Dana Floyd, Ballet & Modern Dance Instructor

Ms. Floyd attended Atlanta Ballet School at four years of age. She was accepted in the Joffrey School of Dance Scholarship program in New York City at the age of twelve. She performed professionally with the Atlanta Ballet Company in Atlanta Georgia and was accepted as one of 12 professional dance instructors to attend The Paris Opera Ballet workshop for dance instructors at New York University in the summer of 1997. She has taught ballet and modern dance at the ESO since 1989. She choreographs and is Dance Director for two ESO student productions per year. She is the Dance Director of the ESO Repertory Dance Company.

Stefan Dulcie, Orchestra Director and Piano Instructor

Mr. Dulcie was selected at the age of 3 ½ by a scout in Cleveland, Ohio to receive free music lessons because of his coordination and pitch. After moving to New York, he was selected at the age of thirteen to play cello (first chair) with the New York All-State Orchestra. At age fifteen he played the Schumann Concerto as piano soloist with the All-State Orchestra. He was accepted at Juilliard School of Music in New York on a full four-year scholarship and graduated from Juilliard "Summa Cum Laude." He has a Masters of Music Degree from the University of Nevada in Reno and was Professor of Music at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. He played with the Brico Symphony and the Lilliput Orchestra. He currently teaches advanced piano and is Director of the Orchestra at the ESO. He continues to perform locally and internationally.

Thelma Jarvis Peterson, Watercolor Instructor

Ms. Peterson has been painting professionally for over thirteen years. Her work is found in galleries nationwide, as well as in private and corporate collections. Paintings have been selected and reproduced as limited edition prints by such environmental and conservation groups as The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund and Ducks Unlimited. She has earned the prestigious Palette and Chisel award and was chosen as Artist of the Year by the Eastern Shore Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. She is currently Artist in Residence at the Eastern Shore Community College.

David Poyer, Creative Writing Instructor

Mr. Poyer grew up in Pennsylvania and attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He has written numerous books which include The Dead of Winter, Winter in the Heart, As the Wolf Loves Winter and Thunder on the Mountain, literary novels set in Pennsylvania; The Med, The Gulf, the Circle, The Passage, and many others of the modern Navy and Marine Corps; White Continent Star Seed, The Shiloh Project, Stepfather Bank, science fiction; and historical novels about the Civil War. Mr. Poyer has taught and lectured at the University of Pittsburgh, Cape May Institute, ODU, Joint Forces Staff College, UNF, and other institutions. He now resides on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with his family and is a creative writing instructor at ESO.

Anna Sterrett, Voice Instructor

Ms. Sterrett has a BA in Music and a year of post-graduate study in Opera. She has over 15 years of stage experience and has been teaching voice lessons since 2009.

Carole Boggemann Peirson, Artist, Oil Painting Instructor

Originally, Dutch artist Carole Peirson viewed art as essentially a
commercial occupation. Her degree in Design & Communication in 1996 at
the Ichthus Polytechnic in Rotterdam, started her off as a graphic
artist. However, her greatest pleasure and fulfillment came from
creating impressions of things that fascinated and inspired her
personally, non-commercial artworks that captivate the viewer.

Art had at first been primarily the nuts and bolts of a fast-paced job
at an advertising agency in her native Holland. Then, in the summer of
2000, she moved to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The initial
culture-shock of moving from the crowded Dutch city to rural America
changed not only her life, but her view of life itself. When she saw
the beauty of nature around her, she knew she could never go back.

You can see examples of Carole's work by visiting her website at
www.artworkbycarole.com

Lenore Hart, Creative Writing Instructor

Ms. Hart is the author of Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher; Waterwoman, a Barnes & Noble Discover Award novel; Ordinary Springs; Black River; and in Norway, Of Svart Frikt (A Dark Wood). Her other book-length works are T. Rex at Swan Lake, a picture book, The Treasure of Savage Island, a historical novel for young adults, and The Raven's Bride. She wrote the lyrics for an oratorio, Nativity in Black and White, in which Stefan Dulcie composed the music. Ms. Hart has received grants, awards, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and The Florida Fine Arts Council. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Old Dominion University in 2006.

Elizabeth Hunt, Pottery Instructor

Ms. Hunt has taught since 2000 at ESO, including Summer Camp. She has her own Pottery Studio at the Historic Onancock School Community & Cultural Center. She studied Art at Georgia State University.

William "Pooh" Johnston, Guitar Instructor

Mr. Johnston has a Degree in Musicology from the University of Virginia. He studied at the Paris Conservatory and taught at the American Music College in Paris. He has written and performed in several original musicals that played in major cities around the country. He is co-founder of the opera company, Opera Beast, which produced several nationally known works, one of which won the Decade Award in New York City for best performance art piece. He has written several scores for short films and won the Rose Bud Award for best film in 1993 with the short film Turtle Boat Head.

