Marleigh Anderson is from St. Charles, MO and she grew up dancing competitively at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center and later at NV Dance Force. She was also a 4-year member and senior captain of the Francis Howell Varsity Golden Girls, winning two Missouri state championships and finishing second in the nation in the hip-hop category twice at the UDA National Dance Team Championships. She went on to dance with the University of Missouri Golden Girls, performing at SEC football and basketball games as well as finishing fourth at NDA college nationals in jazz and hip-hop. While in Columbia, Marleigh taught jazz classes at the Academy of Fine Arts, as well as helped to clean some of their competition routines. Now, Marleigh is in the middle of a PhD program in Classics at Washington University in St. Louis, and she has turned her love for all things dance and performance into a research interest. She wrote her Master's thesis on female acrobatics in 5th-4th c. BC Greece, and she is planning a dissertation on dance in ancient Greek comedy. She still finds time to perform occasionally-- most recently in a Greatest Showman-themed opening number for a fashion show at The Big Top in St. Louis (put on by the Gateway chapter of the International Interior Design Association). She is really looking forward to working with the talented and passionate students at Charmette!