Meet our owner!
Jamie Peeler Osteen
has spent most of her life either performing, teaching, coaching or choreographing dance and cheer. Dancing since the age of 5, Jamie has trained in all forms of dance including Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Pointe and Musical Theater. A native of Hendersonville, NC, Jamie spent her early years, competing and performing in the area in both cheer and dance. At age 18, Jamie auditioned and was chosen as one of eight dancer from her studio to dance in the movie Dirty Dancing. She was featured as both a dancer and an extra.
Jamie is a 1994 graduate of UNC-Asheville with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama. While in college, Jamie continued her dance education taking dance classes, attending workshops and conventions. She was a cheerleader all four years and founded the UNCA Dance Team her senior year. She continued on as coach of both the Dance Team and Cheerleaders for 22 years before leaving to focus on her new dance studio.
After graduating from college, Jamiecontinued her dance training under some of the best known choreographers in the business including Napoleon & Tabitha D’umo, Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Tyce Diorio, Mandy Moore, Dave Scott, Denise Wall, Twitch and Nick Bass. She continues to update her skills and attends conventions and workshops every year. Jamie is also a certified member of Dance Master of America and Carolina Dance Masters Chapter 15. She has been tested and certified in cheerleading safety though NCA and AACCA.
After teaching and coaching in the business for almost 30 year, Jamie, along with her business partner, opened Releve Performing Arts Center in the fall of 2010. Jamie has made a name for herself in the business for being a very creative and innovative choreographer and was also named “Choreographer of the Year” at Nationals for Kids Artistic Revue in 2012. She also has judged for Bravo Dance Competition for 4 years!
Artistic Staff
Katie Holbert
is Assistant Director of RPAC, directs our tap program and teaches our Competitive Company! She is a native of Hendersonville and began dancing at the age of 2. She's studied all forms of dance including ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern, and musical theatre. In both 2007 and 2008 she had the opportunity to travel on scholarship with Dance Masters of America to Buffalo, NY and participate in their S.H.I.P dance intensive.
In 2009, Katie was Hendersonville’s Outstanding Teen and went on to compete at the Miss North Carolina’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. There she won the preliminary award for “Best Fitness”.
Katie continued her dance education at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC from 2010-2014 as a Principal in the pre-professional company, Dance Converse. During her junior year she lived in New York City and completed two marketing and dance internships with The Brooklyn Ballet and Dance New Amsterdam. She has worked and hosted Joffrey Ballet’s summer intensives, choreographed for a series of dance performances on Wall Street, and trained at both Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Katie has also taught musical theatre tap, jazz, modern, and hip-hop at a number of dance studies in the southeast including Lawson Academy, Arts Academy of the Carolinas, Dance Dynamics – Pickens, Dance Dynamics – Tryon, and The Flat Rock Playhouse.
In 2019 she received her Master's Degree in Management and Leadership from Montreat College. Her most important role in life is now being called "Mom" by her two year old daughter, Polly! Katie is excited to be on staff at Releve Performing Arts and looks forward to meeting her new students every year!
Cynthia Ridler
Cynthia has more than 15 years experience as a professional dancer and more than 25 years of experience as a teacher and ballet master. She attended the University of Utah on the Willam F. Christensen Ballet Scholarship and later graduated magna cum laude with BS in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Performing with both Ballet West and with the Cincinnati Ballet, she danced the entire range of the classical repertoire, many of George Balanchine’s works and the modern classics of Paul Taylor, Agnes de Mille, John Neumier and Val Caniparoli. Cynthia was most recently Principal Ballet Faculty and Student Ballet Master for the Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has taught on the faculty of the Cincinnati Ballet Academy OH, Ballet Mississippi MS, the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet MS, Point Park University PA and the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet PA. As a master teacher she has taught for Nevada Ballet Theater NV, at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts OH, the Conservatory of Creative and Performing Arts in Pittsburgh PA, Greater York Center for Dance and Pontecorvo Ballet Studios OH. Cynthia has extensive experience as a private coach having prepared dancers for the international competitions of the Youth American Grande Prix, USA International Ballet Competition and the ADC International Ballet Competition. Her students regularly competed in the finals of competition and placed within the top 20 internationally in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She has served as a juror for The Miami International Ballet Competition and Canann Ballet Competition in Asia.
We are thrilled to have Ms. Cynthia joining the Artistic Staff at RPAC!
Emily Fogo
Emily Fogo is an RPAC Alumni and teacher at RPAC!
Emily is dancer, aspiring choreographer, and a K-pop dance cover artist in Hendersonville, NC. She is a Hendersonville native and started dancing through Hendersonville Fine Arts at four years old. Soon she decided she wanted to take dance more seriously, so she joined Relevé Performing Arts Center’s competitive company in 2013. There she competed for seven years and trained in ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, musical theater, tap, pointe and hip-hop. She was also a member of the elite company team for four years. Her solo, duets, and groups placed in the top ten overalls numerous times including winning first for her contemporary ballet duet in 2019 and second for her contemporary solo in 2020. She has taken classes from many esteemed teachers and choreographers including Denise Wall, Travis Wall, Teddy Forance and Sonya Tayeh. Now that she has graduated high school, she plans to pursue her dream of becoming a professional choreographer and instructor.
We are so excited to have Emily join us on her journey!
Angelia Bender
grew up in Ft. Myers, FL, where she dedicated 14 years to the sport of cheerleading, including 5 years in All-Star Cheerleading. Notably, she was invited to perform at the Orange Bowl as part of the prestigious All American All Star team. Additionally, she competed on an Elite All-Star cheerleading travel team, achieving great success by winning a National championship in New York and Ohio. She even had the opportunity to be featured in the documentary "A Young American Cheer Team".
In her adult life, she spent 5 years as a cheerleading coach at various levels and age groups, consistently leading teams to National Championships. In 2008, she relocated to North Carolina and was offered the position of Assistant Coach for the Brevard cheerleading program.
Currently, Angelia has been actively involved in the medical field for the past 9 years. However, in July 2013, her life took a new direction as she became a mother to her daughter, who has been a dedicated dancer at Releve for 7 years. Observing her passion for dance reignited her own desire to teach, and she is thrilled to now be a member of the RPAC staff. She eagerly anticipates the opportunities and experiences that this upcoming year will bring!
Office Staff
Cindy Fikes
Cindy Fikes is the Office Manager, and often, the first point of contact for our dancers and families. She grew up in Brevard, North Carolina and went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree from UNC-Asheville and her Master of Arts degree from UNC-Charlotte. She has two children, Zoe who is a RPAC alum, and Rogan, who is part of the Competitive Company team. She enjoys Bible study, time with family and friends, a good chai tea latte, and cheering on the kids at Releve.