Dechaune Roane is from the Logan section of North Philadelphia. Although not studio trained, he has over 24 years of experience in tumbling, martial arts, hip hop dance, and as a Choreographer/teacher. Martial arts has always been a big part of his life. He has earned black belts from Tiger Schulmann's and Kim's Karate. His passion for martial arts continued as he trained in Capoeria, Kung Fu, and Ninjutsu. Tumbling and gymnastics was a great compliment to his martial arts training. He participated with school gymnastics and private coaching for training.
Growing up in Philadelphia with such a rich hip hop culture made him a student of its history, fashion, art, and movement. Dechaune quickly began mixing his tumbling and martial arts background with hip hop movements. Touring around the city testing his skills and learning while joining b-boy crews, he self-trained in popping, locking, breaking, top rock, and house. He was known as a hip hop battle/freestyle dancer given the street name "Batman" competing through the Philadelphia area. The history of hip hop's beats and movements led him to African dance. He began stepping and doing African dance through the African-American greek fraternities, Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi.
Dechaune's teaching career started at Kennedy Dance Centre in 2002, teaching both hip hop and tumbling classes. During that time, he was a student at Lock Haven University studying Athletic Training and Fitness Management. He taught at Kennedy Dance Centre for two years before he co-founded Hot Styles Dance Company in 2004. Since starting HSDC his competitive teams have placed 2nd/3rd at the U.S. Finals in Virginia Beach, top 10 finishes at Starquest Nationals Virginia Beach, won solo Scholarship from Monsters of Hip Hop in Reston Virginia, competed in 3 Dance Summit All-Star World championships, competed in 6 Dance Worlds All-Star Championships, and opened for the United World Games in Austria. His experience with All-Star Dance led him to consulting hip hop technique with the Saskatchewan All-Star Dance Alliance in Regina and Saskatoon, Canada.
His passion for sport and team work are some of the founding principles of Hot Styles Dance Coampany, pushing the program to focus on the relationships built with the students, staff, and surrounding communities. Following this philosophy, Dechaune has had HSDC perform and fundraise for events such as Relay For Life, March of Dimes, Penn. State University’s THON, State College High School’s THON, clothing drives, and parades. Dechaune continues teaching his students teamwork, communication, sportsmanship, and that any goal is achievable if you work hard.
Chris Keefer is the esteemed owner and business managing partner of Hot Styles Dance Company, which he co-founded in2004. He currently resides in Altoona, PA with his wife, Jen, and their two children, & Tenley. In addition to his work with our staff, Chris is a full Account Manager for Link Computer Corporation in Bellwood, PA. He also a former collegiate football player at Lock Haven, where he earned a degree in sports management. Chris's expertise in sports and team management is a valuable asset to our program.
Jamie Beutel began dancing at the age of three taking ballet, tap and jazz classes with Angela Peters, Mill Hall, PA. In middle school, she found the Central Mountain Majorettes; with that program she not only learned how to twirl but also different styles of dance, stretching and conditioning throughout her seven years in the program. In college, Jamie took her love of art and focused it into graphic design, graduating with highest honors from South Hills School of Business & Technology.
Jamie has been a part of the Hot Styles family since 2013. She is the head coach and choreographer for the State College Jazz WolfPack teams. Apart from teaching, Jamie is in charge of advertising design, costuming and clothing for the company. Jamie is HeadsUp (concussion protocol) certified and USASF SafeSport certified. She has been to multiple USASF conferences and has certificates to teach Jazz and Hip Hop under their regulations.
Ann Van Kuren is a dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist based in State College, PA. Her creative work is focused on telling stories of people, places, and events through movement and dance, enmeshed in a sound environment. Recent themes and interests include the Jazz Age, femininity, time and water as valuable resources, and relating romantic-era literature, as well as folk tales and poetry, through contemporary movement, and exploring their powerful message to our lives and times. Her choreography explores contemporary modern dance composition that recreates for the audience, the experience of those stories in a meaningful way. To this end she has collaborated with traditional storyteller, Jan Kinney, from Altoona, and composers, actors, and writer-directors, including New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania based, Tempest Productions, on retelling the work of Edgar A. Poe.
