Our Teachers

Doris Ann Shirk
Owner | Ballet-Worship Dance | Creative Movement
Doris Ann has been dancing ever since she was seven years old. She started dancing at the Lancaster Recreation Commission in their dance program under the instruction of Miss. Eloise Dirk. She advanced onto Pointe at a young age, participated in the Nutcracker, StarPower competitions and helped teach multiple younger classes. Always involved in inspirational choreography dances at church and various school performances; inspiring others through dance has been a passion for years. She attended the Lancaster School of Ballet under the instruction of Viktor Yeliohin for a short time before going on tour with a Christian touring company The Continental Singers as a singer, dancer and assistant director and toured across America and to New Zealand & Thailand. She has years of experience working with young children as it is her passion to see them grow in confidence in themselves and who God made them to be.

Victoria Philips
Creative Movement Teacher
Victoria started dancing in elementary school at Andrea's Academy of Dance. A few years later, she began attending a wide variety of classes at Debbie's School of Dance which later led to her love of competing. In high school, Victoria was a member of the DSOD Senior Competition Team and attended many different regional competitions and local events. In her senior year, she served as the dance team captain and gained experience as a student teacher. She also competed in the Miss Solanco Scholarship Pageant where she won 2nd runner-up and received a college scholarship. Her platform was Traveling Tutus, a nonprofit organization that provides dance shoes and costumes to children all over the world that want to dance but cannot afford the expenses. After graduating from high school, Victoria taught technique classes for her studio’s competition teams as well as multiple recreational classes. In 2020-2022, she had the opportunity to coach the DSOD Petite Competition Team and choreograph several other routines for competition season. Victoria now attends Southern New Hampshire University, studying to get her B.S. in Marketing with a Concentration in Social Media Marketing. She is also an ACE certified group fitness instructor and a certified Uplifted yoga teacher. She is very excited to be given the chance to teach in such a positive, Christian atmosphere and aims to grow each student’s confidence in themselves every week.

Savannah Weber
Student Teacher
Savannah is beyond happy to be a student teacher at Doris Ann's Dance Studio! She has been dancing since she was 3 at True Beauty in Quarryville and has experience dancing tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and ballet. She loves dancing at True Beauty on Thursdays, helping Mrs. Kenzie teach tap/jazz on Mondays and helping Mrs. Doris teach Ballet on Tuesdays! She absolutely loves to dance and so enjoys helping teach our little dancers!

Beth Whitworth
Teacher | Ballet-Worship Dance | Creative Movement
Beth is grateful and blessed to come on staff at Doris Ann’s Dance Studio! She began her dancing journey at age 5 at Encore Dance Studio here in Lancaster. After graduating high school, Beth attended Messiah College (now Messiah University) where she participated in a variety of dance classes and taught Ballet I for the Acclamation Dance Ministry. After college, Beth moved to Northern Virginia to begin her teaching career as an Elementary School Teacher. She enjoyed teaching first grade for six years before she and her husband, Kirk, welcomed their first daughter in 2011. After moving back to Lancaster, Beth worked for several years teaching at a local Montessori school where she served in a variety of roles during her time there including assistant toddler teacher, head toddler teacher, assistant primary teacher, head primary teacher, primary art enrichment teacher, and creative movement teacher for children of all ages (toddler-elementary). Beth also spent several years serving as the leader of the Renana Dance Ministry at Manor Church where she enjoyed choreographing and dancing worship dance pieces alongside girls in grades 9-12 for services and an annual concert. Most recently, Beth has enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom and homeschool teacher to her three daughters, all of whom seem to have come to share her deep love for worship and dancing! She is so grateful and excited to continue to use her gifts of teaching and dance for the glory of God at Doris Ann’s Dance Studio! “Let them praise His name with dancing!” -Psalm 149:3
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Mackenzie Sisson
Tap - Jazz Teacher
Mackenzie grew up always dancing around the house but began taking classes at the age of 4. She started at Willow Street Dance Steps and then moved to Premier Danse Academy and then back to Willow Street Dance Steps where she competed for 2 years. Mackenzie loved combining her love of Jesus with dance when she began working at Sight and Sounds theatres at the age of 6! She’s been on stage since as an actress and still works there full time. She’s taken a wide variety of classes including ballet, lyrical, contemporary, and tap; but her favorites are jazz and hip hop. Mackenzie is very excited to teach others to express their love and joy in Christ through dance especially in the fun styles of jazz and tap!