Before she was Dance Moves Charleston’s Education Director and James Island Manager, Maya Alizzeo was a student, performer, and choreographer herself. Meet the educator shaping how James Island dancers learn and grow.
If you’re a parent at Dance Moves on James Island, you may have seen Maya Alizzeo in the studio helping a teacher, greeting a dancer, or checking in with families. As the Education Director and James Island Manager, Maya plays an important role in both the day-to-day studio experience and the education dancers receive in the classroom.
But before she became an educator and studio leader, Maya was a dancer herself. Her experience as a student, performer, choreographer, and teacher has shaped the way she works with dancers today.
Maya’s Dance Journey Started at Age Three
Maya grew up in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and started dancing at just three years old. She trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, and contemporary at Allegro Dance Arts.
As she got older, dance became more than an after-school activity. Maya spent seven seasons with Oil Region Ballet Company, where she continued developing her technique and discovered a love for storytelling through movement.
That early training gave her a strong foundation in dance, but it also taught her something that she now brings into the classroom: becoming a better dancer takes time.
There isn’t usually one class, performance, or correction that suddenly changes everything. Progress happens through consistent training and practice over time.
From Dance Student to Dance Educator
Maya continued her education at Elon University, graduating in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Design and a minor in Dance.
Her college experience gave her the opportunity to explore dance from several different angles. Through Elon’s campus dance organization, DanceWorks, she worked as a performance and class choreographer, dance photographer, and PR board member.
She also spent a summer in Los Angeles through an Elon program studying dance, dance film, and photography. While there, she trained with professional choreographers and prepared for the university’s annual Fall Showcase.
Her background in communication design and photography has added another layer to her understanding of dance. She isn’t only interested in how movement looks onstage—she’s also interested in how movement communicates an idea or tells a story.
She prioritizes her own continued learning and growth in pedagogy, and recently earned her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification. She brings this commitment to personal practice into her teaching, using these skills to continually refine her approach while supporting our teachers and students in becoming the best versions of themselves.
Teaching Dancers from Preschool Through Adulthood
Maya has taught dancers ranging from age three through adulthood in ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, hip hop, and jazz.
Teaching such a wide range of ages has given her plenty of perspective on how differently children and adults learn.
A preschool dancer may be working on listening, coordination, and following a teacher’s directions. An older dancer may be refining technique, musicality, or performance quality.
The teaching approach needs to change with the student.
That’s one reason experience matters when choosing dance classes on James Island. A strong teacher isn’t simply someone who knows how to dance. They also need to understand how to break skills down, communicate with different ages, and help students work through challenges.
What Does an Education Director Do?
Maya’s role as Education Director goes beyond teaching her own classes.
She is involved in curriculum development, teacher mentorship, and studio leadership, helping support the educational side of Dance Moves.
That means thinking about what students are learning, how lessons are being taught, and how teachers can continue growing in their own practice.
For parents, this part of dance education can be easy to overlook.
When you’re choosing a class for your child, you may naturally focus on the schedule, location, or style of dance. Those things matter, but the quality of instruction matters just as much.
Children learn differently at different ages, and good dance education should meet them where they are while still giving them room to grow.
Creating a Classroom Where Dancers Can Grow
Maya is passionate about creating a positive and encouraging classroom environment where dancers feel comfortable challenging themselves.
That doesn’t mean every class is easy.
In fact, learning dance requires dancers to be willing to make mistakes. A new movement may feel awkward at first. A combination may take several tries to remember. A technique correction may take time to understand.
That’s all part of learning.
A supportive teacher helps dancers understand that struggling with something doesn’t mean they’re bad at it. It means they’re still learning.
For young dancers especially, those experiences can help build confidence that reaches beyond the studio.
Why Maya’s Background Matters
Maya brings several different experiences into her role at Dance Moves: years of dance training, performance experience, choreography, photography, design, and teaching.
But perhaps the most valuable part of her background is that she understands what it’s like to be a student.
She knows what it feels like to learn a new skill, perform in front of others, receive corrections, and keep working toward improvement.
Today, she gets to help the next generation of dancers experience those same moments from the other side of the room.
Meet Maya at Dance Moves
Maya’s journey from a three-year-old dancer in Pennsylvania to Education Director and James Island Manager is a good example of how many different paths dance can create.
For some students, dance may eventually become a career. For others, it may simply be something they love doing each week. Either way, the skills they develop along the way can make their time in the studio meaningful.
