History & Team
Get to know about our company
Studio M Dance Centre offers classes for children between the ages of 1 and 18. Mommy and Me, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, & HipHop
Studio M Dance Centre offers classes for children between the ages of 1 and 18. Mommy and Me, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, & HipHop
Miss Ashlie grew up in Springfield, Illinois. She has over 30 years of dance experience, she is a certified dance instructor through Dance Educators of America in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Acrobatics, Hiphop and Modern. She was a member of Linda Ushman's Dance Centre from the age of 3, started competing at the age of 7, and continued dancing on her college dance team. Ashlie has studied under many professionals from all over the world, receiving several honors including scholarships from LA DanceForce, and Dupree Dance Convention. She studied at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City, competed in many regional and national competitions, and has performed twice in Disney's Magic Music Days program in Orlando Florida, the "Nutcracker on Broadway," and Carnival Cruise Lines. Miss Ashlie graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a dual degree in Early Childhood Elementary and Special Education K-12. She is living in Springfield with her husband Danny and their two beautiful children, Colby and Brynlee. Colby is in 7th grade and enjoys Baseball, Football and Wrestling. Brynlee is a part of the SMDC Company and Team M-Pact ! Her choreography and competition routines have received many Regional and National Championships, Judges and Choreography Awards, Title Winners, and Golden Ticket to Worlds! Miss Ashlie is elated about this dance studio and program, it has been a dream of hers since she was little and is very excited to see the wonderful opportunities it will bring to many dancers for years to come!
Miss Rachelle was a member of Linda Ushman's Dance Centre for 15 years, she was on the company and competitive team. She is a certified dance instructor through Dance Educators of America in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Acrobatics, Hiphop and Modern. With the dance company, she has performed on Broadway in New York City, in Disney's Magic Music Days program at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and performed aboard Carnival Cruise Lines. Miss Rachelle was a member of the competition team for 8 years and was a studio assistant for 5 years. She graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in Criminal Law. She is living in Springfield with her husband Joey and their two beautiful children. Her daughter Leena is a member of the SMDC Company and Team M-Pact. Her choreography and competition routines have received many Regional and National Championships, Judges and Choreography Awards, Title Winners, and Golden Ticket to Worlds! She loves dance and working with young inspired dancers. Miss Rachelle is having so much fun and is looking forward to working with all the dancers.
Miss Deena is our number one dance mom! She has her masters in Dance Mom 101, she has been supporting her daughters in dance for over 30 years and she can do it all. She has traveled all over the world, and can do a quick change in minutes flat. She is our mom and she is the first person you will see when you walk into Studio M Dance Centre. Miss Deena is the woman that has all the answers, she is the heart of our family and a major asset to our dance family.
This is Miss Allie’s fifth year teaching for Studio M. Allie has grown up in Springfield, Illinois her entire life and is a 2017 Rochester High School Graduate. She began her dance career at the age of 3 and has 19 years of dance training and experience. She joined the competition team at the age of 6 and has received high honors and scholarships from multiple dance conventions and competitions, including Dupree Dance, Tremaine, and Groove. Allie has trained and taken many different classes in a variety of styles throughout her years of dancing including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, and even Bollywood. She was an assistant teacher for 5 years and this will be her 6th year teaching her own classes. Allie is a hairstylist and Owner of The Owls Nest Hair Studio in Chathamand is married husband Robert! Allie has loved becoming part of the SMDC family these past two years and is so excited to take on her 3rd year with us!She teaches a number of our hip hop and contemporary classes and helps coach the studio M-Pact Competition team. In her free time she likes to hangout with her husband and our newest member to the SMDC family their Daughter Edie Louise!
Mr Ken is a girl dad to 3 SMDC/Complex members! He graduated from Western Illinois University where he majored in Law Enforcement. He was a police officer for 8 years until he decided to switch into sales. He now works for Jostens. Mr. Ken also coached football for 7 years where his wife’s cheerleaders taught him how to do a standing back tuck. Mr. Ken has experience with obstacle courses. He had an opportunity to test and run the America Ninja Warrior course when it was Indianapolis, appeared on CMTs reality TV show Broken Skull Challenge two different seasons & loves spending time at the local CrossFit gym to continue training. Mr. Ken is looking forward to his 2nd year at the Complex & teaching a new “Agility Warriors” (ninja inspired) class!
Miss Emily has been dancing since age 5. She started training at Linda Ushman Dance Centre and stayed with the studio as it transitioned to Heather's Dance Centre. She was a part of the dance company for 10 years. She has performed in New York as a soldier in the nutcracker on Broadway. She has also danced on the Carnival Cruise line on two cruises. After graduation from high school, she attended college for nursing. While there she began teaching at Dance in the Light, where she was for 7 years. She took a few years off to finish her Master’s. She is now Nurse Practitioner (FNP) at Memorial Weightloss and Wellness. She has 3 beautiful children, Lizzy, Megan and Josh which all dance at Studio M. She started with Studio M in 2016 and is loving it.
Miss Hannah started dancing at age 3 and hasn’t stopped dancing since. Throughout middle and high school, she was a member of competition teams which took her to several National competitions and conventions. She has performed in Disney World, on a Carnival Cruise, in the Nutcracker, and has even auditioned for America’s Got Talent. Miss Hannah has been teaching both recreational and competitive dance for about 10 years. She loves all styles of dance but Tap, Ballet, and Hip Hop are her favorites!! Miss Hannah coaches the SHG Golden Angels Poms Team and works at SHG as a Guidance Counselor. She lives in Springfield with her husband Ryan and 2 kiddos Willa Rose and Riggs. Miss Hannah is excited to begin her 2nd year with SMDC and share her love of dance!