Her work has been described in these ways:
“Van Kuren’s choreography was expressive, very musical and practically hypnotic.”
“These ideas and issues… are well articulated in Ann Van Kuren’s choreography.”
“Your presentations seamlessly combined technique, movement, and emotion.”
"... such a brave and beautiful piece. I remember seeing this live—so oving, it took me by surprise.”
Ann received a B.A. in Dance and Mathematics from Butler University and her master’s degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from Ohio State University. She was invited to perform in the
Festival Dance of the World in Pec, Hungary, Tanz Theatre Festival in Bonn, Germany, and Movement
Research Institute in New York City, and has danced professionally with New World Dance Theatre,
Fleet Street Contemporary Dance Company of Louisville, Pennsylvania Dance Theatre in State College, and her own company, VanDance Inc., founded in 2001. She has performed in the works of Bebe Miller, David Dorfman, JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Heidi Latsky, Bill Young, Claire Porter, Colin Connor, Cathy Young, Doug Varone, and many others. She is the recipient of a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and her work can be seen on the U.S.: WPSX-TV, ©1997 published video-recording Pennsylvania Dance Theatre. Ann serves as adjunct dance faculty at Penn State University and is a rostered artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. An ongoing project is
“Making Dance for Public Spaces,” about the uniqueness of place and architecture. In January 2019 she danced/collaborated in the Creative-in-Residence program at the National Building Museum in
Washington, D.C. Ann is also a certified Zena Rommett Floor-Barre© teacher. Visit her Facebook page,
Ann Van Kuren/VanDance Inc.
Rachel Turner is a preschool teacher at The Bennett Family Center and is working on a master’s degree in
special education.
Rachel started dancing when she was five years old at Kennedy Dance Center. While at Kennedy, she took
classes in ballet/pointe, acrobatics, contemporary, jazz technique, musical theatre and danced on the
competition team. In middle school Rachel took a two-year teaching assistant’s class and spent at least 6 years assisting with various styles.
Rachel enjoyed assisting with dance classes so much that she was inspired to pursue a career in teaching. After High School, Rachel attended Penn State University, where she earned a bachelors in Early Childhood and Adolescent Education (Pre-K-4 th grade) and a minor in Special Education.
When Rachel wasn’t perfecting her teaching skills, she took dance classes almost every semester at Penn State. She studied Bartenieff Fundamentals, took modern, jazz, 400 level ballet classes and a course on teaching dance in a school setting.
Recently she has become certified in Progressing Ballet Technique: an international and innovative program
for increasing strength, flexibility, posture and alignment. Rachel also became a certified barre fitness
instructor and has enjoyed taking zoom classes with professionals and experienced dancers from all over the
world. Rachel began teaching dance classes in 2010 and loves that she can combine two of her favorite things: teaching and dancing!
Katie Feliz has been tap dancing since the age of 4 when her parents enrolled her in dance to help with coordination and motor skills (She was born nearly 3 months early and weighed only 2lbs 12oz at birth). Little did they know tap dancing in particular would become a lifelong hobby and passion (and that she would overcome any and all of those early obstacles!) She has studied all of the major dance forms over the years - from two local studios in Quakertown, PA to several summer dance intensives (American Reperatory Ballet School - Princeton NJ; American Musical Theatre Dance Workshop - Hofstra University, NY; Pennsylvania Governor’s School of the Arts - Modern Dance Emphasis at Mercyhurst in Erie, PA). She traveled weekly throughout high school for private lessons with David Blight (Wilkesbarre, PA) where she gained her signature style as a hoofer. At Penn State University Katie continued with dance, briefly pursuing a minor; dancing with Tapestry; and began teaching for Joan Kennedy in 2003. Since then she has choreographed two musicals for Bald Eagle High School, participated in 11 recitals with Kennedy Dance Centre, taught an adaptive dance class for kids with special needs and even choreographed a wedding dance for some friends. Katie especially enjoys seeing teens and adults “return” to tap dancing and hopes to expand her work with students with special needs (sparked by the birth of her daughter, Emberly, who has Down Syndrome) in the future. She also has a Master’s degree in Intercultural Studies and lives with her family in Pleasant Gap.
