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Rhonda Sylvester
Owner/Business Manager

Rhonda is a long time dance mom whose daughter, Raygan, began dancing at MKDS at the age of 5. She is thrilled to be the owner and business manager of Ms. Karen's Dance Studio and to continue the tradition of exceptional dance instruction in North Little Rock.

 

Tara Beebe
Studio Manager and Competitive Team Director

Tara is a proud MKDS Alumni and attended the University of Arkansas where she was a competitive coach for 6 years and discovered her love for teaching dance. Tara is trained in several genres including jazz, clogging, tap, ballet, hip hop and pom. She is Acrobatic Arts Certified.

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Aly Smith
Instructor

Aly Smith began dancing at MKDS at the tiny age of one and continued dancing for the next 17 years. She was a member of the competitive team for 10 years. Aly earned a degree from OBU in Mass Communication and Graphic Design. She loves to share her passion for dance with children of all ages.

 
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Katie Robinson
Instructor/Director of Curriculums

Katie began dancing at MKDS at the age of 5 and is proud to have been a member of the very first competition team. She attended Ole Miss where she was a Rebelette and received a degree in Education. Katie has a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology and is the Director of Academic Technology at Episcopal Collegiate School. Her two daughters Abby Grace and Payton are members of the competition team. She is Acrobatic Arts Certified.

 

Lauren Throneberry, M.S.E.
Instructor/Mini Team Director

Beginning before age 2, Lauren grew up training in ballet, tap, jazz, clogging, pointe, pom, and Hip Hop.  She attended the University of Central AR where she was a member of the National-Finalist UCA Dance Team. In the summers, Lauren worked for the Universal Dance Association and continues to choreograph for HS and JH teams around the state of Arkansas.  Lauren taught dance and coached all-star cheerleading, tumbling, and gymnastics at Sonshine Academy in Conway. She graduated in 2009 with a Bachelors in Education and her Masters soon after. She currently works as an administrator for Arkansas Virtual Academy.  Lauren is thrilled to share her love for dance with the students of MKDS, including her daughter Kinley, MKDS Company Member. Lauren is Acrobatic Arts certified.

 

Tawny Carter
Instructor/Creative Director

Tawny began dancing at the age of 2 and has trained extensively in jazz, musical theater, lyrical, tap, pointe, and her favorite - Hip Hop! She won many regional and national awards for her dance before graduating high school. She was the captain of the University of Central Arkansas Dance Team and choreographed their performances for 2 years. She earned her degree in Family and Consumer Science from UCA.

Tawny is now the coach for the UCA Dance Team and is in grad school getting her Master’s in Education. She is Acrobatic Arts certified.

 
 

Madeline Nelson

Madeline is from Bloomfield, Iowa, where she took studio dance the from ages 3-18, and competed for the last 6 years. After high school, she received a dance scholarship to a Junior College in Kansas and a dance scholarship to compete for the UCA Honeybears at UDA. She is an Art Education teacher in the Pottsville School District. Her favorite style of dance is either Contemporary or Hip- Hop, but she really loves it all! In her free time, she enjoys drawing, running, and hanging out with her cat, Tux!

 

Brooklyn Scrivner

Brooklyn began tumbling at age 6, and continued onto advanced tumbling until age 18. She cheered for Clarksville High School from grades 3-12, earning her captaincy status senior year. She is certified in Acrobatic Arts and Progressive Ballet Technique. Brooklyn is currently working on her undergrad degree in Dietetics at UCA. She plans to continue on to grad school where she will obtain a Master’s in Dietetics and her Registered Dietician license. In her free time, she loves to read, play piano, and spend time with her dog, Remi!

Andrea Arias

Andrea is a former collegiate cheerleader, and performed in season 2 of the Netflix show Cheer. She is certified in Acrobatic Arts and Progressive Ballet Technique.

Alex Pennington

Alex began training in gymnastics at 2 years old, dancing at the age of 8, and joined the competitive team at the age of 9. Alex has taught dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading since she was 14 years old. She has choreographed numerous Regional and National winning routines for studios all over Arkansas. She graduated in December of 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arkansas and Monticello. Alex is excited to share her love of the arts with students of MKDS!