Our Staff

Professionally serving our customers in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere is our #1 goal!

  • Owner

    Edwina began her dance education at age two, eventually becoming a dance teacher at age 16, under the direction of her mother and dance teacher, Shirley McPhail. After studying dance and piano at Sullins College in Bristol, VA for one year, where she first experienced modern dance, she transferred to The University of Texas in 1975. Since UT did not offer a dance education program, Edwina took a degree in physical education. Post-graduation, she opened a Shirley McPhail School of Dance location on 183, and the rest is history!

    In 1976, Edwina took her ballet examination for the Texas Association Teachers of Dancing. She switched gears and studied tap in the 1980-90s in Austin, Los Angeles, and New York. She is now a tap examiner for TATD and has assisted Jackie Troup Miller in the writing of the TATD exam book: Tips on Tap.

    Edwina and her mother Shirley shared studio management duties together for 18 years before her untimely passing in 1997. She now shares these duties with her younger daughter, Kristin Smith. Larry, Edwina’s father, is still her business partner and #1 fan. Her Bonus Mom, Judy, runs the Cotillion program and is Marketing Director at SMSD.

  • Sales Associate

    Carol was born in England but spent most of her adult life in Canada. She worked for 40 years with the National Ballet of Canada and the National Ballet School, both based in Toronto. She was the footwear supervisor and pointe shoe fitter for both organizations. During her time there she worked with many well-known dance shoe manufacturers helping design and test prototypes of different pointe shoes before they went on the market. She was the go-to fitter for many famous ballet dancers in North America. During her last 10 years in Toronto, she created and managed a full-service retail dance store at the National Ballet School, called The Shoe Room. The store is the leading pointe shoe store in Canada and is now a significant revenue stream for the nonprofit organization. Carol now lives in Austin with her husband, Larry. They love spending time with their 2 grandchildren, both of whom are proud SMSD cotillion graduates!

  • Manager

    Born and raised in rural Arkansas, Sarah began her career in retail management working for a fashion boutique in her home town. During this time, her love for fashion and customer relations flourished. Always desiring to move to a bigger city, Sarah moved to Austin in 2015. There, she accepted a position as bridal stylist for the largest bridal store in Austin. For many years, she worked closely with hundreds of clients styling and fitting gowns. In 2017, Sarah married her husband, James, who she first met on a Caribbean cruise. Soon after, they moved to Houston and welcomed their daughter, Aubrey, into the world.

    Sarah recently moved back to Austin with her family and is thrilled to be back in her favorite city. She loves to spend most of her time with her family, but also enjoys reading, hiking, and baking in her spare time.

  • Sales Associate

    Danielle has been happily tip tapping her toes since she was 3 years old. Born and raised in Midland, TX, her dancing instruction began at Bingham Dance under Joy and Julie Swift where she stayed for almost 8 years. After taking several years off, she once again found her love of dancing and performing with a local community theater group, Pickwick Performers.

    After graduating high school, Danielle attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, where she continued to study musical theater. Her time at the university took her to New York City where she had the opportunity to intern with an off-Broadway theater company, The New Group. While there, she continued to fall more in love with the theater, so much that she moved back to the big city after graduating with a BFA in Musical Theater. She was able to take part in a small production of Sweeney Todd during her time there as a performer in the ensemble. However, the native Texan she is, she found herself back in Austin where she has been for the past 13 years.

    Danielle is extremely grateful to have found the Dancer’s Den and be given the opportunity to share her love of dance.