photographers hired to take pictures for the USA Gymnastics safety manual took photos at the gym I coach / choreograph at, so I am in some of the pictures in the safety manual / online course.2. I am a dog mom to two beautiful hound babies.
