Our Mission Statement:

On Your Toes is a classical ballet school dedicated to serving God by offering quality dance instruction. The purpose of the ballet school is to use dance in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our objective is to train dancers in the finest classical tradition, instilling in them a desire to refine and use their gifts to glorify God.

We serve students of all ages, with varying goals and aspirations who desire to study dance.

Melissa Mellinger, OYT Studios Director

Melissa Mellinger started dancing as a mouse in “The Nutcracker” at age 10. She fell in love with ballet and began training under Jacquie Kunzman at the Jacquie Kunzman School of Ballet in Oregon City. She attended their Summer Program many times where she received training in ballet, pointe work, pas de deux, variations, jazz, and modern from instructors such as: Frank Bays, Nina Vasilieff Raimonda, Manuela Dutie, Robin Knight, Pat Hon, and others. Melissa also attended the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre where she studied classical ballet under Elena Carter, Haydée Gutierrez, Kim Smiley-Walter, Elise Legère, and Lavinia Magliocco.

Melissa attended Summer Dance Lab several years and the summer program for Ballet Magnificat!, where she studied classical ballet technique and pointe work, pas de deux, jazz, modern, American theatre, improvisation, and variations from many qualified instructors. She also traveled to Idaho to study for a week under the instructors of the University of Idaho including Greg Halloran.

Melissa has performed in “The Nutcracker” with Clackamette Youth Ballet eight times, appearing as almost every role in the cast over those years. She performed in “Alice in Wonderland” with Portland Metro Dancers. She has also performed in “A Nite on Broadway,” directed by Keith Walls, which toured to Hermiston for a fundraiser performance.

Melissa has trained primarily in the Classical Russian Method and Vaganova Method, as well as some Cecchetti Method and Balanchine Method.

Melissa began assisting teaching early on in her training at the Jacquie Kunzman School of Ballet, and not long after that began teaching on her own. She continued teaching at Jacquie’s until 2005 when she began teaching for On Your Toes School of Dance under Autumn Edmonds. She was excited to combine her faith with the quality training she had aquired as she instructed her students at On Your Toes. In 2006, she taught most of the classes On Your Toes offered, as Autumn began to take care of her new daughter. In Fall of 2007, Melissa bought On Your Toes School of Dance from Autumn and assumed directorship of the school. She now teaches full time and enjoys passing on the joy of dance to her students immensely! Her vision is to pass on the high quality technique and the art of ballet to her students for the sake of enjoying ballet to the fullest and bringing praise and glory to God!