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President of Jam-Jer Inc. and Long's School of Dance, is the Director of the adagio team and master flight engineer and flight choreographer. Jay began dancing at age 3, fencing at age 5, martial arts and boxing at age 10. He studied Adagio under the direction of Aubrey Hitchens and Ben Hassen. Jay retired from fencing with an undefeated record, having studied under Jim Long (his father) and world class fencer, George Santelli. Jay Long received his Sifu rating in 1975 and becoming Master Sifu in 1985.

Jay is certified by the Chinese Martial Arts Association and by the National Quigong Association. He holds a Bachelors in Communication, and in 2005, Jay completed training in performance rigging at Northern Illinois University.

Dance Director of Long's School of Dance, Lee Ann began dancing at the age of 3 at the Jean Vaugh School of Dance in Nashville, Tennessee. She continued dancing at the Jan Lauffer School, and at the Nashville Contemporary Ballet Company. During her professional career she traveled and performed throughout Europe and the South with the Tennessee Festival Ballet Company. Lee Ann also attended Western Kentucky University where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts.

Lee Ann is certified as a dance educator by DEA, SADM, CNADM, TAD. As Dance Director at Long's School of Dance, Lee Ann introduced Long's School of Dance, Inc. to the popular summer dance opportunities of Summer Dance Intensive, Kid's Creative Dance Camp, and is also responsible for bringing Masters of the Arts to the summer program. In her free time, 'Miss Lee Ann' enjoys reading, beading and jewelry making, riding horses, falconry, photography, and riding in the Jeep with Jay.

Vice President of Long's School of Dance, Jamie started training in Martial Arts at the age of 2, and in Fencing at the age of 6. Currently, Jamie has over 20 years experience, and over 30 years of training in Martial Arts and Fencing. Jamie is heading the External Martial Arts Division of Long's Combative Arts School as well as Long's Acrobatic Department.

He has been teaching Acrobatics for nearly 20 years and Martial Arts for 14 years. He is currently instructing classes in Junior Kung Fu, Senior Kung Fu and Acrobatics. Jamie is also a member of Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC.

Jazz, contemporary, and hip hop instructor, Deena Baumgart has been training at Long's for over 20 years. She continues her training in ballet, Pointe, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, tap, and acrobatics, taking from master instructors including; Marge Long, Marcus Alford, Nan Giordano, Charles Goddart, Henry Danton, Bob Ziegler, Beverly and Ron Veenker. In addition to teaching, she is the choreographer for the Erie River Rats Eriesistables in 2008, and for the Erie Freeze Chillers from 2005 to 2007. Deena has been on the Long's Performing Arts Team LLC for over 10 years, and has performed in Hawaii and Walt Disney World.

Tiffany has been dancing with Long’s for 18 years and continues to study ballet, Pointe, tap, jazz, and acrobatics year round. For the past two summers, Tiffany has attended master classes with Bobby Ziegler, Henry Danton, and Beverly and Ron Veenker. She has also had the privilege of taking private lessons from Laura Witwer for the past two years and hopes to do so again in the Fall.

In her fifth year of instructing, Tiffany continually looks forward to teaching at Kid’s Creative Camps. This is Tiffany’s ninth year with Long’s Performing Arts Team, LLC., having traveled to Walt Disney World in 2002 and then again in 2005 for an encore performance. She is very honored to be performing aerial silk for the third year in a row at our annual dance concert.

Maria has been dancing for fourteen years and continues to study ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, and acrobatics. She is also a member of the Long’s Performing Arts Team LLC and has performed in Disney with the team. For the past three summers she has attended master classes with Bobby Ziegler, Henry Danton, and Beverly and Ron Veenker.

Maria has been an instructor at Long’s for five years and has had the privilege to teach at Summer Dance Intensive, as well as, Kid’s Creative Camp she plans to do so again this summer. She is excited to have been given the opportunity to teach Yoga at Long’s and will continue to do so each year.

Maria is a student at Gannon University where she works in the ITS department in a student work-study program. She is double majoring in Sports and Exercise Science and Nutrition and Human Performance and plans to become a registered dietician.