Blake Little is attending Penn State University as a Bio Behavioral Health Major and am apart of the Penn State Dance Alliance, as well as the Nittany Dance Project. Blake began dancing at the age of three and started competing competitively at seven years old. She have been dancing for 16 years and trained in various styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, lyrical, musical theater, and pointe. She has also competed at the regional and national level and have top scoring solos, duo/trios, and group numbers around the nation. Blake was also apart of my high school’s nationally ranked dance team, the Rancocas Valley Dance Team. The Rancocas Valley Dance Team competes every year at local competitions and at NDA Nationals. In 2018 we were the National Champions in the High Kick Division. At NDA Camp, leading up to Nationals, I was nominated 2019 Top Gun Turner. She has also received various judges awards and scholarships throughout my dance career and was awarded the DMA Tap Scholarship, danced with the DTV program at Cathy Roe’s Ultimate Dance Nationals, and trained for a summer at Princeton Ballet.
Ava Seigworth has been dancing since the age of 4 at Kennedy Dance Centre. She has taken a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and hip-hop. At 14 she started competing for Kennedy and later Hot Styles in many styles of dance. Ava has helped out in the dance classroom with beginner classes since the age of 12 and now teaches her own classes. Ava has been able to travel to Europe with Hot Styles to perform at the United World Games, and has also traveled to Las Vegas and New York City with the company. She attends Penn State University and majors in Spanish and International Politics. She is also involved in Volé Dance Company at Penn State as a dancer and choreographer. She is excited to continue her dance journey and teach others at Hot Styles Dance Company and instill her love for dance in other people.
Kira Watson began dancing at the age of three, switching to competitive gymnastics during her elementary and middle school years. She did gymnastics for seven years and started dancing at Hot Styles at the age of 10, while also continuing to compete for Centre Elite Gymnastics. After 2 years of both, she decided to focus completely on her passion for dance. Kira joined the Wolfpack All-Star competition team at age 11, competing in hip hop, jazz, and lyrical. Performing has been one of her biggest passions since she started dancing with Hot Styles. She is also trained in acro, ballet, and tap. Throughout her dance career, Kira has traveled all across the country for competitions and master classes with Hot Styles, including Millenium in Las Vegas and Monsters Dance convention. Along with her team, she has won 5 bids to The Dance Worlds for senior hip hop, lyrical, and jazz, attending in 2019 and 2021. Kira performed at The United World Games in Austria and in multiple countries in Europe. Along with competing on the Wolfpack, Kira has been coaching dance and helping in other classes since she was 13. Kira is currently attending Penn State University. She is a part of Penn State’s first all-girl hip hop team, Whiplash, who performs at many events including THON. She plans to continue expanding her knowledge of all styles of dance, primarily focusing on hip hop. Hot Styles has been a huge part of Kira’s life and has contributed to her love of dance immensely, which she hopes to pay forward to many other dancers.
Emily Gagne is a graduate student at Penn State and has been dancing her whole life. She grew up training in several styles of dance, including tap, hip hop, contemporary, ballet, and jazz. She attended the University of Maine, where she minored in dance and choreographed for several student groups in the dance program. Her choreography has been represented at the American College Dance Association conference. Emily has also been a dance team choreographer for competition students at Relevé Dance Center in Maine for several years. During the pandemic, she independently ran a series of remote dance classes that raised money for charities supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. She is looking forward to this season at Hot Styles and is so excited to work with everyone!
Lizzy Lovrak grew up in Bellefonte, PA and started dancing at Kennedy Dance Centre when she was 3 years old. At age 5, she found her love for hip hop at Hot Styles and quickly joined the All-Star competitive team.
She then expanded to compete in Lyrical, Jazz, Contemporary and Tap as well. Lizzy competed and taught classes with Hot Styles until she graduated high school in 2023. Over the years Lizzy has competed 4 times at the All-Star world championships and traveled to both Europe and Las Vegas to dance.
Lizzy is currently attending Penn State University, studying Film Production and Art History. At Penn State, she is a part of Vole Dance Company and also serves on their Public Relations Committee.
