Born and raised in New York, Samantha began her training at the age of five with Roya Curie, former prima ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. After Curie’s passing, Samantha continued her studies with Peter and Lisa Newman of New York City Ballet and Valerie Feit of Alvin Ailey. Throughout her childhood Samantha was accepted to and attended many schools such as the Joffrey Ballet School, Alvin Ailey and the American Academy of Ballet. In 2002, Samantha attended the University of Hartford’s Hartt Conservatory on scholarship. In 2004, she was awarded a scholarship to attend Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Performance and Dance Pedagogy in 2006. Upon Graduation, Samantha became a faculty member for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Pittsburgh Youth Ballet and began her professional dancing career.  After moving to Los Angeles, she danced principal roles with companies such as California Contemporary Ballet, Creations Dance Theatre, Media City Ballet, and Louise Reichlan’s Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers. She was represented by both Trio and Bloch talent agencies where she booked many jobs in the entertainment business. As for teaching, Samantha taught for many different prestigious studios throughout Los Angeles as well as for the LA Unified School District. In 2011, Samantha returned to Pittsburgh where she opened The Pennsylvania Academy of Dance and accumulated over 200 students just within the first year. In 2016, she opened up a second location in Pittsburgh to expand her business which continues to grow and expand. Today, Samantha holds the prestigious title of the Dean of the Early Bird program at Debbie Allen Dance Academy and is the founder and owner of The Dance Conservatory of Los Angeles. 

Baylee Sullivan, originally from Racine, Wisconsin, began her training at a local studio under Marc Darling and Linda Bennett. After graduating high school, she trained with the Ruth Page Center for the Arts Civic Ballet in Chicago for the next year. She then went on to dance with Richmond Ballet as a trainee. Following two years in the trainee program, Baylee was accepted into Richmond Ballet’s second company where she had the pleasure of performing in various contemporary works and ballets such as Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, A Midsummer Nights Dream, La Bayadère and The Nutcracker. In September of 2019, Baylee moved to New York City to dance with New York Theatre Ballet for one season before being accepted into Confluence Ballet for their inaugural season in Pittsburgh, PA. Baylee had the opportunity and pleasure to move to Orlando, Florida for a couple months during the 2022 Christmas season to dance in Universal Orlando’s Holiday Parade. After her time in Florida, Baylee joined Texture Contemporary Ballet and is excited to continue her career in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Katie Montefiori began her dance training in Erie, Pennsylvania at Marguerite’s Academy of Dance and graduated from Mercyhurst Preparatory High School at the master level within the dance program. She continued her dance training at Seton Hill University, receiving a Bachelors degree in Dance Pedagogy. She performed as a soloist for university faculty pieces and guest artists, including Kenneth Nickel, Gerard Holt, Attack Theatre, and Spilling Ink, a Classical Indian Dance Company. Katie has performed at the Historic Mazur Theatre in New York City, along with the Erie Festival of Dance at Mercyhurst University and the Baltimore Dance Invitational.  Also, traveling to Montreal, Canada, Katie performed alongside principal dancers in “The Nutcracker” with the Eddy Touissant Ballet Company. She set choreography for the Seton Hill University Musical Theatre Workshop course, where she served as lead choreographer. As a way to give back to the community, Katie was a student instructor for Seton Hill’s Exceptional Needs dance class, where she worked with children with Autism and Down Syndrome. Currently, Katie continues her dance career teaching at local Pittsburgh studios and working on occasional projects with the Mid-Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Company under the direction of Gerard Holt. 

Alyson grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. When she was 3 years old, her parents put her in dance classes because she was dancing in the aisle at her cousin’s dance recital. In Pittsburgh, Alyson was mentored by Karen Prunzik. She went to James Madison University in Virginia and earned her BA in both Dance and English. After graduating, Alyson moved to NYC where she continued dancing and teaching. Alyson started teaching dance when she was 16 and taught throughout her college years and post graduation in Pittsburgh and NYC. She has had the honor to study with Ray Hesselink in NYC, Karen Prunzik and Lenora Nemetz. Alyson specializes in teaching tap and throughout the years has recreated choreography from movie musicals, as well creating her own choreography. She is excited to return home after dancing in NY for 10 years to teach.

