Staff

Kay Marie and Carol's School of Dance (KMC) has teachers who bring personal integrity and the philosophy of striving for excellence, together with a sincere concern for the needs of each student.

The studio continually offers the highest quality instruction with the emphasis on individual development.

We strive to expand each dancer's imagination, build self-esteem, promote self-discipline and help establish a positive attitude toward teamwork and cooperation with others.

Thank you for visiting and feel free to contact us for more information about KMC.

Shannon has been with KMC for over 40 years, she walked in at the age of 5 and dance quickly became an important part of her life. Her love for dance continued on as she grew up, first hired as an assistant, then becoming a teacher.  She has traveled across the country, attending conventions and learning from various choreographers. She choreographed and has performed for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lynx and Vikings.  She has won many awards with her dances, including technique, entertainment, and choreography.

Upon taking ownership in 2016 of the Robbinsdale, Shorewood and Arlington studios, Shannon plans on continuing the values that have helped KMC get to where they are today.  She strongly believes in giving back to the community, making every child feel welcome and safe in the studio.  She loves teaching fun, challenging dances to kids and watch them take her vision and flourish.  She is excited for the future with the team she works with! She currently lives in Shorewood, has three sons, Connor, Gabe & Quinn.  In her spare time she loves gardening and spending time with her pugs.

Gina has been with KMC for over 20 years. Throughout her years at KMC she competed in large groups, small lines and as a soloist.  She also danced competitively on her high school dance team where she was captain and helped lead the team to State.  She became an assistant at the studio in high school and then became an instructor. From the early stages of her life, dance has always been her passion.

She teaches all ages from the preschoolers to our competition lines as well as runs the lyrical and contemporary program at all locations.  Trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary, she studied lyrical and contemporary in Los Angeles for a year to help further her knowledge. She helped lead many dancers to National Champion titles in Ohio, Michigan, Texas and Minnesota. She has also received the choreography, entertainment, technique awards on multiple occasions.  In her spare time, she loves to spend it with family, especially her nephew, Henry!

Mary has been affiliated with KMC Studios for over 20 years. Both her daughter, Molly, and her son, Jacob were dancers with KMC Studios for many years.  Mary’s dance background includes dancing for area studios as a child and her high school and college dance teams.  Mary is a choreographer for Fridley Public Schools and Fridley Community Theater. Her day job is with Dieci School Finance as a HR Consultant.  She has a B.A. Degree in Elementary Education from St. Thomas University and a Master’s in Human Resource Development from Clemson University. She lives in Coon Rapids with her husband Kurt and two dogs. Mary loves all things dance especially watching young people grow in their skill and artistry.

Krystl has been with KMC Dance for over 30 years. She stepped into the Robbinsdale location when she was four years old. Little did she know that she would fall in love with dancing, and her dance family. She competitively danced for over 12 years in group performances, duets, small lines, and as a soloist. At the age of 14 she started assisting young dancers and advanced to assisting performing lines known as the Show Unit at KMC. After graduating high school she began teaching classes of all ages. She has been teaching for over 20 years.

Krystl manages the Robbinsdale and Shorewood locations for KMC Dance. She now instructs all performing line classes. She is trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical and hip hop. Continuously growing her knowledge with dance, she has attended various conventions around the United States. Krystl has won many choreography and judge’s awards over the years with her group dances, soloists, and duets. Numerous dances have gone to Nationals in Las Vegas, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Her love for dance grows and grows each year. Teaching children the art of dance brings such fulfillment to her life. She believes dance is great for your body and mind and the studio is a place to learn great values in life.

Taleigh danced at KMC for 15 years working her way up to competing in large groups, small groups as well as a soloist. She was also part of her high school Dance Team on both performance and competition teams as captain. After graduating, she became an instructor for the studio in 2016, falling in love with dance even more and has now been with the studio for over 20 years.

Taleigh teaches at all three studio locations. She teaches every age the studio offers from preschoolers to our oldest competition lines. She leads the hip hop program at all locations as well as the youth program. Taleigh is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop. She has attended many conventions offered by competitions to further her knowledge in dance. Taleigh has found such a great love for KMC throughout the years. She is extremely grateful to continue on with the studio teaching all the kids what she loves most.

In addition to being an instructor at KMC, Jacob is a company member with the contemporary dance company Crash Dance Productions. Jacob started at KMC in the Mommy & Me class when he was just 3 years old. He then competed for many years with KMC and has received many accolades for his performance and choreography. At the regional and national level he has been recognized by many competitions as a top choreographer for his work with soloists, duet/Trios, and several groups within the KMC family. Jacob feels lucky to have a family like KMC to come to almost every day. He loves his dance family and knows he will always have them by his side, on and off the dance floor.

