Meet Our Staff
Melissa Strong - Owner, Director, Head Instructor
Melissa Strong has been a dancer, choreographer, and teacher for 30 plus years. She founded the 5678! Dance Studio in North Sioux City, South Dakota in the summer of 2000 with 40 students. Melissa’s studio has now expanded to over 300 students. She was the Dakota Valley High School Dance Team head coach for 20 years, and helped the team win ten consecutive State Championship Honors. Melissa was the head dance coach at Morningside College from 2008-2010. Melissa has received several awards during her time as a dance instructor. She was recognized by Dance Spirit Magazine as being a Who’s Who of U.S. Dance Directors in 2004. She was also awarded Coach of the Year – Top Five in the Nation by DX Americup in 2006, 2011, 2016, & 2022. She was inducted into the DX Hall of Fame in 2015. Melissa has served 2 years on the USASF National Advisory Board. She is currently serving as a Connection Leader for the USASF where she helps shape the future of dance for the organization, leads classes for the National Meeting, mentors other coaches, and more. Most recently she became one of the All Star connections for the NDCA (National Dance Coaches Association).
Melissa graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in December of 2000. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Broadcast News and a Minor in English. Melissa trained at Siouxland Movement Arts Center in Sioux City, Iowa. There she studied Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, and Tap. She also danced with Jazzin’ Co., a local jazz company, and Siouxland Civic Dance Association Ballet Company. Melissa taught for Siouxland Movement Arts Center as a substitute and full time teacher for two years. At the University of Minnesota- Mankato she studied Dance as a Minor and danced with the University’s Modern Company. Melissa was also a United Indoor Football League dancer. She now attends workshops and classes across the nation to keep current with the new dance styles and techniques. Melissa is married and has two children, Gracie age 17 and Bode age 12.
Rebecca McNamara - Dance Instructor, Head Ballet Instructor
Rebecca (Hebda) McNamara is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, where she studied Business Management. Becca is also a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. She has been dancing for 15 years with the Academy of Dance in Yankton,SD. There she took classes in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, character, dance team, hip hop, modern, and advanced technique. She has danced in the ballets of Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and the Nutcracker with Dakota Dance Association. She has participated in many workshops across the country with the Omaha Theater Ballet, Ballet Magnificat, Dance Educator’s of America, The Joffrey Ballet Company, Broadway Dance Center, and Universal Dance Association. And taken class from choreographers like; David Howard, Mia Michaels, Rod Howell, Hayley Cooper, Vickie Moore, Travis Wall, Mandy Moore, Eric Campros and Tracie Stanfield. . Becca has been a company member for LiRa Dance Theater Company for two seasons as a soloist and corps member. Miss. Becca is also the Artistic Director for Siouxland Civic Dance Association, a local non profit youth ballet company where she teaches weekly ballet company classes and directs productions like The Nutcracker. She has also been named the DX National Coach of the Year 2 seasons (2019 & 2022). Becca and her husband welcomed their first daughter, Luella, into the family in January! This is Miss Becca’s 12th year teaching at 5678! and she is teaching classes in Performance Pom, Pre-Ballet, Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Technique, Tap, and Competition Team.
Jenna Winkler Homme - Dance Instructor
Jenna Winkler hails from Nebraska where she danced literally her entire life. Little did her Mom know when she enrolled Jenna at the age of 3 that Jenna would ultimately be spending up to 40 hours a week training in the studio to compete and perform throughout the entire country. She danced competitively from the time she was six years old as well as on her High School and College Dance Teams. Jenna is a 3-time All American and 2-time All Conference collegiate dancer. She also performed with the Nebraska Ballet in numerous productions and as part of their Repertory Ensemble for three years. She trains in all forms of dance, but especially enjoys jazz and contemporary. Jenna has won numerous regional and national titles both as a soloist as well as part of a team. She is in her fourth year with Universal Dance Association where she travels to various high school and college dance camps throughout the country as a Head Instructor as well as working Dance Nationals and Dance Worlds at the ESPN Center at Disney World. She is an award winning choreographer and has choreographed for high school and college dance teams, competitive soloists and teams, pageant soloists, musical productions, flag corps and show choir groups.
Jenna is a recent graduate of Morningside College where she managed to obtain a BA in Chemistry and a BS in Biology in only three years! She is currently in a masters program to get her M.S. in Medical Laboratory Science. She also recently got married, and loves her life with her husband and her puppy Bleu.
Jenna believes that her background in dance has enabled her to have incredible amounts of discipline and endurance, and how to be a team player in every aspect of life. Her pet peeve is when technique suffers for the sake of tricks, and she encourages all dancers to practice every single day!
"Even professional ballerinas take ballet class every day."
Haley Hutton - Dance and Tumbling Instructor
Haley Hutton began dancing at the age of 4 at 5678! Dance Studio in 2000, the year Melissa first opened her studio doors. Haley danced on the first Mini All Stars competitive team and continued to dance on all of the All-Star teams throughout her years st 5678! She competed at several regional and national competitions throughout those years earning various titles. Haley has also competed at the Dance Worlds in 2013 with the Senior All Stars, and again in 2017 and 2018 with the Open All Stars. Haley went to high school and danced at Sioux City North and was a captain her Senior year. At the Iowa State Dance Competition, her team placed first in Military in 2012 and 2013, and placed first in Pom in 2013. Their team also competed at the MA Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas in 2013 where they received first place in all three routines. Haley competed solos competitively from third grade on. Her Junior year at MA Nationals, she received 6th place out of over 100 dancers. Her Senior year, she competed at the IA State Solo Competition where she placed 3rd out of 97 dancers. Haley went on to dance at South Dakota State University for three years. Her team competed at NDA Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL where they placed 11th in 2015, 8th in 2016, and 9th in 2017 in the competitions largest division. She also danced on the sidelines at football and basketball games. Haley teaches tumbling, hip-hop, lyrical class, and competition teams currently. She is also a member of our Open team. She has choreographed all over the Midwest for high school and All Star teams.
