About Us

Dance Instructors

A Charlotte area dance school faculty that is nationally renowned.

The dance faculty at Piedmont School of Music & Dance has extensive professional dance experience.  The faculty has performed for companies such as American Ballet Theatre, San Fransisco Ballet, The Juilliard School and the Stars of New York City Ballet. In addition to their performance experience, PSMD’s instructors have a wealth of experience in teaching throughout the nation in association with institutions such as American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Charlotte Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Wake Forest University, and other privately owned dance studios.

"…has been dancing since she was 2, but she has never, ever, ever been in a school with the caliber of teachers and dancers than is at your studio."

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Rebecca Massey Wiley

Founder & Director
In 1992, Mrs. Massey Wiley became a full time company member of American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY. While in New York, she also appeared with The Stars of New York City Ballet.
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Rebecca Massey Wiley

Rebecca Wiley, Founder and Director of Piedmont School of Music & Dance, received her training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, N.C., School of American Ballet in New York, N.Y. and the Hungarian National Ballet Academy, Budapest, Hungary. In 1992, Ms. Wiley became a full time company member of the American Ballet Theatre, New York, N.Y. During her eight years with the company, she performed throughout the world and was frequently featured as a soloist performer. While in New York, Rebecca also appeared with The Stars of New York City Ballet.

Ms. Wiley has served as a Master Teacher for Wake Forest University, Charlotte Ballet, American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and has served on faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition to her role as Director of PSMD, Ms. Wiley also serves as the Founder and Director of Piedmont Dance Theatre (PDT), offering her students many production opportunities.

During Ms. Wiley’s 16-year career as Director of PDT, she has established a strong community following, and the company’s annual Nutcracker production has become a holiday favorite. In addition to The Nutcracker, she has created and directed multiple full-length ballets including Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, A Pirates Tale and Peter and the Wolf. Through grants and community partnerships Rebecca has provided the citizens of her community an opportunity to see a ballet each summer free of charge and ensures all Kannapolis City School third graders can attend the Nutcracker free of charge.

Under Rebecca’s leadership, the students of PSMD have achieved great success and joy through dance. Whether her students have gone onto professional dance careers, attended college for dance or simply enjoyed dancing for the sake of dancing, Ms. Wiley celebrates and honors each young man and woman she teaches for their job well done.

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Briana Beamon

Performing Company Director
From Charlotte, NC where she began dancing at the age of three. After training at Piedmont School of Music & Dance, Ms Beamon continued training in college at Princeton University and UNC Charlotte.
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Briana Beamon

Briana Rivers was born and raised in Charlotte, N.C. where she began dancing at the age of three. After joining the competition team at Dance Productions, Briana cultivated her talent in various styles of dance, including jazz, tap, and contemporary. She then furthered her training under the tutelage of Rebecca Wiley at the Piedmont School of Music & Dance and Piedmont Dance Theatre, where she was a teacher, choreographer and featured soloist. Mrs. Rivers continued her dance training during her college years at Princeton University and UNC Charlotte. At Princeton, Briana was chosen to perform for the Princeton University Department of Dance, was a member of the Bodyhype Dance Company, serving as both a dancer and choreographer, and choreographed “Ragtime, The Musical”, for which she earned a “Prince-Tony” award. At the University of NC at Charlotte, Briana studied under and performed the works of esteemed faculty members E.E. Balcos, Gretchen Alterowitz, and Kim Jones. Since 2010, Briana has served as a teacher and choreographer throughout the Charlotte-Metro area, winning numerous awards at regional and national competitions along the East Coast. In 2014, Briana assumed the role of Performing Company Director at the Piedmont School of Music and Dance, where she has continued to foster her passion for teaching and choreographing. She has been recognized many times for her award-winning choreography in tap, jazz, and contemporary. Briana loves nothing more than to share her passion with her students, helping them cultivate a love for dance that will last a lifetime.