Shyla Smith is from Northern Virginia, where she started dancing at age 12. She was trained in jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and ballet. She was also a part of her high-school dance team that focused on jazz and Pom dances. Shyla has competed for many years at regionals and nationals. She also has performed at places such as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Tysons Corner, every year performing the Nutcracker for children, teens, and adults. She has ballet background with being many lead roles in the Nutcracker including lead candy cane, lead Spanish, Arabian, and her senior year playing Clara. Now, Shyla is a senior at Penn State University, studying Communication Science and Disorders. Shyla is happy to continue her love for the dance world and is beyond excited to work with every student and grow the passion and love for dance.
Aneaus Smith began his journey in dance at the tender age of 4 at Patel Conservatory, where he started his formal training in ballet. His passion for dance continued to grow as he trained at Joni Marie Dance Studio in Tampa. In 2013, Aneaus moved to Dubai and then to Pennsylvania, where he began dancing at Hot Styles Dance Studio at age 8. His talent and dedication quickly earned him a spot on the All Star Team, allowing him to compete in various styles including Lyrical, Hip Hop, and Jazz.
Aneaus's love for Hip Hop blossomed, and in 2023, he won a prestigious scholarship to Millenium Dance Studio in Hollywood, CA. There, he had the privilege of learning from and dancing alongside celebrity choreographers from around the world. His professional dance career has seen him perform in shows across Centre County.
Aneaus is excited to continue sharing his love of Hip Hop with students at Hot Styles Dance Studio. In addition to his dance career, Aneaus is currently pursuing a major in Education and Public Policy at The Pennsylvania State University and is an active participant in the Air Force ROTC program.
Noa discovered her love for dance at Adrenaline Studio when she started hip-hop classes at 12. She quickly progressed into technical styles by age 13 and began sharing her passion by teaching classes and co-coaching at just 14 years old.
Her dance journey has taken her worldwide, performing at events like Culture Shock in Ottawa, Canada, and The United World Games across Europe, where she developed connections with Hot Styles.
Noa has achieved remarkable success in her dance career, earning 7 Globes from The Dance Worlds, including a first-place win.
Now a student at Penn State University, Noa is part of Penn State’s first all-girl hip-hop team, Whiplash, performing at events including THON. She is passionate about expanding her dance knowledge and is excited for the upcoming season at Hot Styles! Noa continues to inspire with her dedication to dance and looks forward to collaborating and growing with her fellow dancers and coaches!
My name is Kelsey Mathieson, and I'm an industry dancer from Virginia. Starting at a young age with gymnastics and studio-based dance, I quickly transitioned into competition cheer and dance at Infinity Allstars. After performing with them for over 6 years, I moved and joined Velocity Dance located in Vienna, Virginia, to which I stayed with them for another 5 years. Following Velocity, I cheered with my high school varsity cheer team all four years, being co-captain my sophomore year, and later captain for my junior and senior years. During this time as well, I not only danced with Adrenaline Allstars, but got recruited by Discovery Spotlight, a talent agency sect of Bloc NYC and Clear Talent Group. Through them, I've participated in multiple concept videos, performed multiple local gigs, traveled for modeling and small dance opportunities, and most importantly trained with many of the world's top-tier dancers. I have experience in multiple dance styles, particularly hip hop, am technically trained, proficient in acro/tricking, and most importantly, love working with people! My ultimate goal is to provide good training while ensuring the spark and love for dance remains strong.
Shyla Smith is from Northern Virginia, where she started dancing at age 12. She was trained in jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and ballet. She was also a part of her high-school dance team that focused on jazz and Pom dances. Shyla has competed for many years at regionals and nationals. She also has performed at places such as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Tysons Corner, every year performing the Nutcracker for children, teens, and adults. She has ballet background with being many lead roles in the Nutcracker including lead candy cane, lead Spanish, Arabian, and her senior year playing Clara. Now, Shyla is a senior at Penn State University, studying Communication Science and Disorders. Shyla is happy to continue her love for the dance world and is beyond excited to work with every student and grow the passion and love for dance.
