Meet the Faculty
Robin Riner
Robin Riner is Professor of Anthropology and adjunct dance faculty at Marshall University. She has studied ballet, jazz, modern, West African, and hip hop dance styles for over 30 years in North Carolina, NYC, and Los Angeles and at venues including Jacob’s Pillow and the American Dance Festival. She has performed professionally across the country with companies such as the Washington Square Repertory Dance Company (NYC), GiBa in Motion (NYC), Kybele Dance Theater (LA), Bone and Fiddle Dance Collective (OH), and Jeslyn Dance Gallery (WV). She currently teaches dance at 4th Avenue Arts in Huntington, WV.
Sarah Wenstrom
Sarah Wenstrom is originally from Portsmouth, Ohio. She began her training at the age of 3 in Greenup, Kentucky and continued onto Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; where she received her BFA in Dance. Most recently, she became certified in the basic and beginning levels of the Giordano Technique. Sarah has trained at North Carolina School of the Arts, Perri Dance, Broadway Dance Center, and Steps on Broadway. Sarah recently retired after 12 years with the Radio City Rockettes in New York City. She performed in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, New York Spring Spectacular choreographed by Warren Carlyle, & New York Spectacular choreographed by Mia Michaels. She has also performed with the Rockettes on America’s Got Talent, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, The Today Show, Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Show, Christmas in Rockefeller Plaza, The Tony Awards, and the NBA All Star Game. She has performed with artist; Christina Aguilera, Flo Rida, and Pitbull. Prior to Radio City her other performances include Promises, Promises at Stages St Louis, Aida at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, dancing all over the world for Stiletto Entertainment onboard Holland America Line’s cruise ships, and at Cedar Point Amusement Park’s Centennial Theater. Sarah has taught for the Rockettes Summer Intensive and other Rockette education classes. She enjoys teaching masterclasses and workshops throughout the country, and looks forward to working with you!
Ashley Mott
Ms. Ashley Mott is a teaching artist, choreographer, and dancer currently based in Utah. Ms. Mott is a master teacher with over a decade of experience in university, college, secondary, private studio, and community education settings. She has been a guest with Bone & Fiddle Dance Collective and Shawnee State University. Ms. Mott also presents her own original work throughout the western United States. Her previous professional dance credits include Contemporary Dance Wyoming (Jackson, WY), Keshet Dance Company (Albuquerque, NM), and SultzDance (Jackson, WY), as well as pick-up work with My Turkey Sandwich, Sugar Space’s co.da, Wasatch Dance Collective, and Repertory Dance Theatre (SLC, UT). Ashley has taught many levels of modern and contemporary dance, improvisation, choreography, ballet, pointe, improvisation, jazz, and theory courses at Westminster College, Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College, and numerous high school and community dance programs. She spent a decade as director and production manager for Park City Dance Company. She also works as a guest master teacher and adjudicator
throughout the Salt Lake valley, and as a primary guest teacher for Performing Dance Center. Ashley has significant experience as an artistic director, production manager, stage manager, designer, and administrator. She holds an MFA in Dance, Creative Process degree (with Somatics, Phenomenological Theory, and Design emphasis) from Saint Mary's College of California, and a Master’s degree in Education and a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah.
Heather Looney
Heather Looney holds an MFA in dance from the University of MD and a BFA in dance from Brenau University (GA). She serves as the festival director for Dance WV and works as an independent choreographer, teacher and dancer. Following receipt of her MFA, she took a position as the artistic director and ballet mistress for The Dance Theatre of Fairbanks (AK) creating full length ballets for the modern era and recreations of classical ballets. While living in NYC, she was privileged to work with The Mark Morris Dance Group, The Merce Cunningham Studio, Ballet Academy East and many others who influenced her teaching and choreographic styles.
Megan Payne
Megan is a freelance interdisciplinary dance artist, producer, and project manager. Her performance and film works have been presented at concerts, universities, and festivals nationwide, including the American Dance Festival Movies by Movers festival, NC Dance Festival Tour, and the Detroit Dance City Festival.
Since 2016 Megan has been the co-producer of ladyfest CLT, an interdisciplinary performance festival featuring the works of female and femme-identifying artists in Charlotte and beyond. She is also a contributing member of the Goodyear Arts Collective, an artist-led, nonprofit and events program in underused spaces. Megan currently teaches adult community classes at Open Door Studios
Megan received a BFA in Performance and Choreography from Ohio University and a MFA in Dance from Hollins University in partnership with the American Dance Festival
Stephanie Brumer
Stephanie Brumer, is a dance artist, educator, choreographer, performer and fitness model/instructor with over 25 years of experience teaching and performing. Stephanie was dance faculty at Xavier University for 5 years, and dance faculty at Northern Kentucky University School of the Arts for 15 years. She served as the Director of NKU SOTA Dance Troupe, Program Developer, Choreographer, Dance Techniques and Musical Theatre Instructor for NKU’s SOTA Prep program. Stephanie worked with The Theatre Training Institute in partnership with Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, teaching dance for the stage and somatic movement workshops. Her outreach efforts include performing original works in conjunction with multi-media art exhibits for Cincinnati Arts Museum’s “Art After Dark”; Christmas Celebration, Move-Dance-Create and Spring interactive performance showcase at Behringer Crawford Museum in Devou Park, Ky. She is the Artistic Director, Choreographer, research and concept development for a site-specific dance film “Collateral Beauty”, a featured guest artist, performer and collaborator with Bone and Fiddle Arts Collective and Master Teacher and Guest artist-in-residence with Park City High School Dance Company in Park City Utah. Stephanie organized dance technique workshops at several Northern Kentucky schools and movement workshops in partnership with several Cincinnati Schools. She worked as a master Pilates Instructor with WTS International, Life Force Fitness, Forward Fitness and Pendleton Pilates. Stephanie is the founder of Embody Pilates personal training and is a Master Dance Instructor at Uptown Arts, an outreach arts program for inner-city children in Cincinnati.