Mackenzie Burghardt was born and raised in Ithaca, New York. With over 26 years of dance training, she has studied under numerous respected professionals, including Amber Perkins, Douglas Bentz, Kiesha Lalama, Jason McDole, and many others. Mackenzie is a proud alumni of Point Park University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a concentration in Jazz.

After graduating, Mackenzie continued her professional dance career in Branson, Missouri, where she performs as Miss Tilly, a Saloon Girl at Silver Dollar City. For the past 10 years, Mackenzie has been passionate about teaching and inspiring dancers of all ages. She has shared her love of dance through choreography, technical training, and mentorship, helping young dancers grow both artistically and personally.

Mackenzie has choreographed for some of Missouri’s top theater programs, including Nixa High School’s productions of Footloose and The Addams Family. Her additional choreography credits include Beauty and the Beast, Once Upon a Mattress, Little Women, and Legally Blonde at Republic High School. She has also served as the Drury University Dance Team coach in Springfield, Missouri, for the
past five years, where she has taken great pride in building and developing the program. In addition, Mackenzie has taught at several award-winning dance studios, including Perkins School of the Arts in Norwich, New York.

Her choreography has been recognized with more than 10 choreography awards over the past few years at multiple dance competitions. Mackenzie is dedicated to sharing her knowledge, creativity, and passion for dance, with the hope of inspiring each of her students to fall in love
with dance just as she did.