Our History

       DanceWorks was founded in July of 1989. The original studio was in Wake Forest on the corner of South White Street and Roosevelt. With the expansion of our business to include gymnastics we moved to 1921 South Main Street near Ligon Mill Road. When the building was torn down in 1998 to make room for a business park,  we moved to our current location in Youngsville.

***An Introduction to our Dance Staff***

Shelley Leone -                Owner and Founder DanceWorks Studio

 Ballet Director, Tap and Jazz Instructor with over 20 years

 of teaching experience and over 40 years of dance experience.

Courtney Leone          Partner/Owner DanceWorks Studio

Competition Director

Tap, Lyrical, Jazz and Team Gymnastics Coach

 with over 5 years of teaching experience. Courtney has been a dancer/gymnast

 most of her life. She has been both a dancer and gymnast competitively in high school

 and into college. She holds a Bachleor of Arts and Science Degree from UNC Chapel Hill.

 .

Wendy Denny            Alumni, DanceWorks Studio

Competition Director/ Partner

Jazz, Lyrical and Hip Hop Instructor, Choreographer

Wendy has danced competitively throughout high school and professionally in New York City. She re-joins our dance staff on her return to North Carolina. She has recently been performing with a break-dance group in Savannah, Ga. She married  Dean Denny in October 2006, enjoys styling hair and spending time with her wonderful Chocolate Lab, Hank.

Kelly Houghland       DanceWorks Studio -Class Instructor and Dance Company Assistant

Kelly enjoys and excels in the adult classes and her smile and overall enthusiasm for the dance program and her patience with children made her the ideal choice for our training program 2006. Graduating with honors Mrs. Kelly will be taking on her own classes in 2007. Her creative style and fantastic energy are sure to make her students shine. Mrs. Kelly looks foward to a great first year as a full time instructor at DWS.

Ashley Mitchell          Alumni, DanceWorks Studio

                                    -Lyrical and Pointe Instructor

A recent graduate from NC State University in Raleigh NC. Ashley  has danced since the age of five. Her training in ballet, lyrical, jazz, hip-hop, and musical theatre allowed her to enjoy a succesful competitive career through out highschool. Taking a break from dance while attending college, Ashley was able to complete her degree at an accelerated pace and graduate over a year early. While away from the dance scene ashley realized how much she missed the program and rejoine Dance Works in 2006 in our adult classes. Ashley is excited to come on a member of our staff in 2007 and looking foward to great year.

Kelly Brown             Ballet Master

Kelly comes to us as a graduate of Meredith College's dance program in Raleigh. Growing up in a local dance studio in Knightdale, Mrs. Kelly loves working with children and is excited to join the DWS staff. Her primary goal this year is to work on her students core technique.

Kathy Fairchild         Office Manager

Bobbi Kilmer             Office Assistant

Both Kathy and Bobbi are our office wonder workers… everything from your account or schedule to phones to band aids to shoe fitting. Just ask!

An Introduction to our Gymnastics Staff
**All staff members are USAG Safety Certified**

Gene Leone                Director of Recreational Gymnastics & Competitive Team Coach

Gene is the co-owner and founder of WFG TriCounty Gymnastics and has over 20 years of coaching experience

Jessica Thigpen           Team Coach

Jessica has over Twenty years of experience in the sport of Gymnastics and brings her wealth of knowledge as a USAG Certified Level 1-10 Judge. Growing up in a gymnastics family herself Jessica understands understands perfectly the family oriented philosophy we have here at WFG.  Jessica recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in November and is also the mother to six year old Emma. She is thrilled to be involved with WFG and looks foward to an exciting new year.

Bertina Harris            Pre-Team Coach and Class Instructor

Ms. Bertina is entering her 3rd year with us. Coming to us from Chapel Hill, NC, Ms. Bertina has organized and coordinated numerous children's activity programs through her local area YMCA.  Her love and dedication to educating young children have made her a welcome member to our staff. 

                                                       ***UPDATE***

 In addition to her already busy schedule Ms. Bertina is currently studying to be a USAG certified judge.

Kathi  DeYoung         Class Instructor

With 4 children of her own that are students and members of our teams, it was only natural that Kathi join our staff. She was instrumental in kicking off our boys team two years ago and will be assisting with the boys team again this year. She will also be coaching pre-k through intermediate girls classes and assisting with our level 3 team program. This will be Kathi’s 5th year coaching with us

5223B Highway 96 Youngsville 27596  -  919-556-5445  - <a hre