Maria Torrence

(Co-Owner/Director)
​Maria draws on her experience as a dancer, teacher and professional choreographer. Through Dance Masters of America she is certified by test and has taught for over 47 years all genres and levels of dance including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, tap and musical theatre. Maria danced professionally as a performer, lead dancer, dance captain, and choreographer for 20 years in New York and Pittsburgh for many productions of the Civic Light Opera. Maria was also one of a small group of professionals who founded the Pittsburgh CLO Academy and choreographed the CLO Mini Stars for sixteen years. For 41 years she has owned and operated Maria’s School of Dance. Her dance companies and individual students have won 1st place and numerous choreography and overall awards in competitions regionally and nationally. Several of her students have gone on to Broadway, formed dance companies and opened their own studios. Maria served as Director of Dance for the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, Midland, Pa. for 8 years in which she built and wrote curriculum for grades 9 through 12. As Director of Dance at Lincoln Park she wrote an associate degree program with CCBC for high school graduates. Maria was also the founder/director of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center’s Mancini Academy and the goodwill ambassadors, Mancini All-Stars. She has served as choreographer/producer for productions at Lincoln Park which include original works and ballets. Maria has judged the Pittsburgh Kelly Awards, Dance Masters of Pennsylvania dance competitions, Butler County Jr. Miss, Lawrence County Jr. Miss and Young Women of the Year. At the university level, Maria has taught all forms of dance at Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University and Allegheny College. She received her professional training in New York City and across the country from nationally-acclaimed artists.

Liza Torrence

(Co-Owner/Manager)
Liza is the studio Manager and competition team (MSDX Company) Director and Lead Choreographer. Liza teaches classes in a variety of genres to students 7 & up at the studio. Liza has danced all of her life, and has enjoyed every moment of it, especially now working alongside her mom. She grew up dancing at Maria’s School of Dance and Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, studying all genres. In high school, Liza was a teacher at MSD, an assistant teacher at Lincoln Park, and a featured dancer in many productions, including The Nutcracker, Shall We Dance?, and Henry Mancini All Stars shows. During college, Liza was a member of the Dance Theatre Company, in which she performed and held positions on the executive board as President and Treasurer. Liza has choreographed 10 pieces for the Company as both a student and professional, and three of her works were adjudicated at the American College Dance Association festival. Liza was an artist-in-residence teacher and choreographer at The Academy of Dance Arts in Middletown, Ohio. Liza’s holds a M.A. in Art Education from New York University and a B.S. in Art Education from Miami University. She continued her dance training at Peridance Center and Broadway Dance Center in NYC for 4 years. Her arts administrative experience stems from her managerial role at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan where she managed educators and curated museum programs. She also instructed art for an international baccalaureate elementary and middle school in downtown Manhattan. Liza has greatly enjoyed this year at MSD, and appreciates her lovely and supportive husband, Josef, as well as their little bundle of joy, Concetta!

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​Staff

Stacie Young-Aland

Creative Movement, Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Competition Dance
​
Ages 2.5 & up

Stacie started dancing at the age of 3 and has been a dance instructor since 1995. She is a choreographer and social director for the MSDX team. Stacie is also a Prevention Specialist for the Beaver County Prevention Network, and also works part time as a secretary for St. John’s Burry’s Church  Stacie has taught at Laura Lynn School of Dance, Mancini Arts Academy, Gold Medal Gym and Cheer, Building Blocks Learning Center, Harmony Christian Co-op, and Perfect 10 Gymnastics. Her resume includes choreographed routines for Freedom High School Drill Team, Freedom Majorettes, Freedom’s Middle school musicals, Pine Richland’s Dance and Cheer competitive team, Midland Elementary School and Comtra Theater in Cranberry. Her love and talent for finding creative ways to teach overflows, whether she is teaching dance, baton, puppetry, Sunday school, creative movement, acting or musical theater. Stacie has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has completed training in NCAC Protecting Children from Abuse.  In addition, Stacie finds time to take online classes to continue to learn new and creative ways to bring dance education to her students.  Along with her husband Kevin, her pride and joy are truly her four children: Evan Jacob, Kara, Sara and her daughter-in-law Melissa.