Miss Mariah is one of our hip hop instructors! She is 21 on years old and our first home grown teacher. Miss Mariah was born in Springfield and started dance at age 3. Miss Mariah was a part of Team M-Pact for 3 years and SMDC Company for 4 years. She loves to perform and dance her heart out and wants to continue as a teacher for SMDC, to put her love towards more children who feel the same as she does about dance! She claims that her best and favorite style of dance is Hip Hop. Mariah has a huge love for dance and hopes to pursue that in her students.Hip hop is her favorite genre of dance and she loves teaching her students her favorite moves!
Miss Sarah began her dance career in Shelbyville, IL at the age of 4 at Lana’s Dance Studio. From there, she moved on to learn tumbling and dance from studios around Central Illinois. She started choreographing for her high school musicals and show choir when she was in high school and performed at Dollywood. Sarah also was in the Decatur Young Park Singers, which is a traveling show choir group. She is also a competitive cheerleader and has performed at the Orange Bowl. Sarah went to Millikin University where she got a degree in Music Business/Elementary Education and minored in Dance. While at Millikin, she was on the dance team and on the cheer squad. Sarah also started working at a dance studio in Shelbyville during college, where she stayed for 12 years teaching jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, pointe, tumbling, trampoline, double-mini and competitive cheerleading. She has also choreographed for many musicals and cheer squads in high schools around Illinois. Sarah also just finished her Master’s in Education in 2016. Sarah lives in Chatham with her husband Phil and with her fun-loving daughter Ellison. She is so excited to be continuing with this team here at Studio M Dance Centre and cannot wait to teach the love of dance!
Miss Ally grew up in Chatham and was a Glenwood High School Graduate. She began tumbling and dancing at the age of 5 and continued throughout high school at local studios. She has been a part of the SMDC family as a competitive dance mom since the team was created. Miss Ally’s involvement with Studio M as a dance mom reignited her passion for tumbling. She became a coach for The CoMplex when it opened in 2019. She is excited to assist tumblers accomplish their goals and gain confidence in the gym. She has worked for Walgreens as a Pharmacy Technician for over 7 years, and has been working in the Mental Health Field for the last 6 years. She currently lives in Springfield with her boyfriend Zach, and daughter Khia. Khia is a part of the SMDC Company and Team M-Pact. Miss Ally is eagerly embracing her new role as The CoMplex Director and is looking forward to the season ahead.
Hi there! I’m Miss Morgan! I have been dancing for 24 years and teaching for the last 9 years. Dance is one of my biggest passions in life, and I am so excited to be starting my second year with SMDC! My husband Josh and I are both originally from Springfield and have a son named Kenny who is 1. I graduated from ISU in 2015 with a degree in Publishing and a minor in Dance. I can’t wait for another great year teaching all things tap!
LaVerne Hooker was born, raised and trained in dance, theatre and voice in New Orleans, LA. She ran her own recreational and competitive award winning dance and acting school. In addition to teaching dance and acting she directed and choreographed musicals for various charities. She has worked on stage and screen in LA and MS. Her dance students have gone on to enjoy careers in dance and theatre in and out of the country. She is the mother and former teacher of Springfield Ballet Company’s newest company dancer Nicolette Kolesnikova. Her younger special needs daughter Libby is one of her former competitive dancers.
My name is Abby Holden. I grew up in Chatham IL where i graduated from Glenwood High School in 2020. I received my associates from Lincoln Land in k-6 education in December of 2021 and I will be transferring to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to finish my bachelors in Elementary Education. I started gymnastics when I was 7 until I was 15. I started coaching gymnastics and tumbling at when I was 16 at still love it!! I love coaching at the CoMplex. Outside of the CoMplex, I work at Hyvee and Trinity Lutheran School.
Hi I’m Miss Nicole, I was born and raised in Chatham graduating from Glenwood in 2006. I began both tumbling and dance at the age of 2. L&M gymnastics and Sue’s Sundance Studio, respectively. Fun fact, Sue’s Sundance studio is now home another dance studio, ONE we all know & love…That’s right, our very own Studio M Dance Centre! From the ages of 3-15 I was a competitive tumbler, all-around gymnast, and dancer. While at GHS, I was a 4-year member of the Poms Squad, and upon graduating, my love of dance continued through college where I was a member of the Eastern Illinois University dance team. I graduated with a degree in Accounting and Economics in 2010 and was lucky enough to move back to Chatham. Since then I graduated from UIS in 2014 with a Masters in Accountancy, started a family with my husband, and began my professional career as an Accountant. Currently my husband and I have 3 spunky daughters, ages 8, 5, & 2. All 3 girls dance and tumble and love being part of the SMDC family. I am happy to be back where it all started for me, now as part of the SMDC staff, and cannot wait to share my passion and knowledge of gymnastics, tumbling, and dance with all our amazing athletes.
Team M-Pact is our competitive team for dedicated, hardworking and talented dancers ages 6-18! We compete Mini, Junior, Teen and Seniors
Teams in Novice, Intermediate and soon to be Advanced level. Our team has many Regional and National Titles along with 2 World Dance
Championship Titles! Adding to the esteemed titles we also have been awarded several Studio Awards, Studio Professionalism Awards, Choreography,
and Entertainment Awards. If your dancer is ready to take their dancing to the next level or looking for a studio.
Join this supportive,
hardworking, talented group of dancers, staff and family. If it doesn’t challenge you…It won’t change you!!