Blume School of Dance
Staff Notes
Adam Chavis
A Fayetteville native and a Charlotte Blume alumni, Mr. Chavis danced for eight years with Carolina Ballet, joining as a member of the Corps de Ballet in Aug. 2009. He received professional training from the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) in Winston-Salem and the School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City. He has choreographed several ballets including one for NCSA (spring workshop in 2008) and one at SAB (student choreographic workshop in 2009). In 2009, he was chosen to dance for the New York Choreographic Institute. He is currently an autism support professional at the Austism Society of NC. He teaches intermediate/advanced point and ballet classes. Mr. Chavis has performed as guest artist with the North Carolina State Ballet under the personal direction of Charlotte Blume and performed lead roles with the ballet in 2018 and 2019.
Adam Chavis
Sheila King Mitchell
A principal instructor at the Charlotte Blume Studio for over 40 years. Ms. Mitchell is the director of pre-school classes and teaches beginning to intermediate/advanced levels of ballet, tap and gymnastics. Ms. Mitchell trained with Charlotte Blume and trained in NYC with advanced classwork at the American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. She studied tap and jazz with Frank Hatchett, Howard Blume, Charles Kelley, Judy Bassing and Al Gilbert. She performed leading roles in the entire repertoire of the North Carolina State Ballet for more than 20 years. She is a charter member of the North Carolina State Ballet and continues to be stage director at productions of The Nutcracker and at Blume studio's annual Spring Festival of Dance.
Alyssa Pilger
Ms. Pilger began her training at age 2, as a jazz dancer. At age 15 she received formal ballet training at Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education. While attending, she competed at Youth America Grand Prix, (YAGP) Rhode Island, winning 1st Place Gold in the senior women classical category and bronze in the contemporary category. Later she went on to compete in the New York City finals, where she was invited to perform in the Miami International Ballet Festival, entitled “Stars of Tomorrow”. Ms. Pilger completed her training at The School of American Ballet under the direction of Kay Mazzo. She also has trained with renowned teachers Olga Kostritzky, Damian Woetzel and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. She has performed as a guest artist for the North Carolina State Ballet under the direction of Charlotte Blume and has taught intermediate/advanced ballet and contemporary dance at the Blume School for several years.
Nicholas Fokine
Mr. Fokine began his ballet training with the renowned Olga Kostritzky at the School of American Ballet. He also studied at the Miami City Ballet School. He is the great-grandson of the choreographer Michel Fokine. He was interviewed by ABC news magazine 20/20 and by The New York Times. He has had the opportunity to perform with American Ballet Theater in Petrouchka, one of his great-grandfather’s most famous works. He is beginning his first year as an instructor of intermediate/advanced ballet at the Blume School.
Kelly Eiberger
Ms. Eiberger has danced since she was 3. She has a bachelor’s degree in dance, and a performing apprenticeship with Rochester Ballet for three years. She also was a member of the Garth Fagan Dance Company four years and has performed with Kista Tucker Dance Company and HT Chen Dance Company. She teaches ballet and contemporary dance for the Blume School.
Ella Lewis
Ms. Lewis has danced since she was 2 and at Charlotte Blume School of Dance since she was 7. She has performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. She has taken dance intensives with the North Carolina State Ballet and other leading companies. She began her teaching career as an assistant to Charlotte Blume and now assists all ballet instruction and pre-point classes with Sheila Mitchell. She also teaches Grade I and Grade II ballet classes. In addition, she has studied tap with Howard Blume and will be taking a lead role this year in tap instruction.
Junior Faculty
The Blume School prides itself on training the next generation of dancers and teachers and our junior faculty typically has more to offer then the best instructors at other schools. EVELYN HAIRR, MARISSA MORRIS and EMMALEE SMITH have come up through the Blume system -- all of them trained personally with Charlotte Blume as with as with other notable instructors. All have experience in prominent roles in The Nutcracker and additional productions. Between them, they assist with upper level classes and, under the tutelage of Ms. Mitchell, have learned how to teach all dance subjects to young children.
Dina Lewis
Ms. Lewis is the studio director for the Blume School of Dance. She is a longtime board member and senior officer for the North Carolina State Ballet. Although most parents know her for her business and diplomatic skills, she has been trained as an instructor in preschool and early dance by Sheila King Mitchell. She also has a background in teaching Greek folk dancing. Under Charlotte Blume, Ms. Lewis played a central role in evaluating and recruiting instructors and guest artists, a role she continues to this day.
Howard Blume
Mr. Blume is the owner of the Blume School of Dance and is committed to continuing the tradition of excellence his mother began more than 50 years ago. This commitment includes making the school the first destination for the region’s finest teachers and aspiring students of classical ballet while also offering a broad range of dance training and performance opportunities. He is a board member of the N.C. State Ballet. Mr. Blume also owns and operates a dance studio in Los Angeles that specializes in rhythm tap. Dina Lewis operates the home studio in Fayetteville on a day-to-day basis. Mr. Blume has provided tap choreography and teacher training for more than 20 years. He previously led the tap and acrobatics program for the Charlotte Blume School and has taught and performed in Boston, London and Los Angeles, among other places. In Los Angeles, he has staged original tap, humor and variety shows including Tapestry, Tapitalism, Tap-O-Ween and the upcoming TAP-water. His mentors include Charles Kelley in New York City and Louis DaPron, Alfred Desio and Eddie Brown in Los Angeles.