Staff – MZ Dance Company

Meet The Staff

Artistic Director, Miranda E. Heitz

Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop

Ms. Miranda Heitz started dancing at the age of three and it was love at first step! She started in Dance schools throughout Philadelphia Pennsylvania where her passion, drive, discipline and creativity were inspired from many amazing dance Educators. She moved to Northeastern Indiana when she was about 8 years old and continued with her training.

She was such a devoted student that she was asked to be a student assistant teacher to her Checchetti ballet teacher at the young age of ten, assisting with around 10 classes a week on top of all her other classes! She then moved on to a performance Company at TC Dance Company in her hometown and began her RAD training. She obtained her Royal Academy of Dance certificate and was awarded “Highly Commended” on all her ballet exams! She also won national grand Champion awards for her Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Tap competition team dances. During that time, she was also attending The Fort Wayne Ballet, and the Fort Wayne Dance Collective for additional classical ballet and Modern training and summer intensives. She was an active member of her Show Choir “Knight Rhythms” with Mr. Matt and soon sought out dance instructor jobs and was hired at the young age of sixteen to teach a full schedule of all dance genres while continuing her own dance education at different studios.

She was then accepted into Columbia College Chicago, and Ball State University for dance! After choosing to attend Ball State, she focused on Ballet, Modern, choreography, pedagogy, kinesiology, dance history, and Musical Theater. Her favorite classes were her Limon, Horton and Graham modern classes. She even got to personally work with Modern Dance Master Bill Evans and many more!

After college she took on a Competition dance company where her dancers received the highest point awards and specialty choreography awards at both the regional and National levels. During that time, she was a choreography judge for Show Choir Competitions, choreographed and set stage Musicals, Marching band Drum lines, and High School Dance teams. Shortly after her son Ezra was born in 2005, her family decided to get out of freezing Indiana and find some new dance opportunities in sunny Florida!

In 2007 The Heitz family moved to the Tampa bay area where Ms. Miranda found herself as a founding member of the Tampa Bay Ballet Theater Company where she performed such roles as “The Queen of Hearts” in Alice in Wonderland, “Carabosse” in The Sleeping Beauty, and “The Rat King” in the Nutcracker to name a few. She also set many unique Modern pieces on adult working professionals in the area to perform for local dance festivals. She has taught summer intensives and performed as a guest artist as the “Evil Stepmother” in Brandon Ballet’s Hansel and Gretel, as well as teaching Modern for Florida West Ballet Company in St. Petersburg. From 2010 to 2016 she was training dancers and aerialists at Dance and Circus Arts of Tampa Bay, instructing and growing the dance program, learning aerial arts and even became a Stilt walker through Busch Gardens trainers!

In the last 10 years of being in Florida, Ms. Miranda has loved helping local studios accomplish their goals and taking classes and conventions in all genres for herself when she can, as she believes in being a well-rounded dancer and that community comes before competition. You may have even spotted her dancing in a couple music videos including her favorite band Hanson! It is now time for here to shine on her own and pass down all the love and knowledge she has to future generations. Ms. Miranda has an undying real passion for dance, and an even bigger love for teaching and choreographing! That is her true calling and she is so excited to share all of her experience to prepare and inspire dancers to become contributors to this amazing Classical Dance community.

Instructor: Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning

Cyr Wheel, Limon Modern, Middle Eastern Belly Dancing

Mary Susan began her dancing career at the age of 5 with Scottish Highland Dancing. She continued to compete in Highland for 12 years, winning 38 championships, 3 United States Championships, and 8 consecutive South Eastern Championships. After attending Sweet Briar College and receiving her B.A. Cum Laude and double major in both Dance and Theater, Mary Susan moved to NYC where she attended the prestigious Limon Institute Preparatory Program. Mary Susan has danced as a guest artist with contemporary ballet as well as modern dance companies, and performed choreography by Jose Limon, Carla Maxwell, Clay Taliaferro, Kathryn Alter and Ursula Verduzco among many others. In 2012, Mary Susan joined the Mosaic Dance Theater Company in NYC and performed as a core company member and soloist in both classical and traditional middle eastern dance. While in New York, Mary Susan began training in Cyr Wheel and both qualified and competed for Team USA in the Cyr Wheel world championships at the CSIT World Sport Games in Lignano Italy; one of only three women on the team. After competing, Mary Susan continued her love and passion for Cyr wheel, performing at venues, theaters and functions throughout New York City. She also was a co-creator, cast member and rehearsal director for “SPUN”, a show that melds both modern dance and Cyr wheel, which was chosen to be in the world-famous Inside/Out Festival at Jacob’s Pillow. “SPUN” made history as the first show ever to incorporate Cyr wheel and dance at the Pillow! After moving to Florida, Mary Susan has continued to teach and train both dance and Cyr, and has joined the talent agency Eklectic Entertainment as the only Volta Wheel artist in the state. She has been featured recently on “the Harry Connick Jr. Show” as well as performed throughout the state of Florida in the two years she has been here.
Click the link to watch Mary Susan on her Cyr wheel:

