Mrs. Sammie Werkheiser has been teaching dance in the Binghamton, Waverly, Endicott, Owego, NY, and Scranton, PA, communities since 1995. She is considered a Master Teacher in Ballet, Lyrical, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics, and Contortion.

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"Miss Sammie" studied ballet at the Binghamton School of Ballet and learned Russian Vaganova style ballet from Miss Deborah Guokas-Hetherly. She was her Principal Dancer for the school, and danced the role of the Dew Drop Fairy, Russian Variation, Dolls, Snow Scene, and Arabian Dance in The Nutcracker Ballet. In addition to her ballet technique background, she also studied locally at Miss Marie Pompeii Monforte's variety school, the "Southern Tier Academy of Dance," beginning in 1987. Her first lessons were at the old Greyhound Bus Station on Chenango Street in Binghamton, next to Little Venice restaurant. A young Sammie's Saturday morning ballet class was always followed by the wonderful weekly treat of getting a half order of pasta, and a crusty end of Italian bread from Little Venice restaurant. At age 10, Sammie and her dancing partner Andrea Bartolotto placed 4th Place at The Great New York State Fair with their variety duo "Pink Cadillac" in Syracuse, NY. It is a treasured memory for her.

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In June of 1989, Sammie, at age 10, was the recipient of a FULL PRIVATE LESSON SCHOLARSHIP of solo dance lessons, given as a gift to her by Miss Marie at the last dance recital in 1989, before Miss Marie passed away in January of 1990 at age 42 from pancreatic cancer. With this scholarship, Sammie was able to study dance and learn from Rita Kalmen Pilotti and Lisa Affatato. These two teachers greatly influenced Sammie.

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​The early and formative years studying under these two women were life changing. Without the scholarship from Miss Marie, Sammie's family would likely not have been able to afford her that level of training. Her Mom was a waitress, and dance lessons and costumes were very expensive. Still, her mom Maureen and step Dad Michael worked so very hard to make sure that Sammie could learn as much about dance as possible.​ And.she.did.

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Their hard work on her behalf paid off for Sammie. She grew as a dancer and performer. At age 14, Sammie performed Off-Broadway at The Actor's Playhouse in NYC with Peter Sklar. That year she also danced for Lois Welk in the American Dance Asylum's "Carousel Dance," and spent an entire summer dancing, and hanging upside down as The Purple Horse from all of the carousels in Broome County. The show, choreographed by Lois Welk, would inspire Sammie to look at dance in a new way; that dance could and SHOULD be brought to our beautiful community in unique and creative ways, and that it was truly meant to be shared and enjoyed with others. Sammie believed dance could change people, ideas, and life.

 

At 15, she was sent to Purdue University as a gift from Immanuel Presbyterian Church so that she could study Liturgical (specifically, the spoken word of the Bible) dance. This wonderful experience gave her the opportunity to study dance barefoot in the grass, in the summer sunshine to the spoken word. Because of this training, Sammie would forever see poetry and spoken word as song, and it influenced her choreography as a young woman. At 16, Sammie was a Finalist at the United States Performing Arts Championships in Boston, Massachussetts, and was 4th Runner Up for the national title of Miss Dance of the United States. At 17, she became the Principal Dancer for the Binghamton School of Ballet, and performed for the Roberson Museum and Science Center's Home for the Holidays exhibit, performing 5 shows every single weekend in December. At 18, she met a local businessman named Adam Weitsman, and was his very first tenant with her first dance studio opening April 5th, 1997, in the now successful old Cahill Building, previously the Hull-Grummond Cigar Company in the late 1800s. This first dance studio was located on the 3rd floor at 222 Water Street in Binghamton, NY, and also housed the still in operation beloved Lost Dog Cafe. It was there that she also met Ms. Carla Bruce, an original owner of the Lost Dog Cafe, who would continue to be an integral and special person to Sammie, a lifetime encourager of her artistic pursuits.

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In the fall of 1997, Sammie met Jules Werkheiser.  Jules met Sammie after hearing her voice on a radio commercial ad on STAR 105.7, and at age 21, decided to join Creative Dance Elements after getting a Bachelor's Degree in dance at Wilkes University. Jules immediately became central to the dance studio's success. Three years later, the couple would work side by side helping to build another dance studio together in Waverly, New York. This school was opened by Jules and family in 1998, and now Sammie came on to assist with the ballet and acrobatics program for the studio. The teaching successes of both Sammie and Jules were far reaching and effective. Over the last thirty years, Sammie and Jules have taught literally THOUSANDS of children and adults to love themselves (and each other,) while creating dance and art. More than that, they have witnessed their students become productive members of society, while always keeping dance in their hearts as they reach adulthood.