Anne Warren Holland, Painting & Figure Drawing Instructor

Ms. Holland received her Associate in Arts Degree in 1965 from Bennett College in Millbrook, New York and in 1987 from Tidewater Community College, Norfolk, Virginia. She received her B.A. Art Education in 1989 from Virginia Wesleyan College and continued her education from 1997-1998 with Graduate Courses in Painting at the Virginia Commonwealth University. During her tenure as an Art Teacher at Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Virginia from 1990 to 1999, Ms. Holland received numerous Awards and Honors to include Best in Show, Eastern Shore Art League Member Show, 2001; Central Virginia Watercolor Guild - Juried Show, 2000,2004,2005, 2006; Mid-Atlantic Art Exhibition Juried Show, d'Art Center, 2006; and Montpelier Center for Arts & Education Juried Show, 2006.

Robert Buckner, Karate Instructor and Drums Instructor

Mr. Buckner is a black belt Karate Instructor and holds a 3rd degree Black Belt in Okinawin Shorin-Ryu. He is also an Instructor on the Drums and has been playing drums since 1973, currently with local favorite band "Mr. B and the Boys".

Robert Arthur, Creative Writing and Poetry, Fiction & Songwriting Instructor

Mr. Arthur has been teaching college-level Creative Writing since 1975 and previously taught at the University of Richmond and Tidewater Community College. He has a BA and MA from the University of Richmond and an MFA from the University of Arkansas. He is an award-winning poet, playwright, and fiction writer.

Charlene Huh, Children's Art Instructor

Ms. Huh has an extensive background in early childhood development. She operated a childcare center for fifteen years in Connecticut which concentrated on children with ADD and ADHD. She continued to take courses at Bridgeport University and later moved to Tennessee where she continued her coursework at Chattanooga State College. She worked as a teacher at the Child Development Center in Tennessee and is now an Art Instructor with ESO teaching the Abrakadoodle Program.

Ted Cathey, Guitar Instructor

Mr. Cathey has been studying music and guitar since 1980. He studied classical music, composition, Guitar Ensemble, Jazz guitar, violin, piano, conducting and music theory at Virginia Commonwealth University. Upon receiving a scholarship to VCU's graduate music department, he studied the Classical guitar exclusively and taught guitar lessons to other college students. He has had Master classes with luminaries including Manuel Baruecco, Jesus Silva, Dennis Coster, David Russel and Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis.

Lynn Williams, Banjo and Fiddle Instructor

Mr. Williams is from Upstate New York and a former President of the Champlain Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association in the Outer Adirondacks area. He played bugle as a child and later progressed to string instruments. Mr. Williams now plays the guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. He has accompanied local groups such as the Turkey Pen Pickers and the duo of Thelma and Erika Peterson.

Lisa Brasch, Tap Instructor

Mrs. Brasch teaches all levels of tap dance and is qualified to teach Beginner Jazz. She has taught since 2003. She performed off-Broadway in Herndon, Va. Mrs. Brasch studied at the Broadway Dance Center in New York, in Fredericksburg and in Stafford, Va

Barbara Hall, Fitness Instructor

Barbara has been a group fitness instructor since 1984. She teaches many formats including: Aerobics, Group Strength Training, Pilates, Senior Fitness, Step, Stretch, Yoga, and Zumba. She holds many fitness certifications and also teaches at the local YMCA. Barbara moved to the Eastern Shore from New Jersey in 2002.

Holly Bundick, After-School Art Instructor

Mrs. Bundick has a B.A. in Art History and has completed course work for Virginia Licensure for Visual Arts K-12. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the Accomack County Public Schools system.

Mary Stiegelbauer, Contemporary
Dance Instructor

Ms. Stiegelbauer holds a BA in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She took summer intensive courses at the Virginia School of the Arts and the Richmond Ballet. She has been a summer camp dance instructor locally at the North Street Playhouse and a dance instructor for The Lost Colony in North Carolina.

Mary Onley ("Mama Girl"),
Papier Mache Sculpture

Mama Girl has obtained national recognition for her unique folk art creations, and is a self-taught artist. She has held exhibitions regionally including ODU in Norfolk.

Mark Jensen - Musical Instruments Instructor

Mark offers instruction in guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, brass, woodwinds, percussion and keyboard. Mark has a B.A. in Musical Performance - Trumpet and took Applied Studies of orchestral instruments at the college level. He has taught at ESO, Arts Enter, and privately since 1990. He has many years of musical performance in various ensembles.

Larry Giddens - Voice Lessons

Larry Giddens trained with the Sarasota Opera and the Virginia Opera and has performed in the States and around the world with numerous companies including the Virginia Opera, Opera Theater Pittsburgh, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatsoper Hamburg. He has toured Europe, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand in the roles of Crown and Jake in Porgy and Bess. His other roles include Faust (Valentin), Fidelio (Don Fernando), Carmen (Morales), Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso) Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), La Bohème (Marcello), Gallantry (Dr. Gregg), and Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas). He has also performed in concert with Paul Plishka, Douglas Moore, Michael Forest, and members of Three Mo' Tenors.

Astrid Gonzalez, Wire Jewelry Instructor

Ms. Gonzalez took jewelry-making classes in 1974, became hooked, and has been teaching and selling her wares ever since.

Vesna Zidovec, Conversational Spanish Instructor

Ms. Zidovec taught Spanish 101 and 102 at the Eastern Shore Community College from 1988 to 2008. She attended college in Argentina. Vesna is also an gifted potter, well-known for her beautiful mirrors and wall hangings which often feature dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, and jellyfish.