Angela Lansberry

Tap, Ballet, and Jazz
​
Ages 3 - 12

Angela has been dancing since the age of three. She studied tap, jazz and ballet under Maria Torrence for 18 years, where she also competed. Upon graduating high school, Angela attended Westminster College where she performed and choreographed for their Dance Theater program. She has attended various dance conventions and workshops including MusicWorks. She has choreographed several musicals for Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, including Cats and Beauty and the Beast. She was hired as a dance instructor at Maria’s School of Dance in 2002 and has since been teaching all age levels and genres of dance including pre-school, Tap, Ballet and Jazz and adult classes. She has also taught at Arcadia, Gold Medal Gym and the Mancini Arts Academy. In 2013, Angela was asked to return to Westminster College to perform as an alumnus in the Dance Theater’s spring showcase. She has 2 children, Grant and Lacey and hopes that they will find a passion in life that gives them great joy as much as dancing has for her.

Mindy Silver

Tap and Ballet

​Ages 7 & up

Mindy Silver is a dedicated and long-standing dance faculty member at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, PA. She has been recognized as a "beloved" instructor who specializes in ballet and has choreographed multiple productions for the school, contributing to its arts education programs. She has served as a faculty member for the dance department, specializing in ballet and, alongside others, teaching and choreographing for the school. She was involved in choreographing performances at Lincoln Park, including the 2011 "new show, great old songs" and the 2010 "Shall We Dance". She has instructed students in ballet and pointe, with experience spanning multiple years in the department. Her work has been part of the dance training curriculum that prepares students for roles in, and outside of, the school. Mindy has been dancing since the age of 3, and was a student of Maria Torrence.

Kristin Stockman

Ballet

​Ages 9 & up

Kristin has been dancing since the age of 5.  She began her dance education under Shirley Tatar Dean studying ballet, tap, and jazz. Ms. Dean encouraged her to pursue additional ballet training which led her to take additional classes at The Pittsburgh Youth Ballet under the direction of Jean Gedeon. At the age of 12 she joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School under David Holladay and had the opportunity to dance in several company performances at the Benedum Center including the Nutcracker. Kristin also attended summer intensive programs at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. Kristin believes in nurturing not only strong technique but also confidence and work ethic in every student. Kristin enjoys sharing her love of ballet with the students at Maria’s School of Dance. Her greatest passion in life is being a wife to Kenny and mother to Dominic and Leah. She is also a full-time CPA.

Erin Brown

Acro
​
Ages 4 & up

Erin is a dedicated wife and mother of four, with her daughter Kallie proudly attending Maria’s School of Dance for the past 13 years. With over 16 years of coaching experience, Erin is certified through USA Gymnastics in both Safety and Fundamentals (KAT and MSLD), and she specializes in working with preschool and elementary-aged students. Erin previously served as the Program Director at Tumbleweeds Academy. Her training spans a wide range of skill levels, from preschool to intermediate and advanced gymnastics. She has also attended three USA Gymnastics Congress training sessions, learning directly from some of the top experts in the sport. Now in her third year at Maria’s School of Dance, Erin continues to share her passion through teaching acro classes. She finds great joy in watching her students grow in skill and confidence while having fun—a combination she believes is key to lasting success.

Kara Aland

Contemporary
Assistant Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Acro

​Ages 7 & up

Kara is a Maria's School of Dance 2025 graduate a Radiology Technician student. She has been dancing at Maria’s since she was four and has been competing since 2019. She has been an Assistant Teacher since she was 11 years old, and a Junior Teacher this past year. Kara enjoys teaching the preschool dance camps every summer.  She was a 2 year member of both National Honor Society and Quill & Scroll. She was invited into membership of the Circle of Scholars for her outstanding academic achievements. She is a four year letter winner for Track & Field where she served as captain. Kara is the managing editor and Digital signage editor of her Broad Cast Media class. She was a state finalist for the PSPA competition of Broadcast media, awarded first place in Keystone Media, and awarded Honorable Mention in the National FPW.  She has been an employee at Dicks Sporting Goods for the last three years. Kara also participates in many community service projects, such as helping fill book bags for students in need, teaching Vacation Bible school, working with children at Freedom Elementary’s Bulldog Bash, packing lunches for families in need, wrapping Christmas presents, and making blankets for the elderly.

