Coastal Dance Academy
Leland, North Carolina
STAFF
Sara Misiti Clemmons
Studio Owner & Teacher
Ms. Sara is originally from Charleston, West Virginia. She is the founder and director of Coastal Dance Academy, Inc. Ms. Sara has been dancing since the age of five, has been teaching dance in Brunswick County for the last 18 years. She is a certified dance educator through Dance Masters of America and certified through the Acrobatic Arts AcroDance Preschool Program. Ms. Sara 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. Ms. Sara loves teaching children of all ages and sharing her love of dance with others. Having her own studio has been a blessing and a dream come true and she is excited to begin her 12th year of operation at Coastal Dance Academy!
Taylor Monroe
Front Desk & Teacher
Miss Taylor was raised in Lillington, North Carolina. She was a dancer at Main Street Dance for 15 years. For 10 year Miss Taylor attended dance competitions throughout the state. At Main Street Dance she studied all styles of dance, and even got to perform in Disney World with her entire studio! 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 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!
Dana McIntyre
Elite Team Director & Teacher
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.
Michelle Rackely
Teacher
Michelle Rackley is originally from Maryland, but has been living in Wilmington for 8 years. She 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 continued to dance as a member of UNCW’s dance company during her years in undergraduate and graduate school. She began with CDA in 2016 and is looking forward to teaching and choreographing in her 8th recital with us this year.
Dove Avylla
Teacher
Ms. Dove is originally from Massachusetts but has called Leland her home for the last 17 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 10th year at the studio.
Kayla Brennan
Teacher
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 at CDA 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 had just completed her first year teaching at Coastal Dance Academy! She is going to Brunswick Community College to get her Associates in Science. She will then transfer to the University of North Carolina Wilmington and get her Bachelors degree in Chemistry. She hopes to become a biomedical chemist!
Jennifer Kelley
Teacher
Ms. Jennifer has been dancing most of her life and is now entering her 10th year teaching at Coastal Dance Academy. Ms. Jennifer is originally from Brunswick County, learning dance in grade school with Mrs. Sara as her teacher. She went on to study dance further under the dance professors at UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Charlotte, where she received a bachelor’s degree in dance. While Ms. Jennifer is versatile in many forms of dance, her strongest preference is in Ballet and Modern. She has performed in seasonal showcases at UNC-Charlotte for the universities’ Dance department as well as student choreographed works. After graduating, she continued to perform locally with Choreographers of the Dance Cooperative of Wilmington in the North Carolina Dance Festival and Wilmington Dance Festival for a few years, as well as the annual recitals at CDA. Although performing has ended, Ms. Jennifer looks forward to continuing to teach the students of Coastal Dance Academy.
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Tracie Rabalais
Adult Teacher- Barre Fusion
Tracie Rabalais grew up in Burlington, NC where she began her dance education at the age of five. Her background includes ballet, jazz, modern, competitive cheerleading, Zumba, and Barre Fitness. In 2000, she moved to Wilmington to attend UNCW where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. While at UNCW, Tracie performed with the UNCW Dance team and also the Wilmington Hammerheads where she continued for six seasons, two of which she was the head coach and choreographer for the team. Tracie is also a former member of the Forward Motion Dance Company where she has performed in such events as the Dancelorus, NC Dance Festival, Celebrate the Arts, Arts Sensation, and many more. Currently, she resides with her family in Leland where she teaches Zumba, Barre Fitness, Adult Ballet and children’s dance classes. Tracie is honored to be teaching at CDA and sharing her love of Barre with the community!
23-24 Student Helpers
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Pip
Ayden
Kassidy
Ayla
