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Miss Marli (Owner/Director): Miss Marli has been dancing since the young age of two and her love for dance and the performing arts has only grown stronger through the years. She has trained in many different styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, Musical Theatre and Acro. Miss Marli continues to travel and train every summer and takes classes from some of the best instructors in the country. She believes that there is always room to grow and more to learn! She has choreographed for many musicals, including "The Wiz," "Annie," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Broadway Exposed."
Miss Marli often travels to Charlotte, North Carolina (with Miss Jenna) to teach and choreograph for a spectacular dance program, A Chance to Dance. This program was designed for children with special needs to be able to enjoy the full dance experience, regardless of their different abilities. She is proud to say that they have extended this amazing program to Michigan right at The 8th Count! Miss Marli was previously an early childhood school teacher. She enjoyed it very much, but decided it was time to focus more energy on dance. Marli debuted The 8th Count in August of 2011 and began by renting space from a gym for 4 years. After growing immensely, The 8th Count officially opened their very own doors in April 2015. Marli and her sister, Jenna are known for their exceptional acrobatics program, that is now nationally ranked! Their students have won and continue to win many high achievements and judges choice awards. From the babies to the seniors, Miss Marli's students always leave class with a smile on their face! It is important to her that every child feels seen and valued. Miss Marli loves sharing her passion for dance and her high energy with all of her students. |
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Miss Jenna (Assistant Director/Instructor): Miss Jenna has been dancing her entire life. She has trained in many styles, including, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Hip-Hop and Acro. As a former competitive dancer herself, she is part of our first ever Alumni dancers at The 8th Count! Miss Jenna always has the kids laughing and having a great time in her classes. She has participated in and been awarded scholarships at dance conventions, including LA Dance Magic and Tremaine. Competitively, Miss Jenna has received many special awards, including "Most Graceful Dancer" and "Best Intensity." Miss Jenna travels to Charlotte, North Carolina as often as possible (with Miss Marli) to teach and choreograph for a spectacular dance program, A Chance to Dance. This program was designed for children with special needs to be able to enjoy the full dance experience, regardless of their different abilities. A program that we are proud to say has now extended to 8th Count! Miss Jenna attends workshops all over the country each summer as she loves to continue to learn. She was the Assistant Director of "Hamlet," as well as a dancer in a production of "The Newsies." Jenna is the co-director of our award-winning competition team. Miss Jenna can't wait to share her love for dance with everyone!
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Miss Breanna (Instructor): Breanna Adams, affectionately known as Ms. Bre by her students, is a native of Detroit, MI where she learned to dance at a local dance studio. Her love for dance began at the age of 3 and has evolved with her as an adult. She has trained in many different styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop and Modern and even joined the Cheer and Pom teams in high school. Dance has allowed her to travel to many different cities around the U.S, including New York City and Los Angeles as well as throughout the state of Michigan. Breanna lives by the sayings “Dance as if no one is watching” and “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”. The only thing she loves more than dancing is teaching dance to students of all ages. Breanna has been teaching at 8th Count for many years and looks forward to another wonderful year of working with all of the staff, students and families.
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Miss Carly (Instructor): Miss Carly began dancing at the age of 4. She joined The 8th Count as a dancer during Year 2 and is so excited to be back as a teacher! Miss Carly was the dance instructor at Cranbrook Kingswood for five summers. During this time, she developed an 8-week recreation dance program to expose the students that attended to different dance styles. Miss Carly attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. While she was at U of M, she joined Pure Dance company, a jazz and contemporary company in Ann Arbor. She was the executive director of Pure for 3 years with the responsibilities of choreographing the company’s pieces and organizing their annual showcase for the U of M community. In addition to teaching dance, Miss Carly is a fourth grade teacher in Novi Community School District. She is also in the process of getting her Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Eastern Michigan University. She is so excited to be able to share her love of dance with the 8th Count family!
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Miss Morgan (Instructor): Miss Morgan has been dancing since the age of 3. She studied tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre and lyrical. She has competed at many regional and National competitions. At the age of 16, she began teaching. At that point, she found her true love, sharing her love of dance with her students! She taught ages preschool through adult, beginners through advanced and loved every second of it! Over the years, she has had countless awards for competition numbers, taken master classes from some of the top instructors, choreographed for local groups, built long lasting relationships with her students and dance parents and is SO excited to be back to dancing with the 8th count family!
