Southside Dance Center Instructors
Lori Gelezinsky
Owner/Director & Instructor
Lori is a native of Chadbourn, NC and a current resident of Tabor City, North Carolina. She graduated from West Columbus High School as Valedictorian in 1990. During high school she trained locally, and studied at the North Carolina Governor’s School of Dance. While pursuing her degree at East Carolina University as a North Carolina Teaching Fellow Scholarship Recipient, Lori performed with the college’s nationally ranked dance team for four years – competing in the ESPN College National Championships held in San Antonio, Texas (where they were ranked fourth in the nation) and San Deigo, California. She was also cast in ECU’s annual Dance Theatre for three years consecutively. Lori graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. degree in Dance Education from ECU in 1994.
Lori holds a certification from the State of North Carolina to teach dance to grades kindergarten through twelve in the public schools and taught dance and theatre arts to students at East Columbus High School from 1994 to 1998. While there, she created and directed the county’s first and only School Dance Team, the Gator Girls, who competed in the National High School Dance Team Championships in Orlando, Florida. She directed “Oliver!”, “Westside Story,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” Lori was voted twice by her fellow faculty members at ECHS as the school’s “Teacher of the Year.” Lori also served as choreographer for the Columbus County Theatre Association in their production of the musical “Grease.”
Lori taught at Turning Point Studio in Whiteville in 1996 and 1997 and has served on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Dance Alliance. She has been honored four times with an invitation to serve as guest dance clinician for the largest student arts festival in the state – “Celebrate the Arts” in 2001, 2004, 2012, and 2016. Lori has also judged auditions for the ECU Dance Team and for professional teams in the Winston Salem area.
Lori was honored to serve as guest choreographer for the Wilmington Ballet Company’s production of the Nutcracker for seven years.
Having opened Southside Dance Center in 1997, she has directed and taught in the studio since it’s beginning.
Lori ultimately holds family as her highest achievement and greatest possession. She is married to Barry Gelezinsky and they have two children, Brady and Layla, Son in Law Caleb, and one grandchild, Easton. She is an active member of Cherry Grove Baptist Church where she co-teaches an adult Sunday School class. Lori feels extremely blessed and most importantly, proclaims Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord.
Sloan Blair
Sloan is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, with concentrations in Dance and Early Childhood Education. She was a member of Sigma Alpha Omega Christian Sorority during all four of her college years. During her Senior Year, she choreographed for the 2014 Homecoming competition, Spurs and Struts, on behalf of her sorority, leading them to win the small group organization. The annual competition is held between all campus organizations. In the summer of 2014, Sloan taught dance at Arts In Action Music Studio summer arts camp for underpriviledged children in the West Columbia, SC community. The summer camp introduced children to five arts concentrations that included dance, acting, voice, piano and violin. Sloan is a Southside Dance Center alumni, having trained at Southside during her younger years and graduating from Green Sea Floyds High School. While at SDC, she performed with the competitive teams, and assisted with various ages of classes. In 2017, Sloan served as the choreographer for the Green Sea Floyd’s High School production of “Annie” and became a professional member of the National Dance Education Organization. Sloan is the dance and theatre teacher at East Columbus High School and recently directed “Honk!” in 2018 and “Annie” in 2019 as the school’s spring musical. We are excited to have Sloan back “home” with her SDC family. Our students love her fun and energetic choreography!
Jaclyn Ray
Jaclyn is a Columbus County native returning home as a 2016 graduate of East Carolina University. She holds a degree in Public Health Studies with a concentration in pre-health professions. She graduated from South Columbus High School as Salutatorian in 2012. While at ECU, Jaclyn performed for four years with the Magnolia Belles, the only all female a cappella ensemble at the university. She also served a two-year term as the group’s President and Music Director. While an extremely talented vocalist, Jaclyn also has an extensive dance background. She was a student at Southside for several of her younger years and continued her training with family in Loris, SC. She performed dance competitively for numerous years during her training and has also served as an assistant instructor. In recent years, Jaclyn has served as choreographer for the choral music programs at Loris High School and Aynor High School. Jaclyn is also very involved in her church, Loris First Presbyterian Church where she assists in leading worship on Sundays and is a regular chaperone for youth retreats and mission trips. Jaclyn is a K-5 general music teacher with Columbus County Schools affording her the opportunity to teach many of our SDC students music during the day and dance at night! This will be Jaclyn’s sixth year as a member of the SDC staff. She brings so much professionalism and creativity to our studio, and we all know that Jaclyn loves her some tap dancing!
Grayce Worley
Grayce Worley has been a member of the SDC staff since she graduated in 2019 from South Columbus High School. She has been an assistant instructor since 2014 and has literally grown up in the studio, having taken dance at Southside since she was three years old! Grayce was a member of the SDC Allstars Dance teams for 5 years. She adores all styles of dance, but her favorite styles to teach are jazz, contemporary, and hip hop! While teaching dance, she is also a full time student and plans to graduate in December 2021 with a degree in Cosmetology. Her bubbly personality and creative energy are a huge asset to our studio!
Sierra Nobles
Sierra Nobles is the newest addition to the SDC staff, having just graduated from Cedar Creek High School. She plans to attend Horry-Georgetown Technical College to begin pursuing a degree in Psychology in hopes of becoming an Autism therapist. She has been dancing with us at Southside since she was seven years old and has danced competitively with the SDC Allstars for 8 years. She has assisted in every class at the studio over the years and while she loves all styles of dance, contemporary and ballet have always been her favorite to perform and teach. Our Southside babies love her warm and nurturing personality and especially look forward to her sweet hugs! She is so thrilled to be able to continue loving on our students as an official staff member!
Layla Fonvielle is in and out of the studio as she has been all her life. She is the owner’s daughter and has literally lived her life dancing in and out of the doors of Southside Dance Center. She began dance lessons with her Mom at 2 years old and has loved it ever since. During her time as a student at SDC, she served as an assistant instructor and danced competitively with the Southside Allstars. She was awarded many accolades, especially for her energetic tap solos. These days Layla stays busy being wife to Caleb, new Mommy to their son, Easton, and pursuing her education. Layla loves to assist with classes of all ages at the studio and pops in whenever we need her to help out behind the scenes. Our dancers love Mrs. Layla!