O U R   F A C U L T Y

Briel began taking ballet at the age of three and has been dancing ever since. After graduating from high school and Out of His Mind Dance in Johnstown, she went on to study Modern dance and choreography at Temple University. One of her works was selected for the American College Dance Festival Association where further selection placed the work in the regional Gala concert. After completing her B.F.A., Briel co-founded BodyFields, a multidisciplinary performance collective based in Philadelphia. Bodyfields performed regularly throughout the region including Festivals such as The Philadelphia Fringe and Akimbo. She went on to collaborate and perform with another dance group, Spiral Cracks, in Ithaca, New York while teaching and choreographing at Cortland Performing Arts Institute for The Nutcracker, recitals and dance competitions. Throughout all of this Briel continually studied yoga, which she began in college, and in 2017 she decided to take her study of movement one step further by traveling to India where she completed her 200 hour Yoga Teaching Certificate. She is currently working on her second yoga certification. Briel loves teaching movement, dance and yoga, to individuals from all walks of life, all ages and all levels. She is grateful to have landed here at Centre Dance and is looking forward to the year to come!

John Daulby began his dance training when he was 11 and graduated from Centre Dance in 2008. After graduating high school, John attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2012. After completing his BFA in Dance Performance, John was on full-time faculty at the Grier School in Tyrone, Pa. In 2015, John moved to Tucson, AZ where he began his MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. After completing his degree in 2017, John freelance taught around Pennsylvania and was on faculty at Centre Dance. Over 9 summers, John is the Head of Performing Arts at Independent Lake Camp, an elite summer camp held in Orson, Pennsylvania. Currently, John is the Tour Administrator for DanceMakers, Inc.

Amanda Ferrara trained at Centre Dance for fifteen years and competed with AVID Dance Productions for eight years. She earned a BS in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, where she was a member of the Pitt Dance Ensemble (PDE). With PDE, she was cast in numerous pieces and choreographed five production pieces and two small ensemble routines.

Briana is a 2020 Penn State Law graduate, and recent University of Central Florida grad. She is trained in styles such as tap, jazz, hip hop & Latin ballroom, and competed numerous years at a south Florida studio, as well as on her high school dance team. Briana's performances include Disney's Christmas Special, Miami Salsa Congress, Orlando Fashion Week, and the many other opportunities Knights and Damsels Dance Company provided for her during her time at UCF. Her recent choreography has been seen at UCF's Annual Dance Concert, Knights and Damsels Annual Showcase, as well as Central Florida's Dancing for Diabetes.  Briana is very excited to bring her passion for dance to Centre Dance this year!

Andrea Hill is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Arts with a concentration in Dance. Miss Young is also a graduate of Smeal College of Business where she received her Bachelor of Science in Supply Chain and Information Systems. During her time at Penn State, Andrea received Penn State’s Most Valuable Dancer and the Outstanding Senior Award. She also had her choreography adjudicated at American College Dance Festival Association. Since graduating, Miss Young has worked at The Grier School for 6 years in Tyrone, PA where she has taught all forms and levels. Teaching and performing all over the world is a dream of hers where she has been blessed to already start that dream. Andrea has traveled to Suriname, South America and Monterrery, Mexico in pursuit of that dream. Andrea was a proud founding member of Fluidity Dance Company under the direction of Jocelyn Hrzic and worked with August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble first as an apprentice and then as a guest dancer. Andrea has had the privilege of dancing in the works of the very talented Pascal Rioult, Jason McDole, Jon Lehrer, Kiesha Lalama, Kyle Abraham, Antonio Brown, Terence Greene, Maria Caruso, Christopher Huggins and Sidra Bell. She has performed at Chicago’s Jazz Dance World Congress, Pittsburgh's Jazz Dance World Festival, California’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival, and NYC’s Project Live in association with Project Dance to name a few. Andrea also enjoys working the behind the scenes and has done so as Managing Director of August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble. Miss Young is currently working as LehrerDance's Touring Manager for A&J Agency. She is excited to work with Centre Dance's talent this year!

