The mission of Midwest Dance Explosion is to provide an encouraging, positive and wholesome environment where students can learn cheerleading and theatrical performance from highly qualified, friendly instructors. While practicing the values of discipline, hard work and responsibility through their classes, competitions and performances, Midwest Dance Explosion strives to integrate the arts throughout Lincoln County by staying active in community events.

Midwest Dance Explosion is the fresh new face of Lincoln County. Opening in October of 2003, hundreds of MDE students have performed in many community events, Branson’s Old Time Christmas Show and have competed in area dance and cheer competitions as well as traveling to New Orleans, LA, Panama City, FL, Evansville, IN, and Las Vegas, NV. MDE has highly respected competitive dance and cheerleading teams, however, our focus is having fun, learning and growing through the arts. ALL STUDENTS have opportunities to perform not only in our yearly recital, but in the several performances we do each year.

Julie Stewart has been active in the performing arts community for over 21 years as a student, teacher, choreographer and director. Julie has studied dance with an emphasis on ballet under the training of Kathleen Daniels, Ray Parks, Vivienne-Albers Topping, Kathy Blattel, Alvin Ailey Dance Company and the Lindenwood University dance department. Aside from intensive studies in dance, Julie has also been a competitive baton twirler achieving numerous state, regional and national titles as well as an international title in 1993. Julie has been a guest performer with Disneyland and the Los Angeles Lakers and a guest instructor in Los Angeles, Dallas, Oklahoma, and Amsterdam. In 1997, she was selected as Missouri*s Junior Miss and traveled to Mobile, Alabama to represent Missouri in the nationally-televised pageant, America*s Junior Miss. Jule has over ten years teaching experience as a private instructor for dance and baton twirling as well as a former ballet instructor for KJ*s and Dance Unlimited. Currently, Julie is a MSHSAA certified dance team coach and an NBTA licensed teacher and judge. Julie is also an active member of the Lincoln Country Fair Pageant board as head choreographer of the pageant and she is a co-chairman of the Missouri’s Junior Miss Scholarship Pageant. Julie recently took intensive training in lyrical, ballet, jazz and preschool dance teaching with Dance Olympus in Orlando, Fla.

Our instructors and director take part in continuing education through certification classes in teaching technique and creative choreography as well as continued monthly teaching workshops with the director. Teachers must have a minimum of 10 years of training experience in their area of expertise. Instructors not only must have high levels of education in their field, but must possess high moral standards as people. We only hire men and women who are excellent examples of character for your children.

Instructors include Ashley DeAngelis, Taylor Ebeler, Chelly Harrison, Shannon Hutsler, Brittni Jakuboski, Angela Koehler, Katie Grupe, Bobby Picker, Jill Shadden, Matt Vance, Samantha Viviano-Bird, Brooke Yeager