Herring, Amanda

Amanda Herring LOVES her job!  She is passionate about sharing the love of dance while inspiring and encouraging everyone who walks through her door.  She loves BIG and has a heart for new dancers joining a class for the first time.  She takes pride in offering stellar service to dance families and specializes in efficiency, organization, fair policies, and strong communication.  Her shows are HUGE with plenty of lights, effects, and stagecraft.  Amanda wants her students to feel like they are a part of something big, and it is always her goal to bring more to class and to the stage than her audience is expecting.

In the midst of earning her Business Administration degree from the University of Mississippi, starting a family, and working in the legal and regulatory fields, Amanda always continued learning and taking dance classes.  At age 37, she quit a high-profile contracts job determined to open her own studio, a thing of her dreams since walking into her first dance class at 5 years old.  The studio took off, and she began teaching Ballet, Tap, and Jazz three days each week.  She couldn’t have been more pleased when 72 brand new dancers confidently shined on stage the following spring.

Now approaching her 10-year anniversary as a studio owner, Amanda’s studio, Center Stage Dance in Hernando, Mississippi, holds over 37 dance classes each week in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theater, Contemporary, Pointe, and Hip Hop.  Prior to the challenges her business faced during the COVID pandemic, including losing over 80 students, about 310 students danced across her floors in 2019.  This June, as she continues to recover and rebuild a strong business, nearly 260 will take the stage.  Her first DLTC was in 2013 where she found her people!  She is a charter member of IDEA and a member of the Gold Alliance.

Amanda wakes up in the morning ready to change the world, “not to be mediocre” ever.  Her husband of 21 years, Keith, certainly has his hands full but offers unwavering support to her.  Her son, Blake (19), and daughter, Brady (13) keep her plenty busy! And when she finds a few minutes for herself, she enjoys reading, drinking coffee (or wine!), being outside, and coming up with new goals!  She wants to continue to build her dream business, travel more abroad, and become a respected, published author.