Jennifer Lawrence, PhD.  

As the owner and artistic director of Artistry House, Jennifer has 25 years of experience teaching dance and fitness, including Ballet, Pointe, Pre-Pointe, Jazz, Leap 'N Learn, Conditioning, Phusia, and Stretch & Strengthen. She began her training at Annabel Timms School of Ballet in Bridgeport, WV where she studied ballet, pointe, and jazz under Annabel Timms, Marcy Mossburg, and Cindy Timms-Pulice. Jennifer has served as faculty at Annabel Timms School of Ballet, Morgantown Dance Studio, and The Ballet Studio Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana, which is owned and operated by Beverly Spell creator of the nationally renowned Leap 'N Learn early childhood program. During the 2009-2010 dance season, Jennifer founded the Morgantown Youth Ballet Company, a junior division of the Morgantown Ballet Company, and served as artistic director of both companies from September 2010 through June 2013. She has also directed and choreographed productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Butterfly Lovers. Jennifer has training in Pilates Mat and holds certifications in Progressing Ballet Technique, Acrobatic Arts, and Leap 'N Learn. She is also a certified Fascial Stretch and Stretch Life Practitioner.

Jennifer also holds a PhD in French Language and Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, where she worked as a graduate teaching fellow during her coursework. She taught as adjunct faculty at West Virginia University and served simultaneously as coordinator of the graduate teaching assistants and adjunct faculty in French and the director of the beginning and intermediate French language program. She currently serves as adjunct faculty for Southern New Hampshire University's College of Online and Continuing Education.

Olivia (Allen) Thompson, OTD, OTR/L

Olivia Allen holds a Bachelor of fine Arts degree in dance from the Florida State University, as well as a doctorate of occupational therapy from West Virginia University. A native of Morgantown, West, Virginia, Olivia has performed original works by Rick Mcollough, Jennifer lawrence, Andre Zachary, Anthony Morgan, Robert Steele, Keisha Lalama, Josephine Giribaldi, Pearl Ubungen, Lauren Slone, Cecil Slaughter, Sharone Price, Peter Mertz and Valerie Bailey at the Florida State University Dance department, the Morgantown Dance Studio, Artistry House and the American Dance Festival. Olivia has attended numerous dance intensives and summer programs throughout her training, including Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey Ballet New York, Studio Harmonique (Paris, France), and the American Dance Festival. Olivia joined and performed with the Tinkered Dance collective for the 2019-2020 season. Olivia has been certified in Balanced Body Pilates Mat since 2017 and teaches locally as well as teaching beginning to advanced level dance at Artistry House since 2021. Olivia is currently working as a licensed occupational therapist in the Morgantown area. Creatively and professionally, olivia is most excited to investigate the integration of occupational therapy and somatic practices such as Pilates and dance for the purpose of enriching the lives of everyone she meets. 

Sevanna Kisko

Sevanna Kisko holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and an English minor from West Virginia University. She took her first ballet class at five years old and the next year, she began taking classes at Kat and Company Dance Studio, where she studied ballet, jazz, modern, and hip-hop. In 2017, she began taking classes at Artistry House, where she continued to dance until graduating, learning new styles like tap, pointe, and musical theatre. In the fall of 2020, Sevanna joined the Artistry House faculty and WVU’s dance program. Sevanna performed in student-choreographed pieces as a part of WVU’s yearly productions of Celebration of Dance and Spring Showcase and also performed in productions of Dance Now! Choreographed by faculty and guest choreographers. In 2023, she danced in the choreography project Audacious Women, which was sponsored by the WVU Honors Excel program. She choreographed five pieces for WVU’s dance showcases, of which two were selected for the program’s mainstage productions and one was selected to perform at the American College Dance Association’s Mid-Atlantic South Conference to represent WVU. Post-graduation, Sevanna has choreographed for the WVU Theater production of Phoebe in Winter and for West Virginia Theater Company’s King of Mars. Sevanna’s love of dance has only grown throughout her life, for the way it helps people connect, communicate, create, and express themselves. If not for the enthusiastic and passionate teachers that guided Sevanna through her education of dance, her love of dance would likely not be where it is today, and she hopes to instill that same joy and passion for dance in her students, while pushing them to be the best versions of themselves in each class.

Maureen Mansfield Kaddar

Coming soon!