Gabbie Jansen - Dance and Tumbling Instructor
Bio Coming Soon!
Tricia Jernberg - Dance Instructor
Bio Coming Soon!
Madison Mahr - Tumbling & Dance Instructor
Bio Coming Soon!
Morgan Walchek - Tumbling & Dance Instructor
Morgan began dancing at the age of three, and has been with 5678! from a very young age. She began dancing on the Youth All-Star team in fifth grade and worked her way up through the ranks. She competed at many national competitions and Dance Worlds from 2016 to 2021 as a member of the Senior and Open All-Star Teams, with her grand finale being a 1st place finish for Coed Open Jazz at the 2021 Dance Worlds!
She began competing solos in 7th grade and did so until she graduated in 2020. Notable accomplishments include 1st place solos at Champion Spirit Group Nationals in Illinois in 2019 and 2020 and All Star Championships in Wisconsin in 2020, and a 3rd place solo at DX Nationals in Minnesota in 2018.
Morgan attended Dakota Valley High School where she was a part of four state dance championships. She was captain of the Dakota Valley Dance Team her junior and senior years. Morgan was also on the competitive cheer team and a sideline cheerleader for football. She was in National Honors Society, Spanish Club, and Student Council. Morgan has been assisting classes as the studio since the sixth grade, and began coaching in August of 2021. She is an assistant coach for the Senior and Youth Elite All Stars, and also teaches tumbling, lyrical, pom, jazz, and ballet.
Morgan is currently a junior at the University of South Dakota with a major in Social Work and minor in Business Administration.
Anne Marie Warrington - Dance Instructor
Anne Marie began studying dance in Ohio as a child at Abby Dance Center, which gave her a foundation in ballet, pointe, lyrical, tap, and jazz. There she competed nationally earning titles to become a member of the I Love Dance Sweetheart Touring Group, Dance USA National Dance Team, and Starpower PowerPak. During that period she also performed in national venues such as Las Vegas, New York City, and Lake Tahoe. Anne Marie also studied at the Manchester School of Classical Ballet while competing, and was a member of the Manchester Dance Ensemble, an educational touring company.
To continue her education Anne Marie pursued a BFA in dance through the University of Akron, which allowed her to study under professors from the Pennsylvania Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Martha Graham Company, and Jennifer Muller/The Works Dance Company. She performed lead roles in Crystal Divertissements a pas de trios and Tribute to Swing a jazz tap production. She also began teaching and choreographing for the studio she grew up in.
Anne Marie’s choreography has received numerous awards over the past decade along with her students receiving honors in mastered technique and performance. She has judged competitions nationally, been ZUMBA certified, and produced, choreographed, and performed in Project 7 a dance media event in revue for publication. She has taught all ages in styles such as contemporary, lyrical, tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, and modern at studios from across the nation and most recently in Florida. Her students have earned overall placements, regional and national titles, many scholarships / ballet summer studies, appeared on So You Think You Can Dance, danced professionally with the Radio City Rockettes and Oakland Raider Raiderettes, as well as who have went on to pursue degrees in dance and start their own studios.
Over the past few years Anne Marie has continued to grow and broaden her skills having taken classes internationally from Paris to Tokyo and nationally from New York City to Los Angeles. She continues to stay current attending conventions, doing guest choreography, and teaching master classes. She believes in a nurturing dance environment that encompasses creativity, performance, discipline, technique, and progression, as well as attention to each individual student. She firmly believes that her purpose is to educate young students in dance while also influencing them in a positive life manner.
Anne Marie is excited to share the knowledge and talent she’s been given with her students and is thankful for the opportunity to do so.
Favorite Quote: “I don’t want people who want to dance. I want people who have to dance.”
Brooklyn Mace - Dance Instructor
Brooklyn has been dancing at 5678! Since she was about 5 years old. She has been on a competition team since Youth All Stars in grade 5. Since then she has worked her way up to Juniors, Seniors, and Open all stars, where she finally retired dancing at the age of 20. She had competed in the Worlds competition in Orlando, Florida since grade 8, maintaining top 10 in the world every year.
She also danced at Dakota Valley High school where she was a four time state champion and a captain of the team her senior year. Her favorite styles of dance include Pom and lyrical.
Brooklyn had also enjoyed running track where her junior year she had placed at state track and would had continued her senior year if covid hadn’t disrupted the season. She is currently a junior in college where she is working towards her Associates in Science of Nursing at St. Lukes college here in Sioux City. She started her education at the University of Iowa for her freshman and sophomore year and has transferred back home this past summer. She also works for Unity point PACE where she is a home health CNA.
Danielle Schreiner - Dance Instructor
Danielle Schreiner is a graduate from Wayne State College. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a focus on Human Resources.
Throughout high school, Danielle danced on the West Sioux Dance Team where they competed at the Iowa State Dance Competitions. Her senior year she was the team captain when they received 5th place in Pom. Her team attended many dance camps throughout high school, including Just for Kix!
Danielle was also a cheerleader in both high school and college. She became a flier and would cheer and performed at football, basketball, volleyball games and halftime shows.
Her love for dance continued into college where she became a teacher at Wayne Dance Company, teaching Hip-Hop, Pom, Jazz, and Tap. She has been teaching dance for 4 years, and dancing for 8 years.
This is Danielle's first year teaching at 5678! Dance Studio where she will be teaching performance pom and hip-hop.
Gracie Strong - Dance Instructor
