Founded in 2015, Stage Door Dance Arts is located in the heart of West Conway in a state of the art studio designed specifically for dancers! SDDA is proud to offer the highest quality instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, modern, contemporary/lyrical, musical theater, hip-hop, acro, and many other supplemental technique classes. We offer classes for dancers who desire a pre-professional dance
education, as well as those who simply desire to dance for fun! Best of all, each program takes places in an environment that is encouraging, safe, and full of joy! We are proud to offer our families a “family friendly, modesty promise” as it pertains to costuming, choreography, and music choices. Finally, SDDA employs only high quality teachers who have years of experience in the dance field. Each and every season, SDDA offers Master Classes with professional dancers and companies from around the world. No matter the level of commitment, or which dance program your child chooses, every SDDA dancer receives our absolute best! Originally owned by Michelle and Kevin Knell, SDDA has had the benefit of being managed by an accomplished business man and a former professional dancer and actress with 11 years of performance history, 30+ years of teaching experience, and over 25 years of studio management experience. She has over 25 years of dance experience, and currently dances professionally for UnTapped. Haley serves as a judge for Starquest Performing Arts competition. She loves teaching master classes as part of the world renowned faculty of The Little Rock Tap Festival and National competitions all over the country. She has also been involved in film and live performance work for the Conway Chamber of Commerce. While highly skilled in all disciplines of dance, she has become well known as the "go to" dance educator of Modern, Tap, Musical Theater, and Hip-Hop in the Central Arkansas area. The final member of the SDDA leadership team is Kevin Knell, Mrs. Michelle's husband. Kevin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and will lend his knowledge of technology, finance, and business management to Stage Door Dance Arts as the CFO. The philosophy of Stage Door is simple and clear: arts education should not only empower and define discipline, creativity, self-confidence, and a sense of community, but it should also spark JOY! We desire to make dance a wonderful experience for all involved while providing a dance education program that includes training in technique, performance, choreography, dance history, dance health, and employability. Our fundamental mission is to maximize the physical, social, emotional, and academic benefits of dance in the students we educate, in a loving, encouraging, and joyful environment!