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Daniel Wiley

Master Teacher
While attending The Juilliard School, Mr. Wiley worked with world famous contemporary choreographers, such as Hans van Manen, Lar Lubovitch, Jirí Kylián, and Paul Taylor. Upon graduation, Mr. Wiley joined the Charlotte Ballet
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Daniel Wiley

Daniel Wiley began his dance training at the Florida Ballet Training Center. At the age of 14, he continued his training at the esteemed HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, F.L. While attending HARID, Daniel performed lead roles in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Raymonda, Flower Festival and Paquita. In addition to his experience at HARID, Mr. Wiley furthered his studies on scholarship at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet. Upon graduation from HARID, Mr. Wiley began his studies in New York, N.Y. at the prestigious The Juilliard School, under the direction of the late Benjamin Harkarvy. While attending The Juilliard School, Mr. Wiley worked with world famous contemporary choreographers, such as Hans van Manen, Lar Lubovitch, Jirí Kylián, Paul Taylor and Igal Perry. Daniel spent his final year at Juilliard under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, receiving his BFA in May of 2003. Upon graduation, Mr. Wiley joined the Charlotte Ballet where he served as principal artist for three seasons (2003-2006). While at Charlotte Ballet, Mr. Wiley performed works by George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King, Nicolo Fonte, Uri Sands, Mark Godden, and Dwight Rhoden among others. In 2004, The Charlotte Observer named Mr. Wiley “Artist to Watch,” and in 2005 he was honored with the “Best Male Dancer” award in Charlotte Magazine’s “Best of the Best” edition. Mr. Wiley strives for excellence, in and out of the studio, and serves as an ideal role model for the students and faculty of Piedmont School of Music & Dance.

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Catherine Drago

Catherine grew up dancing since the age of four. She began her college education at SUNY Purchase, ultimately graduating from The University of the Arts with a degree in Dance and a concentration in Jazz/Theatre Studies.
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Catherine Drago

Catherine grew up dancing since the age of four. She began her college education at SUNY Purchase, ultimately graduating from The University of the Arts with a degree in Dance and a concentration in Jazz/Theatre Studies. After school, Catherine performed with Royal Caribbean in a number of shows aboard their cruise ships. Choosing to focus on teaching and choreography next, Catherine has been training children for the last 18 years, both competitively and recreationally. Her choreography has won awards in some of the most prestigious national competitions. In 2017, Nicole was the coach and in house choreographer for the Montclair University collegiate dance team.
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Tabitha Baker

Tabitha Baker is a student at UNC Charlotte pursuing a degree in Dance with a concentration in Education, as well as a minor in Theatre. She has been dancing for 16 years, training in ballet, pointe, modern, tap, jazz, musical theatre, and hip hop
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Tabitha Baker

Tabitha Baker is a student at UNC Charlotte pursuing a degree in Dance with a concentration in Education, as well as a minor in Theatre. She has been dancing for 16 years, training in ballet, pointe, modern, tap, jazz, musical theatre, and hip hop. In her youth, she accompanied her training with masterclasses at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway and Peridance. She also attended summer intensives at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She began assisting and teaching at 14 years old and plans to be a dance educator for the rest of her life. While at UNC Charlotte, Tabitha has had the privilege of performing at the North Carolina Museum of Art under the direction of Associate Professor Delia Neil. Accompanying her training at UNCC, she has attended winter and summer intensives at the Graham School and trained with Movement Migration. She has also furthered her education by teaching as an intern with Barre Belle, a non-profit organization in Charlotte that brings ballet to underprivileged youth. She hopes to bring her experience and education to Piedmont School of Music and Dance in order to inspire students and share her love of the arts.
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Katarina M. Dimitrijevic

Katarina M. Dimitrijevic, a graduate of The State Ballet Academy of Belgrade, Serbia, performed with with The Simionov Ensemble and began her teaching career at various ballet academies throughout Belgrade.
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Katarina M. Dimitrijevic

Katarina M. Dimitrijevic, a graduate of The State Ballet Academy of Belgrade, Serbia, performed with with The Simionov Ensemble and began her teaching career at various ballet academies throughout Belgrade. Mrs. Dimitrijevic then spent several years instructing, choreographing, and performing throughout Italy. While in Italy, Katerina furthered her training by attending a two year course in Ballet Pedagogy at the University of High Culture and Arts in Rome, Italy. Following her training she served as the assistant to Professor Ivan Goliandin in the Character Dance department offering classes in character and ballet technique. In May of 2003, Katerina moved to the United States, and served on the ballet faculty at Fort Wayne Ballet Academy. She and her family currently reside in Charlotte, NC, where she is presently employed with the Charlotte Ballet Academy.
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Tess Grosvenor