https://vimeo.com/232377414

Instructor: Amanda Ciotuszynski

Ballet & Hula Hoop

Amanda has been studying dance for over 22 years with 8+ years of experience as a professional ballet dancer and 11+ years of experience instructing and training students (both pre-professional and recreational students). She has performed all over the Tampa Bay Area including at Ruth Eckerd Hall, The Palladium, The Central Park Performing Center, and many more. She has studied and performed in many ballet, jazz, contemporary, and modern dance techniques. Other notable accomplishments include intensive training at Orlando Ballet, dance training at the University of South Florida, and competing in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. She has also volunteered to perform to raise support for charitable causes such as The New Seeds Festival for women’s rights, Gold Star Ceremony for fallen soldiers, and at the Aveda Hair Show for cancer research. Amanda is a student at heart and began studying and performing hoop dance in 2017 under Kailey Snayd. She fell in love with the hoop as a prop and enjoys incorporating her classical dance training with the flow and tricks of hoop dance.

Instructor: Meka Taulbee

Acro & Aerial Instructor

Meka has been dancing since age 5. She started with ballet and moved on to add jazz and contemporary. She has been teaching dance since she was 16, starting as a choreographer for a summer musical production group. In college she studied modern and contemporary and performed with SanKofa, an African Drum and Dance ensemble, for 4 years. Meka has a love for all movement and feels it’s an important piece to balance mind and body. She went on to become a personal trainer and has been professionally training clients since 2000 through her company that focuses on sailing & fitness. She has trained everyone from pre/post natal moms and weekend warriors to Olympic Sailors and even Paralympic Sailors. Some of her clients have even won Olympic medals. She has been the fitness trainer for the University Of South Florida Sailing Team and the United States National Optimist Team. Meka has also trained personally for fitness competitions and completed many half and full marathons. Her passion is working with children and since age 13 she has done so by running several children’s groups, being a nanny, teaching, counseling and currently running a homeschool cooperative and having her own Holistic Health practice, specializing in family wellness. Meka is not often seen without her children who introduced her to acroyoga which has become a huge passion of hers. She feels it’s the perfect blend of dance, fitness, flexibility and fun. She actively trains acroyoga, is an avid runner, loves a good weight session, a yogi and anything where she can challenge the limits of her body. Meka can often be found training or teaching circus arts with her children who also practice various circus arts such as aerials, acro and fire juggling.. She believes a strong community, laughter and movement are the best foundation.

Instructor: Emily Fernandez

Aerial Instructor

Hi, my name is Emily Fernandez! I’ve been doing aerial for 7 years. I have a background in competitive gymnastics and cheerleading starting at the age of 3. I graduated from a 9 month professional aerial dance program in boulder Colorado in 2021. I love the connections I make in this sport and cannot wait to share my knowledge with the younger generations.

Owner Operator: Matthew Heitz

Mr. Matt brings a diverse background of leadership, management, and performing arts experience. Matthew started his early years on the stage performing lead roles in Theater productions under the direction of Craig Munk in Kendallville Indiana. Matthew was a dance captain in his High School Show Choir “Knight Rhythms” along with Ms. Miranda where he won best performer awards at competitions throughout the Midwest. He attended Show Choir Camps of America each summer of High School where he gained a deeper knowledge of stage performance and production. He attended Taylor University in Upland Indiana from 1996-2000. During that time, he was in a group called “Choosen” which was a traveling skit troupe. He was also the professional Sound Tech for all Taylor University’s theater productions! After college, Matthew spent 6 years creating and running diverse youth programs and directing a teen worship band in his hometown. He was the Chairman of the Board for “The Wreck”, where he ran sound and lights and volunteered his expertise for their live performance venue. After moving to Florida in 2007 he worked as a Youth Director for Seminole Heights UMC. He also has worked for over 8 years managing customer service operations for high level retailers. And is currently working in the financial investment industry. Matthew’s love and experience of the performing arts, working in leadership roles for children and his extensive management experience have lead him to this unique opportunity! He strives to give our dancers the best atmosphere, education and experience possible. He is a loving supportive Husband and Father and is a great mentor for children.