Maria has been seen locally on stage at the Erie Playhouse where she has performed in such shows as Joseph, the Who’s Tommy, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story. She is very pleased to be performing onstage while her parents, Karen and Michael, perform as vocalists.

Tad has 16 years of dance experience and is in his fifth year as part of Long's faculty, serving as both instructor and Long's Corporate Safety Director. Tad has studied under the direction of Jay and Lee Ann Long, Ron and Beverly Veenker, Bobby Ziegler, and Henry Danton, as well as the late MArge Long. Tad feels extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to teach along-side Marge for the 2004-2005 season.

Tad has studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, acrobatics and ballroom, as well as kung-fu, fencing and qi-gong. This is Tad's seventh year as a member of Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC., and he has fond memories of traveling with the Team twice to Walt Disney World. Tad is a graduate of Fairview High School where he was the youngest president of the school's drama club to ever serve. While at Fairview, Tad student-directed and choreographed several plays and musicals.

Katie has been dancing for 15 years and continues to take classes in tap, ballet, Pointe, jazz, and acrobatics. She has been a member of the Long’s Performing Arts Team, LLC. for seven years and has had the opportunity to perform in Walt Disney World with them.

In addition to dancing, Katie is a sophomore at Penn State. Katie has thoroughly enjoyed teaching over the past three years and cherishes all of the memories she has made.

Jamie has been dancing for sixteen years, and she continues to take classes in ballet, pointe, jazz, and tap. She is also an 8th year member of the Long’s Performing Arts Team LLC and has enjoyed performing with them in Disney World. Jamie has been training on aerial silks for the past two years and is honored to have the opportunity to perform once again.

Over the summer she continued dancing weekly, training with master instructors such as Henry Danton, Laura Witwer, and Beverly and Ron Veenker.  Jamie has also helped with Summer Dance Intensive and open house events. She currently instructs at the Bird Drive, Millvillage, and Raven locations.

Currently a student at Gannon University, Jamie is majoring in Political Science with a minor in Pre Law and Legal Studies. She is a member of the dance team, and she is also involved in the Gannon Honors Program.

Carla Fleming comes from a musical family background, and began private piano studies at an early age. She began teaching private piano lessons in high school, and as a cheerleader in school, also discovered her passion for dance. She began studying belly dance in 2005. In January 2007, she founded The Fleming School of the Arts to further promote the arts in Erie’s West County area.

Carla holds a BA degree in music from Birmingham University, NY, and has studied belly dance with national artists Amy Sigil, of UNMATA, and Sharon Kihara, a Belly Dance Superstar. She currently studies ballet and jazz at Long’s, and has completed her ATS (American Tribal Style) General Skills and Teacher Training Certifications with Carolena Nereccio of FatChanceBellyDance, San Francisco.

You can see Carla performing throughout the community as the Girard and Villa Maria High School’s choir pianist as well as for other local musical events. When not teaching, Carla is enjoying Erie’s music scene with her band and dance company Gypsy RaQ.

Along with 19 years of dance experience, Rachel has been singing and playing the piano for 17 years and she took Scottish Highland Dance for 11 years. Rachael holds a Bachelor's degrees in Vocal Performance from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, where she has taken various ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance classes. She is currently working on her Master's in Speech-Language Pathology at Edinboro University.

Rachael has appeared in multiple theatre and opera productions over the past 9 years. She used to compete in Scottish Highland Dancing, and was excited to teach this to Long's students as part of last year's Summer Dance Intensive program. Rachael has taken tap and ballet at Long's. She also has been singing in the Long's Annual Dance Recital for two years and entered the world of flight this past year.

Janice has studied for 16 years and continues her studies in ballet, Pointe, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and modern. This year, Janice is excited to be joining the Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC. Janice is one of the newest members of the Long's faculty and after a successful first year, she is looking forward to continuing to dance and teach at Long's. She is very delighted to be performing on aerial silks.

Janice graduated from Mercyhurst Prep and will be a senior at Penn State Behrend with a major in psychology.

Crystal studied dance under the direction of Marge Long for more than 15 years and currently teaches Long's adult tap classes. She spent four years dancing, teaching, and performing in St. Petersburg, FL at Cheryl Lee's School of Dance. Crystal has competed nationally with Bonnie Gray Productions in St. Petersburg.

