FACULTY

Pepe Smith, Instructor, is a graduate Columbia College with a B.F.A. in Dance with an emphasis in performance and choreography. She has a unique style of her own that combines technical skill, creativity, and high energy. Pepe has a personality just like her name and has a wonderful rapport with students of all ages. Pepe has studied various styles of dance including jazz, modern, ballet and tap. She has studied under renowned teachers such as Nancy Giles of Southern Strutt, Shapiro and Smith Modern Dance Company, The Urban Bush Women Modern Dance Company, and Sheila Barker from Broadway Dance Center in New York. She has performed all over the world as a featured dancer in such shows as the Sushi Las Vegas Show in Guatemala and the 1996 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. She was an original Growl Girl and choreographer for the team for two years and currently choreographs for the Anderson University Dance Team.

Gwen Davis, Instructor, Gwen is a graduate of the University of South Carolina - Upstate with a BS in Mathematics & Computer Science.  She has been involved in various aspects of dance for over 30 years and now focuses her efforts on clogging through her direction of the Clogging Program at the Centre as well as the Southern Junction and Power Kixx competition clogging teams.  Southern Junction, founded in 1995, began as a group of cloggers excited to share their love for this dynamic art form.  The group began competing and performing all over the Carolinas participating in events such as Music on the Mountain, Fall for Greenville, NC United Arts Council, Miss SC Preliminary pageants, Michelin's 100th Anniversary Celebration, and the Children's Miracle Network Telethon.  Southern Junction began competing in the ACHF (America's Clogging Hall of Fame) and NCHC (National Clogging and Hoedown Council) and by 1996 had won their first National Title.  Over 10 years later, and the team has amassed well into the thousands of awards and titles including medaling in both the 2003 and 2005 AAU Junior Olympics.  Gwen was named to the ACHF All American Team, ACHF Team of the Millennium, NCHC All Stars Team, and the South Carolina Clogging Council's Palmetto Finest Team.  Also, Gwen represented clogging as a Miss American Clogger Queen in 1996 and again in 2000.  Gwen says, "Clogging allows me to make a difference and be a positive role model.  I am very excited to be able to do what I do!"

Michelle Bayes, Instructor, Michelle began dancing at the age of four in Pittsburgh, P.A. studying various types of dance along the east and west coasts.  She began competing at the age of 8 and has won numerous first place awards in group and solo routines as well has won the overall soloist award 7 times at various Dance Competitions.  She has trained under and has worked with many professional dance choreographers from all around the world.  She has also played familiar roles in production pieces such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.  In 1998 she began teaching basic and competition level dance classes with lyrical ballet as her specialty.  She has won a Choreographer award at both a Local and National Dance Competition.  In 2001 she was a dance member for the Carolina Arena Football team.  She has competed twice in the Miss South Carolina Pageant and was first runner up and the swimsuit preliminary winner in the 2003 Miss South Carolina Pageant.  Since then she continued making televised dance performances for the Miss South Carolina Pageant and has helped with choreography for the state and local pageants and contestants.  She was a public speaker for the Special Olympics and continues her volunteerism for the past 16 years.  She now resides in Easley with her husband, Mike and her little boy, Lance.

Kathryn Esposito, Instructor, Originally from New York, Kathryn received her extensive training from The Eglevsky School of Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Harkness Ballet School, The American Ballet Theater School, Ballet Arts Studio (Carnegie Hall), The Nubert Ballet (Carnegie Hall), The Hartford Ballet, and The Orlando Ballet.  Kathryn credits her many wonderful teachers for her in-depth knowledge of ballet, along with the technical and anatomical aspects of training dancers the correct way. The passion she has for the art of dance, has led her to teach, choreograph, lecture, teach at college level as an adjunct professor, guest teach for summer workshops, and judge for dance competitions. Kathryn has danced for many years with such companies as, The Eglevsky Ballet, The Hartford Ballet, The Dance Repertory Company, The Orlando Ballet (N.Y.), and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Kathryn has in the past, owned and directed her own school as well as being the artistic director of The Central Ohio Dance Academy. Kathryn has taught all levels of ballet for many schools over the past 30 years, and most recently, The Columbus Youth Ballet (Ohio), and The Dance Company (Florida). She has trained students that have gone on to dance professionally, as well as being accepted into many of the prestigious ballet schools around the country, such as, The Kirov Academy, Julliard, Harrid Conservatory, School of American Ballet, The Long Beach Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, The Boston Ballet, and Jilliana. Kathryn was also invited to be a guest teacher and choreographer for The Eglevsky Ballet Summer Intensive ’99. Most recently, Kathryn re-staged and re-choreographed The Columbus Youth Ballet’s annual Nutcracker Ballet, 2005, and re-staged act two of Paquita for both CYB and The Dance Co.  Kathryn understands the hard work and dedication it takes to pursue the dreams young dancers have, and also those students who enjoy dance class as a recreational outlet. She is pleased to make South Carolina her home, and is happy to be able to provide quality dance education for the community.