Mrs. Maria Huber-Mitchelson is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, educator, and studio director whose career spans more than three decades. She began dancing at the age of two and went on to perform professionally across the United States. Her early career included touring nationally with the Sesame Street Live International Tour: “Let’s Be Friends”, where she portrayed Roxy Marie. Her passion for character work later led her to perform as Angelica from Rugrats. She was invited to perform for Disney in Japan and appeared on Entertainment Tonight, dancing for well‑known actors, actresses, and their families.
Her performance credits include dancing, modeling, and narrating for the North American International Auto Shows; appearing in cable music videos; and performing in Off‑Broadway musicals. She has taught Master Classes at Oakland University, Wayne State University, and Macomb Community College. As a former member of the Macomb Ballet Company, she danced in classical works such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Les Sylphides.
Maria has choreographed for award‑winning dance companies, dance teams, flash mobs, wedding parties, hair shows, and large‑scale events. Her choreography is recognized for its creativity, energy, and entertainment value, earning numerous top overall awards, special judges’ awards, and multiple “Best Choreography” honors. She has also served as a judge for regional and national dance competitions.
Ms. Huber-Mitchelson has trained extensively throughout the country, with significant study in New York and Los Angeles. In the 1990s, she relocated to North Hollywood to train under Joe Tremaine and his associates at the former Tremaine Dance Center. She currently serves on the General Board of the Cecchetti Council of America and has completed Cecchetti levels I–VII, passing both student and teacher examinations through level V. Many of her students have passed Cecchetti exams with honors and have danced with professional ballet companies in productions such as The Nutcracker and La Bayadère.
Her on‑camera work includes commercials for World Gym & Fitness Center and Sesame Street Live, where she appeared as Roxy Marie and Prairie Dawn. In addition to her dance expertise, Maria is a former competitive bodybuilder and maintains a strong focus on fitness.
Under her leadership, Rhythm Pointe Dance Academy has earned numerous prestigious titles, including National Top Production, National Top Studio, Grand National Champions (2017), 2x Grand National Champions (2019), multiple First Overall National Champions (2022), National Elite Top Studio (2023), Elite Grand National Champion Dance (2023), and National Novice and Intermediate Top Studio (2024). RPDA’s Super Contemporary Line was named 2025 Grand National Champions in Orange Beach, Alabama. Several dances earned 1st Overall placement in the 2026 season, during which RPDA also received the ADCC Studio of Excellence Award.
Maria has directed RPDA dancers and teachers in the televised “Feature Act” for the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade, and her choreography has been showcased at Motor City Movement shows, MC3, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades, Rochester Christmas Parades, local fairs, Eastside Derby events, Detroit Dance Festivals, Shores Mortgage events, and AT&T events. RPDA was voted Best Dance Studio on Detroit’s WDIV Channel 4 “Vote 4 the Best” in 2014 and 2020, and received the 2022 and 2026 Best of the Best Utica Award for Dance Instruction. In 2022, RPDA also became the home of the Magical Christmas Ballet Fox Theatre Nutcracker, where Maria serves as Youth Director.
Mrs. Huber-Mitchelson continues her professional development today, remaining committed to excellence as both a dance educator and studio owner.
Mr. Shawn serves as our dedicated and approachable Office Manager. He is consistently willing to assist in any way he can and plays an essential role in keeping RPDA running smoothly. In addition to managing operations here, he also works full‑time as a Product Specialist, demonstrating an impressive level of commitment and versatility.
Beyond his professional responsibilities, Mr. Shawn is also an exceptional prop dad, bringing creativity and enthusiasm to every project. For answers to your questions, he is an excellent first point of contact. And if he doesn’t have the information right away, he will make sure to find it.
Dr. Jennifer began dancing at the age of four and training with Ann Parsley at the age of eleven. Dr. Tillinger was one of the original members of the Macomb Ballet Company and has performed the role of Cinderella. Her passion to dance drove her to continue her dance education at the University of Michigan where she received a BFA in Dance. Dr. Tillinger has danced and choreographed professionally throughout the Metro-Detroit area and has toured with the International Auto Show. Dr. Tillinger has been teaching dance since 1988 and is a certified instructor of the Cecchetti Method of Ballet. She holds certificates for teachers grades I – VI and has been preparing and presenting students and teachers for ballet since 1993. Dr. Tillinger also has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Oakland University, where she is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
Cody grew up dancing at RPDA since 2011. After 10+ years of dancing competitively with his studio he began teaching. Cody has been teaching Hip Hop, Breakdance, and Tap for the past 5 years! Cody is very fitness orientated. He is a certified personal trainer at Crunch Fitness. He feels that it is incredibly rewarding to watch his student's growth and improvement through the years. He is happy to be teaching and sharing his skills!