Vicki began dancing at the age of 5, studying acrobatics, ballet, tap, and jazz at the Wrayette School of Dance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Later, she studied at the Bill Bailey Studio of Dance and at Rosalene Kenneth’s Professional Dance Studio where she received a dance scholarship, competed, choreographed and taught acrobatics, tap and ballet.  She served as the North Hills School District mascot for four years before graduating and attending the University of Pittsburgh where she competed on the women’s gymnastics team before earning her B.S. in Biology and Secondary Education.  While pursuing her master’s degree at Penn State, Vicki taught and performed with the Penn State International Dance Ensemble.  She now dances regularly with the Susquehanna Folk Music Society and continues to choreograph and teach various forms of dance in the State College area.

Jordan Hlivia is currently a sophmore at Penn State. She first started dancing when she was four years old and has been doing it ever since. She has trained in many styles through out her time at Centre Dance and has continued her dance training throughout college. She was apart of AVID Dance Productions, Centre Dances competition team, for many years. Jordan is a member of Vole Dance Company  She loves getting to teach the younger kids and can’t wait for another year! 

Jackie began dancing when she was 4 years old and started competing at the age of 10.  Jackie was an assistant for the dance convention Artists Simply Human which allowed her to train with faculty such as Rudy Abreu, Jason Samuels Smith, Gregg Russell, Jojo Gomez, DJ Smart, and Desmond Richardson.  Jackie has also had the opportunity to be able to assist many other dance instructors and choreographers such as Will Thomas and Nick Garcia. During her junior year of high school, Jackie was on Tokyo the Company 2 which performed a show in Louisiana. Jackie has also performed in Rudy Abreu’s showcase pieces in Choreographer’s Carnival and the World of Dance competition in California.  She was also in the company that won the World of Dance competition in Philadelphia in the year 2018. She was able to choreograph multiple pieces for the Lionettes Dance Team as well as multiple solos, group dances, and duets for dance studios.  Jackie also made the first team all Big Ten dance team for collegiate dancers for the year 2021. Jackie is a Penn State 2023 graduate with a degree in Marketing along with being the head coach  of the Lionettes Dance Team. 

Katelyn Moss grew up dancing at The Dance Club in Orem, Utah, where she trained extensively in jazz, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, ballroom and tap. During her time there she was awarded numerous scholarships and national titles through NYCDA, Nuvo, and The Pulse. At age seventeen, Katelyn became the youngest member of Odyssey Dance Theatre, a professional company based out of Salt Lake City. During her time with Odyssey, she performed the works of Mia Michaels, Dee Caspary, Travis Wall, Justin Giles, Jason Parsons, and Mandy Moore on stages across the country as well as in Germany, Turkey, and Switzerland. She has traveled with and assisted Joey Dowling at NYCDA, and is currently on faculty at RISE Dance Studio in Utah. She continues to set choreography on our dancers.

Riley Kauffman has been dancing and training at Centre Dance since the age of 2. She has been a member of the AVID competition team for 12 years competing in styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz, acro, lyrical, tap, hip hop and musical theatre. Riley was a member of the Teen Hollywood Vibe Company where she traveled with the convention and assisted the faculty.  Riley has been awarded various tour convention scholarships at Artists Simply Human,  Nuvo, Jump, Radix, Dancemakers, 24 Seven, NYCDA, Revel and summer scholarships to AMDA College, Steps on Broadway in NYC, and Peridance in New York.  Riley has also trained at the Complexions Contemporary Ballet Summer intensive, Dance Masters Ballet intensive in California and Point Park University. Riley was currently a dancer for Royal Caribbean's cruise line. She is now attending Clemson University.

Tara and Ron Kauffman live in State College with their three daughters Riley, Callie, and Fallyn. Tara was one of the original Centre Dance competition dancers and Ron is grateful that Centre Dance has given him the opportunity to share his passion for music and Hip Hop dancing. Tara and Ron teach at Gray's Woods Elementary School.

Ceci has been at Centre Dance as a student for the past 12 years, starting in ballet and tap at age 5. From then, she incorporated the various styles of hip hop, lyrical, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, pointe, and ballroom/Latin into her dance curriculum with Centre Dance. She was part of the AVID Competition team for five years, and has since shifted her focus to musical theatre and tap. She’s also an aspiring musician, focusing on both jazz and voice. She has gotten the opportunity to work with many talented individuals in the industry, some of which include: Gregg Russell, Angela Carter, Ryan Lohoff, Sarah Reich, Barbra Duffy, Michele Dunleavy, Dan Mitra, etc. Ceci attends the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.