​Jules Leddy is a voice teacher and performer living in Pittsburgh, PA. Deciding early on in life that she loved working with children, Jules pursued a Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Choral Music Education at the University of Delaware. During that time she worked with the Community Music School at UD to teach children’s choir for 1st-3rd graders, as well as spending over 120 practicum hours in the classroom. She then went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Vocal performance, focusing on musical theatre singing technique as well as classical and pop/rock techniques. For the last two years, she has been on the faculty at Slippery Rock University, teaching voice lessons to BFA Musical Theatre majors. She also teaches private voice virtually via Zoom, or in person at Accent Music Academy in Baldwin, PA.

Annie started her dance career at Marguerite’s Academy of dance located in Erie, PA at age 3. She studied various genres of dance with strong passions in tap, jazz and ballet. In college, Annie participated in the University of Dayton’s dance team for three years where she performed at collegiate basketball games and campus events. She was also the Vice President of Life Itself Dance, a student run dance club where she taught and choreographed pieces in multiple performances. Annie recently graduated with her Doctorate in Occupational therapy from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a now a licensed Occupational Therapist working in the Pittsburgh area for Early Intervention Specialists, providing services to families with children ages 0-3. Annie has always been passionate about teaching dance and looks forward to teaching at PA Academy of Dance.

Hi everyone! My name is Toni Barbaro. A few things about me…
I teach 2nd grade at Montour Elementary! I have done both competitive and recreational cheer and dance for most of my life. My favorite animal are dogs (specifically wiener dogs). French fries are my number one favorite food and I love to read and draw in my free time! I am so excited to join the Pennsylvania Academy Dance and look forward to creating a CHEER team!

Cherie Cox Habian began her dance training at the age of 3 years old. She grew up dancing in the recreational and competitive programs in her small hometown studio of Vandergrift, PA for 15 years training in various dance styles such as, Ballet/Pointe, Tap, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Acro/Tumbling and her favorite styles being Jazz and Musical Theatre. Before earning her Dance Teacher Certification from Dance Educators of America, Cherie danced in college for the Penn State New Kensington Lady Nittany Lions Dance Team where she served as co-choreographer for 2 seasons and then joined Pittsburgh based dance company Evolve Productions where she was not just a dancer but served as an assistant to the Director while also having the opportunity to fine tune her teaching and choreography skills by learning from some of the best dancers and teachers Pittsburgh has to offer. Cherie currently owns and operates Dance Center 3 located in Natrona Heights, PA where she continues to teach dance to students of all ages recreationally, competitively and produce dance stage shows such as, “A Night at the Circus” and “A Night in Wonderland”. Cherie is excited to be joining the PA Dance Academy this season to continue to grow as a teacher and person. My favorite saying, “Dance is what I do.”

Kelly Penz is a Pittsburgh based artist who began studying in her early youth and furthered instruction through college at The Maryland Institute and College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. She has had success with winning art shown in the New York Artists Equity Association Gallery. She was featured Artist of the Month in 2022 for the local art and nature series, as well as multiple pieces commissioned for private collections. She currently works as a freelance artist illustrating for published authors such as Virginia Corbett, LPC.  

Her passion is art and she adores sharing it with children. She volunteered in the early 2000s with the Traveling Art Gallery (TAG) to bring artworks of the masters into elementary schools, as well as offering private art lessons in her home for levels K-4.  

Through all of her Art adventures she has avidly pursued and practiced Yoga. For 24 years she has happily considered herself a learning yogini and is excited to incorporate this practice into her youth art learning curriculum!