Our faculty members have been involved in many organizations and have accomplished many great things in the dancy industry. In addition to their individual acheivments, we feel that they are the best in the area at applying our unique curriculum, creating a positive classroom atmosphere and have the ability to challenge our students to be the best dancer they can be.

Yes, we do allow them to have fun also..dance is supposed to be fun!! Take a look below to get to know the faculty members of STEPS Performing Arts Center.

Mandy Baker
Owner/Artistic Director

Mandy is a former Junior Olympic gymnast, who found her way to dance at the age of 12. By 13 she had won a summer scholarship to Broadway Dance Center and Joffrey Ballet School. She is a former member of Dance Theatre of Texas, the DPHS Deer Escorts, Ballet Austin, Dance Repertory Theatre, UofH Cougar Dolls and the San Antonio Spurs' Silver Dancers. Her acting credits include the television series Dawson's Creek and films A Sliding Down Life and The Newton Boys. While attending the University of Texas at Austin, she studied modern, ballet and stage lighting. Mandy has won numerous awards for choreography and top teacher. As Artistic Director of the No Boundaries Dance Company (NBDC) she is proud of her teams' accomplishments which include numerous top overall and special awards, as well as being named National Champions for 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Todd Baker -Owner/WebDesign/Marketing/Janitor/Handyman/Prop Builder(retired)/Advisor/Referee

Although officially retired from the prop-building business, I still wear many hats for STEPS. You may not see much of me as I do most of my studio work in my spare time. That is to say, when I am not working my regular 8-5 as a Health, Safety and Risk Manager for Thorpe Corporation. With a degree in Economics and a wife in dance, it was just a matter of time before I ventured into the studio business. I can still hear the words just like it was 9 years ago..."let's open a small dance studio. It'll be fun!" Well, "small" isn't so small anymore but she was right about the fun part.

Amanda Gaspard -Office Manager

Amanda graduated from Pasadena High School and attended San Jacinto College before beginning her career as an Administrative Assistant. She has been married to Troy for 16 years and they have three children, Dewayne, Nicholas, and Samantha. She recently joined STEPS from La Porte ISD where she worked for several years as a volunteer and then as an employee. Amanda has always been very involved with her children in their many interests and activities. She held several positions on the Lomax Elementary PTO with her final three years as President. She served in various positions on the LPBBA most recently Vice President. She also served on the La Porte Dogfish Swim Team Board. Amanda danced at a local studio for several years when she was young and her love for dance brought her to STEPS with her daughter, Samantha.

Ashley Vandagriff -Instructor/Assistant Director

Ashley has studied all forms of dance since the age of 3. She has been a choreographer/teacher for 13 years and was a gymnastics coach for 2 years. She holds many competition award titles, including "Top Teacher" and multiple choreography awards in many different styles. Although Ashley's strength is tap, she works with all styles for the No Boundaries Dance Company. Ashley has a very energetic approach to teaching and choreographing. For NBDC, she is well known for her musical theatre and audience captivating choreography. She is proud to have STEPS and NBDC as her home where she has served as the NBDC Assistant Director for 8 years. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband and her 4 year old son and spending time outdoors.

Laurie Boren -Instructor

Laurie Boren is a graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she was recognized for her choreography, and dance technique. She was the dance team director at Friendswood High School for 4 years, and the Deer Escort director for 9 years. As the Deer Park dance team director she built the team to 110 members and they won many national titles under her direction. She is a judge for several dance team competitions in the Houston and surrounding areas. Laurie is currently a dance teacher at Clear Brook High School and directs the 300 student dance department in three concerts every year. She has 3 children, Corey 14, Abigail 9, Jacey 3 and two step daughters, Kaylee 12 and Kassidy 10.

Loren Hernandez -Instructor

-Instructor

Melanie McDonald -Instructor

Melanie has been dancing for 22 years and grew up training in, ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, clogging, and acrobatics. She was a member of the Dobie Lariaettes drill team where she served as a dance officer Lieutenant and then Lt. Colonel. She continued her education by receiving her Associates of Arts in Dance from San Jacinto College and Bachelor of Science in Dance from Lamar University in Kinesiology, Creative Movement for Children, Modern and Contemporary, among others. She was a member of a touring Modern dance company and taught at the American College Dance festivals. Since then she has extended her training with Dance Masters of America, Teacher Training School in Buffalo, NY, The Pulse, and Broadway Dance Center. Going on her 12th year as a teacher, Melanie truly enjoys the art of choreographing and most of all teaching.

-Receptionist

Katie Heintz -Instructor

Katie is originally from Rochester NY where she started dancing at the age of 3. She competed in both regional and national competitions winning numerous awards and scholarships. She danced at the Edge Performing Arts Center in LA as a scholarship student and then graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BFA in dance performance. She is currently in her fourth year with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company.

Jorge Sanchez -Instructor

Jorge is a native Houstonian who has been dancing for over 6 years. In his career as a dancer he has performed with various local dancers and is one of the original members of the dance crew HIStory. In high school he was an elite member of Westside High School's Inertia dance company and won various national titles with his dance team. Sanchez strives to make himself better every day not only to become a better dancer, but a better choreographer and teacher. Jorge brought his talent to STEPS in 2010, where he continues to share his passion for Hip Hop and hopes to support the growth of the Hip Hop scene.

Jessica Quinn -Instructor

Jessica is known for her passion for dance as well as her dedication to the art form and dance ability. With over 16 years of experience in all forms of dance, she has traveled all over the US performing, competing and improving her skills and technique through continuing education. She thrives on keeping up with the latest dance steps to keep her choreography fresh and current. Jessica has been teaching students from preschool age to adult for the past 5 years.

Bianca Black -Instructor

Bianca started cheering and the age of 8 and competed for 6 years before she discovered her love for dance. At age 14, she was introduced to many forms of dance such as Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, and Hip Hop and has continued dancing for the past 8 years. She also enjoys musical theatre and has starred in many shows such as Steel Pier, Bells Are Ringing, The Rocky Horror Show, Santa’s Christmas Magic: The Musical, etc. Bianca also coaches Cheer for the Pasadena Lady Panthers and is working on furthering her career in Cheer and Dance.

Tiffany Stone -Instructor

Tiffany began her dancing career at the age of 3 and over the years developed her talents in tap, ballet/pointe, and jazz. She danced for 12 years at a dance studio in Deer Park where she was also on the competition team. Not only does Tiffany have experience in dance but she also has 10 years of experience in cheerleading. Tiffany cheered in junior high, all four years at Deer Park High School, and all four years at Sam Houston State University. She has taught many different tumbling, cheerleading, and gymnastics classes since 2003. In September of 2010, Tiffany began teaching at STEPS. She is currently instructing a variety of classes which include tumbling, jazz, ed preps, and the After School Program.