Barrand was a mentor to Bernstein and exposed him to English, Irish, and Canadian clog and step dancing.

In 1985 he moved back to Malverne, New York to study tap dancing with Sandman Sims, for which he received a National Endowment for the Arts Apprentice Fellowship grant.

Bernstein has performed throughout the United States, and toured in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Turkey, and Japan.

[6] He was the co-creator and co-artistic director of Mountain Legacy, a large-scale stage show of Appalachian clogging and related percussive step dance styles.

Bernstein won first place at the Mount Airy Fiddler's Convention old-time flatfoot dance competition (in 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2005).