In addition to dance, Crystal has enjoyed experience as an actress and choreographer for such organizations as Mercyhurst College, Gannon University, the Erie Playhouse, the Village Dinner Theater with Ben Agresti and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Haldis has been dancing since the age of 4 and continues to study tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and modern. She is also a member of the Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC. Haldis has participated in the Summer master classes with Henry Danton, Bobby Ziegler, beverly and Ron Veenker and Laura Witwer. She is very excited to have completed her first year of teaching.

Haldis graduated from Gannon University with a Bachelors degree in English. She is currently employed at Agresti Real Estate as a licensed realtor.

Vanessa has studied dance since the age of three, taking classes in ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, hip hop and modern, spending 10 years participating in competition squads. In addition, Vanessa holds a minor in dance from Ohio University Dance Program where she participated in the school's performing group. Vanessa is also a member of Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC. She has taken several hip hop and jazz master dance classes in New York at Broadway Dance Center with such artists as Manwe, Jermaine Brown, Jimmy Tate, Henry Le Tang and Frank Hatchett. In addition to dancing and teaching at Long's, Vanessa was a part of the Erie River Rats Eriesistables dance team in 2008.

Long's is happy to annouce the return of Phillip Daniels to our dance and martial arts programs. Phillip has 18 years experience in dance, beginning at Long's and followed by the Grove City Dance Department. With 17 years experience in combative arts and fencing, we are looking forward to seeing Philliip back in classes and as an instructor.

Phillip received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Grove City College with a certification to teach Social Studies at the secondary education level. Phillip was the first president of the Grove City College Fencing Club and held the office for two years during which the fencing program was greatly expanded.

Leann has been dancing at Long's for 13 years. She is currently enrolled in ballet, jazz, contemporary, Pointe and is a member of the Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC. Leann has also had the opportuniy to participate in Summer Dance Intensive, which has provided her with some of her best memories, as well as planty of dance knowledge.

Outside of dancing, Leann has just completed her sophomore year at McDowell High School where she is enrolled in the honors program. She is excited about her first year as a faculty member at Long's and is looking forward to being around for the years to come.

Karen has been dancing at Long's for 12 years. She participates in tap, acrobatics, ballet, Pointe, jazz, contemporary and hip hop. Karen is also a member of Long's Performing Arts Team, LLC. In addition to performing, Karen also teaches jazz, ballet and hip hop to the younger students.

Karen has just completed her sophomore year at Collegiate Academy where she is on the honor roll. While she is unsure of just exactly what her future will hold, she says that dancing will definitely be a part of it.

Having been a student, instructor and former Performing Arts Team member, Tmai has been a part of Long's School of Dance for over 30 years. She currently teaches the Adult Jazz Class. She is also proud to note that her daughters, Leann and Riley, dance at Long's.

Tami has a Master;s Degree in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University. She is a licensed social worker and the Volunteer Services Coordinator for Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents, and Their Families.

Cheri has been with Long's as the ballroom and Latin rhythm dance instructor since 2003. She came to Erie from Pittsburgh where she trained under coaches such as Rozanna Sweeney and Bill Graner. She is currently working under the supervision of PJ Navarro, who is both a judge and a coach.

Cheri is a member of the USABDA (United States Amateur Ballroom Dance Association), and she and her partner placed among the top six in the Amateur Couples Division of American Smooth at the Ohio Star Ball in 2002.

Professional aerialist Laura Witwer began her dangling career in New York City, training with nationally acclaimed trapeze artist Tanya Gagne. After many flips, twirls, and bruises on the static trapeze, Laura high-tailed it to Circus Arts and Acrobatics in California to study with instructors Vladimir Chvalbo (Cirque du Soleil), Tony Steele (circus veteran), and Karlene Griggs (Ringling). A little flying trapeze, a little trampoline, and a lot of hoop and rope later, she was strong enough to pursue her dream. In search of the ultimate in aerial silk training, Laura dug out her French dictionary and packed her bags for Montreal, home of the famous Cirque du Soleil. A full year of daily private coaching and grueling rehearsals yielded her dynamic solo on the aerial fabric, which has astounded audiences from Vegas to Buffalo with its phenomenal blend of beauty and acrobatics.