Miss Ryann is a former Rhythm Pointe Dance Academy student. She danced at Rhythm Pointe since age 7. She was a member of RPDA's Performing/Competitive Company. Ryann competed for 10 years until she graduated from Eisenhower High School. Ryann is trained in ballet, lyrical, jazz, hip hop, and tap. Her favorite styles of dance are lyrical and hip hop. Ryann was also a member of the Eisenhower dance team program throughout high school. She was on IKE's US National dance team in 2018. She also danced as a member of the United dance crew for the Jimmy Johns Field for 2 years and trained to perform at games. Ryann is an Oakland University graduate. She is so excited to be at her second home (RPDA) doing what she loves to do most (dance)! She's excited to see what the future holds!
Brianna Bedsole started dancing at a young age at a local Michigan studio. Growing up she participated in an award-winning dance company that traveled around the country for competitions and performances. Brianna continued her education at Hope College where she earned a BA in Dance Performance/Choreography and Communication. While at Hope she was exposed to many great teachers through classes, as a member of Hope's jazz and tap company iDt, and while working with her peers for student concerts. As a member of iDt, Brianna was lucky enough to perform with Chicago Tap Theatre in their annual Tidings of Tap Concert. Since graduating from Hope she has taught at several studios around the Metro Detroit area and served as a rehearsal teacher for the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker. Brianna is excited to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of dancers.
Alea is no stranger to the dance world. She started taking lessons at RPDA at the age of 2 1/2 and has recently renewed her love for the art! Alea is trained in ballet, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip-hop, gymnastics, musical theatre, and more. She has passed Cecchetti Grade's I & II and has trained up to Gd V level. Alea was a member of the Eisenhower High School dance team for two years and earned two National UDA Champion coats (one for Jazz and one for Hip-Hop). In 2022 she had the amazing opportunity to train under the direction of Emily Greenwell and associates in New York City for two weeks. Alea walked away from the intensive with so much knowledge and a new, blossomed love for dance! In 2023 Alea had the honor of becoming the First Overall National Teen Soloist winner and was awarded National Grand Champion with RPDA elite company team. Alea also earned Elite Third Overall National Senior Solo title. In 2024 Alea was awarded Elite 1st Overall soloist with her self-choreographed routine. Alea shared two amazing seasons on the Oakland University Dance Team. She is beyond grateful for her opportunities and is excited to share her skills with all RPDA dancers.
Riley has been dancing at Rhythm Pointe since she was 3yrs old and started competing at age 7. She has continuously placed in the top overall routines at competition in all her years competing. Riley has taken and passed Cecchetti Ballet exams I-III and studied up to level V. Riley graduated from Utica High School. There she was a member of the Utica Varsity Dance Team since her freshman year. Riley is also a past member of the USPBL dance crew. Her favorite dance styles are contemporary, hip-hop and jazz! Riley attends Michigan State University and spends much of her time with her Michigan State Elite Dance team members. She is always excited to share her high energy classes and innovative choreography with RPDA young dancers.
- MASTER CLASS TEACHER - Olivia Salerno, a Michigan State Dance Team alumnus, trained at Rhythm Pointe Dance Academy as a student. Olivia was an RPDA company member and danced competitively with RPDA. She also danced professionally with the Detroit Pistons, as well as being Assistant Director of the Motor City Minis. Liv was represented by Bloc Talent Agency in LA. She danced in Sia’s “The Greatest” music video, Pharrell’s “Happy” music video, Nickelodeon’s Lip Sync Battle Shorties series, and went on tour with Macy’s Glamorama featuring Jason Derulo. She performed live with Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Jay Sean, Busta Rhymes, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Salt and Pepper, and more. Liv has choreographed for the MSU Dance Team, the Detroit Pistons Entertainment teams, Choreography Pros in Scottsdale, Arizona, Entrelance Dance Team in El Paso, Texas, and Chippewa Valley Varsity Dance Team to name a few. She has choreographed for dance studios all over Michigan. This season we are so happy to have Liv back at her home studio to inspire and challenge the dancers at RPDA.
Ava started dancing at the young age of 3 and persevered with her passion. She trained in a variety of styles such as jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, ballet, and acro. Ava has competed regionally and nationally since the age of 10. She was also a member of the Romeo Varsity Dance Team in high school. Ava really blossomed when she began dancing at Rhythm Pointe Dance Academy in 2018. She was proud to complete her senior dance season at her second home, RPDA. She attended college at Michigan State University and was a part of the Michigan State Dance Team all four of those years. Ava is a recent graduate of MSU and is so excited to be back at RPDA! She is thrilled to share her love, knowledge, and passion of dance and fitness with RPDA dancers!
Office Hours
Monday 5:45PM - 8:30PM
Tuesday 5:45PM - 8:00PM
Thursday 5:45PM-8:30PM
Saturday 10:00AM - 2:00PM
Sunday STUDIO CLOSED