Lauren started dancing with KMC at the Shorewood locations at the age of 3. She continued on for the next 15 years and started working at the studio at the age of 15. After graduating, she continued working at the studio as an Instructor as she went to college. Throughout her years as a dancer, Lauren took classes in tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. She competed in many different groups, as well as solos and duets. In high school, she participated in dance team, dancing at State for 4 consecutive years and eventually becoming a Senior Captain. While in college, Lauren also participated in a dance group called MinnesoTap to further her knowledge about tap. She graduated from college in the Spring of 2021 from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with a B. A. in Psychology and has focused specifically on children/adolescent mental health since then.
Lauren teaches at the Shorewood and Robbinsdale locations with a wide variety of groups.  Over the years, Lauren has taught lyrical, contemporary, Show Unit, and youth classes. She has also had many routines compete at different National competitions around the country.
In all of her years at the studio, Lauren has found another family at KMC. She loves seeing all of the dancers improve in their skills as a dancer and as well growing as people. She feels honored to contribute to the culture of trust, love, and respect at the KMC Studios. Lauren appreciates having a job that brings her as much joy and fulfillment as teaching does.

Grace Blackwell teaches at Shorewood and Arlignton. She is a student at the University Of Minnesota studying to be a Graphic Designer. Grace has been with KMC for more than 15 years as a dancer and/or instructor. She began assisting when she was 15-years-old and instructing and choreographing when she was 17-years-old. She loves being at the studio where she feels included and loved by everyone. The amount of care, trust, and love shared through the studio is what makes Grace so happy to be a part of the KMC instructors. Her favorite class to teach is little hip hop ages 6-10 and her favorite style to dance is contemporary. She was a successful soloist placing in top 5 for most competitions her junior and senior year and getting judges awards for the emotions she could portray through her dancing. Her favorite part of KMC is Dance camp when she gets to connect with many students from every studio for 5 days in the summer.

Maria is 17 years old and has been dancing with KMC studios for 15 years. Maria is so thrilled to be a part of the KMC staff and enjoys every second of being at the studio. One of her favorite aspects of teaching is watching the kids persue their passions and evolve into amazing dancers. Throughout her years at KMC she has taken many classes such as lyrical, tap, jazz, and her favorites being hip hop and contemporary. Maria has won multiple overalls in the past three years including a national title with her self-choreographed solo “Petrichor” (2021) and her duet “Acceptance of the End” (2019). Maria is currently a senior at Hopkins High School and looks forward to continuing her dance career afterwards. Maria feels grateful and blessed to have a job that brings her so much joy and happiness.

Celebrating her tenth year of dance at KMC is Maryn.  Maryn is a "Rhythm" at the Robbinsdale studio and enjoys all the different genres of dance including ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, pointe, and contemporary.  The year of 2020 will always be a year to remember! Many competitions through the year were either cancelled or highly regulated where all participants had to wear masks, perform hand hygiene with hand sanitizer prior to entry, extra cleaning/disinfecting procedures were implemented, and attendance was highly restricted.  However, this did not stop several KMC dancers from participating including Maryn.  She was thrilled be able to dance and compete at several local and national competitions.  Her teen division solo, "Searching for Solace," garnered several Grand Champion titles while her duet, "Lullaby," was awarded a Grand Champion title as well.  One especially important life lesson she learned this year is the studio is stronger together even when social distancing and dancing six feet apart!  Maryn is an assistant dance instructor on Wednesday evenings in her hometown of Arlington.    

Bio Coming Soon!

Charlotte has been a part of KMC for over 10 years and couldn’t imagine her life any other way. Dance is her passion, and it always has been. Charlotte is beyond excited to become a part of the KMC Instructing team. As a young dancer, Charlotte looked up to the assistants and always dreamed of becoming one some day. She enjoys all styles of dance, but her favorites would have to be contemporary and open. Charlotte has done many solos throughout her years in the styles of jazz and open.  She loves to compete! At nationals in 2021, her solo took 1st place in category and 3rd place overall. She also received a judges choice award with the title of “Incredible Intensity.” KMC has been like a second home for Charlotte. She always looks forward to her nights in the studio and feels blessed to be in such a wonderful community that is KMC.

This will be Hannah’s 15th year being a part of the KMC family. She will be assisting at the Shorewood location on Thursday nights. Hannah has been dancing here since she was very young and couldn’t be happier with the friends she’s made, the skills she’s developed and the long lasting memories she’ll forever cherish. Ever since she was young, she has viewed dance as a way to express herself and embrace her inner emotions. Alongside learning and improving jumps, turns and choreography, dance is also about honing the skills of teamwork, empathy, kindness and respect for others and especially yourself, which is a very important factor that she intends to emphasize to the current dancers she will be assisting. There is an incredible bond like no other at KMC that Hannah is more than grateful to be a part of and is very excited to welcome in new coming dancers to our loving and compassionate community.

