Our Instructors

Bekah Agee began dancing at age 3, training primarily in classical ballet. She has been part of the Huntington Dance Theatre community since she was born, as her mother and aunts (pictured here) were directors of the studio for many years. The majority of her childhood memories take place in the HDT studio surrounded by family and friends.

Bekah has performed multiple principal roles in The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, attended various summer programs, taught ballet to students aged 3-adult, and was the Assistant Director of HDT for two years. She currently serves as the Board President and works in Student Support at Marshall University. Bekah credits HDT with shaping her into the person she is today and hopes to help provide a safe, fun, and welcoming studio environment for all students. 

Meredith is our American Ballet Theatre certified instructor as well as being certified in yoga instruction!

Meredith Cornell has been a dance teacher and director in the Huntington area for 20 years. Her training in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance began at the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet and later expanded to include summer study in New York City and in Las Vegas under the direction of Joanna Kneeland.

She has danced principal roles in Coppelia, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty in addition to performances in The Firebird, A Chorus Line, and other productions.  Her teacher training includes the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet and the American Academy of Ballet in New York City under the direction of Mignon Furman. Meredith is an ABT® Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She has also worked for Marshall University as an English professor and in Outreach.

Heather teaches ballet and contemporary at Huntington Dance Theatre!

Heather Looney holds an MFA in dance from the University of MD and a BFA in dance from Brenau University (GA). She works as an independent choreographer, teacher and dancer. Following receipt of her MFA, she took a position as the artistic director and ballet mistress for The Dance Theatre of Fairbanks (AK) creating full length ballets for the modern era and recreations of classical ballets. While living in NYC for 4 years, she was privileged to work with The Mark Morris Dance Group, The Merce Cunningham Studio, Ballet Academy East and many others who influenced her teaching and choreographic styles. 

Nicole choreographs for Huntington Dance Theatre!

Since the age of 4 dancing has been a passion of Nicole’s. Under the direction of Christina Daniels with The American Dance Conservatory she’s trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, and ballroom dancing.

Dancing has allowed her to travel and come in contact with several influential dance instructors such as Brian Friedman from, “So you think you can dance,” and Melissa Bowman with American Ballet Theatre, to name a few. Dancing has enabled her to travel to all parts of the United States and overseas. Starting at age twelve she attended several summer programs with professional dance companies such as Boston Ballet, and American Ballet Theater in New York City.

She attended Nutmeg Dance Conservatory and Broadway Dance Centers International Dance Festival in Italy. During her school years she attended several regional and national competitions with Dance Masters of America in Las Vegas and New York City. She placed top 10 at the ballet competition, Youth American Grand Prix where she was invited to perform at City Center in New York City.  More recently you can find Nicole teaching and choreographing at our studio, spreading her knowledge and skills to anyone interested in the dance world. 

Robert began his ballet training at Greensboro Ballet in Greensboro, NC at the age of ten. He continued to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts under numerous teachers including Gyula Pandi, Melissa Hayden and Duncan Noble. During the summers away from NCSA, Mr. Royce attended summer intensives at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet and School of American Ballet. At the age of sixteen Robert moved to New York to study under Richard Rapp and Stanley Williams at School of American Ballet.

He danced professionally for Cincinnati Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Alabama Ballet, Ballet Theater of Maryland and BalletFleming. During his career, Robert has performed principal and soloist roles in Nutcracker, Serenade, Dracula, Spring Waters Pas de Deux, Tommy, as well as many others.

Mr. Royce has served as ballet master and staff instructor for Alabama Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and BalletFleming. He was also ballet master and staff instructor at Burklyn Ballet Theatre’s summer intensives for over ten years, where he choreographed several ballets, including collaborating with Artistic Director Joanne Whitehill to create story ballets for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. With Burklyn, he received the 2001 Viewer’s Choice Award for his Cinderella at Fringe Festival and a four-star review for The Little Mermaid in 2011. He joined New York State Ballet from 2017-2020, where he choreographed many works for the company, including Carmina Burana, Dracula, The Marriage of Figaro, Gershwin & Gatsby, Three Tales of the Big Bad Wolf, and Dancing with Duke Ellington.

