Mary Kay Manning is the owner and Artistic Director of the Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio since 1983. As an active member of Dance Masters of Ohio and America, she continues working with Master Dance instructors throughout the country while sharing multiple dance experiences with her students. Mary Kay resides in North Royalton with her husband of 33 years and enjoys her two grown children and three grandchildren. Mary Kay enjoys staying active in the community.
Tamara Manning-Kabat is the Assistant Director at the Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio. She started dancing at MKM Studio when she was only five years old. Tamara graduated with Honors from the University of Akron with a BA in dance. Tamara choreographs and teaches for various groups and organizations in the community. She is always attending master classes to stay current and educated.
Mary Melhuish is the Studio and Show Coordinating Manager since 1992.
Marge Pavlik is the Office Manager since 1997.
Linda Szucs has been part of the Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio since 1987, volunteering her time to help out.
Diane Marcoff has been an office and show assistant since 2005.
Emily Kaiser is currently a student at Slippery Rock University working on her Bachelor's degree in Music Education.She first joined the MKM family when she was only 5 years old, and once entering high school began to assistant teach.Before leaving for school Emily was an instructor and or assistant for 5 years. She has taught jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, acro, summer camps, combination classes, and this year will begin the MKM Show Choir.She absolutely loves teaching students of all ages and is looking forward to getting back into the classroom on a regular basis.
Julie Ann Novak started dancing at MKM Studio in 1986 and was a competition company member for several years. She began teaching in 1993. Julie went through Dance Masters of America Teachers Training School. She performed on the professional Cleveland Crunch Dance Team, danced with Elvis impersonator and entertained locally. She was choreographer for the Parma Sr. High School Dance Team and Brunswick High School Show Choir. Currently, Julie choreographs for Royalton Player's Musicals and the MKM lyrical competition companies. She has been married for more than 11 years and has two boys.
Traci Church has been with the Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio for 13 years. She trained at Lee Dobies Dance Studio and continued her tap training at The University of Akron where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science. In addition to her work with her MKM Dance family, she teaches cheer and dance for local schools. Her true love is choreography at all levels and she is choreographer for Lyrical, Tap, and Hip Hop Companies.
Jennifer Buchner began her dance training at Pontecorvo Ballet Studios in Dayton, Ohio. While at PBS, she performed in many classical and contemporary ballets with Ballet de Jeunesse (now Gem City Ballet), the pre-professional ballet company affiliated with PBS. She continued her studies at Ohio University, earning a BFA in Modern Dance Performance/Choreography in 2001. Jennifer joined the MKM staff in 2001 and serves as the Pointe Class and Assistant Teacher Coordinator.
Melody Just started ice skating at 5 and ballet at 6. She continued competitive skating and team dancing through high school, and choreographed group numbers. Melody also holds a Bachelor's in Nutrition, and an M.B.A., and currently teaches pre-school age through adults in a variety of disciplines including dance, nutrition, and business.
Melissa Pavlik has been dancing since the age of 3. Upon graduation from Brecksville Broadview Heights High School she attended Ohio University. She performed with their dance team for 4 years and served as captain and choreographer for 2 years. Melissa graduated in June of 2009 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Management Information Systems and currently is employed with Progressive Insurance as Mainframe Technical Analyst. Her love of music and dance has landed her a role in a local show choir, Steppin ’ Out, where she both performs and choreographs. Melissa is so excited to be joining Mary Kay’s staff and sharing her love of dance with everyone!!
Giorgia Quarti (Stevenson) was born and raised in Venice Italy. She began dancing at 5 years old under Arte Danza of Sabrina Massignani in Venice Italy. She received scholarships from the Royal Ballet School of London, The English National Ballet School of London and additional studies in Courses of Technique in Garches France amongst many others. She performed Giselle, Paquita, The Black Swan, and several others. Her passion is Ballet, Jazz, and pas de duex. Giorgia has been married for five years and has one child. Her life consists of Faith and Family.
Jackie Marcus has been dancing at Mary Kay Manning Dance Studio since the age of 3. She was a member of several competition teams as a student, and has been teaching since 2005. Jackie ’s acro background includes participating in cheerleading throughout high school and several gymnastics and tumbling classes. Jackie graduated from John Carroll University in 2007 with a BA in Communications and serves as the editor of the MKM Footnotes Newsletter.
Maeghan Gorman started dancing at age 4 and continued to dance for several years including competing both locally and nationally while she studied dance at David DeMarie Dance Studio in Buffalo, NY. She relocated to Cleveland to attend John Carroll University earning a bachelor ’s degree in Marketing. Maeghan resides in Strongsville with her husband and 2 daughters and is excited to become part of the 'MKM' team!
Alexa Glazer began dance at age 3 and trained for 16 years in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and pointe. She has been on many of the competition teams that MKMDS offers, winning many gold and platinum medals and has started to choreograph solos. At MKM she had been an assistant and substitute teacher. Alexa loves teaching and enjoys being an inspiration to as many people she can! In high school she was a member of dance team. Currently Alexa is attending college for a major in Business and a minor in Dance. She is so excited to be more involved as part of the MKM staff!
