Team — Drive Dance Co.

Meet the Team

Director / Owner
Sarah was born in Northville, Michigan and has planted her roots in the Metro-Detroit area while dedicating a large part of her life to dance. During her youth, Sarah had the opportunity to train and travel with numerous choreographers who helped guide her along her path. Following her years spent as a student, Sarah jumped right into dance education and has not looked back since. She has successfully trained students for over 25 years and is ready to build a foundation of training that she can call her own.
With 25 years of experience in the dance world, Sarah strives to provide quality education, training and choreography for her dancers. She’s a member of accredited dance organizations such as the National Dance Coaches Association, the Cecchetti Council of America and Dance Educators of America. She has helped guide her students to successful dance programs and careers following High School graduation. These include dance departments at the University of Arizona, NYU Tisch School of Dance, Western Michigan University, and numerous other programs across the country. Many of her students are now current members in dance companies based out of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Sarah has immense success in helping students set their goals high and achieving them.
Sarah is beginning her 11th season as the Head Coach of the Northville Varsity Dance Team. The team has taken great strides while under Sarah’s leadership. They have attended UDA Nationals in Orlando, Florida for the past 6 years and have earned a spot in the Top 10 each year. This past year, they were awarded 4th place in the nation in the Medium Jazz category, which tied with the highest rank in the program’s history. She earned the “Coach of the Year” award in 2020 after leading the team to their first 4th place finish. Sarah has used her success as a coach to help her dancers earn spots on top Collegiate Dance Teams across the country. Some of these teams include the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, Washington State University, University of Kentucky, Penn State University and Grand Valley State University.
To own her own dance studio has been a lifelong dream of Sarah’s. She is beyond excited and more than prepared to make this dream a reality. As the director of Drive Dance Co., Sarah has made an oath to help her students achieve their own dreams under her guidance.

Lead Instructor
Maggie was born in Commerce Township, Michigan, and found her love for dance when she was only 7 years old. She spent the majority of her youth at the dance studio, where she gained a strong technical foundation. She was also a member of the Varsity Dance Team at Walled Lake Northern, where she graduated from in 2015.
Her drive to pursue dance beyond high school landed Maggie a spot on The Ohio State Dance Team. She began college years as a member of this prestigious team and made program history in 2018 when the team won their first National Championship title. She went on to win two more titles and completed her college dance career as a three-time national champion.
Maggie’s experience as a collegiate athlete led to her passion for nutrition. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition & Dietetics. Following her college graduation, Maggie matched with Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit to complete her Dietetic Internship. Upon completion of 1200 hours of supervised clinical practice, she passed the RD exam and officially became a Registered Dietitian in 2021. As an RD, Maggie holds 1-on-1 sessions with clients, hosts nutrition seminars for sports teams, and partners with Orangetheory Fitness to provide nutrition education to the community.
Maggie continued her dance journey and joined forces with Sarah as the Assistant Coach for the Northville Varsity Dance Team in 2020. Her knowledge gained through her experience on a nationally-ranked collegiate team has contributed to Northville’s top 4 finishes over the past 3 years.
Maggie’s experience in the dance industry as well as her passion for health and wellness will make her an integral asset to the Drive team. She is excited to share her knowledge with Drive dancers and cannot wait to see what new opportunities this year brings!

Multimedia Manager / Choreographer
Alexander Turner grew up in Northville, Michigan and started his first dance class with his aunt, Sarah Benish, at the age of 11 months. He spent many years dancing competitively, training in all styles. During this time he had several opportunities to train across the country, witnessing and discovering many different career paths in the dance industry. His time spent at invitational intensives, Chapters by Talia Favia, and The Muse Experience by Jessica Starr, are credited with opening his perspective and love to the artistic nature of dance.
Alex’s passion for dance continued throughout his childhood and encouraged him to pursue a career in dance in his undergraduate studies. He is entering his senior year at The University of Arizona studying both dance and business administration. Over the past four years at the UA, Alex has intensely trained in jazz, ballet, modern, tap, and contemporary; he’s also had the opportunity to perform works from dance legends, and train with many working choreographers and teachers. He’s taken all of this information he’s received and started to find a creative outlet through choreographing works at local studios and his University.
Alex began teaching dance at the age of 13. He has choreographed in every style of dance with a particular focus on contemporary. When training dancers, Alex focuses on expressing the importance of a strong technical foundation and the understanding of each individual dancers’ body. These key focuses are then used to help find each individual's authentic movement style. Alex is excited to share all the knowledge he’s absorbed with the dancers at Drive, help them find and maintain their authentic selves as they move forward towards their goals, and witness peers from his two worlds collide into one new team.

