2022- 2023 Instructors

Molly Smith, Artistic Director

Molly Grace Smith is originally from the greater Philadelphia area and graduated from the University of the Arts in 2015.  She studied photography and has been working with various performing and visual arts organizations. From age three to eighteen, Smith studied a wide range of dance styles at hometown studio, Babylon School of Dance. These styles included classical ballet, jazz and tap along with contemporary modern and hip-hop.  While growing up, Molly had opportunities to work with companies like Alvin Ailey and the Radio City Rockettes during her summers and eventually found the university she attended through a dance intensive program. She taught at Halestone Dance Studio from 2016- 2022 and we are excited to have her back as our Artistic Director. Molly will be instructing our Company at Halestone and working with local schools with the Halestone Extension this year.

 

Stephanie Hodde, Creative Movement 

Stephanie Hodde has 20 years experience as an arts-based literacy educator working in Chicago, New Jersey and Lexington. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University at Illinois at Chicago, and currently teaches drama and literature at Virginia Military Institute.  Stephanie has danced with Halestone in the Adult Company since 2004, received VA Arts grants to create outdoor puppet spectacles at Boxerwood, and previously taught Creative Movement to pre-school and elementary dancers. She is very excited to work with new and returning “movers” in the studio this Fall!

 

Alexis Henk, Beginning Clogging/ Clogging Workshop

Alexis Henk has been studying dance for 14 years and is extremely passionate about the arts. She grew up dancing here at Halestone and was raised in Rockbridge County. She  is a senior this year at Rockbridge County High School. Alexis is excited to be teaching again this year and looking forward to working with our cloggers for both beginning clogging and clogging workshop!

 

 

Evelyn Warren, Pre Ballet, Ballet I, Ballet II, and Contemporary Ballet

Evelyn Warren and I am  from Huntsville, Alabama. She is a sophomore at Washington and Lee University, and has loved getting to live in Lexington for these past two years. Warren was a ballet dancer in the Huntsville Ballet Company for 6 years. ” I was fortunate to perform and dance alongside professional ballet dancers everyday. I’ve loved the transition to teaching ballet.” Evelyn teaches ballet classes for all ages at Halestone. “I focus on instilling classical ballet technique but through a fun, encouraging atmosphere. I hope every student can develop a love of dance and ballet.”

 

 

Paige Wind, Advanced Seminar in Modern  and Open Modern

I am 23 years old. I started dancing a little bit later in my life. I was one month shy of 15yrs old. I started at a studio much like Halestone. We were taught pretty much every basic dance style (including clogging). I moved studios my Senior year of highschool and was introduced to Scottsdale Community College through one of the instructors there. While at SCC, I really fell in love with modern dance. I love the complete body control that comes with modern. I also really appreciated how anatomically conscious we were there. We trained in many techniques, with the strongest being Cunningham, Bartenieff, and Limon. I performed with their pre-professional modern company for three years before graduating. After graduating from SCC, I was accepted to the University of Utah’s modern dance program. I ended up turning that down due to cost. I lived in Utah for about a year and a half before getting married and moving to Virginia.
 
 
 

Chloe Mahalek, Advanced Seminar in Modern, Creative Movement, Contemporary, Open Studio and Character with Chloe

Chloe is a native to the metropolitan D.C. area and currently resides in Lexington,Virginia. At the age of 12, Chloe first studied Character, Ballet, and Modern dance at Cuppets Dance studio in Vienna, Virginia. She also attended summer classes at BalletNova in Arlington, Virginia. Currently, Chloe has received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.A/B.F.A) in Dance with a minor in Psychology. Her background and interests include: contemporary dance, Gaga, Shen Wei, somatic practice, and improvisation. She found her love for contemporary dance at the ADFs Summer/Winter Intensives. While dance is one of Chloe’s many passions in life, she also has various backgrounds in photography, film, music, and art from her experience at Fairfax High School Arts Academy. She recently attended a workshop with Valetto Dance Company in Miami, Florida 2022, where she researched Gaga and Kundalini practices. Chloe has performed in many Hollins University Fall and Spring dance performances including three of her own works and her Honors Senior Thesis. As a conceptual activist, dance is Chloe’s tool for conjuring change. It has supported her in re-claiming agency as a female through creative, contemporary movements spaces that explore notions of: Femininity, tension, intimacy, raw emotions, and self-awareness.

 

Brittany Klinger, Open Hip Hop

Brittany Klinger comes to us by way of Kaneohe, Hawaii, and has been living in Lexington, VA, for the past year. Originally from Charleston, WV, Brittany has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She formally danced for 15 years at Regina’s Studio of Dance, later turned Lee’s Studio of Dance after Regina’s passing. Dance is a way of life for her. It has helped her navigate numerous life transitions and emotions, including grief and loss. During her time with Regina/Lee’s Studio of Dance she took numerous different dance classes ranging from ballet/pointe, tap, baton, lyrical, beginners modern, swing, salsa, musical theater, to hip-hop. Hip-hop became one of her favorites, as she loves the energy and freedom of movement within the style. Brittany danced on a hip-hop battle team for 3 years called 8 Nations. She danced competitively with hip-hop, musical theater, and lyrical for 4 years.Brittany took a break from formal dance in college and received her B.S. in Psychology from Marshall University and her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kansas. One of her goals is to marry the two and be able to provide moving through your emotions classes or workshops, as she deeply feels “movement is medicine for the soul”. She has always wanted to dive back into dance and share the gift of dance with others. Halestone has been a welcoming and inclusive place for Brittany to jump back in and she has enjoyed dancing with Adult Ensemble this past year. She is looking forward to teaching this coming year!

 

Kathleen Gale, Beginning Clogging

Raised in Rockbridge County, I’ve been studying dance at Halestone Dance Studio since I was 4. I moved to Salem, Virginia in upper elementary school. I assumed I would find another studio with Halestone’s essence, quality teaching and appreciation of the performing arts. After trying a few studios, I knew I needed to come back to Halestone. I’m currently a high school senior in an online program which allows me to commute to Lexington 2-3 times a week. This is my first year teaching and I’m excited to be in the studio more this year.

 

 

Lily Petsinger, Open Jazz

Lily Petsinger is from Pensacola, Florida. She is a rising junior at Washington and Lee University majoring in neuroscience with a minor in dance on a pre-medical track. She has been dancing since she was three and has trained in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. Lily is very excited to teach jazz and to become a part of the community at Halestone!! 

 

 

Christina Peters, Ballet Barre & Pointe

Christina has been dancing for over 30 years and it is her passion.  When she was younger, she performed as a company member in both the Southwest Virginia Ballet Company and Roanoke Ballet Theatre Company.  After high school, she continued her dance education at Radford University. Christina has taught various levels of ballet at Roanoke Ballet Theatre and taught Advanced Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Modern and Contemporary at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy for their competition teams.  She was a dancer and choreographer for City Modern Ensemble for 10 years and served as their Assistant Director.  In the past, she has volunteered with Mental Health In Motion (a non-profit organization that uses dance to increase awareness and compassion for Mental Health conditions).  Christina had also taught Advanced Ballet and Pointe for Halestone in 2018 – 2019.  She is very excited to return to teach at Halestone this year.