Abbie Baublitz is a graduate of Alma College, finishing top of her class with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. As a member of the Alma College Dance Company, she danced under Rosely Conz, Ben Munisteri, and Kristen Bennett, and performed at the American College Dance Association. Abbie was a two-year member of the Alma College Dance Team and won the NDA DIII Team Division Championship title in 2019 along with her teammates. Abbie has performed professionally with Third Coast Dance Company and The Detroit Dance Company.

She began her dance career at three years old, and has studied Scottish Highland dance, Cecchetti ballet and pointe, jazz, tap, contemporary/lyrical, modern, hip hop, musical theatre and pompon. As a member of the DuHadway Dance Dimensions Elite Competitive Team, she was highly successful in the Midwest dance competition scene for eleven years receiving multiple regional and national titles and other accolades. 

In her 7th season as Mid American Studio Director, Ms Abbie is excited to continue guiding her dancers through rigorous training, exhilarating choreography, and inspiring artistic performance opportunities. 

Since 1991 Miss Sam has been training in ballet, pointe, partnering, jazz, tap, hip hop, musical theater, lyrical, voice, contemporary, choreography & pedagogy. She competed locally, performed at various local community events and trained and performed in the Disney Magic Music Days program in 2002 and 2004. Miss Sam went on to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance on scholarship with departmental honors from Oakland University. She was honored to represent Oakland University by performing at the American College Dance Festival in 2008 and 2009. Miss Sam decided to further her education by earning her Masters in Performing Arts Administration from the University of Michigan-Flint where she was commissioned to choreograph their 2013 fall musical. 

Since 2006 Miss Sam has been teaching, choreographing and directing various styles and levels. She enjoys working with students ages two to adult in conservatory studios, competition programs, high schools and even at the collegiate level. Miss Sam continues to assist Absolute Dance of Midland, TX remotely and is excited to further her career by teaching, choreographing and working with Mid American Studio. 

Rachel Hibbard began dancing in Traverse City, MI when she was four years old, and has been trained in ballet, pointe, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, tap, and musical theatre. Rachel performed, traveled, and competed with Company Dance Traverse until she graduated high school. She attended Hope College where she was very active in the dance department and a member of the school’s dance company, H2. She performed and choreographed in several dance productions each year, was a member of the school’s hip hop performance group and choreographed for the Department of Theatre. Rachel was also a member of the Traverse City pre-professional musical theatre company, Miracle Productions, where she performed and assisted in choreography for several musical theatre productions. Rachel is passionate about emphasizing each dancer’s individual strengths and is excited to share her love for dance with her students!

Originally from Farmington, MI, Martha began dancing at the age of 6 and quickly fell in love with dance and movement. She trained in many styles and attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where she was one of the youngest dancers chosen to dance with the International Ballet Ensemble. After her European tour, she began competing and was awarded many accolades including top 10, best choreography, best performance and more. She continued her dance education at Wayne State University, where she earned her BFA in dance and then moved to New York City to pursue dance professionally. While in New York, she danced for Holland America Cruise Lines, Ben Munisteri, Jan Van Dyke, CoreDance Contemporary, and more, while also pursuing acting and singing. She established SPARK Dance Forum, a networking and performance forum that ran biannual events for 6 seasons before she earned her MA in Performing Arts Administration from New York University.

Martha is also a fully certified Pilates and Fitness instructor with over 15 years experience. Her knowledge of anatomy and proper body mechanics are infused in her teaching to ensure students have safe and healthy movement practices inside and outside the studio.

Miss Lenore has been dancing for over 30 years and began teaching in 2011. In her career as a dance teacher, she has taught Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet, Tap, Hip-Hop, Argentine Tango, and Barre Fitness. She began her dance education at her mother’s studio, and then moved on to dance with various local studios over the next 30 years, beginning her competition dance career at age 12 and winning numerous solo and group regional titles. Competition inspired her to expand her dance knowledge, and she has taken class from renowned dance masters such as Brian Friedman, Doug Caldwell, Joel Hall, Mia Michaels, Claudio Villagra, and Helena Fernandez. In 2009, she began her student teaching journey and eventually taught classes of her own. In 2017, she also began studying partner dance styles, primarily Argentine tango, in addition to Salsa and Bachata. 

