Miss Jackie

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Going trained in Ballet and Modern dance at Young Dancers in Repertory's Center for Dance Studies where she also performed with the Youth Touring Ensemble. She has BFA in Theater with a minor in Dance from Adelphi University. While completing her degree, Jaclyn worked with the internationally-known Galli Theater Company in Manhattan as a repertory actor. She has also worked Off-Broadway, and in TV and Film. She was a repertory member of Teatro SEA (a bilingual theater company in NYC) from 2014-2019 and has worked as a Guest Dance Teaching Artist in public, private, and charter schools from 2010-2017. These experiences have instilled in her a love of teaching children as well as a passion for bringing imagination, movement, creativity, and mind-body awareness to young, developing minds. Miss Jackie's classes are known for her welcoming tone and enthusiasm for the art form. Her approach is classical yet creative, integrating theatricalism and playfulness into her teaching style. She has taught in the full scope of classes offered at MMDC while overseeing and planning with the other teaching artists on staff. 

Miss Michelle

Michelle Bay is from Brooklyn, NY where she trained at the prestigious Brighton Ballet Theater School of the Russian American Ballet. She then attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts where she studied dance. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology from SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Dance. At SUNY Purchase, she performed works by Jacqulyn Buglisi, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Shannon Gillen, and Claire Porter. Currently, she is freelancing with Azoth Dance Theatre and continuing her dance training from home. Michelle's wide range of experience and nurturing teaching approach is an asset to our studio. Michelle enjoys working with young creative minds, as she pursues a career as a performer and pilates instructor in NYC. Michelle has taught with MMDC since 2017. She teaches our 6-9 age group and is an assistant in our younger classes. Her ballet class is classical in structure while maintaining a fun and fresh vibe. She focuses on musical timing, developing a foundation in basic and popular ballet steps, and strategic stretching to increase strength and flexibility and adding fun and dramatic gestures and expressions to her choreography.

Miss Jennifer

Jennifer Hite began her training in Grayson, Georgia where she studied at Gwinnett Ballet Theatre and performed in their productions of The Nutcracker, Firebird, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Cinderella. Throughout her training she maintained a ballet focus and received scholarships for programs at Orlando Ballet School, BalletMet, Summer Dance Company, and Princeton Ballet School. She attended Butler University earning a BA in Dance Pedagogy. At BU, she held roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. Jennifer toured Eastern Europe with the Butler Ballet Chamber Ensemble, traveling to Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. At MMDC since 2017, Jennifer's teaching approach lends beautifully to our youngest dancers as well as our budding primas in our 8-13yrs age group. Her training and knowledge of dance pedagogy is essential to developing mind-body awareness with our youngsters and proper technique awareness in our intermediate classes. She designs a simple yet effective barre exercise warm-up, a delicate and powerful across-the-floor series of movements, and a targeted and challenging stretch session while saving a few minutes for the dancers to enjoy free dancing to their favorite songs. Jennifer's choreography is challenging and age-appropriate, filled with precision technique and interesting formations, and elegant displays of poise and grace. 

Miss Rachel

Originally from Canada, Rachel began dancing at a young age and trained extensively in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus and at Canada’s National Ballet School. She went on to attend Joffrey Ballet School and tour the US with the Joffrey Concert Group. She completed the prestigious 2-year Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program and Pushing Progress Professional Development Program and is now dancing professionally with various NYC-based choreographers. Rachel has taught at Midtown Movement and Dance since 2018. Rachel is also a Dancin’ Power certified teacher and teaches dance to pediatric patients at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. Miss Rachel teaches our youngest dancers, ages 18 months to 3yrs and has been with MMDC since 2018. Her classes are super upbeat and energized. Her students love her bubbly persona, excitement, and energetic manor. Miss Rachel focuses on giving her students praise and encouragement when displaying proper form and knowledge of the steps.