Sherri Mazza is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. She was introduced to dance at the age of two and a half (2 ½) by her loving mother Marilyn Mazza, who was also a Master Tap instructor of 40 years,  learning from the great of the great tap instructors in New York City and who was also invited to be a June Taylor Dancer.

Sherri’s training began at the Bagley School of Dance in Jacksonville, Florida, where she received fine technical training in dance along with Musical Theater.  At the age of eight, she began training at the Nice School Of Dance in Orange Park, Florida, to continue studies and later became an instructor.

Growing up, Sherri was Member of Starlight Company and had the opportunity to dance with the accompaniment of the Starlight Symphonette, a part of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. During her teen years, she became a member of Jacksonville Ballet Theater under the instruction of Dulce Anaya, a Prima Ballerina at one time with the Stuttgart Munich Opera. Sherri was also a member of Jacksonville Concert Ballet. Her studies in dance include the following instructors: Dulce Anaya, Lisa Nice Longworth, Debra Peters, Marilyn Mazza, and nationally with Al Gilbert, Joe Tremaine, Frank Hatchett, Jonie Lather, Janice Barringer just to name a few. During her years of training, Sherri has had the extensive opportunity to train in New York City at the New York Dance Summit as well as continuing education across the country for dance and business.

Sherri Mazza opened Mazza-Smith Dance in 1985 with Shannon Tempio as a mobile dance studio at various school locations.  Sherri is a bit of a pioneer and this business model was the first of its kind.  In 1987, Sherri and Shannon opened the first brick and mortar studio in Ortega with a small loan from Sherri’s parents and stayed in that location for twenty (20) years. During that tenure, Sherri was Performance Team Director for seven (7) years and won several First Place awards over the years. Many of the Mazza-Smith Dance students have gone on to dance professionally.

Sherri is very happy to once again be back at a studio location in addition to offering classes throughout the Greater Northeast Florida area. Many of the staff are former Directors of their own dance studio and bring a lot of experience to the team. Sherri feels fortunate to work with such a talented group of staff members and dancers.