Tammy's School
of Dance
Tammy Clune
Owner/Director
Tammy Clune is proud to be the Owner/Director of Tammy’s School of Dance in Wexford. With over 35 years of teaching experience, Tammy still loves spending time instructing children of all ages and levels.
Tammy grew up dancing in the Pittsburgh area and was a student of many professional dancers and choreographers. She attends, along with her students, annual dance conventions throughout the U.S. where she learns the latest teaching styles and techniques. Before opening this studio in 1995, Tammy started successful dance programs in the North Hills School District for over 1,000 students.
Many of the TSD students have received awards including “Studio Dancer of the Year” at Tremaine Dance Conventions in NYC, “Outstanding Performance in Jazz/Contemporary/Musical Theatre” at JUMP dance conventions and several choreography awards. Tammy’s School of Dance has been honored by the community multiple times as “North Hills Best Dance Studio of the Year” and “Best Instructor of the Year”. Because of Tammy’s experience, she is able to offer the highest quality of instruction in all areas and levels of dance. Technique, performance, stage presence and building self-esteem is our focus, not competition. Tammy is very proud to offer quality instruction with a fabulous staff and flexible schedules for busy families.
Tammy has traveled to Las Vegas where she successfully completed the Module One Acrobatic Arts Teacher Certification Course. Acrobatic Arts is now part of the TSD Acrodance curriculum. She also attended the Dance Teacher Web Conference with her Assistant Director and daughter Victoria. Tammy resides in Harmony Twp. with her husband Chris and has two daughters, Amber and Victoria.
Victoria Clune
Assistant Director
Victoria discovered her love of dance when she enrolled with Tammy’s School of Dance at the age of two. She is actively involved and spends countless hours at TSD training and living her dream of teaching the younger dancers. Victoria’s teaching experience started at age nine as a teacher’s assistant. Two years later she was running summer dance camps with the help of Miss Tammy, after school dance programs and dance birthday parties. Her experience with teaching ages 3-18 is a great advantage in the field of dance.
In addition to dancing, Victoria enjoys anything to do with performing on stage. She performed in all 4 North Allegheny Musicals during High School and was selected as the Dance Captain during her Junior and Senior years. Since graduating from NA in 2017, Victoria has been actively involved in the district’s Middle School Musical program. She has had the opportunity to choreograph shows such as The Lion King Jr, Elf the Musical, High School Musical Jr, Newsies Jr, and is currently working on the next show. Along with her musical theatre performances, Victoria was been selected to perform with Millennium Dance Complex for the Harlem Globetrotters Halftime Show as well as take part in a music video choreographed and directed by Point Park University graduates.
Victoria values every second she gets to work alongside her mom and mentor Tammy. When she is not in the studio teaching or learning, Victoria continues her education through in-person and online dance courses. She is currently certified in Acrobatic Arts Training, NDEO Pedagogy and Content Knowledge of Dance, and Developmental Domains in Dance.
Victoria has attended many dance conventions in Las Vegas, Nashville, New York City and Pittsburgh over the past decade, having the opportunity to train under some of the most highly respected and talented instructors in the industry. Victoria is more than ready to share her passion and knowledge of dance with others. She takes great pride in her position at Tammy’s School of Dance and can’t wait to begin her 7th season with the students of TSD!
Kate Pompa
Kate began her dance career at 3 years old at the Hamilton School of Dance on Long Island, New York. As a student at the BOCES High School for Performing Arts, Kate started performing regularly with the school's cultural arts company, specializing in the areas of ballet, lyrical, and contemporary dance. Kate performed in numerous Long Island productions including Hofstra University's Cabaret, St. Gregory Theatre's Guys and Dolls, and the Rockville Centre Guild for the Art's Little Mary Sunshine and Damn Yankees.
Kate moved to Pittsburgh in 1998 to train at the Conservatory of Performing Arts where she earned her Bachelors in Dance and had the opportunity to study under many esteemed dance professionals including Nicholas Petrov, Ronald Tassone, Judith Leifer-Bentz and many others. Kate was able to perform at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in various productions including Cinderella, Passions of Dance, as well as, featuring her choreography in Playhouse Dance Company's Tomorrow's Choreographers.
