Dr. Joni Carroll

Dr. Joni Carroll has served as Faculty with Hill Dance Academy Theatre since 2011. Joni is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania and started dancing at the age of two. She received her early training from Sharon Filone and Sarah Purvis at the Lake Erie Ballet School and from Sandra Little-Barnett at the Little Dance Studio.  Joni previously danced with Jazz Kids Dance Company, Lake Erie Ballet Company, and Maude Baum and Company Dance Theatre. As a dancer for Jean Ann Ryan Productions, she performed for Norwegian Cruise Lines on board the MS Norwegian Crown in South America and the Caribbean. Joni was previously a dance Teaching Artist at the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House and the Lake Erie Ballet School in Erie, PA and with Eba Center for Dance & Fitness in Albany, NY. Joni attended summer dance intensives at the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Ballet Tucson, and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. She participated in Regional Dance America and Project Dance NYC for several years, where she performed in Times Square and was exposed to a variety of teachers and choreographers. She studied with a number of artists including but not limited to, Christina Maria Adelhardt, Laura Alonso, Jefferson Baum, Maude Baum, Mary Beth Cabana, Wes Chapman, Cheryl Cutlip, Manfred Fishbeck, John Gardner, Jean Gedeon, David Howard, Melinda Howe, Carla Hughes, Tauna Hunter, Joe Istre, Nate Johnson, Jon Lehrer, Ying Li, Catherine Little, Luigi, Stacey Kabasinski, Arnott Mader, Kevin Maloney, Patty Maloney,  Jiabin Pan, Jonathan Phelps, Greer Reed, Gina Ribera Illingworth, Lesley Bories Scalise, Suki Shorer, Robert Steele, Michelle Van Doeren, Joan E. Van Dyke, Karl Von Rabenau, Robert Vickery, and Tracey Vogt. As Faculty at HDAT, Dr. Carroll had the opportunity to learn and perform choreographic works by Tamica Washington-Miller of Lula Washington Dance Theatre and Cleo Parker Robinson of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. She also is a member of International Association of Blacks in Dance and is a previous national recipient of the National Dance Education Organization’s Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award.

Dr. Carroll is currently an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy where she conducts stakeholder- and community-engaged research. Dr. Carroll's research is motivated by what she sees in practice – the unfortunate, fragmented healthcare that people receive, the health disparities that exist, and the unmatched accessibility and potential of community-based pharmacists to help people live their healthiest lives possible. Dr. Carroll also provides direct patient care for people with tuberculosis at the Allegheny County Health Department’s Pulmonary Clinic. Dr. Carroll holds a B.S. in Biology from Mercyhurst University, where she was a member of the Mercyhurst Dance Team, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where she performed with Pitt Ballet Club. Joni also completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the Stratton VA Medical Center and a Pharmacist Practice Development Fellowship with the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and Gatti Pharmacy. Dr. Carroll has provided adapted movement classes for adults with cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injuries at United Cerebral Palsy in Pittsburgh. Dr. Carroll is one of several faculty #DrDancer at HDAT and firmly believes the arts and sciences can and should co-exist together. She sees the intersection between dance, the arts, health, preventative care, and wellness and utilizes her strengths in these areas to promote holistic wellbeing through dance. Dr. Carroll believes everyone has the right and capabilities to dance and is committed to passing this passion on to her students.