Meet our family
We welcome dancers of all ages and abilities into our studio
Foundations
Who we are
Our mission at MZ Dance Company is to nurture and prepare passionate dancers of all ages and backgrounds through a strong classical dance education. We strive to foster a love for the art of dance in a safe, creative, and supportive studio environment.
We’re also proud to be active in our community, performing and sharing our passion at festivals, galas, parades, and local events. At MZ Dance Company, we focus on developing well-rounded individuals, encouraging confidence, character, and creativity just as much as technical skill.
Our studio is a welcoming, non-discriminatory space where dancers of all backgrounds and ability levels are supported and celebrated. There is truly something here for everyone, and we can’t wait to welcome you to our dance family in Clearwater, Florida.
Leadership
Our instructors
Each brings years of professional experience and genuine care.
Miranda Heitz
Artistic Director
Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop,Musical Theater, Team Director
Ms. Miranda Heitz began dancing at age three, and it was love at first step. With over 30 years of teaching experience, dance has been both her passion and her livelihood for her entire life. She trained in dance schools throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her drive, discipline, and creativity were shaped by incredible educators. Around age eight, she moved to northeastern Indiana and continued her training there, building the foundation for the teacher and mentor she is today.
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 18 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 childhood 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.
Matt Heitz
Owner/Operator
Super amazing support and MC skillz
It’s Matt!
Meka
Acro & Aerial Instructor
Meka has been dancing since age five and began teaching at 16. She studied modern and contemporary dance in college and performed with the SanKofa African drum and dance ensemble. She is also a longtime personal trainer who has worked with everyone from families to Olympic and Paralympic sailors. Today Meka focuses on family wellness, circus arts, and movement through her holistic health practice, blending dance, fitness, and acroyoga.
Mary Susan
Cyr Wheel, Limon Modern, Middle Eastern Belly Dancing, Highland Dance
Mary Susan began dancing at five with Scottish Highland dance, winning 38 championships including three U.S. titles. She later earned a B.A. in Dance and Theater from Sweet Briar College and trained in New York at the Limón Institute. She has performed with contemporary companies, competed for Team USA in the Cyr Wheel World Championships, and co-created SPUN, the first show at Jacob’s Pillow to combine Cyr wheel and dance. Now in Florida, she continues to teach, perform, and work as a professional wheel artist.
Jesika
Ballet Instructor
Jesika has studied dance for over 20 years, specializing in classical ballet. She has performed roles such as Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, and has appeared as a guest artist with the St. Petersburg Opera and at the Dalí Museum. She is also a therapist and loves inspiring the next generation through teaching ballet at MZ Dance Company.
Isa
Aerial Instructor
Isa (it/its) is a Florida native, originally from Gainesville, and started gymnastics at age 6 continuing until age 18, excelling in uneven bars especially. At 16 Isa started silks at the local circus gym and eventually branched out to include silks, hammock, trapeze, lyra, pole, and the occasional specialty apparatus’ in its repertoire on top of tumbling, hand balancing, and partner acrobatics. Isa works full time as a museum preservationist and enjoys baking as a hobby as well as dancing and acrobatics.
Kailey
Hula-Hoop Instructor
Kailey, a Tampa native, fell in love with dance early and spent most of her youth training in ballet, with experience in hip hop and jazz, later exploring bellydance as an adult. Nearly 11 years ago she discovered hoop dance through the rave “flow” scene and quickly connected with the art form. Since then, she has performed as a busker, in clubs, at festivals, and at private events. For the past 8 years, Kailey has also shared her passion by teaching hoop dance, bringing its movement, creativity, and joy to others. She’s excited to join the MZ Dance Company community.
Where passion meets purpose
MZ Dance Company was built on a simple belief: dance transforms lives. We created this studio as a sanctuary where dancers could grow without the pressure of competition, where every person matters equally.
Fun Fact
Hula Babies: An MZ Tradition Since the 80’s
An MZ Dance carried on Tradition. Back in the 80s, a trend was going around Midwest dance studios where the finale was a cute little dance performed by the youngest dancers. It was to a rare song from a record called Hula baby. The dancers would dress up in their tropical Hula dancer costumes and steal the audiences hearts. It was a great way to kick off the summer and give a real treat at the end of the show. Ms. Miranda decided to carry on this tradition from her childhood and now our audiences also look forward to the hula babies every year!
Ready to join us?
Visit our studio in Clearwater and experience the MZ Dance Company difference
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