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As a teacher, Miss Sammie's dancers have danced at the Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies. Her choreography was commissioned by the Roberson Center for her rendition of The Nutcracker Ballet. She was called in for the American Girl Doll's event "Meet Felicity" put on by the museum. Her dancers performed "Forget Not Columbine High" in its entirety on WBNG 12 Action News, to bring awareness in 2001 about the Columbine High school shooting and gun control. In 2002, her "Tribute to Mark Bingham, Flight 93" was performed throughout the Northeast as a 9/11 tribute to the human beings who were on Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11th, 2001. Sammie traveled to the site of the crash with her dancers. In 2002, she created another tribute show, and this one was for 9 coal miners who survived the Quecreek Mine incident in Somerset, Pennsylvania. She traveled to that site where 9 coal miners were trapped for 3 days underground, but were ultimately saved. This original show was danced by her Professional Dance Company, "The Little Dance Company That Could," featuring professional local dancers: Kimberly Wright(of Ed McMahon's Star Search fame), Brian Maciak (owner of The Fuse), Lily Creech (Miss Acrobat of NY, EPAC's Burlesque, Rod Serling Dance Company) Ariel Pilar Fajardo, Brianna Starmer, Michelle LeBlanc(NYU), Teresa Wahila, and Sammie and Jules Werkheiser. This show was performed at The Forum in Binghamton, the Discovery Center, and also Endicott Performing Arts Center.

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In 2010, her dancers were brought in to the American Civic Association in Binghamton, NY, to bring both peace and healing to not only the space, but more importantly, to the families who lost a loved one from the massacre that occurred there.  Tragically, 13 lives were lost. Sammie felt so moved inside of herself about how dance could transform a space. At the beginning of the ReOpening Day, one year after the massacre, all of the dancers and observers were quiet and sad, of course due to the solemnity of the day and what had happened there one year prior. By the end of the event, a joy had burst forth within the audience of family members and tears spilled all around. It was a sacred event that shall never be forgotten, the Grand Re-Opening of the American Civic Association. Mrs. Werkheiser was told by the husband of one of the women that were murdered, "When I was watching the dance, I felt like she was right next to me, sharing in the dance. I can feel her with me, pointing at the dancers, patting me on the leg, "Look, Look!" She loved dancing and she would have loved that."

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With the help of a small army of Dance Moms, Sammie created an entire show as a fundraiser for one of the Dance Moms at her studio, Mrs. Liz DeVivo, who was undergoing a heart and double lung transplant. This Show was performed at the Broome County Forum, and the money raised from the show went directly to Liz for her medication. This show's theme was "Turning Lemons Into Lemonade" and both of Liz's daughters performed in the show. There were actual fresh lemons in the show and in the months leading up to the show, the dance studio smelled like fermented lemons for weeks! :) A few random lemons were found months after the show behind the trophy case too! :P

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Sammie and Jules would go on to be recognized for their choreography at all of the local, state, and National dance competitions that they took their dancers to. In 2010, they took their dancers by plane all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they won THE GOLD MEDAL and FIRST PLACE for Nationals. She was also the teacher of the 1st Place Grand Champion winner of Coca Cola's Talent Showcase at THE GREAT NEW YORK STATE FAIR, Andrew VanAllen.

 

Sammie's students have gone on to dance at prestigious dance universities, and have also been seen on television, being featured on "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE," "America's Got Talent," Smash, Peter Pan, Orange Is the New Black, Law and Order, in film, on Carnival Cruise Lines, and on stages in Africa, England, and France.  And!! In case you are wondering, why yes, a handful of her dancers have gone on to professional performing arts careers, but many, many more have become heroes in their own hometowns. They are school teachers, school counselors, psychologists, nurses, lawyers, United States Marines, beauticians, engineers, professors, news anchors, healing arts specialists, jewelry designers, photographers, special education teachers, artists, moms, homemakers, and several have gone on to actually own THEIR own dance studios. We are eternally proud of each and every one of them. Always. 

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Miss Sammie has testimonials which can be shared, as well as three decades of dancers and parents who would be happy to speak with you about their experiences under her tutelage. Please do not hesitate to call Miss Sammie for any of the above references, or to speak with a dance family. She appreciates you so very much for considering Sunflowers for your child, or even for yourself. 

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