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.
TORI NAHOUSE
(STUDIO MANAGER, TEACHER, CHOREOGRAPHER)
ELEANOR LUCE (ASSISTANT EXTRAORDINAIRE)
Eleanor Luce grew up in the Greenbrier Valley and has always loved dance. She started dancing at the age of 3 with Valley Dance. She enjoys all dance styles and has trained and has attended multiple dance camps and performed on various platforms. Eleanor graduated high school in 2023 and is excited for the opportunity to be able to continue to have dance in her life with Valley Dance and to be able to share her love of dance with the students there.
Eleanor adds, ”I love dance so much! I have been dancing for 15 years and I can’t wait to keep dancing my heart out.”
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!
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.