Sara Aland

Contemporary
Assistant Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Acro

​Ages 7 & up

Sara is a Maria's School of Dance 2025 graduate a Radiology Technician student. She was a six year competitive dancer, where she won multiple first place trophies. She began dancing at Maria’s School of dance when she was four years old. Sara has been an Assistant Teacher since she was 11 years old, and a Junior Teacher for one year. Sara attended Freedom Area High School where she was inducted into National Honors Society and Quill Scroll in her junior year. Recently Sara was invited to join the Circle of Scholars for outstanding academic achievements. She was also the senior class treasurer, manager in Broadcast Media and Digital Signage editor. She is a 4 year letterman in track and field and was captain her senior year. Sara took 2nd place in the Beaver County Championship in high jump. Along with being a full time student, working at Maria’s, and working at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sara still finds time to give back to her community. She volunteers at Freedom Elementary’s Bulldog Bash, packs weekend meals for families in need, teaches Vacation Bible School at her church every summer, and helps lead and mentor younger students in many different areas of her life. 

Bethany Menjivar

Hip Hop 

Ages 7 & up Company

Bethany started dancing at the early age of 3 in a small town right outside of Pittsburgh, PA. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, pointe, acro, Hip-Hop, Pilates, etc. with Doris Singer Dance Studio for 15 years and passed all 6 levels of Cecchetti Ballet, Highly Commended and Commended. She then went on to train in Point Park’s Pre-Professional Program, and Abby Lee’s school of Dance her senior year of high school. Bethany also trained in voice and acting at her mother’s studio for 10 years as well as playing multiple instruments. Bethany won a spot at the National High School Musical Theater Awards at the age of 18 as a result of winning Best Actress in the Henry Mancini Awards for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie were she then went to compete onstage at The Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. She was then asked back in 2017 to perform for the James Nederlander Tribute, performing two numbers with the Broadway Cast of The Lion King. Bethany went to Point Park University as a Dance Major, with a Jazz/Modern Concentration while balancing her Musical Theatre Minor. After completing her first year at PPU, She was hired to work for RWS Global as a swing, at the age of 18 where she was drumming, hip-hop/tap dancing, and singing in 3 shows. She then moved to NYC to continue her training at Broadway Dance Center and Peridance under many instructors and studied different styles. Bethany has been teaching, choreographing, and setting choreography all over Pennsylvania for 17 years, NYC for 8 years, and LA for 2 years. She was dance captain/choreographer/lead dancer for 54 the Musical and performed in Asbury Park with Frankie Grande, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Ace Young. Other musical theater credits are Consuela in Wick Theatre’s production of West Side Story and Featured Dancer in Riverside Theatre’s production of Hello, Dolly.  She made her New York New Works Theatre Festival debut as a Nymph in Escape From Paradise. Bethany was St.Mel’s Choreographer for their production of Mary Poppins Jr. in LA. Bethany can be seen in OITNB, Ray Donovan, Crashing, The Game Show Let’s Make a Deal, The Plaintiff on Judge Lauren Lake, many BG rolls, and more with the TV/Film industry.
​*Behind every dancer who believes in themself – is a teacher who believed in them first.* 

Hayleigh Holt

Hip Hop

​Ages 4 - 12

Hayleigh is a Maria's School of Dance 2025 graduate and Slippery Rock University student. Hayleigh has danced since the age of 3, and excelled in many genres, including contemporary and jazz. She was a competition dancer, and received several high achieving awards. Hayleigh is currently on the Slippery Rock dance team, and teaches recreational Hip Hop at MSD.

Jacqueline Herwig-Scott

Creative Movement, Tap, Ballet, and Jazz

​Ages 2.5 - 7

Jacqueline started dancing at the age of 4. She studied under Maria Torrence where she performed tap, jazz and ballet for 13 years. Jacqueline also competed for Maria’s School of Dance with the Senior Company. After high school graduation, Jacqueline attended Kent State University majoring in Dance Performance, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts. She studied all genres with a focus on modern dance. Jacqueline was a member of the Kent Dance Ensemble, and Vice President of the Kent Dance Association. She performed and choreographed for student and faculty dance concerts, and attended the American College Dance Festival to perform an adjudicated work. After college graduation, Jacqueline performed professionally with Siren Dance Company, Cleveland, OH. She also taught private lessons to 3-6 year olds.  Jacqueline has 2 children, Kenley and Asher, who both attend Maria’s School of Dance. She has enjoyed working with the students and watching her children dance in the place that began her love for the arts.