Dianne (French) Melodia

Dianne (French) Melodia is a trained dancer, choreographer and theater director who started her career with the Tamburitzans.  After college, she accepted a position as a dancer with “Pirin", the State Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of Bulgaria, where she danced for 5 years and rose to the level of principal soloist. She has danced professionally in NYC and in regional theaters as well as acted in commercial TV and Industrial shows. 

Dianne received a masters degree in choreography from the Choreographic Institute in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a degree that she earned while simultaneously learning the language. She was the resident choreographer and Artistic Director of the Pittsburgh International Folk Theater during the 1990s, and received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to create choreographic works and to teach dance and cultural awareness in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Dianne has been a guest choreographer for, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Tamburitzans for the past 7 years and is Chair of the Programing Committee where she also serves as an audition judge.

Dianne has served on the Board of Princeton Ballet School, Princeton GirlChoir (President) and was the Chair of the advisory council to the theater department at Princeton Day School. She has been the Co-Director of a Performing Arts Camp (PAC) in Sewickley, PA for the past 34 years where she has directed and choreographed nearly 200 musicals and has been a mentor, teacher, confessor and friend to over 2,000 children.