Sydney has been a proud KMC dancer for 6 years. She is so grateful to be an Assistant Dance Instructor and member of the KMC staff. Sydney loves dancing with her KMC family, and she loves going into competitions knowing that her whole studio is behind her supporting her! This past year Sydney did a lyrical solo called “Wonderful”, and at Triple S Nationals she was awarded with a platinum and a judges choice award called “power and passion”.  Before Sydney started doing lyrical solos, she  did many solos under the style of jazz. Dancing jazz allowed her to show her skills in stage presence and show lots of energy and sass, which she adored! Sydney also loves being apart of her group dances, she enjoys encouraging her teammates to give each dance everything they have, and to have no regrets! Being at KMC studios has been such a blessing to her, and a place that she will always call  home. She has felt nothing but loved and welcomed ever since she walked into the studio doors 6 years ago!

Ava is a freshman at Minnetonka High School and has been apart of the KMC family since she was 3 years old. She has always looked up to the assistants and instructors and has always dreamed of being one herself, ever since she was in the mommy and me class. All of the teachers have taught her many skills whether they were dance related or life lessons that could help her be a better dancer and person. She aspires to be a leader and role model for all of the  dancers. She is really looking forward to working with the younger dancers and to help welcome them into their new KMC family. Ava enjoys dance more than anything and couldn’t be more exited to share her love for dance with all of the other dancers.

Lily is 16 years old and has been dancing with KMC for 13 years. She is very excited to be a part of the KMC staff. Her favorite thing about KMC is the welcoming and friendly faces she sees each time she enters the studio. Lily dances at the Robbinsdale location, taking classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, pointe, and her favorites, lyrical and contemporary. Over the years, Lily has competed many solos, trios, and group dances. She loves every second of competing. She feels it is very rewarding and fun coming off stage after a great performance. Outside of the dance studio, Lily attends school at Hopkins High School where she is on the varsity cross country team and varsity track and field team. Lily is very grateful for her KMC family and can’t wait to share her passion for dance with others.

Gracey has been dancing for 13 years and has been a part of the KMC family now for the past 5 years.
She is a Junior at Champlin Park High School and has been on the high honor role since the 6th grade.
Gracey has enjoyed performing solos these past couple of years. It has soared her confidence as a dancer by receiving feedback that lets
her know she is progressing each time she competes from Judges, teachers, and teammates. Gracey
loves that dance is an outlet for her to release emotions or stress that she might be dealing with. Since
coming to KMC she has improved her dance skills greatly, felt accepted and supported by staff and
teammates, and is looking forward to helping other kids have the same experience.

Lenore has been dancing with KMC for six years and started dancing when she was nine. She is a Rhythm and loves taking hip hop and lyrical also. Lenore enjoys working with kids and is super excited to be assisting at the Robbinsdale studio! She is a Freshman at West Lutheran High School and likes to do well in school. Lenore’s favorite thing about KMC is that everyone is so welcoming and encouraging to each other and she hopes she can make other dancers feel the same way.

Kennedy has been dancing at KMC for over a decade now. She will be assisting Mini Mates and Hip Hop 1 on Tuesday nights, at the Shorewood location. As she's continued her dance career from Mommy and Me, Kennedy has made amazing connections with her peers, and her teachers. As she started her solo journey a few years ago, Kennedy since then has made so much growth in having confidence in herself, and has reached new achievements. With her assisting position, she hopes to make new connections with young dancers as they find their own love of dance. As the connection she has with the studio becomes stronger, she can't wait to expand her horizons on the dance floor and in the studio.

Allie has been dancing at KMC for many years. She started at a young age and has loved it ever since. Allie is very thrilled to be a part of the KMC staff. She has always looked up to the staff as role models and is very excited to join the team. She works at the Shorewood location with our Technique and Jam Stars class. Although she loves all styles of dance, her favorites are Contemporary and Jazz. Allie loves every second she is dancing.  Everybody at KMC is like a second family to her, there is nowhere She would rather be. She loves competitions and she is a successful soloist. Allie is so delighted to be an assistant this year and is so grateful to be apart of the KMC staff.

Rita is a student at Minnetonka High school and has been dancing at KMC Dance Studios for over a decade. Her favorite styles of dance are lyrical and contemporary and will assist on Tuesday nights. Dance has been such a huge part of Rita’s life in many different ways. To Rita, dance isn’t just a way to stay active, but a way to express herself physically and emotionally. It’s a way to connect to her teammates on and off the dance floor. The community that KMC has created consists of life-long bonds and true friendships that Rita will cherish forever. Every lesson taught and relationship  built will guide students through life and Rita is so excited to have a bigger part in this family that we call KMC.

EllaMae has been dancing with KMC since she was 3 and this is her 13th year. Dance for her has become a great way to express herself and gain confidence. KMC Studios has become a family to EllaMae throughout the years and she is so excited to be assisting at the Arlington location and to hopefully  become part of others dance family.

Bio Coming Soon!

Jadyn is 16 and this is her 14th year dancing with KMC! Jadyn loves to assist the Jam Stars and Broadway Kids in Arlington, on Wednesday nights. Her favorite styles to dance are Hip Hop and Open, and is so excited to start doing Opening this year! Dance has always been a huge part of her life and helps her to de-stress from anything. KMC's family of dancers and teachers are always there to connect with, advise, or just to laugh with, and she is so excited to be a greater part of the people making that happen!