Cheryl Pompeo’s love for dance began long before she ever stepped into a leadership role. It started as a young girl with a passion for movement, music, and expression. That passion would grow into a life’s calling. Today, as Director of the Oglebay Institute School of Dance, Cheryl celebrates nearly 23 years in the role and an extraordinary 40 years teaching under its roof.
Over four decades, she has done far more than teach pliés and pirouettes. She has built a community. From the early days in a single classroom at Towngate Theatre to the studios at the Stifel Fine Arts Center, Cheryl has created a space where discipline meets artistry, where young dancers discover confidence, and where lifelong friendships are formed.
To honor this milestone, I reached out to OI alumni across generations to ask a simple question: How did Cheryl impact your life? What came back was a testament not only to a dance educator, but to a mentor, role model, and second mother to so many.
Words of Admiration
While searching for dance classes that focused on ballet, my mom found a single classroom in the Towngate Theater. Cheryl and that single room gave me a found family that are very important to me to this day. The studio grew, and so did the OI family. I will forever and always be grateful for what Cheryl and that little studio gave to me. What Cheryl has been able to build is far more than just a dance classes.
Heather (Johnson) Puglisi
Graduated 2006
I began dancing with you at a very young age, and the foundation you gave me shaped not only my dance training, but my entire skating and performance career. You taught far more than technique—you instilled discipline, confidence, artistry, and a love for movement that I still carry with me today. Over 40 years of teaching, you have impacted generations of dancers by believing in them, challenging them, and helping them see their own potential. I am incredibly grateful to have been one of your students and to be part of the legacy you continue to leave behind.
With sincere gratitude,
Kristina Slivchenko
2013 graduate
Miss Cheryl!
Congratulations on 40 years of inspiring young minds. Your creativity and passion for the arts, lives on for so many, well beyond the dance studio. The Nutcracker will always be one of my favorites, but I honestly loved a
Saturday full of classes just as much . You have touched so many lives. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Brenna Lee (Burkhart)
Class of 2009
Dear Cheryl,
I have such wonderful memories of my time dancing at Oglebay Institute with you. From the basement of Towngate Theatre to the beautiful new space at Stifel, you always found a way to provide the highest quality instruction, no matter where we were.
I was fortunate to be part of a truly special time at Oglebay Institute, during the founding years of Object Imagination and The Nutcracker. Those experiences shaped me in ways I still carry today.
Your influence extended far beyond teaching dance. At a pivotal time in my adolescence, you helped me develop confidence in myself and discover leadership skills that have stayed with me throughout my life. I have always looked back on my years dancing at Oglebay Institute—and learning from you—with deep fondness and gratitude.
Thank you, Cheryl, for forty years of dedication and for inspiring so many young women like myself. The lessons you gave us reached far beyond the studio and will always be a part of who we are.
With gratitude and admiration,
Melissa (Kinley) Aretz
Class of 2002
Dancing for Cheryl at Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center quietly shaped the course of my life. Those studios were where discipline met imagination, where long hours at the barre turned into confidence, curiosity, and a sense of possibility that extended far beyond Wheeling. Through Cheryl’s guidance, dance became not just movement, but a way of understanding the world—one that led me to intensives, new communities, and a deeper belief in what was possible for myself. Though I am now a retired dancer, the foundation built at Stifel continues to echo through everything I do. That early devotion to craft, care, and growth remains one of the most meaningful gifts I’ve carried forward.
Vanessa Hotlosz
Class of 2011
Cheryl,
Congratulations on 40 years of dedication to Oglebay Institute. Your love for dance and the arts has shaped the lives of so many of us who were lucky enough to dance under your guidance. I first knew you when I was a toddler at Burkharts, taking my clothes off in refusal of dance, to thinking of you as someone who helped raise me. You have been such an integral part of who I am as a person today. Those long hours spent in the studio also helped to introduce consistency, discipline, and confidence, but also introduced me to some of my closest friends. You told us once that your “bunhead” friends will be your friends for life.
Thank you for helping to turn that bad little girl into the adult I am today! Love you!!
Arianne (Leonard) Goneau
Class of 2008
There are not enough words to articulate how much Cheryl means to me. Far beyond a dance teacher, Cheryl is truly family. She has been a part of every stage of my life—from baby ballet, first confirmation, college, my wedding, and now parenthood—Cheryl has endlessly supported me every step of the way. She took a dance studio and created a second home, and a second family, that so many of us hold dearly in our hearts.
Molly McKay-Bahntge
Class of 2011
Hello, my name is Abby Milhorn and I graduated in 2021 from Oglebay Institute School of Dance. Miss Cheryl has been one of the most influential people in my life, both as a dancer and as a person. From a young age, she saw something in me and constantly encouraged me to chase my dreams fearlessly. She never let me settle or doubt myself, and she pushed me to grow not only technically, but artistically and personally.
