Our Staff
Rachel Smith Allison is in her ninth year as the owner/director of MSSoD after 23 wonderful years of working with her mother Miss Melva!
Miss Rachel teaches ballet, tap, jazz, all the preschool combo classes, musical theater and beginning hip hop.
She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in dance and voice from the University of Oklahoma. (Boomer!)
Before settling down to teach Miss Rachel spent over a decade touring the country as a professional singer, dancer, and actress.
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In 1995 after moving back to Dallas from New York City, she began the Melva Smith School of Dance Performance Company, now entering its 30th season. They are a nationally award winning company and Miss Rachel has won national choreography awards for her work.
Beyond dance, Musical Theater is her passion. She has sung and danced with Hershey Park, Fiesta, Texa,s, Opryland Theme Park, and it's showboat the General Jackson and more.
In the metroplex, she has appeared in numerous roles in the Dallas area. Some of her favorites roles are with Garland Summer Musicals as Rose in Bye Bye Birdie and Minnie Faye in Hello Dolly. Also with Garland Civic Theater as Maggie in A Chorus Line and as Toffee in Metro Players Southwest Premiere of Zombie Prom.
She has been named a top leading ladies in North Texas for the Dallas Divas! Concert - Lyric Stage's annual fundraiser and spent several seasons performing with Dallas Summer Musicals kick off cast,
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She is thrilled to spend her days passing on her love of dance and performing to her wonderful students!
Jessica Wooldridge is the director of our award winning MSSoD Co.- A Performance Company. at MSSoD.
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Miss Jessica grew up dancing at MSSoD and now teaches ballet, beginning pointe and tap while directing MSSoD Co.
Miss Melva- Our Founder!
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Melva Smith found Melva Smith School of Dance in Coppell in January of 1986 after opening her Richardson location in 1984 making her a ling time member of the Dallas dance community1
She has taught classical ballet and related dance forms in her studios throughout the Southwest, California and Europe. Her dance and theatrical training has included study with many of the most renowned and eminent masters in the field of dance.
Miss Melva has been teaching in the Coppell and Richardson areas for over thirty years and is thrilled to now be teaching second and third generations of families!
Emily Bariel grew up studying at MSSoD from the age of three and now teaches Contemporary and directs our STEP- Student Teaching Education Program.
Miss Emily performed for many seasons with Epiphany Dance Company and directed thier outreach for differently abled dancers.
She teaches Contemporary for MSSoD and holds a degree in Dance from UNLV.