Anthony Oates, a Richmond, VA native, began dancing at the age of eight. He received his
ballet training from the School of Richmond Ballet, under the direction of Igor Antonov, Malcolm
Burn, and Arnott Mader. Mr. Oates attended summer intensive study at Boston Ballet in 2013,
and at fifteen, he was offered a traineeship with Richmond Ballet. At eighteen, he became a
member of Richmond Ballet II, performing a variety of New Works, full length story ballets, as
as well as Richmond Ballet’s touring outreach program for elementary school students. Mr. Oates danced with Richmond Ballet II for two seasons before joining the Professional Company in 2015.
During the five seasons he spent with the Richmond Ballet, Mr. Oates had the pleasure of
working with choreographers William Soleau, Val Caniparoli, Starr Foster, and Philip Neal. He
originated roles in New Works by Ma Cong, and Katarzyna Skarpetowska, which he performed
on tour at The Joyce Theater and at New York Live Arts in New York City.
Favorite career performances include George Balanchine’s Theme & Variations, Salvatore
Aiello’s Journey, Black Swan pas de deux in Malcolm Burn’s Swan Lake, and Cavalier and
Sugarplum grande pas de deux in Stoner Winslett’s The Nutcracker.
Mr. Oates has also appeared in the Ballet West National Choreographic Festival in Salt Lake
City, and was featured as Snowboy in Virginia Repertory Theatre’s West Side Story in 2018.
Mr. Oates is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from
Savannah College of Art and Design.
Cate Bennett has studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Pointe, Lyrical and Tap techniques for over twenty years. She traveled and competed extensively as a young adult with Tari Jo’s Dance Company of Inwood, WV. She has received national recognition through Dance Masters of America for her hip-hop choreography in Las Vegas, NV. She graduated from West Virginia University in 2008 with degrees in Broadcast News and Dance. During her time at WVU, she was a 4 year West Virginia University Dance Company member and a 3 year Dance Company Choreographer. While at WVU, she received extensive training in Ballet technique with a concentration in the Cecchetti method, Jazz, and Modern techniques with concentrations in Graham, Limon and Horton techniques and Choreography Concepts.
Cate has worked with renowned choreographers such as: Frank Hatchett: Broadway Dance Center, Ginger Cox, Bob Durkin, Teresa Chapman, and Jenny Rocha: Rocha Dance Theatre. She is certified in Zumba Basics 1 and 2 and is a certified Pilates Mat I and II Instructor. She is the Director for the a graduate of the prestigious Protocol School of Washington in Washington, D.C. Cate has completed grades 1, 2 and 3 of Dance Masters of America Teachers Training School at SUNY Buffalo in NY. She hopes to teach many years of classical, creative dance and grow the next generation of healthy, intelligent dancers.
cate bennett (DIRECTOR, TEACHER)
Julie cepec (TAP)
Julie Cepec is from Freeport, PA, where she danced competitively through high school with Lisa Marie's School of Dance. She graduated from Allegheny College in 2021, with a BS in Biology and double minored in Educational Studies and Dance & Movement Studies, where she choreographed for student groups. Julie also taught a spread of ballet, tap, and modern for K-12 in her college town, and she is trained in jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, contemporary, waltz, fox trot, tango, cha cha, rumba, and swing. She has been in Lewisburg for a year, and she has fallen in love with the town! Julie is excited to join Valley Dance as a tap teacher, which is one of her favorite styles!
SARAH WALKER (MODERN) graduated from West Virginia University with degrees in dance and in multidisciplinary studies with a focus on arts management. During high school, Sarah has had the opportunity to perform in several shows such as Peter Pan as the title character, Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch, and The Nutcracker as several featured roles. She also worked with such choreographers as Garfield Lemonius, Jason McDole, Keisha Lallama, Kelli Hodges, and Dan Karasik. She attended summer intensives at WVU, Nashville Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street, and Point Park University. She participated in Dance West Virginia and West Virginia State Dance Festival where she was rewarded several scholarships. After high school, Sarah attended Point Park University before transferring to WVU. There she performed choreography by Paul Taylor, Maureen and Yoav Kaddar, General Hambrick, and fellow peers. Sarah is excited to start her professional career with the West Virginia Dance Company this season.
Tori JoLayne Nahouse, is a West Virginia University graduate with degrees in Psychology and Dance. A proud West Virginia native from Greenbrier County, she has been dancing since 2010 receiving the bulk of her training from Valley Dance Studio. She has studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and Tap techniques and enjoys sharing her love of movement through teaching and choreographing. Tori has been an active member of the WVU Dance Program and student choreographer for their concerts. She has taught and choreographed locally and even had the opportunity to teach special needs dance classes in France. Tori is looking forward to continuing her dance training and sharing her passions for the arts to the next generation of young movers and is a firm believer “that everyone is a dancer”.Type your paragraph here.
TONY Oates (Ballet + POinte)
TORI NAHOUSE
(STUDIO MANAGER, TEACHER, CHOREOGRAPHER)
HANNAH ELWELL (ACRO, ASSISTANT EXTRAORDINAIRE)
Hannah has been dancing for nearly 16 years. She started at 8 years old, training at several studios before enrolling at Valley Dance Studio, where she finished out her high school dancing career. She began assistant teaching at Valley Dance Studio as a junior in high school and has continued for the last 8 years. She volunteered from 2018–2023 as an administrative partner, teacher, performer, and choreographer for Glorify Dance Camp, a local Christian-based nonprofit camp for girls. In addition to assistant teaching at Valley, she has now taken on the Acro Teacher role.
“My favorite style of dance to teach is lyrical because it reaches a serious side of us that was meant to be reached, which is part of what I love about dance. I believe that dance is one way that we can use our bodies to express what is most important to us. I hope that my students can always see what is important to me in how and what I dance.”Type your paragraph here.