Faculty Bios

Marcia Taylor

Marcia Taylor

Marcia Taylor is the owner/director/principal instructor of THE DANCE STUDIO OF IOWA, and THE DANCE STUDIO OF KIRKSVILLE. Marcia is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a renowned Conservatory with more than 100 years of history that has produced musicians and dancers known around the world. In addition to her BFA degree in dance, she also holds a degree in early childhood education, which is invaluable in designing and implementing her widely modeled age-appropriate high quality curricula for young dance students.

Her academic and professional training is in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical, creative movement, liturgical, choreography, folk and acting. She has even taught hip hop and college gymnastics and tumbling. Her advanced formal dance training comes from The American Dance Center, Dupree’ Dance Academy in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dance Center, Alvin Ailey, Chicago Dance Connection, and The Ballet Workshop and Seminar (London, England). Marcia is one of the few (and among the first) dance instructors who has earned formal dance certification from the State Department of Education.

Marcia’s performance and choreography credits are equally impressive. She is a former Miss America contestant, after being selected as Miss Missouri, where she was the Overall Talent Award Winner as a dance soloist. She is also a former Kansas City Chiefette for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team. She has also been a featured dancer in Hollywood variety shows and national telethons and has appeared as a soloist or dancer with Theater at the Vis, Crown Center Goes Hollywood, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Dance, Kansas City Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” and the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, to name a few. In addition, she has also been a featured choreographer for Ibsen Dance Theater, Miss Missouri Pageant, America’s Junior Miss Pageants, Theater at the Vis, Kansas City Chiefettes, and People in Motion Dancers, to name a few.

Over the past twenty-five years Marcia has served on the dance faculties of three colleges and universities, including Central College in Pella and Truman State University in Kirksville; and she has owned, directed, and served as principal instructor of her own dance studios, including THE DANCE STUDIO OF IOWA in Pella, Iowa (present) and THE DANCE STUDIO in Kirksville, Missouri (present) and, formerly, DANCE ELECTIVES in Kansas City. In addition, she has been a featured dance instructor of the nationally renowned Young Audiences Program in Kansas City, Instructor of Dance with the Kansas City Magnet School of the Performing arts, and Director of D.A.N.C.E., LTD., an academic and performance program of dance and movement for public, private and home school children in four states. She has directed the award winning PEOPLE IN MOTION DANCE COMPANY at her Kirksville Studio for several years.

In addition to her extended dance family that comprises several thousand former and current dance students, her own family is husband Terry, who assists with the management of the Studios and is a writing consultant; daughter Skyler, who became a professional ballerina; daughter Callan, who played professional basketball in Europe (and former dancer); and son Matt, who is a certified personal trainer and former collegiate soccer and basketball player.