Mekenzie Edwards
Mekenzie Edwards started her dancing career at the age of 2-years-old right here at Stairway to the Stars where she took ballet, tap, jazz, clog, tumbling and pointe classes. From the age of 7-years-old she started competing at various competitions around Iowa with Stairway to the Stars and in the summer competed in various Bill Riley Talent Contests around the state along with the Iowa State Fair. She participated in her high school’s dance team for four years and choregraphed routines for them. She also took extra tumbling classes in Wayland and helped with the classes there.
After graduating high school Mekenzie went to college in Des Moines at AIB College of Business where she earned her bachelor’s in business administration and leadership. During college, when she would come home, she would often sub dance classes at the studio and after she graduated she started teaching her own classes, I guess you could say she never really left the studio. Mekenzie has been teaching ballet, jazz, tap, clog and tumbling along with competition routines at the dance studio for four years now. Mekenzie lives in Winfield, IA with her husband Grant and son Reid and during the day works at the University of Iowa as an Administrative Services Coordinator in the Diabetes Research Center.
Mekenzie says what she loves most about teaching dance and tumbling is the pure excitement and joy that comes across a dancer’s face when they finally master that double or triple pirouette or finally get that roundoff back handspring they’ve been working on for months. To be able to be even a small role model in a kid’s life and to hopefully instill confidence and make each kid feel beautiful in their own skin is truly so rewarding. The sweet hugs and funny conversations are always a favorite as well.
Stairway to the Stars has always been a home away from home and a safe place for Mekenzie to grow up where she met lifelong friends who are more like family and hopes that is something everyone who dances here can take away with them.