Whitney Rucker
owner/creative director/Lead instructor
Whitney has been dancing since the age of three. Growing up, she studied ballet, pointe, modern, and jazz at various studios in Roanoke. She graduated from James Madison University with a major in dance and danced with the Contemporary Dance Ensemble and the Virginia Repertory Dance Company there. Whitney has worked with choreographers from the University of Maryland, TISCH School of the Arts, Kansas State University, and Arizona State University. She has performed in choreographers’ showcases in New York City and Washington D.C. Whitney studied improvisation, ballet, and modern at the American Dance Festival at Duke University and performed in the American College Dance Festival at George Mason University. She has judged for several dance competitions in Virginia and North Carolina. She was the professor of dance at Ferrum College from 2006-2019, directing 2 dance concerts a year. Whitney has been teaching and choreographing in the Roanoke Valley and surrounding areas for 20 years.
Sue Koel
owner/business manager
Sue is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While she has never danced, she has been involved in dance as both a parent and studio owner for many years. Sue is a very organized individual with a varied business background in sales, marketing, project management, and finance. Her goal is to provide a studio where everyone can enjoy their experience! Sue brings innovative ideas to the studio and pledges to do everything she can to keep the costs as low as possible for our families.
Erika Quesenberry
instructor
Erika has been dancing for over 30 years. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, clogging, lyrical, pointe, hip-hop, and modern dance at various studios in Roanoke. Erika has been with Art In Motion since it was founded in 2010. She holds a bachelor of arts in communication studies from Hollins University and a minor in dance from Radford University. Erika has is highly knowledgeable in numerous types of dance and specializes in tap and broadway jazz. She has over twenty years experience teaching and choreographing in the Roanoke Valley.
Katie Reep
instructor
Katie Reep grew up in Roanoke, VA and spent her youth studying ballet, tap, jazz, and modern at Art In Motion Dance Center. She then went on to graduate from Randolph College with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. Randolph gave her the opportunity to take class and work with many guest artists as well as choreograph and present her own work in the biannual dance concerts. Katie served as the Merchandising Intern at the American Dance Festival during the Summer 2018 season which gave her the opportunity to study under Blakeley White-McGuire, a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Since graduating, she has been working with Carilion Clinic as the manager of the Accounting Intake team. When she isn’t working, Katie serves as rehearsal director and dance company member for City Modern Ensemble, where she continues to choreograph and set her work on the company.
Laura O’Dell
instructor
Laura started dancing at age 5. In high school, she became a competitive dancer and served as captain of two of her dance teams. When Laura moved to Virginia, she found her dance home at Art in Motion, where she continued to study ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and modern and served as a student teacher. Laura works full-time as a teacher at Parkway Preschool and has also directed multiple summer dance camps there. Laura has also served as the dance team coach at Fame Cheer in Roanoke and taught multiple dance classes there as well.
Nakia Wimberly
photographer
Nakia is a talented photographer (and father to one of our dancers) who has been photographing our recitals and other performances since our studio opened. All the photos found on our website are by Nakia. All these photos and many more are available to view and purchase on his website, https://nakiawimberly.smugmug.com/Clients/Dance