Hunter Lamm Peebles opened Hunter's Dance in 1983 after graduating with a degree in ballet from the N.C. School of the Arts.

"On our 25th anniversary, I am more excited than ever about the future of Hunter's Dance," Peebles said. "I thought I would be winding down by now, but with the addition of our newest instructors, Tonya Sorenson and Barrett Wheeler, I feel like we have so many more things to offer our students!"

With the new instructors, the studio was able to add lyrical and hip hop and rhythm tap. Peebles' focus is on the ballet and pointe classes. Students can audition to be part of a competitive dance team.

The dance studio is also developing a pre-professional program for serious students who want to pursue a career in dance. Regular dance programs are for students who dance for enjoyment.

Peebles said she's been teaching dance and doing dance recitals for 25 years because of the way God worked events in her life.

Her original plans were to be a dancer in New York, but she returned to Wilson to take care of her younger brothers as her mother was sick with cancer. She decided to open a dance studio in Wilson for three years while she would be their caretaker. But in three years, she got married, moved to Raleigh and decided to keep her Wilson studio. Peebles and her husband, Mike, have two sons and a daughter.

Peebles started dance at the age of three at Hinnant's School of Dance in Wilson. She studied dance at Jean Harris' School of Dance in Wilson from ages 12-18, at the American Dance Festival in New York, the Washington Ballet School, the Centre de Danse in Cannes, France, the American Dance Festival at Duke, and the N.C. School of the Arts.

She performed in the national tour of "Jazz Is" and in "West Side Story" at Memorial Auditorium.

Peebles' daughter, Caramy, has special needs and is one of the dancers at the studio and a winner at dance competitions.

keeter@wilsontimes.com | 265-7817