ABOUT US

Building a community of dancers prepared to take on their future confidently on and off the dance floor. 

*Ballet - Tap - *Jazz/Modern/Contemporary -Musical Theater - Hip Hop - *Aerial Silks/Acrobatics

Fluid Motion Dance Academy provides the highest quality dance training and that begins with our founder. Mrs. Nola began her dance, gymnastics, and tumbling journey at the age of 2 years old, where she trained and competed in dance at an elite level from the age of 5 to 17, earning many scholarships, titles, and awards. She danced on her highschool dance team and competed with a studio all while graduating high school an entire year early at the age of 17. After that, she went on to College where she further her training and received her BFA with an emphasis in ballet from Webster University. Mrs. Nola had the opportunity to train under many well known choreographers and artists, including the current artistic director, Alicia Graf Mack, of The Juilliard School of Dance, Michael Uthoff & Ronald Tice of the Joffery Ballet, to name just a few. Mrs. Nola also spent a year at the University of Missouri Kansas City where she was able to train and perform works by Gary Abbott and Ronald Tice. Upon returning to We stet University, she has had the opportunity to perform the original ballet by Anthony Tudor. Shortly there after she graduated and danced professionally with the Common Thread Contemporary Ballet, under the artistic director, Jennifer Medina for 2 seasons. She began to teach and choreograph while in college and since then has won many awards for outstanding choreography and best concept, to name a few.

Above all, Mrs. Nola is highly skilled in several disciplines, which gives her a unique skill set when it comes to providing Dance, Acrobatic, & Aerial Silks instruction. Her dedication to dance & acrobatics over the past 27 years has given her the opportunity to train and teach a variety of styles. Just a sampling of these being: ballet, pointe, jazz, hip hop, acrobatics, Ariel, contemporary, and modern (Horton & Graham). Mrs. Nola is focused on dedicating her life’s work to teaching dance to all ages, and helping students to take on life confidently both on and off the dance floor. Her favorite style is hard to name, but if she had to choose, she would narrow it to Ballet, Contemporary, Acro/Aerial Arts & Musical Theater.

Ballet - Tap -Jazz/ Modern/Contemporary -Acrobatics

Mrs. Maddy has been dancing since she was two years old, and competing with various studios in the St. Louis area for the last fourteen years. She began teaching at FMDA in 2020 when Fluid Motion Dance Academy first opened. While dancing, she has won multiple scholarships through dance competitions and conventions, and many overall and highest placement awards. In addition to dancing competitively Maddy trained with the Missouri Ballet Company youth programs for their productions. Her areas of training include: ballet, jazz, pointe, modern lyrical, contemporary, tap, acro, and hip hop.

Additionally, Maddy has also previously taught & assisted dance classes for 3 years while directing the recreational dance company at Full Out Dance Company at a young age.While teaching at FMDA and coaching the rubies team, she has won many special awards for choreography & cute concepts. She recently is working towards an associates in sports medicine. Most importantly, Mrs. Maddy is a friendly face that the students love to have in their class, and her love for dance instills invaluable knowledge and confidence.

Ballet - Jazz/Modern/Contemporary

Mrs. Celeste began dancing at the young age of three years old. She has trained and performed in a variety of styles including ballet, modern, jazz, and contemporary. Her primary focus throughout her training has been in ballet, specifically training in the Cecchetti Method Ballet. Mrs. Celeste began assisting at the age of 17 years old, and has spent the last 5 years training and sharing her love of ballet with students of all ages. If you couldn't guess, Mrs. Celeste’s favorite style is ballet! Mrs. Celeste looks forward to building her career and training with Fluid Motion Dance Academy as a teacher and as a company dancer of Fluid Motion Dance Collaboration!

Ballet - Tap - *Jazz/Modern/Contemporary - *Hip Hop

Miss Jenna began dancing when she was 3 years old. She joined her studio competition team at the age of 6, competing in the styles of jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, musical theater, and poms. In high school, Miss Jenna began competing with her high school dance team. She was voted co-captain her Junior year and was awarded the Purple Heart award. She won All American 3 years in a row at UDA camp. In 2019 Miss Jenna’s high school dance team, Fort Zumwalt West, won the State championships. After high school, she went on to dance at Lindenwood University where she was voted for the Most Valuable Player award and nominated for Black & Gold and Performer of the Year. At Lindenwood, she is currently majoring in middle school education and minoring in dance. Her hope is to teach dance as a career while also teaching middle school math!

