God shared his purpose and plan for Inspire Performing Arts Company in 2015 and has continued to guide this group to greatness each step of the way. Here is a special story of how Inspire Performing Arts Company began… 

The two greatest blessings in Megan Zugelder May’s life are her family and her career in dance. She is a wife and mother of three beautiful children who keep her very busy but fill her with an immense amount of joy and love! She was born and raised in Ohio where she trained as a competitive and elite gymnast and dancer. Megan has studied a multitude of dance genres and pedagogies and worked with various artists, choreographers, and producers in the performing arts industry. Through hard work and perseverance, she was proud to be a consistent leader and captain on her dance teams and achieved numerous titles such as Miss Dance Power USA, Miss Ameridance, and National American Miss Ohio. Her passion for choreographing, coaching, and teaching started at an early age and she is grateful to have shared her love of dance with thousands of dancers of all ages and abilities for the past 20 years. She feels fortunate to share her passion and talent in a variety of genres of dance and has become a highly renowned and accomplished, solo, team, and musical choreographer. Megan strives to achieve excellence in every endeavor and inspires her dancers to do the same by setting high expectations. She supports their needs by combining compassion and commitment and guides them to reach their fullest potential.

She graduated college with a degree in education from the University of Cincinnati and was a member of their national champion and world champion dance team. In 2009, she was honored to represent the country as a member of Team USA in the inaugural World Dance Championship. After competing against 33 countries, they were proud to take home the gold medal in all three categories of dance. After graduating from UC, she pursued her Masters degree in education and danced professionally for a professional arena football organization called the Cincinnati Commandos and for a contemporary/ jazz company called Exhale Dance Tribe.

In 2011, Megan Zugelder May took a leap of faith and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where she continued to pursue her passion of educating our youth. She began teaching 5th grade at Winding Springs Elementary; a title I public school in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School district. God quickly made his purpose evident as she fell in love with this community of children and could see their need for a positive and expressive outlet and opportunity. Megan approached her principal and the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District with a proposal to create an inclusive literacy – dance program for all students in kindergarten – 5th grade. The proposal was supported and became the first title I elementary school in the CMS district to incorporate dance into their special area enrichment.  Students were thriving in dance and the opportunity was providing support to their physical, emotional, behavioral, and academic achievement.

During this time, Megan Zugelder May was continually amazed with the enrichment that dance provided to these young children’s lives and in 2012 she decided to create a competitive dance team by donating her time and talent. She was blessed to work alongside an immensely talented teacher colleague, Lisa Lewis, who has been an integral part of the Inspire journey since it began. They competed and performed at various venues throughout North and South Carolina and beyond. This team of young scholars and dancers won regional, national and world championship titles and gained respect among the dance community with their high energy, emotional, and entertaining routines.  Most importantly, these dancers were a part of a dance family where they felt safe and supported. It was an organization that instilled values of faith, respect, integrity, and kindness.

As the accolades continued to accrue, something bigger was evolving ~ the positive impact that dance can make on someone’s life. In 2015, Coach Megan Zugelder-May felt a calling to extend the dance family beyond the elementary age and provide the opportunity for more dancers to experience high-quality instruction in a loving and supportive environment. When trying to figure out the name to represent this organization, Megan and Lisa kept coming back to the feeling of being INSPIRED. There was a constant flow of this emotion ~ young children with talent and passion inspiring the coaches; the coaches inspiring these future leaders to achieve greatness; the program inspiring others in the community that through perseverance, work ethic, and heart, your potential is limitless. Dance is universal, dance is powerful, dance is INSPIRING!

In 2018, God revealed his next blessing with a connection at Jackson Day School in Charlotte, NC. Megan Zugelder May and Lisa Lewis transitioned their careers to this growing charter school and created a temporary home for Inspire Performing Arts Company at JDS. Lisa Lewis is an exceptional and highly reputable elementary school teacher. Megan Zugelder May was the founding and innovative K – 12 Dance Educator from 2018-2024. They worked hard every day in their careers and additionally with Inspire Performing Arts Company to provide a high-quality, competitive dance education with an organization who puts faith first and inspires others with their beautiful talent. As their dance program has continued to grow, so have the immense amounts of positive experiences, relationships, reputation, and accolades. Which now leads to the next chapter and adventure… 

As Inspire continues to invest in giving the gift of dance to our artists and athletes, it is also time to invest in sharing that gift with more of the community. Our beliefs, expertise, and success has prompted us to expand our organization to Charlotte and its surrounding communities. Inspire Performing Arts Company is looking forward to making more memories and meaningful relationships as we share God’s purpose and plan with others. Inspire is thrilled to be opening our doors to our new home in the Mountain Island Lake area in the fall of 2024