Raised in upstate NY, Tess began her training at age 3 and continued as a competitive Tap, Jazz, and Contemporary dancer through high school. She went on to attend Fredonia University and received a BFA in Dance.
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Tess Grosvenor

Born and raised in upstate NY, Tess began her training at 3 years old and continued as a competitive Tap, Jazz, and Contemporary dancer until graduating high school. She went on to attend Fredonia University in Buffalo, NY where she trained in a tri-focus dance program studying Jazz, Modern, and Ballet equally and graduated in 2017 with a BFA in Dance and a BS in Public Relations. Tess worked and trained with renowned dance professionals such as former associate director of Giordano Dance Chicago- Jon Lehrer, Garth Fagan (Garth Fagan Dance), and the Paul Taylor 2 Dance Company. Her performance and choreography experience includes a wide range of concert and commercial style credits including: Fredonia Dance Ensemble, the SUNY Fredonia Dance Team, Orchesis Dance Company, Dance Days of Buffalo, and the American College Dance Association Conference. In addition to performance and choreography, Tess has several years of experience in dance education. She served as the senior competition choreographer at Eclectic Dance Company (Fredonia, NY) from 2014 to 2017 and has been on faculty at Ruckus Dance Alliance and The Floor Dance Company (Rochester, NY).

Allie Schultz

From Concord, NC, Allie trained at Piedmont for twelve years. She is currently continuing her education at UNCC, where she is double majoring in Dance Education and Psychology, and dancing alongside the Charlotte Ballet.
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Allie Schultz

Allie was born in Concord, NC, and danced with Piedmont School of Music & Dance under the guidance of Rebecca Massey Wiley, Daniel Wiley, Briana Rivers, and all the other wonderful past and present faculty for twelve years. She has performed soloist and principal roles in The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, and Cinderella, and taken part in performing company since the program was initiated in 2010. She is currently attending the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to continue to pursue her love of teaching and performing dance. At the end of her time at UNCC, she will have a K-12 Dance Education licensure in North Carolina, and a degree in Dance Education and Psychology. She is also part of a highly selective and intensive program that partners with the Charlotte Ballet, where she will receive a Professional Training Certificate in Dance at the end of her first two years. Allie has three years of assistant teaching experience at Piedmont, and founded, led and choreographed for her Church’s Dance Team, Revival, for four years. She also created and led an elementary aged dance class for beginners at the Cabarrus County Boys and Girls Club during her sophomore year of high school. Allie is thankful for the opportunity to work with the incredible students at Piedmont School of Music & Dance and share her love of the art form!
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Tara Ward

As a professional dancer she has performed both soloist and principal roles in many classical ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker as well as George Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments,” “Serenade,” and “Rubies.”
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Tara Ward

Tara Ward began her classical training at Ballet Arizona under the tutelage of Kee Juan Han, Nadia Zubkov, and Sibylle Acatos-Dady for six years before becoming a trainee at Ballet Austin. She augmented her training with summer programs at Boston Ballet, The Rock School and Ballet Austin. After one year with Ballet Austin, Tara joined City Ballet of San Diego where she performed for seven years. She has performed both soloist and principal roles in many classical ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker as well as George Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments,” “Serenade,” and “Rubies.” Tara has more than nine years of teaching and choreographing experience, and immensely enjoys watching her students grow as both dancers and as people.
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Nicole Buonocore

Nicole grew up dancing since the age of four. She began her college education at SUNY Purchase, ultimately graduating from The University of the Arts with a degree in Dance and a concentration in Jazz/Theatre Studies.
Read More about Nicole

Nicole Buonocore

Nicole grew up dancing since the age of four. She began her college education at SUNY Purchase, ultimately graduating from The University of the Arts with a degree in Dance and a concentration in Jazz/Theatre Studies. After school, Nicole performed with Royal Caribbean in a number of shows aboard their cruise ships. Choosing to focus on teaching and choreography next, Nicole has been training children for the last 18 years, both competitively and recreationally. Her choreography has won awards in some of the most prestigious national competitions. In 2017, Nicole was the coach and in house choreographer for the Montclair University collegiate dance team.

