In 2013 Ms. Moriah was asked by a friend to teach her two youngest girls to dance. This friend had never even seen her dance, plus Ms. Moriah was expecting a baby, and the only available place was her living room. But to Katie, those were just small hurdles and she invited two other families to join the dance class.

That year Ms. Moriah had six delightful little dancers. After a while, Katie’s youngest daughter (6 years old) said with great determination, “Ms. Moriah we need a real dance studio, with mirrors, and we need to have a real recital like on Despicable Me."

Of course Ms. Moriah agreed with her! She couldn’t get all of her requests done yet but a "recital" was soon held in her living room.It was a lot of fun plus her ballerinas were fantastic!

A few months later Katie and most of her family unexpectedly left this Earth. Moriah wrote the following, “My heart ached, I missed them. And all I could think of was that request for a "real" dance studio by my determined ballerina.”  The day after the funeral, Moriah and Mike signed the papers for their new home and the invitation to join the little dance group went up on Facebook. She expected maybe 30 dancers to sign up but enrolled 60 within 3 days.  “I was blown away!” she said. “I think that sweet family might have been whispering into some ears here on earth.” She outfitted her garage with mirrors and made the perfect space for her dancers.

The MDSA family grew to 80 students by the end of that year and just like they outgrew her living room, they outgrew her garage. That is the condensed story of why you or your students are creating memories within these walls. At the time of opening the studio Moriah said, “My new dream is to keep trying to be a great mom, share my love of the arts with everyone, and have fun!”

Katie and her family are missed by many people every single day. Our motto "BE" DANCE comes from the first letters of the names of those sweet dancers we lost the summer of 2014,

Becca and Emily.

The “B” of BE Dance stands for being dedicated and driven, and consistently being willing to improve his or her talents. The “E” of BE Dance stands for enthusiasm and a cheerful attitude, the dancer is excited, kind and respectful of those he or she encounters.

AFTER

AFTER

GARAGE

STUDIO

FOUNDATION

STUDIO

MDSA started as one woman hoping to fulfill the dream of two young girls. Despite the tragic outcome of losing them to senseless violence, the dream has become a reality to bless the lives of a growing MDSA community. What started from a three car garage and one teacher, is now a 9,700 sq/ft non profit with a full staff and hundreds of families committed to preserving dreams.