Our Instructors
Stephanie Jones Anderson
Stephanie is the Owner, Artistic Director, and Lead Instructor at MDS. She has been dancing from the time she could walk and grew up at the studio. Stephanie has attended Dance Olympics in Atlanta, Riverside Dance and Gymnastic Camps, and Tiger Paws Dance Camps at Auburn University. She has taught dance lines at Heart of Dance with Auburn University, Jacksonville State University, and The University of Alabama. She recently choreographed for the Distinguished Young Women pageant. Stephanie also competed in the Junior Olympics under Otis Reeves as a Prattville YMCA Gymnast. Stephanie is a Registered Dental Hygienist from UAB School of Hygiene. Stephanie is well known for her brilliant choreography, her love for teaching, and her hard work ethic.
Carol Mann Meeks
Carol Meeks is lovingly referred to as "Mama Carol" by her students and has spent more than half a century dancing and teaching at MDS. Carol has taught majorette and dance line clinics throughout the Southeast, as well as the University of Alabama, Jacksonville State University, and Auburn University. She is a certified national judge for beauty pageants, band competitions, and school dance lines. Carol has an eye for detail, a deep love for her students, and an excellent reputation within the community.
Molli Rich
Molli began taking dance classes as a toddler and literally grew up at the studio. She’s a fourth generation dance teacher here and loves working with her family, while sharing her passion for dance with the next generation of dancers. Molli started dancing competitively at age seven, and quickly realized that dancing is what she wanted to do forever. By her teen years, she was teaching recreational classes at MDS and assisting in choreography. As her skills grew, she began to take on new endeavors and began to choreograph across the state. Molli was awarded a full two-year dance scholarship for Southern Union Community College in 2015. Since completing her two years, Molli has trained with Joffrey Ballet, KAR Conventions, Platinum Conventions, Atlanta Hawks Clinic, NRG Conventions, Pulse Conventions, and countless others. Molli’s favorite part of teaching dance is seeing her dancers’ growth throughout the season. Her niches are teaching contemporary and jazz, although she has a keen eye for cleaning routines.
MaKayla Rybka
MaKayla began taking dance classes as a toddler and literally grew up at the studio. She’s a fourth generation dance teacher here and loves to pour her love for dance and life into her students. MaKayla started dancing competitively at age five and continued until graduating high school, somewhere along the way realizing that teaching children was her passion. After graduating from Autauga Academy, Makayla went on to Southern Union State Community College and was awarded a full two-year dance Scholarship in 2017. After graduating at SUSCC, Makayla went on to get her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Troy University where her knowledge and love for the art of dance grew immensely. MaKayla’s favorite part of teaching dance is seeing her dancers’ love for dance grow throughout the season, as well as watching them grow together as a team. Her niches are teaching technique, although she also truly loves to choreograph dances to help the students grow as artist.