Tiffany Glab Myers studied various styles of dance at Centre Dance in State College, PA and the Institute of Performing Arts for Youth in Fairfax, VA since the age of six and was a member of the competitive team at both schools. Tiffany has been teaching at Centre Dance for many years and teaches a variety of classes including choreographing for the Avid Dance Productions competition teams. While attending Penn State as an undergraduate, Tiffany was a member of Orchesis Dance Company, an audition-based performing jazz/contemporary team, and choreographed several pieces for the members of Orchesis. She then returned to Penn State to pursue a master's of education and is currently an elementary school counselor in the State College School District in addition to teaching dance. Tiffany enjoys remaining a part of the dance world through teaching, attending competitions and shows, and experiencing the growth of her students and their passion for and enjoyment of dance. 

Stacey is originally from Brockport, NY. She trained at the Draper Center for Dance Education under the direction of Timothy Draper. Stacey graduated Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Brockport with a Bachelor of Science in Dance. While at Brockport she danced in many faculty and student performances. Stacey received a full scholarship to the Limon Summer Intensive in 2003. She has also attended the Florida Dance Festival, Joffrey Ballet School’s summer intensive, Joffrey Midwest Workshop, and two summers at Walnut Hill School for the Arts. After graduating from SUNY Brockport she moved to New York City to pursue dance. Stacey has performed choreography in New York by Jennifer DeBritton, Leanne Schmidt, Becca Rozell and Amanda Selwyn. She has shown her own choreography in DC, Baltimore and New York City. While living in Baltimore, Stacey danced with Dissonance Dance Theatre, Jane Franklin Dance, The Collective, Next Reflex, and Nellie Rainwater. In November 2007, Stacey premiered her first independent dance concert, “Between the Numbers” at The Patterson Theatre in Baltimore, MD. In 2009 she showed her work at the Patterson Theatre in “Singing the Body Electric”. Stacey was also a dance instructor in Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland and at several dance studios in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.  Stacey was a Relationship Manager for Curtain Call Costumes and has choreographed for their costume catalogue photo shoots. Stacey currently teaches dance in the State College, PA area.

Hope Neal is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based out of Chicago, Illinois. Hope grew up in State College, Pennsylvania where she trained at Centre Dance. With Centre Dance’s competitive team, AVID Dance Productions, Hope traveled the country performing, competing, and taking class from renowned artists and choreographers. While obtaining her degree from Penn State in Secondary Social Studies Education, Hope taught and choreographed at Centre Dance: teaching contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, jazz funk, tap, musical theatre, ballet, and more. She is thrilled to continue to share her choreography with studios across the country. During this time, Hope also choreographed for and performed with P&J Productions in central Pennsylvania (including Guys & Dolls, Beauty & the Beast, Mel Brook’s The Producers, The Who’s Tommy, and more). Hope continues to work as an assistant for choreographers across the US. Her choreographic and teaching style stems from her belief of sharing her passion and love for dance in a growth-driven and inclusive environment. 

Kayley Swope began dancing at the age of 3 at Centre Dance. She participated in The Nutcracker and annual spring recital every year until high school graduation, and at 10 years old, Kayley joined Centre Dance’s Avid Dance Productions competition team. After graduating from high school, she began studying at Juniata College and joined Fluidity Dance Company, led by Jocelyn Hrzic, for one year. She teaches a variety of styles of dance at Centre Dance and other studios in central Pennsylvania. Kayley graduated in May 2015 as a premedical student from Juniata College where she was the treasurer and a choreographer for the Juniata College Dance Ensemble and a co-captain of the Juniata College Kickline Dance Team. Kayley recently graduated from Penn State College of Medicine in 2019 and has completed her residency at St. Margaret UMPC in Pittsburgh and is currently a palliative care physician in Denver, CO. She continues to teach for us in her free time.

Victoria is a transplant from New York who started ballet as a child under the guidance of renowned Russian ballerinas. She continued training and performing in local 'Nutcracker' ballets throughout her teen years. But she waited until after graduating college with her bachelor's in psychology to take her ballet career on a more professional route. 

