Mary Lorraine's Dance Center

★★★★★Stacie Hawley

Mary Lorraine’s Dance Center is truly the gold standard! The teachers are incredible, the technique is strong, and the dance standards are unmatched. Our daughter has trained at MLDC for the past ten years, and the growth we’ve seen—both as a dancer and as a person—has been amazing! We now have another daughter starting, and there is absolutely nowhere else we’d consider. We’re so grateful to be part of the MLDC family!

★★★★★Warren Miller

I attended my first recital last year and was amazed on how well organized the show was! I was overwhelmed seeing how all the participants took so much joy and pride in their performances. It’s an experience I will never forget. Mary Lorraine is the true star behind the scenes. She instills confidence and pride in every student and treats everyone like they are family. This is a true passion that is hard to find and Mary Lorraine has it!!

★★★★★Audrey Hendricks

I have danced at Mary Lorraine’s since I was 3 years old. I am now graduated and came back during college to continue taking class. Mary Lorraine and her staff are AMAZING and teach not only great dance skills but life skills and mannerisms as well. I appreciate how class attire and costumes are age appropriate and professional. Highly recommend!!

★★★★★Samantha Lueders

We LOVE mldc!! I went there as a kid and had a great experience and now bring my kid there! She is always so excited to go and see her friends and her teacher(s). They had a Halloween night and went trick or treating in the studio in their costumes. It was so fun!!! On top of my daughter absolutely loving it, it’s extremely affordable for a dance class and they are transparent about pricing. All the teachers have either a dance degree or a teaching degree (with lots of dance experience) so I know my kiddo is being taught by professionals. They have visitors nights (I believe each quarter but don’t quote me on that) as well. That means we get to go in and see what they are doing/learning. Each classroom also has a viewing window so if you are ever curious you can always take a peak in the room. We are so grateful to MLDC for providing a great experience for our family.

★★★★★Lexi Venteicher

One or both of my kids (one boy, one girl) have dance at Mary Lorraine’s every year for over ten years now. I can honestly say, we love MLDC and every one of the teachers so, so much! There are several things that I feel set MLDC apart from other dance studios, but I’ll elaborate on just a few. First, having grown up dancing at other studios myself, I experienced firsthand the separation that can happen between the “competition dancers” and the “recreational dancers.” However, my kids have done both recreational and competition team dance at MLDC and there has never once been an insistence where one path was either elevated or looked down on by the teachers or other dancers. Mary Lorraine and her staff make a concerted effort to get to know, praise and encourage each and every dancer, no matter their skill level. Second, MLDC pays particular attention to the fact that the children and young adults dancing with them are just that- children. Mary Lorraine has always made sure that costumes, choreography and song lyrics are appropriate for the kids performing. This is especially evident as a parent watching other studios perform at competitions. You can frequently find kids clad in bras and hot pants sans tights, faces caked in thick makeup and fake eyelashes while they twerk, grind, shimmy and pelvic thrust to vulgar music. This is simply not representative of MLDC or what they teach their dancers. I think it is especially empowering and reassuring to a young teenager that they are able to perform and be awarded while still remaining decent. In the same vein, another thing I truly appreciate about MLDC, especially as a single mom, is that Mary Lorraine does everything she can to keep costs reasonable for us as parents. I personally love that tuition is quarterly instead of monthly (with the option to work out different arrangements individually) and when I had two dancers at the studio, it really helped that they offer discounts for families with more than one child that dances there. Plus, every single expense is laid out each year on the website with dates so I can plan ahead for when things are coming due. Oh! - and it has been awesome that the last few years they switched over to a one time per year, per family media fee that allows everyone to get an downloadable version of all the recital videos! No more trying to keep track of DVDs for each year! Lastly, I could go on for days about how much my children have learned and how much my daughter continues to improve at MLDC. Since the age of 3, she’s learned not just technique, but kindness, caring, manners, teamwork and self confidence at this studio. But even more than any of those things, MLDC is her safe haven. There have been several times that she is sad or stressed about something going on in her or our family’s lives, but after an evening of classes and rehearsals with her friends and beloved teachers, those things suddenly become much smaller and more manageable. Mary Lorraine, Kellie, Brianna, Katelyn, Megan, Maddy and hell, even Mr. Kevin “Lorraine,” have all taken the time to know and show their love and care for her on a personal level. I truly could not imagine a greater team to nurture the passion any child has for dance. 💕