Lead Instructor
Meaghan grew up in Plymouth, Michigan and started dancing at the age of 3. What her parents thought would be a hobby to keep her busy when she was little, turned into one of her greatest drives and passions in life.
She grew up at a local studio dancing competitively, having the opportunity to compete across the country. She built her foundation training at her studio, convention classes where she earned scholarships, and at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in California. Meaghan was also selected to represent Team USA in a global dance competition, competing with the team in Barcelona, Spain with a solo and in a jazz routine.
Meaghan has been teaching at studios for the past 15 years. She is knowledgeable in all styles of dance with specialities in jazz, contemporary, lyrical and pom. However, her main focus when training dancers is honing in on building a solid foundation of technique, intention and confidence. This mentality is also what she carries into the dance team world as a coach. She is heading into her 8th season as the Varsity Coach for the Walled Lake Northern (WLN) Dance Team Program. As a dance team coach, Meaghan has consistently led her team to top 15 placements in the nation, including the team’s record finish at second in the nation in the pom division. While at WLN, she has also led the expansion of the program to include a middle school team alongside the JV and Varsity teams. Alumni from the WLN dance program have gone on to dance in programs and teams at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Kentucky and Grand Valley State University.
Meaghan graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations & Communications. Along with coaching at WLN and teaching at Drive, she works in marketing for an automotive supplier in Detroit. She currently resides in Canton with her husband Steve and two dogs Griffin and Lucy.
Sarah and Meaghan met more than 10 years ago working together as coaches for the Northville Varsity Dance Team–Meaghan as the JV coach at the time. Since then they have worked and traveled together for conferences and competitions, fostering their strong bond over dance and passion to continue bettering themselves as teachers and coaches in this crazy world they love. Meaghan is honored and excited to stay on this dance journey with the team at Drive and will continue to instill the importance of team and determination in every dancer she works with.

Instructor
Originally from Miami, FL, Meagan began her formal training at the Miami City
Ballet School and later New World School of the Arts High School. In 2019, Meagan
graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in New York City. During her time in college, Meagan performed professionally with Ballet Hispanico Dos. Most recently, Meagan danced and taught for four seasons with Visceral Dance Chicago. This 23/24 season Meagan will be joining Eisenhower Dance Detroit as a company member. She is thrilled to be moving to Detroit and to work with the wonderful dancers of Drive Dance Co.

Instructor
Lindsey is a Metro Detroit native, where she has been a part of the dance community for over 25 years. She spent her younger years in competitive dance, and eventually added dance team into the mix. Lindsey spent four years on Central Michigan University’s dance team, with three of those years as Captain. She has worked for UDA since 2008, which has allowed her the opportunity to work with dancers from all over the world. She has judged multiple regional and nationals competitions as a certified adjudicator. Her choreography and coaching skills have taken teams into top ten placements at UDA Nationals, and has been recognized within the studio circuits. She is excited to share her knowledge and passion with Drive Dance Co.!

Instructor
Hope was born in Michigan, and began dancing at a young age. Her home studio and additional training provided a strong foundation in technique as well as a focus on performance. Hope has trained and performed in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ministry, musical theater, and pointe/variations. Her dance and performance experiences include pre-professional and professional opportunities and productions. Hope continues to train and perform professionally in the Metro Detroit area. Her ballet focus was the Vaganova method with instructors from the Vaganova Academy, Kirov Academy, the Perm Ballet of Russia, The Rock School of Ballet, and Bolshoi Academy. She is grateful to have studied several additional styles of ballet including Balanchine, ABT (American Ballet Theater), and Cecchetti.
Hope’s interest in anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology inspired her to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Health Science. Utilizing this knowledge helps dancers achieve proper technique by blending body mechanics and muscle awareness to optimize their performance. Hope is certified to teach Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and enjoys incorporating unique methods to help her students develop strong foundations. She focuses on technique as a way for each dancer to develop their strengths and gifts.
Hope has experience teaching numerous genres of dance and enjoys all of them. One of her goals as an instructor is to cultivate students’ joy and love for dance, and to encourage them to use their expressive abilities.
Outside of dance, Hope enjoys spending time with friends and family, baking, disc-golfing, and sewing. She is delighted for the opportunity to share her passion with the dancers at Drive and being part of the team.

Instructor
Jessica Serres has been dancing since the age of three and comes from a strong background in competitive dance, having competed in studio, convention, and all-star circuits. She received a wealth of her training from Powerworx Dance, where she was exposed to a variety of styles. She also concurrently attended Russell School of Ballet for two years in high school, focusing on ballet, pointe, and modern.
Although based in Northern Virginia, Jessica is currently a dual-degree student at the University of Michigan pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance as one of her areas of study. She is also a member of the University of Michigan Dance Team, which notably finished within the top 5 in D1A Jazz at UDA Nationals in 2023. She aims to make strides as a professional dancer and choreographer.
Jessica has instructed dancers in a group and individual setting with an emphasis on technique and honing artistry. She has found a passion for teaching dance and bringing her diverse experience in the dance world into the studio. She hopes to help each dancer find their individual artistic voice and is so excited about the opportunity to join the Drive family!