He has been training and coaching professional and student dancers for over 20 year and is proud to have students who have danced for Suzanne Ferrell Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet. He now resides with his wife in Charleston, WV and continues to teach and create new works.

Molly teaches ballet at all levels for Huntington Dance Theatre and is our resident backstage photographer!

Molly Simpson has been dancing at HDT since she was a child, participating in the preprofessional program and many Nutcrackers, Spring Concerts, and dance intensives over the years. She began teaching for HDT in 2014 and has years of experience both in the dance classroom and her own classroom as a teacher for Wayne County Schools. 

You will often see Miss Molly with her students or with a camera in hand, capturing the best dance memories at all of our shows! 

Sara is our musical theater, jazz, and tap instructor at Huntington Dance Theatre!

Sara Campbell-Stacy has been dancing since she was three years old, participated in several competitions, and studied under the direction of Meredith Cornell and Beth Carlton. In high school she played in Grease (Patti Simcox), Leap of Faith, Brigadoon for A.R.T.S., and Legally Blonde (Paulette). She has choreographed many musicals at Huntington High School under the director of Helen Freeman. She is also a Nationally Board Certified teacher!

She loves teaching students about the art of dance and how to express themselves. She hopes to give her students confidence in themselves and encourage them to always have fun!

Erin teaches all levels of our American Ballet Theatre certified ballet classes as well as modern dance for Huntington Dance Theatre!

Erin Stephens is from Williamstown, WV.  She began her dance education in West Virginia at the age of 3.  She trained in high school at Pittsburgh Youth Ballet in their High School Early Release Program.  She danced with ARC Dance Company, Paradosi Ballet Company, and as a trainee with Ballet Magnificat and Richmond Ballet.

Erin has performed in Serenade, Who Cares?, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Deliver us, Concerto Barocco, and Cinderella on professional stages. Erin Stephens is an ABT® Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.​​

Teaching philosophy: My goal as a teacher is to foster an environment that is enjoyable as well as disciplined.  Individually, to encourage the students to grow as artists, and use space well with a strong emphasis on alignment and musicality. ​

What else do you want your dancers to know?  I really want my students to enjoy dance first.  Grit counts.

Kay teaches jazz for Huntington Dance Theatre and manages the day-to-day running of our fabulous local business.

Kay Stevens is from Huntington, WV and has her Master of Arts in Education from Marshall University. She has trained in jazz since grade school and danced with Mirror Image Dance Studio for many years on their competitive dance, kickline, and twirling teams. In college, she began her ballet training with Huntington Dance Theatre under the instruction of Molly Daniel, Maria Loudermilk, and Robert Royce. She was a member of the Marching Thunder’s color guard in college and has coached color guard teams at Huntington High, Cabell Midland, Green, and Chesapeake High Schools. 

She is blessed with HDT as her dance family and enjoys teaching all ages and levels of dance. 

Jesse Tidquist started her dance training at the age of 4 and her love of ballet ultimately led her to The Charleston Ballet in Charleston, WV. She joined Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2009, performing soloist roles. She continued her training in Philadelphia under Christopher Fleming and his company BalletFleming, performing in ballets such as Janis and Joe, Gaspar: A Pirate Fantasy, and Tapas.

She performed, taught, and staged ballets at Burklyn Ballet Theatre every summer from 2010-2019. While there, she performed many principal roles in classical ballets staged by Helen Starr (Louisville Ballet) and Arthur Leeth (Boston Ballet) as well as soloist roles in contemporary works choreographed by Sarah Tallman (Wonderbound) and Maria Konrad-Reach (freelance choreographer/ instructor, master teacher/judge for Youth America Grand Prix, Director of Nashville Ballet 2).

She danced with New York State Ballet from 2017-2020, performing as Mina in Dracula, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and soloist roles in ballets such as Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem, Gershwin & Gatsby, and Dancing with Duke Ellington. She has recently returned to Charleston to help continue furthering the arts in her community, coaching and teaching many gifted students.