Coastal Dance Academy
Leland, North Carolina
Meet Our Instructors
Sara Misiti Clemmons
Mrs. Sara is from Charleston, West Virginia. She is the founder and director of Coastal Dance Academy, Inc. Mrs. Sara has been dancing since the age of five, has been teaching dance in Brunswick County for the last 17 years and she is a certified dance educator through Dance Masters of America. She taught at Brunswick School of Dance for 7 years and founded the Coastal Contemporary Dance Company and directed it for 5 years. She has also taught and performed for community events and programs such as Dancing with the Brunswick County Stars and All County Dance for the local schools. She is certified through the Acrobatic Arts AcroDance Pre School program and is excited to add this to our combo classes this season. Mrs. Sara loves teaching children to dance and has always dreamed of having a dance studio of her own. She is excited to start her 11th year of operation here at Coastal Dance Academy!
Michelle Rackely
Michelle Rackley is originally from Maryland, but is currently living in Wilmington as a graduate student at UNCW. She recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. Michelle began dancing at S Be Dance studio when she was 8 years old and later joined their company. She competed in dance competitions for 5 years and also performed in venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and The Lincoln Center in New York city. S Be Dance studio is also where she first began teaching, starting off as a teacher’s apprentice. She then began teaching at their summer dance programs and also taught several tap classes throughout the year. In Maryland, Michelle was also a member of the Anne Arundel County Dance Ensemble and was inducted into the National Dance Honor Society for the Dance Arts. Michelle continues to dance as a member of UNCW’s dance company. She has assisted in the production of The Great Russian Nutcracker for 2 years, and is looking forward to teaching and choreographing in her 7th CDA recital.
Dana McIntyre
Ms. Dana is the former Owner and Artistic Director of Edge Artistic Dance Center located in Oswego, NY which opened in 2005. She has trained many title and national level winners in addition to receiving numerous awards for excellence and artistry in teaching as well as a multitude of choreography and technique awards. Her specialties are lyrical, contemporary, jazz, and acrobatic arts. Ms. Dana is passionate about flexibility and helping dancers create long lines and strong bodies to enhance their artistic expression. She has been married for 25 years with three children. Her two daughters danced with her until graduation when they went on to professional dance careers. Her son was an elite gymnast, training to level 10 for Men’s Gymnastics and also coached during high school. He now proudly serves in the United States Marine Corps. Professional experience includes: dancing training since the age of 6 in all genres—ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, modern, hip hop, tumbling and acrobatics. College dance team and theatre productions which included The King and I, Annie Get Your Gun, and Cinderella. Elite Choir and Performance Choir at the University of Salve Regina University in Newport, RI where she attended while pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. Zumba and PiYo certified. Ms Dana relocated to Wilmington, NC in 2018. She is certified in Acrobatic Arts since 2019 and In 2019, Ms. Dana started the Elite Competitive Team at Coastal Dance Academy. She is looking forward to starting her third season with CDA and sharing her love of dance and movement with her students.
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Taylor Monroe
Miss Taylor was raised in small town Lillington, North Carolina. She was a dancer at Main Street Dance for 15 years. 10 of those years Miss Taylor was a competitive dancer and boy does she love a good dance competition! At Main Street Dance she studied all styles of dance and was an assistant teacher for 4 years. After graduating high school, Miss Taylor spent 2 years at Wake Technical College studying Business. She was a part of the Wake Tech dance team before transferring to The University of North Carolina Wilmington. At UNCW Miss Taylor graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business with a concentration in Business Management and Leadership. She was a proud member of the UNCW Dance Company where she held a spot as the fundraising chair and vice president. Miss Taylor loves all styles of dance, but her FAVORITES are Hip Hop and Tap. If you need anything at all please reach out to Miss Taylor because
when she is not teaching she is running the front desk!
Dove Avylla
Ms. Dove is originally from Massachusetts but has called Leland her home for the last 12 years. Ms. Dove has been dancing since she was 5 years old. She has studied jazz, tap and ballet under great teachers such as Cheryl Calheta, Kathy Medina and Tracey Talbot. Her real passion is tap. She has taken various workshops throughout the country and even competed nationally in a tap dance group. She is also a veteran of the stage having been in over 10 musicals and multiple dance revues. She is very passionate about dance in all of its various forms and is thrilled to be at CDA to share her knowledge with the CDA students as she begins her 8th year at the studio.
Kayla Brennan
Kayla Brennan was born in Long Island, NY and started her dance dream there at the age of four. She moved to Leland, NC and continued her passion of dancing and soon joined Coastal Dance Academy. Kayla Brennan is one our Alumni! Kayla danced here for eight years of her life and just recently graduated high school from North Brunswick High School. Throughout her dance career, she has been on the North Brunswick High School Dance Team all four years and was even a dance team leader her senior year. Kayla has a very broad range of dance background. Kayla has participated in styles like tap, jazz, hiphop, pom, ballet, pointe, and lyrical. Kayla is going to Brunswick Community College to get her Associates in Scinece and will then transfer to NC State to get her Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering. This will be Kayla’s first year teaching and she’s very excited!