Miss Lenore continues to perform in various dance showcases, competitions, and festivals, performing. In 2019, she competed at both the Southern California Argentine Tango Championship and the International Argentine Tango Championship and World Cup, receiving numerous first place awards. She was also a member of the Detroit Tango Nuevo dance team from 2017-2020 and continues to perform and teach locally and abroad in addition to furthering her Argentine Tango training. Since 2020, she has also performed annually as a back-up dancer with Jackie Paige of WWJ Newsradio 950 at the Celebrity Lip Sync Battle for charity, choreographing jazz routines that get the crowd on their feet, helping Jackie to earn first place at 2022’s event. She is returning in 2025 as Head Choreographer and Performer for Jackie in this annual event.

Miss Lenore also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with a minor in Marketing from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, a Master of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Eastern Michigan University, and a Certificate in Project Management from Cornell University. When she’s not dancing, Miss Lenore uses her business skills at a corporate event management company as well as helping local small businesses. She is married to her husband, Kevin, and they have a daughter, Evelyn, and a beagle mix, Rosie.

 

Miss Madeline is a dance teacher, choreographer, and performer holding a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Business with a minor in Dance Pedagogy from Hope College. She currently teaches dance at studios in the Metro Detroit area and is a Pure Barre instructor. She is passionate about dance education and is the 2024 recipient of Hope College’s Florence Cavanaugh Dance Award, reflecting this love for teaching. Her choreography has been featured at the American College Dance Association Conference, Detroit Dance City Festival, and in Paris, France. Miss Madeline is looking forward to seeing more of her work come to life on stage at dance competitions and professional dance concerts in the upcoming season! She is a former Company Member of H2 Dance Company and StrikeTime Dance Theatre where she performed both live and on film and was a featured speaker in a children’s television episode. She began her professional performance journey as an Apprentice with Currents Dance Theatre in Grand Rapids and can’t wait to see what is next. She has also attended intensives from companies including Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Water Street Dance Milwaukee, and the Joffrey Ballet School. She has had the pleasure of working with and performing works by Sharon Wong, Heather Cornell, Matthew Farmer, Steven Iannacone, Jasmine Mejia, and William Crowley. She loves Arts Administration as well and has interned with Detroit Dance City Festival, Movement Reservoir Dance Company, and Currents Dance Theatre with a focus on Operations and Marketing. Miss Madeline is thankful for the support of her family and friends in helping her reach her goals and hopes to honor them through her artistic ventures.

Rebecca started dancing when she was 4 years old and continued her training at Oakland University where she graduated with a BFA in dance performance and a BA in Psychology. There, she found her choreographic voice and was awarded the Outstanding Choreography Matilda Award.

Rebecca’s work has been shown at the American College Dance Association, the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, and Detroit Dance City Festival. In 2022 she was selected as an emerging choreographer at Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s NewDanceFest, where she created and presented work on the participants. In 2023, she was selected to create a work for Contexture Dance Detroit which premiered in August 2023. Her most recent work titled “There’s a hand…” was performed by Artlab J in June of this year. Rebecca performs professionally in the Detroit area and teaches and choreographs for all ages and styles. Throughout her work, she strives to develop her artistic and choreographic voice and inspire others to do the same.

Alexis began her dance training at the age of three and quickly developed a strong foundation in a variety of styles. Throughout high school, she competed in jazz, hip hop, and lyrical while continuing her technical training in ballet. Her passion for teaching began early as a dedicated assistant at her studio, where she discovered her love for working with young dancers and helping them grow both in and out of the classroom. Alexis has now been teaching for over nine years, instructing students ages 3–16 in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and hip hop. In addition to her studio experience, Alexis served as an assistant coach for a high school dance team, working alongside a head coach with multiple state titles. This experience strengthened her leadership skills and deepened her ability to mentor and inspire dancers in a team environment. Alexis holds an Associate’s degree in Business from Kalamazoo Valley Community College and a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Human Sciences from Western Michigan University. She also completed an internship at a physical therapy facility giving her valuable knowledge in injury prevention, body mechanics, and safe training practices for dancers. 

Alexis is passionate about creating a positive and encouraging environment where dancers can thrive. She finds the greatest reward in building meaningful relationships with her students while helping them develop not only strong technique, but confidence, discipline, and life skills that extend beyond the studio.