Dawn-Marie began her formal dance and cheer training at the age of 7. She immediately found her love and passion! At age 10, she began performing with the Canessa Dance Company. She quickly progressed, and by age 12, she landed her first professional role as Baby June in the musical theater production of Gypsy at the Giodarno Starlight Dinner Theater. By her 15th birthday, she was teaching dance classes of her own at local dance studios in eastern Massachusetts. She continued training, teaching, and performing in voice, dance, and theater throughout her high school years in the North Shore/Boston area. She landed lead roles in Auntie Mane, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and starred as Dolly in Hello Dolly.
At the same time, she took classes at renowned dance studios in Boston, including Jeanette Neil’s, the Boston Ballet, Gene Murray’s, Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, and was a company dancer with the Creative Dance Company. She received her formal adult training at the Boston Conservatory of Music, with a double major in Musical Theater and Dance, and landed the role of Maggie in A Chorus Line there. She continued performing in numerous musicals and with dance troupes across the Boston area, performing in such roles as Bonnie in Anything Goes, Elizabeth in Frankenstein the Musical, a lead cast member of Murder Mystery Dinner Theater, a vocalist in a jazz quartet, and then becoming an NFL cheerleader for the New England Patriots by the age of 23. She spent 3 amazing seasons with the New England Patriots. Her most memorable moments were cheering in Superbowl XXXI, and singing the National Anthem in Foxboro Stadium.
Although tap has always been her first love, she has extensive dance training in jazz, ballet, pointe, modern, ballroom, hip hop, and cheer. Her love for performing has only grown over the years, and when she moved to Fort Myers in 2001 with her family, Dawn-Marie opened her own Dance studio, Adriance Dance Academy. She also decided to focus more on our littlest dancers, such as her daughters, Michayla and Michenzie. She completed her Assistant Preschool Teaching Certification and became a preschool P.E. teacher, developing her own dance curriculum that was imaginative, fun, energetic, and that worked on both gross- and fine-motor skills. This curriculum inspired the tiniest dancers to want to keep dancing, and furthered their passion for dance.
Dawn-Marie has 36 years of instructional experience, 22 of which were spent specializing in teaching young dancers. She has taught her curriculum in 6 different studios and 16 different preschools over the past 15 years. Dawn-Marie also spent 7 years coaching Competitive Dance and 6 years coaching Competitive All Star Cheerleading, winning National First Place Titles. All the while, Dawn-Marie has never lost her passion for studio teaching. She has a gift for inspiring our tiny dancers, she loves our dance family and is so excited to be a part of Apex Dance Center.
