The Ladies of The Maine Dance Academy
Colleen DuPlissie is the owner and lead choreographer of The Maine Dance Academy. Founded in 1994, Colleen’s vision was to spark a new appreciation for dance in the County. Starting with 35 dancers in her first year, the academy has grown to over 300 with a growing Classical Pointe and tumbling school as well. Colleen first received her love of dance from her mother and then competed very successfully in her high school years with her brother, Jim. Colleen earned her major (bachelor’s degree) from the University of Maine in Chemistry/Medical Technology while taking every dance class she could to fulfill her minor. Colleen has choreographed many musicals including Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie Get your Gun, Grease, Footlooose, Cinderella, Wizard of Oz and Calamity Jane. She has earned several Outstanding Choreography awards for Maine State Show Choirs as well. She has served as the State Chair for the Maine’s Junior Miss Scholarship program where she and her staff have been nominated numerous times for Outstanding State Program. She has also instructed students through the gifted and talented program throughout Aroostook County. She and her colleague, Clarann Floyd choreographed the opening ceremonies for the 2006 Jr. World Cup Biathlon and the 2011 World Cup Biatholon. Colleen is also an active Mom of 5…Christopher, Jordyn,
Jeremy, Jarryd and Kjetil and spends her spare time travelling and gardening with Mikey. Colleen now enjoys how her Academy has become a full performance school and looks forward to creating the next exciting show.
Clarann Floyd has been teaching at The Maine Dance Academy for over 15 years. She grew up in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where she graduated from St.F.X. University, with a Bachelor of Science. Clarann started dancing at the age of 5, competing for the next 17 years. Being chosen for the dance troupe, The Scotia Highland Dancers, she was able to tour Scotland and competed in the World Highland Dancing Championships, where she placed sixth in the Sword Dance for her age group. On two separate occasions, Clarann was also chosen to represent Nova Scotia in the Canadian Championships. As a junior in high school, Clarann got her teachers certification. Clarann is the Celtic expert at TMDA There is a separate portion of every annual recital that is reserved for Celtic dance and has grown to become the audience’s favorite performances. All dancers are exposed to the Celtic/Highland aspects of dance through Clarann’s teachings. Clarann has also teamed with Colleen to instruct students through the gifted and talented programs, and assisted Colleen in the direction of Maine’s junior miss program. Clarann is the mother to 3 wonderful children: Duncan, Adam and Jillian who will be a senior at TMDA this coming year as well as at Presque Isle High School. Clarann looks forward to another exciting year of laughter at TMDA!
DANCE INSTRUCTORS
Miss Colleen DuPlissie
misscolleen@themainedanceacademy.com
Miss Malerie Buck
miss.malbuck@gmail.com
Miss Sheridan Blackstone
sheridan1@maine.rr.com
Miss Danielle Hanson
dhanson175@gmail.com
Miss Emily Michaud
emichaud01@yahoo.com
Mr. Chris Parent
christopher.m.parent@maine.edu
Miss Madison Miller
madsie105@gmail.com
Miss Annalise Jandreau
annalisej@maine.rr.com
Mrs. Allison Wheeler
happycricket74@yahoo.com
Miss Chloe Wheeler
chloe18wheeler@gmail.com
GUEST INSTRUCTORS:
Clarann Floyd
missclarann@themainedanceacademy.com
Delaney Williams
delaney.williamsd@sad1.org
Emma Jandreau
emma.jandreau@maine.edu