Miss Melanie started dancing at the age of nine with Miss Keltie Collins. She took tap and jazz to start and when she turned 11, she began taking ballet under the instruction of Miss Nicole Getchel and Mr. Andrei Bossov. Miss Melanie states that other sports were never her “thing,” she would rather be doing pirouettes or toe stands than of dribbling a basketball!

Throughout her dancing career, Melanie performed in various dance and musical theater productions including: The Wiz (’98), Footloose (’03), The Tap Nutcracker (’95 through ’01) and various dance competitions throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

After graduating from Cony High School in 2002, Melanie attended Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. After college, Melanie returned to Maine and became a teaching assistant to Holly Gannett for the Thomas College Dance Team and jumped back into taking adult dance classes at KDC. In 2012, she started teaching beginner hip hop and later, Pre Dance, in the fall of 2016. Melanie thoroughly enjoys teaching young children and watching them learn and grow.

“Melanie has a gift for working with young children and Kennebec Dance Centre’s Preschool Dance Program has flourished since Melanie took over the program in 2016,” said KDC Owner/Artistic Director Renée Black. “Young dancers and their families have absolutely raved about Miss Melanie, and word is getting out. We are constantly getting phone calls to enroll in Melanie’s classes and we have even expanded the program to include a summer session called Ready, Set, Dance! as well.”