Kate discovered her love for teaching when she became an instructor at Miss Holly's Dance Studio as it opened its doors to the Plum community in 1999 and where she remained for the following 16 years.
With a move to the Franklin Park area with her husband, son and daughter Kate is excited to begin as a member of the TSD faculty where she hopes to continue to share her love of dance with all of her new students!
Shannon Kennedy
Miss Shannon began formal dance lessons at the age of 3 at a studio in Titusville, Pa. She found her love of teaching at the age of 15 when asked to instruct cheerleading at the local YWCA. Throughout her teenage years, she continued to study dance at a small studio called Titusville Dance Conservatory and participated in summer programs put on by Dafmarc Ballet of Erie, PA. During this time, Shannon studied French, Vaganova, and Cicchetti styles of ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, and contemporary dance.
Shannon continued her dance studies at LaRoche University, where she earned her BA in performing arts with a concentration in the Vaganova method of ballet with a minor in psychology. While at LaRoche, she participated in an independent study of pedagogy, the science of teaching dance, with Nicholas Petrov. She had the privilege of learning from Kenneth Nickel, Sara Everhart, Mary Cunckleman-Chippan, Claudia Morris, Beth Robertshaw, and Gerard Holt. Her repertoire included The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Giselle, Pas De Quatre (as Fanny Cerrito), and Reign de Egypt, an original by Gerard Holt (as Cleopatra).
After graduation in 2002, Shannon began her career in dance instruction at Michelle's Dance Center. At Michelle's, she specialized in the ballet program for competitive and non-competitive students and choreographed pieces for national competitions. Since then, she has instructed at several studios in the region, including The Dancen' Place, North Pittsburgh Dance Academy, and North Pittsburgh Dance Alliance. Shannon has taught ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, tap, hip hop, tumbling, and contemporary dance forms. Many of her students went on to collect Gold, Hi-Gold, and Platinum awards for their talents.
Shannon resides in Cranberry Twp with her husband, two kids, and two dogs. She is ecstatic to join the studio family and start molding young minds in the art of dance.
grace barcaskey
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Grace began her career in dance at the age of 2 but enrolled in TSD at the age of 5! From the
first class she had at Tammy’s she knew she had found her home away from home. Grace
trained under Miss Tammy Clune and other incredible TSD staff until she graduated in 2020.
During her time at Tammy’s School of Dance, Grace was able to attend dance conventions and
learn and train under some of the biggest names in the dance industry. There, she won a few
specialty awards such as Studio Dancer of the Year, Excellence in Jazz, and Excellence in Lyrical.
Her love for dance and performing also grew at her high school where she was a member of the
Pine Richland High School Dance Team all four years. Her senior year, she was the only senior
captain of the Dance Team where she led the team to a bid to UDA Nationals, won an All-
American award, and choregraphed every routine the Dance Team performed during the year.
She was also a member of the Pine Richland High School Musicals all four years of High School
where she was named Dance Captain her Junior and Senior Years.
After graduation, she returned to TSD as a substitute teacher several times throughout the year
where she fell deeper in love with creating and choreographing. Grace, then went to Ohio
University and tried out to be a member of the Ohio University Dance Team. She performed on
the OUDT at football and basketball games and other school related events! Grace recently
transferred to Duquesne University and will be taking as many dance classes in the city as she
can fit into her schedule!
Grace is ecstatic to step into this new role as a teacher at Tammy’s School of Dance, and she
cannot wait to work with the talented students and faculty!
PAIGE BUCHA
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Paige started dancing at the age of four and never stopped. During her time as a student, Paige
trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, and musical theatre. She discovered her love for
teaching at age fourteen when she became a student instructor at Richelle Lyn School of Dance.
There, she worked with students ages two through ten and decided that she wanted teaching to be
a lifelong endeavor. While in high school, Paige danced competitively, and also participated in
many conventions, workshops, and intensives to further learn and grow as an artist.