Chloe Gosline

Chloe Gosline was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. She studied Ballet, Tap, and Modern at the North Carolina Dance Institute and is a current Dance Education major at UNC Charlotte.
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Chloe Gosline

Chloe Gosline was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. She studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and Contemporary at the North Carolina Dance Institute, Enloe High School, and Broadway Dance Center. In the Summer of 2021, Chloe became a junior instructor for the American Dance Training Camp where she taught classes and choreographed as she traveled on throughout the east coast. Chloe is currently a freshman at UNCC as a dance education major.

Ashlyn Keller-Silver

Ashlyn Keller-Silver has been teaching for over 30 years. She received her BFA in Dance from UNC Greensboro, holds a k-12 certification, and a Masters in pedagogy from Wayne State University.
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Ashlyn Keller-Silver

Ashlyn Keller-Silver received her BFA in Dance from UNC Greensboro, holds a k-12 certification, and a Masters in pedagogy from Wayne State University. During a teaching career which has spanned over 30 years, Ashlyn has served on the faculty at the School of The Charlotte Ballet, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Arts In Action (National Dance Institute affiliate), Piedmont Players, and in the schools systems of Cabarrus, Durham, Kannapolis City, CMS, and Chapel- Hill Carrboro Schools, as well as previously at PSMD. Ashlyn currently teaches at Arts Academy of Jesse C. Carson High School. We are grateful to bring her back into the studio with us.
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Karmen Tall

Began dancing at age 5 and has been teaching for over 25 years. She received a B.S. from the Ohio State University and her teaching certification through Dance Educators of America (DEA) in New York City.
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Karmen Tall

Karmen began dancing at age 5 and has been teaching for over 25 years. She received a B.S. from the Ohio State University and her teaching certification through Dance Educators of America (DEA) in New York City. She has taught children and adults of all ages in Ballet, Tap and Jazz and enjoys sharing her love of music and dance with her students.
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Emily Wiley

During her 10 year career as a performer with Houston Ballet, she was featured in many works by world renowned choreographers including: George Balanchine, Sir Kenneth McMillan, Anthony Tudor, William Forsythe, Stanton Welch, Wayne McGregor, Jiri Kylian and Nacho Duato.
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Emily Bowen

Emily Wiley was born and raised in Harrisburg, PA. She received her dance training at Cumberland Dance Company in PA, the School of North Carolina Dance Theater (now Charlotte Ballet) and Houston Ballet Academy. While in Houston Ballet II, Emily competed in the prestigious Prix De Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland. During her 10 year career as a performer with Houston Ballet, she was featured in many works by world renowned choreographers including: George Balanchine, Sir Kenneth McMillan, Anthony Tudor, William Forsythe, Stanton Welch, Wayne McGregor, Jiri Kylian and Nacho Duato. In 2013, she was one of the featured dancers in Jordan Matter’s print work Dancers Among Us photographed in New York City. After retiring from the stage in July 2016, Emily is excited to begin this new chapter in her ballet journey.
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Morgan Wilson

Morgan Wilson is originally from Salisbury, North Carolina. Morgan received her training at Piedmont School of Music & Dance. Ms. Wilson went on to receive her BFA from The Boston Conservatory in dance performance.
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Morgan Wilson

Morgan Wilson is originally from Salisbury, North Carolina where her love for dance was fostered at an young age. Morgan received her training at Piedmont School of Music & Dance. Ms. Wilson went on to receive her BFA from The Boston Conservatory in dance performance. Morgan has been on faculty for three-years at PSMD and teaches ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap.

2 Locations Near You

Charlotte-Dance-Studio-NC

Charlotte Studio

Piedmont School of Music & Dance
3220 Prosperity Church Rd #103
Charlotte, NC 28269
Phone: (704) 971-2011

Concord Dance School NC

Concord/Kannapolis Studio

Piedmont School of Music & Dance
1605 Old Earnhardt Rd
Kannapolis, NC 28083
Phone: (704) 932-8888