Ballet - Jazzo/Modern/ Contemporary - Hip Hop - Ballroom

Mrs. Makenna, originally from Osage Beach, Missouri, is currently a Senior at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She is working to achieve her BFA in Contemporary Dance. Makenna has a background in contemporary, modern, ballet, improv, jazz, hip hop, and ballroom dance. Makenna has had the opportunity to perform in Lindenwood University Dance Programs Fall, Winter and Spring concerts, while working with various choreographers and student led works. Makenna was awarded the Most Outstanding Choreography Award for her Junior Year piece titled, “Slumberland”. After receiving her BFA, Makenna plans to dance professionally and choreograph for studios and companies.

Ballet - Tap - Jazz - Musical Theater - Pom

Mrs. Laurie has danced for over 34 years and taught for more than 25 years. She has a degree in physical education with a minor in health. She has choreographed and performed in productions including; Cinderella, The Music Man, You’re a Good Man, and Charlie Brown, to name a few. She was captain of her college Pom squad and upon graduating college danced in many performances in Silver Dollar City. Further, she performed with the Sonshine Dance Company in SpringField, Mo. Over the years she has also taught fitness and aerobic classes including Zumba, as she is certified to teach Zumba & Zumba kids! Her favorite styles of dance are jazz & musical theater!

Acro

Miss Shelby began dancing at three years old. At first she did not want to attend class until she saw the older girls performing at a recital. Her mom recalls that Shelby said, with stars in her eyes, “I want to do that!”, her mom did not have to force her to attend another dance class again. Shelby is originally from Farmington, Missouri dancing at a company that specialized in acro-dance. Shelby also trained in other disciplines, her second favorite being lyrical. During her fifteen years with the company they won numerous national titles and performed as opening acts in Branson, MO. Their greatest achievement was making it to the top 8 on America’s Got Talent, Season 8. Shelby also cheered on her high school’s cheerleading team before switching to the dance team her Junior year and becoming their choreographer. Further, Shelby attended Lindenwood University where she majored in International Business, she then went on to receive her MBA from The University of Mississippi where she was class president. Shelby has spent the last five years working for a Fortune 100 company and a Non-Profit. She is excited to step back into the dance world and coach students into achieving their goals in a safe and positive atmosphere.

Mrs. Sharon Ricker spent most of her early years in a dance studio. Under the direction of Mary Berryhill at S&R Dance in Freeport, Illinois, she was a competitive dancer from age 8-18 and was trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, and hip hop. Simultaneously, she was also a student at Studio 121 in Freeport and was taught the art of ballet and Martha Graham based modern, by the late Jill Johnson. When she attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was a member of a student lead dance club and had the opportunity to choreograph and perform throughout her 4 years there. After a long break from dance (16 years), she started taking classes at FMDA in fall of 2022, which lead to performing at showcase in spring 2023, The Nutcracker this past winter, and now as a founding member of Fluid Motion Dance Collaboration. Sharon’s core foundations for dance are technique, musicality, and artistry; she believes that these values, in combination with hard work and discipline, are what create a great dancer. She is very excited to be a part of the amazing team of teachers at FMDA, and to share her love of dance with the students.

Miss Trinity started dancing when she was I2 years old, she did competitive dance for 7 years. She has always had a passionate love for music and performing. She was on the dance team in high school for 2 years, where she made UDA All-American. Also while in high school, she was the drum major of the marching band, there she found her passion for teaching. Throughout high school Miss Trinity assisted and subbed many classes. Now that she’s graduated she is very excited for her teaching journey she will have with Fluid Motion Dance Academy

Miss Amanda began dancing when she was 3 years old and trained in a variety of styles. She took a small break while in high school, while she was focused on getting her esthetician license. She is excited to be back in the dance world teaching her two favorite styles, hip hop and tap. Miss Amanda says, “My goal is to provide a safe, loving, and positive environment for dancers of all ages to learn and grow! I hope to instill the love of dance into each dancer, no matter the age or ability!”

Mrs. Erika has been helping at the front desk one night a week since August 2021! She is a full time homeschooling mom of 3 and a mom that gets it! She is always willing to help with just about anything and is a friendly face that has been around since even before she started working part time with us. Her youngest daughter has been a student since the day we opened our doors in Mrs. Nola’s Basement and is part of one of our competitive teams, so she really knows her stuff and is another support staff member knowledgeable about what we offer and always goes the extra mile to help out all our families!

Mrs. Lindy has been working at the front desk since Fall 2022. She is knowledgeable about all our programs and at the studio 2-3 nights/week to help answer any questions you may have. She is also the Owner of Belle's Enchanted Creations, for whom we partner with for our FMDA Swag, Bags & Apparel!

Mrs. Mandi joined the Admin team in June 2023. Mandi has recently joined our team behind the scenes helping with our administration, registration and billing. You will find her in your inbox and at events helping out to keep things running smooth! She has two daughters that have been dancing with us since the beginning in Mrs. Nola’s basement. Mandi has some youth, and college dance experience and has even taken some adult classes at the studio and participated in one of our 2022 showcases.