Ann Catherine Cross School of Dance is the longest running dance school in the mechanicsville area. 

We have been serving the community, building leaders, and providing a safe place for students of all walks of life to learn the art of dance. 

We are proud to have taught the best and brightest mechanicsville has to offer.

ACCSD was founded in 1981 by Ann Catherine Cross (a.k.a Miss Ann). She has been teaching for over forty years. Five years of this time she was a student teacher under the direction of the late Coralease Wells Troy. During this education process, Miss Ann was given opportunities to study and get to know many of the greatest teachers and performers in the dance/theater world.  She studied extensively with Luigi, Frank Wagner, Harry Wooliver, Alexandria Danilova, Don Fawnworth, Fedor Lensky, Robert Audy, Frank Hatchett, Joe Lanteri, Charles Kelley, and Andy Blankenbuehler.  She was a performer in the original Richmond Ballet (which is now our State Ballet), Theatre IV Children's Theater, local dinner theater shows such as Oklahoma, Anything Goes, Oliver and the movie Trading Mom.  She also considers herself a professional student as she continues to study to keep up with the latest in dance. She holds an Associate in Arts Degree from J. S. Reynolds College and attended Virginia Commonwealth University studying Theatre and Dance. Ann Catherine continues to volunteer numerous hours to the public schools, whether it be choreography for show choirs, costumes for plays, or career day!

Many graduates of ACCSD are making their mark in the show business world, either in performance or by excellence in study.  Their achievements include : Pageants, Theater, Kings Dominion, competitive scholarship and title winners, Destination Broadway, Radio City Rockettes Summer Intensive, New York City Dance Alliance Summer Intensive, Dance Caravan Tour, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, Peter Sklar Seminar, Virginia School of the Arts, and Richmond Ballet.  Many students of ACCSD have attended top dance colleges and conservatories including: New York University - Tisch School of the Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, East Carolina University, Ailvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Hollins University, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, Elon University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.  

Ann Catherine Cross has two children, Autumn and Blake, who are active instructors and choreographers at ACCSD.