Paige continued her dance education at Slippery Rock University, where she earned her Bachelor
of Arts in dance. Throughout college, she was very active in the dance department, serving as the
Vice President of Slippery Rock University’s National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA)
chapter. She was also a member of the Dance Express dance team, and performed at many
Slippery Rock University events. During her college years, Paige taught classes at Richelle Lyn
School of Dance and Tammy’s School of Dance as a substitute teacher. She has also organized
and taught several summer dance camps at Dance Unleashed.
Outside of the studio, Paige is completing her degree in Early Childhood Education, where she
hopes to bring movement and dancing to her own classroom each and every day. Paige is thrilled
to become a Tammy’s School of Dance instructor and looks forward to sharing her love of dance
with all of her students!
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Amanda newton
While Amanda Newton has enjoyed the many previous TSD appearances, she is thrilled to be joining the official teaching team. She brings over 20 years of dance teaching experience with her. Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Youngstown State University where she studied psychology and dance. While there, she was president of the YSU Dance Club and secretary of the YSU Dance Ensemble, where she created various dance pieces. She was also the Kocinski Award Recipient for top senior in dance.
Amanda has performed with various groups including dArt Movement, Squonk Opera’s “Pittsburgh: The Opera,” Just Got To Dance, and the Walnut Street Lodge Players. She has choreographed for a variety of shows including “Seussical The Musical,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Li’l Abner,” dance school recitals and competitions, as well as for weddings. Amanda is a former educational director for the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy Theater. She is also a graduate of Dance Masters of America’s Teacher Training School, where she is certified by test to teach ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance.
Amanda has also participated in the local social dance community by teaching, DJing, and planning national level events. She has attended numerous swing dance exchanges and workshops throughout the country. She has tested into master-level classes with SparX Lindy Hop. Swing dancing has taken her all the way to the Guinness World Book as a record holder for the “Longest Dance Party.”
She considers herself to be a lifelong student by attending various teachers’ training programs in-person and online including DanceLife Teacher Conference, Dance Teacher Web Live Conference, Dance Masters of America Teachers’ Training School, and others. She enjoys attending tap dance festivals with some favorites including RIFF Tap Festival, DC Tap Festival, Third Coast Rhythm Project, Fingerlakes Tap Festival, Tapology Dance Festival, and Rock City Tap Festival. She has also attended both the Chicago Tap Summit and Resonance Tap Experience on full teacher scholarships. She also enjoys attending dance conventions with her students.
Kristin barcaskey
Kristin began her dance career at the age of two in the Baden/Economy area at Miss Louise’s
School of Dance. She grew up loving the art of dance, and she was enrolled in every class she
could take. She performed in many recitals and a few competitions at Miss Louise’s. She ended
up continuing her dance training at Miss Louise’s where she was a Teacher’s Assistant and
eventually a teacher, herself. She taught many styles and ages in dance and loved every minute
of it. She danced at Miss Lousie’s for 15+ years until she graduated from Ambridge High School
and went to college.
When Kristin graduated from Ambridge High School in 1990, she studied Biology at Ohio
University in Athens, Ohio. While at Ohio University, she continued taking dance classes
whenever she could. She then graduated from Ohio University with a Biology degree and
continued her education at the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her master’s degree
in physical therapy. During this time, she took many adult dance classes and performed in a few
recitals!
Kristin lives in the Pine-Richland area with her husband, two daughters, one son, and two
puppies. She has been a Pediatric Physical Therapist for 27+ years working in a variety of
settings and with children of various ages and abilities. Her two daughters, Grace and Ella, both
danced at Tammy’s from a young age, making Kristin the ultimate Dance Mom! Kristin has
loved being a part of the Tammy’s School of Dance family from the Dance Mom angle, but she
is even more excited to further her dance career teaching at the studio where her girls grew up
and her entire family loves!
brittany nettles
Brittany Nettles is a dancer, choreographer and teacher from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She began dancing at age 3 and went on to study dance at Point Park University where she earned a BFA in dance with a concentration in jazz. Brittany currently dances with Pittsburgh-local dance company, Shana Simmons Dance, and is beginning her first semester as an instructor at Point Park University this fall. She has presented work at PBT's Open Air Festival, PearlArt's Charrette, and NachMO PGH.
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