Melanie is the owner of Metamorphosis Dance Academy and co-founder of Austin Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble. Melanie began her training in Victoria, Texas with Debbe Busby and continued there as a member of Victoria Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1993. She has done summer study at the Boston Ballet and The Joffrey Workshop TX. She holds a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University. Her career continued following graduation with the Alabama Ballet. Her career highlights include roles in The Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, Petrouchka, La Viviandiere, Swan Lake, Coppelia, La Bayadere, Dracula, Serenade, Giselle, and Johan Renvall’s Between the Lines. She also appeared as a guest with the Indianapolis Opera in Die Fledermaus and on an international tour to Taipei City, Taiwan with the Butler Ballet. She has taught for The Jordan Academy at Butler University and for Exclusively Ballet in Birmingham before returning to Texas where she taught for Tapestry and Ballet Austin. She still performs occasionally, but her favorite roles right now are being a mom to 3 beautiful children and wife to an amazing husband. ”I believe in providing the best possible foundation of technique for successful careers in many forms of dance. I do not just teach steps, but the process necessary to make each movement brilliant. I achieve this through well-planned classes, detailed explanations of corrections, challenging each student individually, and connecting them to the history of dance. Above all, I’m passionate about dance and wish to impart that to my students.”