Having performed with Cirque le Masque, Sea World, Bindlestiff Family Circus, Circus Nexus, and countless others, she wondered if perhaps there was room for a partner. Angela Jones became Ms. Witwer’s partners and together the two joined forces and became Luminosity, performing everywhere from the Olympic Stadium in Greece, to Bangkok, to the Krystal Palace in Germany. They have also been interviewed on CNN radio and seen on the WB Morning News, as well as in Talent in Motion Magazine. But soon they realized that they had an eye for talent and began working with other amazing and versatile artists and formed ImaginAerial.

A native of England, Mr. Danton is an internationally known dancer, choreographer, artistic director and teacher. He began his performing career with the International Ballet of London and then transferred to Sadler Wells Ballet, where he danced for three and a half years as First Soloist. He also appeared with the Paris Opera Ballet and the Ballet des Champs Elysees before coming to the United States where he toured as First Classic Dancer in Roland Petit's Ballet de Paris on its first US national tour.

He then performed on the South American tour and later as a guest artist with the Australian National Ballet. His European engagements include performing in France, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, and Spain. During his dancing career he has partnered such ballerinas as Moira Shearer of Sadler Wells, Lycette Darsonval of Paris Opera and Mia Slavenska. Mr. Danton returned to Australia as a guest artist and artistic director of the Australian National Ballet. After performing as a guest artist in Venezuela¸ he formed the Venezuelan National Ballet. In South America he also founded Ballet National de Columbia, was Artist Director of Ballet National de Panama, and served as teacher and choreographer to Danzas Venezuela, Ballet International Caracas, and Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas.

While in the United States he taught at Carnegie Hall, Sarah Lawrence College, Julliard School of Music, and held the position of first ballet instructor with Martha Graham's School and Company. He has choreographed classical ballets for the Washington Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Garden State Ballet, and Ballet Theatre of Scranton. During his more than twenty years association with Ballet Theatre, he has choreographed numerous ballets including "Giselle", "Swan Lake", "Don Quixote", "Coppela", "La Bayadere", "La Fille Mal Gardee", "Carmen", "La Esmeralda" and "Firebird".

Mr. Danton served as Director of the Dance Educators of America Training Course for teachers for over 10 years, and freelances as a guest teacher and choreographer. Mr. Danton directed the annual Russian Ballet Seminar from 1991 to 1996. In 1998, Mr. Henry Danton was honored for his outstanding artistic contributions to Ballet Theatre of Scranton.

Tap great Bobby Ziegler holds a Masters degree from The Chicago National Association of Dance, and has studied in Canada and the United States. His training includes; character and modern dance, acrobatics, voice, pantomime, ballet, jazz and tap. Before opening his own school Mr. Ziegler trained dance teachers for 10 years through Dance Educators of America in New York City.

He went on to open his own dance school in 1968 after performing on stages in Korea, Canada and the United States. He has taught notables in the dance world that read like a who’s who list on the red carpet. Two of his former students Leroy Reams and Ula are currently performing on “The Producers” and Leroy has performed for many seasons in 42nd Street on Broadway.

Ron grew up in Sioux Falls, SD where he studied oboe, English horn and percussion. As a member of the American Federation of Musicians, he played in the pit orchestra for traveling Broadway shows and with the Sioux Falls Municipal Band. At Bethel University, St. Paul, MN, he received a BA in music theory and composition. He has worked in choral music, solo voice instruction and solo bistro piano performance. Currently, he sings at St. James the Fisherman Episcopal Church in Shallotte, NC and performs regularly with the Brunswick Jazz Band on keyboard.

Bev has 35 years experience as director of the Western Kentucky University dance program. While there, she developed a four-year syllabus for preparing dancers for professional careers. Most of the dance majors from this program have been successful on Broadway, off-Broadway, in movies and on television.

Past students have been in (on Broadway) "Chorus Line", "Merrily We Roll Along", "Dream Girls", "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", "Les Mis", (in films) "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", "Two Weeks Notice", and many others. Currently, her students are appearing on Broadway in "42nd Street", "Cats", " Chicago", "Wicked", and in the film "Ghost Riders" and on the popular television series " Smallville" (Lex Luther). Bev's formative training was entirely through Margie Long.