Living in NYC allowed her to take advantage of some of the most prestigious schools and teachers such as Gelsey Kirkland, Katherine Healy, and American Ballet Theater training programs. Victoria went on to perform professionally in a contemporary ballet company for several years before relocating to Pennsylvania.

Despite all her experiences, she always gravitated back towards the Vaganova method (aka the Russian method), which fuses elements of traditional French style with the athleticism of Italian technique. Victoria uses this same training system when she teaches, as this approach increases consciousness of the body, creating a harmony and fluidity of movement and greater expressive range.

Victoria refers to herself as a "ballet-nerd." She's passionate about teaching technical building blocks of ballet, but also enjoys the artistic story-telling elements of performing. She continues her education by regularly training with her coach, former Principal Ballerina Ms. Irina Lebedeva, to keep both her mind and body fit for teaching the dancers of the future!

Myah Weiss grew up dancing at Ashburn Academy of Dance in Virginia training in a variety of styles including jazz, contemporary, hiphop, and ballet. She is now a sophomore at Penn State where she majors in Psychology and Human Resources. She is a member of Vole Dance Company and is on their Showcase Committee. She enjoys teaching our younger kids and is very excited for her first year working and teaching at Centre Dance!

Ellie Fitzgerald started dancing at the age of 3 at Desiree Catania Dance Center in Malvern Pennsylvania. She started competing at 11 years old in contemporary, jazz, hip hop and tap. She now attends Penn State as an economics and political science major and is a member of Vole Dance Company. She is looking forward to teaching hip hop this year.

Shannon is a Junior studying Food Science at Penn State. She has been dancing for 16 years and 8 of those years competitively at Shelor School of Dance in Butler, PA. She had the opportunity to train at Pointe Park University’s summer dance intensive for 3 years and attended Beantown Tap Festival in Boston, MA. She is an active member of 

Tapestry Dance Company, the resident tap dance organization at Penn State, and has choreographed many pieces for the club.

Olivia is an 11th grader at State High. She has been dancing at Centre Dance for 13 years and has been a part of the Competition team for 10 years. For the 22/23 season she was a part of Dancemakers assistant program called the Collective JV. She traveled and assisted teachers such as and not limited to Josh Smith, Channing Cooke, and Erica Sobol. One of Olivia's favorite styles of dance is contemporary. She enjoys hanging out with friends and relaxing in her free time.

Fallyn Kauffman is in 10th grade at State College Area High School and has been dancing since the age of 2. She was awarded Petite Miss Dance of Pennsylvania when she was 8 years old. She has been trained in all styles growing up and has been a part of the Centre Dance competition team since the age of 5. Fallyn enjoys hanging out with friends, watching new tv shows, and she loves teaching the younger kids at Centre Dance!

Lucy is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, where her love for dance began at the age of two. She was a member of the Janet Hays and Co. Show Biz Kids competition team from ages seven to eighteen, winning a regional title in the solo division in 2018. During high school, Lucy choreographed musical theater numbers for her school’s productions and multiple a cappella performances for the Varsity Vocals (ICHSA) competition. For the past four years, Lucy has been an instructor at Janet Hays and Co., where she teaches contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, tap, and ballet, specializing in jump and turn technique. While pursuing a master’s degree in accountancy with a minor in Management Information Systems, Lucy was a member of the Penn State Lionettes dance team for all four years, serving as captain her senior year. Under her leadership, the Lionettes won third in the nation in the pom division at UDA College Nationals, marking a historic milestone for the team. In 2023 and 2024, she was nominated for the All-Big Ten Spirit Team and received Coach’s Award in 2023. Lucy choreographed numerous performances for the Lionettes at football and basketball games, wrestling events, and community showcases. She is excited to continue her passion for teaching at Centre Dance!

Addy Williams has been training at Centre Dance since the age of 2. She started dancing with the AVID competition team in first grade. She has traveled the country attending various dance competitions and conventions. She attended Broadway Dance Center Children and Teens summer intensive. She also auditioned for and was accepted into HOWL the intensive and trained in LA under Erica Sobol, Tilman O’Donnell, Adi Salant, and Jermaine Spivey. This past summer she attended Soul Escape Dance Intensive on scholarship and trained with Justin Giles and his company. Addy’s favorite styles of dance are contemporary and hip hop. She loves choreographing and teaching at Centre dance as she finishes her senior year of high school!