Dancing under her guidance at Oglebay Institute shaped the foundation of who I am. She taught me discipline, passion, and resilience, and she created an environment where hard work and heart always mattered.
Because of Miss Cheryl, I had the courage to move away and audition for professional dance companies. Her belief in me gave me the confidence to take risks I never would have taken on my own. By the age of 18, I had become a professional dancer and danced professionally for 5 years in Orlando, FL. Today, I am teaching at a well-known pre-professional ballet school in Indianapolis, and I truly know that none of this would have been possible without her guidance and mentorship. She didn’t just teach me how to dance — she showed me how to believe in myself and build a life around the art I love. I am forever grateful for the impact she has had on my journey.
Thank you,
Abby Milhorn
Class of 2021
From my very first Preschool Dance Sampler class in the mid-90s, I knew that Oglebay Institute School of Dance was a special place, and Cheryl Pompeo was a special person. Fitting my love for “Miss” Cheryl into a single paragraph feels like an impossible task when her influence has shaped my entire life. My childhood memories are filled with days spent at the dance studio with friends who became family, and a teacher who was a second mom to us all. I smile to think back to the dozens of Nutcracker performances we did each year all over the Ohio Valley, and all of the wild adventures we had along the way. After graduating from OI, I went on to complete a Minor in Dance at Kent State University and spent over a decade volunteering with dance workshops for individuals with disabilities. While I may not dance in an “official” sense anymore, the lessons I learned at Stifel echo, whether it is perfecting a lift for my wedding dance with my husband or twirling my toddler son around in the kitchen. Cheryl, I love you and am so grateful to you. Congratulations!
-Shayna (Fischer) Bartlett
Class of 2010, Sugar Plum Fairy of 2009
Miss Cheryl is like a second mother to me. She is part of my favorite memories and happiest moments. I always loved spending time at the studio. I made some of my best friends there and some of my favorite memories. It was like having a second family and a second home. I always felt loved and accepted and Miss Cheryl was a big part of that. The only thing better than having her for a teacher, is watching my kids have her for a teacher. They love her as much as I do and I know she loves them too. We all love you! Congratulations on 40 years of OI!
Rebecca Dawes
Class of 2004
Growing up, Miss Cheryl was like a second mother to me. She didn’t just give me a place to pursue my passion for dance – she also gave me a space filled with constant comfort and safety throughout my childhood and teenage years. Being in her class always felt like being in my second home, surrounded by a second family she built from the ground up, and I will always be grateful for the reassuring love, guidance, and dedication she gave me when I needed it most.
Haleigh Collins
Class of 2008
Cheryl Pompeo was, is, and always will be an important part of my life. At the young age of 7 I met Miss Cheryl when I transferred to Oglebay Institute School of Dance from a local dance school that I was taking lessons at. Miss Cheryl got a good chuckle from my red paint sprayed ballet slippers from a previous recital. Through classes, workshops and performances Miss Cheryl has been a second mom and the studio a second home. She listened, gave advice, gave hugs, and got stern when she needed to. Her comment, “Oh, you girls” when she saw us laying in a clump on the dance floor would bring chuckles to all of us. She always made us feel so much of a family that we would go to the studio for pictures with her for prom night. I feel special that Miss Cheryl also became my third mom. I was on the BLHS Pantherette Danceline for three years and she was our instructor. So, all of her wisdom and knowledge was passed out again. It is still so much fun to be “one of her girls” on band reunion night. As I have aged into my career, Miss Cheryl is always there, if not present, always in spirit. Her words of wisdom carry into my choreography, costume, and directorial work in school plays. Thanks for always being there – in the past, present, and into the future. Your love and lessons will be carried by all of “your girls”, always. Much love, hugs, and many blessings
Jessica Smarrella
Class of 2009
Thank you, Miss Cheryl!
As you can see through these words, spanning graduating classes from the early 2000s to 2021, Cheryl’s impact cannot be measured in years alone. It lives in professional dance careers launched, in wedding dances perfected, in children now studying under the same teacher who once guided their parents. It lives in confidence built at the barre, leadership discovered backstage, and friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
Forty years at the Oglebay Institute is an extraordinary achievement. But Cheryl’s true legacy isn’t simply longevity, it’s the generations of “her girls” who carry her lessons into studios, classrooms, careers, and homes across the country.
Congratulations, Cheryl, on 40 remarkable years. The curtain may rise and fall on countless performances, but the impact you’ve made will echo for decades to come!