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Miss Jessica (Instructor): Jessica began dancing at age 4, and became a competitive dancer at age 8 in the subjects of ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. She made Varsity Dance Team her freshman year of high school, in which she developed her skills in hip hop, jazz, and pom pon. Jessica was a choreographer and soloist for the dance program at the Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts her senior year. She then went on to study at Central Michigan University, where she made the Varsity Competitive Hip Hop Team her first year. Jessica began teaching dance professionally at studios in the Detroit, Michigan area at age 18. Additionally, she has coached and choreographed for competitive high school Varsity Pom & Dance teams. Jessica now has over 12 years of experience as a dance instructor and is excited to share her passion for dance with children and adults of all ages and abilities.
Mr. Colin (Instructor): Colin brings a lifetime of passion, energy, and artistic expertise to the studio. Now entering his 9th year of teaching, Colin’s journey with dance began at the age of 5. Over the years he has cultivated a deeply versatile background, training extensively in a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, musical theater, contemporary, tap, modern, and hip hop. While his training spans nearly every discipline, he specializes in jazz, contemporary, and musical theater dance. To date Colin has choreographed over 10 musicals across the Metro Detroit area, bringing stories to life on stage with vibrant high energy choreography and staging.
“I believe in building up confidence and encouraging every dancer to find their unique voice through movement”. In Colin’s classes technique goes hand in hand with self expression. He is dedicated to creating a supportive, uplifting environment where students feel empowered to push their boundaries, embrace their individuality, and most importantly have fun. Whether preparing dancers for the stage or helping them master a new skill, Colin is thrilled to continue inspiring the next generation of performers. |
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Miss Lia (Instructor): Miss Lia, now an 8th Count alumna, was a rhythmic gymnast for 10 years. She took home many overall and specialty awards. She came to 8th Count 9 years ago and joined the competition team her second year. She is trained in all styles, including, lyrical, jazz, acro, contemporary, hip-hop, tap and ballet. Lia has been a leader at 8th Count for many years. Helping with choreography, costumes and so much more! Dance is Lia’s passion and she loves sharing it with others. What she loves most is that she gets to do it at the place that started it all!
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Miss Lauren (Front Desk): Bio coming soon!
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Miss Sam (Instructor): Miss Sam started her dance training at 2.5 years old. She quickly realized dancing to be her passion; over the years, Miss Sam trained in ballet, cecchetti, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, poms, and hip hop. She danced at the competitive level for 10 years winning awards primarily for tap and ballet. Miss Sam was a member of the Lakes Area Civic Ballet for many years where she played a variety of lead rolls in their yearly performance of "The Nutcracker". Miss Sam was also on the Varsity Dance Team at her high school where she was assigned as team choreographer. Miss Sam has traveled around the country for dance and has taken classes from some phenomenal choreographers and artist. Along with dance, she has spent most of her adult life working in Early Childhood Education. Sam's son Ledger is a competitive dancer at 8th Count! Miss Sam is very passionate about bringing technique and excitement to the classroom and the stage!
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Miss Abby (Instructor): Miss Abby is so excited to teach at 8th Count this year. Abby is a senior at Bloomfield Hills High School and a proud member of national honor society. She has danced at 8th Count since 2021 beginning on the Acceler8 team before moving to the full company a year later. She is a weekly volunteer for 8th Count’s A Chance to Dance program which welcomes people of all abilities to dance and express themselves. Abby was captain of the UFL Michigan Panthers dance team at Ford Field in 2025. She is currently co-captain of the Bloomfield Hills Varsity dance team. She is looking forward to expanding her love of dance to younger dancers and can’t wait for this season!
Miss Alyssa (Instructor): Alyssa is a senior at Bloomfield Hills High School. She is a captain of her JV high school dance team, where she has received the Rising Star Coaches Award and the Most Spirited Dancer team-voted award. In addition, she is a member of the National Honor Society. She was a member of the Michigan Panther’s Claw Crew Dance Team in 2025. She took her first dance class when she was 3 years old and joined 8th Count in 2018. She is trained in many styles, including ballet, hiphop, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, pom, and tap. She has also had the opportunity to train with Detroit Lions cheerleaders and other leaders through Universal Dance Association camp. Alyssa has been an assistant teacher in the past and is excited to share her love of dance with our recreational program.
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Mr. Max (Instructor): Bio coming soon!
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