Zoe Pagliaro

After relentlessly tumbling around the house as a kid, Zoe started gymnastics, and a few years later, entered the dance world through taking acro classes. She trained as a company member at The Talent Factory RI in ballet, pointe, tap, acro, contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop, and participated in numerous dance competitions and conventions. Her favorite experiences were taking tap classes with Chloe Arnold and winning Senior Best Nu Group at the 2016 NUVO dance competition in Boston. Zoe continued to take dance classes at Skidmore College, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2020. She moved to Morgantown in 2021 to pursue her master’s in biology, where she found her home teaching at the Artistry House. Since then, she has taught dance to individuals from 3 to 91 years old, and believes that dance is a fun and engaging way to meet diverse needs across the lifespan. She strives to create a fun and positive atmosphere for all her dancers and teaches by being her students’ biggest cheerleader. Zoe holds certifications in Acrobatic Arts and group fitness instruction from AFAA, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in occupational therapy from WVU to combine her passions for movement and helping others.

Katie Thompson

Katie Thompson began dancing at the age of 3 and received most of her early training in ballet and tap from the Dancer's Studio and Warwick Ballet Company in Warwick, NY. She also trained in Irish Step dancing with championship dancer Kerry Gleason at KerryDanceNY for about seven years. After leaving WBT she danced occasionally with two other studios through college and performed with Siena College's Irish Step dancing troupe "Reel Treble." Upon moving to Morgantown to pursue graduate degrees in history, she trained with Morgantown Dance and Morgantown Ballet Company from 2010 to 2017 in ballet, tap, modern, and contemporary. She taught ballet, tap, and Irish step dancing for MDS for four years. Katie joined Artistry House as a student in 2021 and began teaching here in 2024. She has danced in countless performances over the years, with a few favorite roles being Clara (The Nutcracker), Carabosse (Sleeping Beauty), Mouse King (The Nutcracker), Fritz (Jazz Nutcracker), and Jester (Cinderella). Katie holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in history and is currently a Curator of the Neal Museum at WVU.

Makayla Miller

Makayla Miller is from Bridgeport, West Virginia. Makayla is currently a senior at West Virginia University studying Dance. She was a student at a studio in Clarksburg, WV where she studied ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, tap, tumbling/acro, and ballroom. Makayla attended the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Summer Intensive in 2019, and was accepted into the year-round trainee program. She also attended the Brenau Summer Intensive in 2019 as well as Urbanity Dance and Project 31’s summer intensives in 2021. She has received training across the country and has also been recognized for her choreography. Her pieces have been chosen for WVU’s Dance Now! and selected to attend ACDA. She loves to teach and is excited to share the love and joy of dance to her students!

Rachel Mehle

Rachel Mehle is a fifth-year student at West Virginia University, pursuing a double major in Dance and Multidisciplinary Studies. Originally from Broomfield, Colorado, she began dancing at the age of three and started choreographing at 17. Her background spans both competitive dance in her youth and concert dance throughout her college career. Rachel is trained in a wide range of styles, including ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, and ballroom. She has performed and choreographed extensively in WVU’s dance productions, with her most recent work, Shut Out, featured in Dance Now and was selected for presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Her choreography has incorporated the use of props and lifts, showcasing her versatility and creative approach. She has attended two American College Dance Association (ACDA) conferences, performing at one, and was inducted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts in 2024. Currently, Rachel serves as the 2025 Undergraduate Student Representative for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), further demonstrating her leadership and dedication to the field.

Cariann Missling

Cariann Missling is in her second year at WVU pursuing degrees in Dance and Business. She has been dancing since the age 5, perfecting the styles of ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, modern, acro, pom, and hip hop. She also was on her high school's dance team and got to perform at football, basketball games, and pep rallies. During the year she performs in WVU's yearly shows Celebration of Dance, Dance Now, and the Spring Showcase. She has gotten many opportunities to go and take classes at the American College Dance Association Mid Atlantic conference, master classes at WVU, and a contemporary class on her study abroad trip to Belgium. Her love for dance and teaching has only grown more since coming to college and is so excited for her first year at AH. She is ready to create a positive environment in her class where everyone is hyping each other up. Cariann is pumped to be your new hip hop teacher and wants everyone to feel confident, empowered, and passionate in her class!

Susan Kisko

Coming soon!