Instructors

Tori started dancing and doing gymnastics at the age of 2 in the Hampton Roads area. Tori was a proud member of the national award-winning Dynamic Movements Dance Team for 5 years until she graduated in 2018. Beginning at age 13, Tori was a part of our student assistant program where she worked side by side with our instructors in the classroom. She attended Appalachian State University in Boone, NC where she continued to dance by taking classes in the department, performing in their Fall Appalachian Dance Ensemble, and participating in the Momentum Dance Club. With Momentum, Tori performed in multiple dance concerts and enjoyed learning from her other members through open classes. While at App State, she took a Latin Jazz class that focused on the different styles and partnering. Tori is excited to work with new and returning dancers to help develop their love for dance. She is also Red Cross Certified in First Aid, CPR, and using an AED.

Benjamin is the owner and creator of The Belhumeur Collective. The Belhumeur Collective was created to combine Belhumeur Choreography, Belhumeur Photography, graphic design, and music editing all under one roof. Along with The Belhumeur Collective, Benjamin is also the creator and Artistic Director of Elite by Ben and Release the Fire Dance Convention. Benjamin has had his award-winning choreography featured at numerous studios and schools across multiple states, as well as internationally in Canada. Benjamin is currently an instructor and choreographer for Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Point Park University International Summer Dance, Epic Dance Convention and Competition, as well as many local dance studios. Benjamin is also a regional and national judge for a variety of competitions. Benjamin has worked with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as a Dance Captain as well as a Director and Choreographer. He was also a resident artist at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, and has had the privilege of teaching for the National High School Dance Festival. During his training, he attended local dance studios as well as Point Park University, La Roche College, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. He also attended summer programs to work with companies such as The American Ballet Theater, North Carolina Dance Theater, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He has had the opportunity to work with and perform works by Kiesha Lalama, Doug Bentz, Trye McIntyre, Bill T. Jones, Kevin Iega Jeff and more. Ban had the honor of performing and assisting in the re-staging of Torque by Kiesha Lalama for the Jazz Dance World Congress. Benjamin received his Associates degree in dance and dance education from the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) during his senior year of high school at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School. After graduating from high school and CCBC in the same year, he attended Point Park University, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in dance with a concentration in Jazz. Benjamin also attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for his Bachelors in Photography.

Kelsy started training in Musical Theatre and Dance beginning at the age of 10. Her freshman year she studied at Radford University before transferring and receiving her B.A. in Dance and Theatre from Old Dominion University in Norfolk. There she has performed with the University Dance Theatre, and the Fantastic Planet Festival. She has choreographed for several High Schools in the area, and has been involved in community productions. She is currently a Teaching Artist for The American Theatre in Hampton, and the resident Choreographer for Spotlight Productions. Kelsy is also CPR certified.

Mariah Lopez is a Spanish American choreographer, educator, researcher, and painter whose work bridges the worlds of performance, pedagogy, and social inquiry. She holds a Bachelor’s in Dance and International Relations from Rider University under partial scholarship, completed advanced choreographic studies at the Dance ICONS Choreographic Institute under Vladimir Angelov under partial scholarship, and earned an M.F.A. in Dance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee as a recipient of the Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship.

Based in Virginia, Lopez has been commissioned and has presented work across New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Her choreography has been featured in commercial competitions, universities, the Youth America Grand Prix, and other prestigious platforms. Her movement style is rooted in emotional risk-taking, using dance as a vehicle to uncover truths about social inequality while exploring somatic practices and their connections to cross-generational trauma.

As an instructor, Lopez integrates dance history and pedagogy to develop dancers’ technical and artistic capacity emphasizing conditioning for strength, mental training for clarity and articulation, and performance skills grounded in intentionality. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Christopher Newport University, Ballet Director, and active community educator and choreographer. Mariah will begin her Ph.D. studies in Educational Leadership at Old Dominion University in Fall 2025.

Mariah is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Blake is the son of Ann Catherine Cross, and has been dancing his whole life. In his youth, he studied at ACCSD, Richmond Ballet, and Virginia School of the Arts Summer Program. He holds a BFA in Contemporary Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as well as an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. He has also studied at New York University, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Danceworks Berlin, The Palucca University of Dance Dresden, as well as apprenticeships with The Semperoper Ballet Dresden and The Forsythe Company. He is the co-founder of We Are Artists, and has been producing independent choreographic and performance art projects since 2006.