ABOUT US

Brie Stacks is the owner and artistic director of Island Dance Academy and an accomplished dance educator, choreographer, and curriculum creator with more than 25 years of teaching experience. With degrees in both Dance and Business, nearly two decades of studio ownership, and national recognition for her choreography, Brie brings a rare combination of artistic expertise, educational experience, and professional leadership to her students.

Throughout her career, Brie has trained dancers from their very first preschool class through advanced, collegiate, and pre-professional levels. Her former students have been accepted into prestigious collegiate dance programs and international training programs, performed with professional dance companies, and gone on to work professionally as dance teachers and choreographers.

A native of Mobile, Alabama, Brie began her dance training at Debbie’s School of Dance and was accepted into a performing arts school at age 12. Her early training included extensive study in technique, performance, choreography, conventions, and competitive dance, with opportunities to learn from master teachers and choreographers from across the country.

Brie continued her education at Troy University, where she earned degrees in Dance and Business. She attended Troy on scholarship as a member of the Troy University Dance Team, later serving as team captain and choreographer. In 2005, she was named Troy University’s Auxiliary Dancer of the Year.

While in college, Brie traveled throughout the Southeast choreographing for dance studios and high school dance teams. In 2006, she opened The Company Dance Center in Andalusia, Alabama. During her 10 years as owner and artistic director, her students earned numerous scholarships, overall awards, and regional and national titles. Brie’s choreography also received multiple honors, including awards at the national level.

After relocating with her family to Baldwin County, Brie continued teaching and choreographing professionally before opening Island Dance Academy in 2020. Since that time, she has developed the studio into a growing dance community offering instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, acrobatics, and hip hop, as well as specialized programs and additional performance opportunities.

Brie is especially passionate about early childhood and preschool dance education. She has extensive experience creating developmentally appropriate classes that introduce young dancers to proper technique while nurturing musicality, coordination, creativity, confidence, and a genuine love of movement. Her expertise is not limited to beginning dancers, however; her broad teaching background allows her to guide students from foundational training through increasingly advanced technical, artistic, and performance goals.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Brie has written and sold her own original dance curriculum for use by other educators. She remains committed to continuing her own education through dance conventions, professional workshops, and teacher-training opportunities.

Under Brie’s direction, Island Dance Academy has continued to expand its programming, including the addition of its Performance Team, which gives dedicated dancers further opportunities to develop through focused training, choreography, teamwork, and community performances.

Brie believes exceptional dance education should be technically sound, age-appropriate, challenging, and encouraging. Her goal is to help every student develop strong technique, confidence, artistry, discipline, and a lasting appreciation for dance—whether the student dreams of a professional career or simply wants dance to be a meaningful part of growing up.