Brenda Mealor

Mrs. Brenda (pictured left) has been teaching for 38 years. The first 2 at her hometown studio,  the next 12 as the assistant director at Becky Jones School of dance in Smyrna and then the rest as the director of The Dancers Studio. Growing up, her family traveled to Auburn, AL each weekend for her to take dance from Mr. Lynn Curtis formerly of the New York City Ballet.  With him, she was able to go as his assistant to DMA conventions and study with some of the great dancers of the 70’s – Maria Tallchief, Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchet, Art Stone, Al Gilbert, Jo Rowan, and Edward Velellha. The Dancers Studio would not have come into being, without the support of her parents and husband. Brenda is married to Billy Mealor and they are celebrating 36 years of marriage this year. They have 2 daughters, Lesley Anne, who is a dancer in New York and Laura Lynn who lives in Kennesaw with her husband Nathan. Both girls have followed in their mom’s footsteps!

Melissa Watson

Melissa (pictured right) will be starting her 8th year here at The Dancers Studio. Growing up in Cobb County, she had the opportunity to study with 4 of the leading teachers in the county:  Lynette Grub, Marcus Alford and Annie Day and Terrell Paulk. Melissa worked for TLC Dance Studio for several years prior to joining our staff. Here she works with all ages and levels and styles of dance, with a focus on jazz and hiphop.  Melissa is married to Ron Watson and has 2 daughters age 5 and 8 and lives in Acworth.

Jenny Sparks

Jenny is a 26-year old who hails originally from Columbus, Georgia.  She earned a B.A. in Dance with an emphasis in Performance and Choreography with a minor in English from the University of Alabama.  She has been studying dance performance, pedagogy, choreography, and vocal performance.  Jenny has had the pleasure of working under the direction of internationally and nationally recognized choreographers such as 2002 Carnegie Professor of the Year, Cornelius Carter, Edith Barnes, Rita Snyder, and Lori Bellilove.  While attending UA she was a member of Dance Alabama, Alabama Repertory Dance Theater, and received a scholarship to work with Eileen Grace during the NYC Rockette Summer Intensive.  Also during college, Jenny had a wonderful opportunity to perform the Spanish Variation in The Nutcracker with the Great Moscow Ballet. During college, she was named in Who’s Who in Performing Arts for 2002.  Jenny's choreography was featured in an article in the 2005 October issue of Dancer Magazine.  She has worked in several theatre productions and prides herself on being a triple threat! Currently, she is living in Kennesaw, Georgia and just finished her second Bachelors degree from Kennesaw State University in Secondary English Education.

Sarah Boies

For the past six years, Sarah has taught dance in the Atlanta area and has danced professionally with The Georgia Ballet in Marietta. Sarah is originally from Baton Rouge, LA where she received her early dance training with the Baton Rouge Ballet theare and directors Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews. Sarah graduated from Louisiana State University in 2005 with a BA in Public Relations. She has choreographed for and performed in the Dance Canvas performance series. Recently, Sarah has participated in the summer study program at Point Park University, under a partial scholarship, and also at the Altanta Ballet Fusion Program. She placed second in the National Society for Arts and Letters competition in San Antonio, TX with two classical ballet variations: Auroa's Wedding Variation and Lilac Fairy. While at the Georgia Ballet, Sarah particularly enjoyed performing in ballet master Janusz Mazon's Firebird, The Sleeping Beauty, and Spanish in The Nutcracker.

Melanie Whitbeck

Melanie has had the privilege to have trained under the Ballet Master Ramazon Bapov who performed with the Bolshoi Theater for 2 years. Mia Michaels, (So You Think You Can Dance), Joe Tremaine just to name a few. She also studied at the Royal School of dance in Orlando Florida as well as Southern Ballet theater and Dance Explosion here in Kennesaw Ga. Melanie also teaches dance for Day Star Academy, through the Kenessaw Parks and Recreation Dept. She is also a licensed cosmotologist, married to Josh Whitbeck and has a 2-year old daughter Blakely.

Lesley Mealor

Lesley Mealor recently finished the national tour of "The Music Man" with Windwood Theatricals. Prior to the tour, Lesley had the pleasure of performing on the high seas with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Lesley holds a BPA in Dance Performance from Oklahoma City University, and loves sharing her knowledge and experience with young dancers. She currently lives in New York City and works at On Stage Dancewear, when not on tour.

Sheena Marnon Musinovic

Sheena Marnon Musinovic graduated with a B.A in dance performance from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. Towards the end of college, Sheena had the privilege of interning and attending classes in New York City at Merce Cunningham Dance Studio. After college, Sheena moved to Knoxville, Tennessee where she was the ballet mistress and an instructor for Angela Floyd School for the Dancer as well as a guest choreographer for Knox County Schools' Bearden High school show choir. Sheena also returned back to Winthrop to teach as an artist-in-residence for the South Carolina St-Arts program. Sheena is also performing with the modern dance company, Gathering Wild.

Joshua Blake Carter

Joshua Blake Carter received his early dance training from the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts in Mableton, GA.  He continued his studies at the University of Arizona under the direction of Jory Hancock, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Cum Laude as well as the Outstanding Senior Award from the School of Dance.  While living in Arizona Joshua founded dance in the RED – an evening of dance, music and art to benefit the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation.  Continuing to pursue his interest in choreography, Joshua’s work was accepted as a finalist in the Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in Palm Desert, CA, in 2008.  The following year he was selected as the winner of Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s national choreography competition, dancemakers2.0.  Joshua has since been commissioned to choreograph a second work for Ballet Nouveau Colorado, as well as Tucson’s Art.if.Act Dance Project, and most recently the Missouri Contemporary Ballet (Fall 2011 Premiere). After spending two summers on scholarship at the Giordano Dance School, Joshua was offered a position in the Giordano II Company and was featured in DanceSpirit Magazine’s article “From Graduation to Giordano.”  After one season with Giordano II Joshua was promoted and he is currently beginning his second season with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, where he has had the opportunity to perform works by Mia Michaels, Christopher Huggins and Nan Giordano, among others.  In addition to dance and choreography, Joshua is a passionate instructor and is on faculty at Trilogy School of Performing Arts in Lake Zurich, IL.