About Us.

At The Dance Academy, we practice a truly integrated approach. With our professional background, we educate your child while instilling the passion of dance in each student. All of these fantastic things are possible because of you, the people in the audience. It is through your generous support and enthusiasm that we continue to grow as a studio and as a performing studio company. The teaching staff has been carefully selected and stands positioned at the hub of your child’s dance education.

Each year The Dance Academy’s students present three major performances in addition to appearances at community events, schools, and fund-raising occasions. Their annual Nutcracker Ballet performances have grown to include a cast of nearly 300 students and is a much anticipated holiday celebration in Martin County.

The Dance Academy of Stuart was founded in the fall of 1997 by Alicia Chodera whose professional credits include The Boston Ballet, The Zurich Ballet, and Ballet Concerto in Miami. Ms. Chodera had a desire to create a ballet school that not only nurtured and developed students, but also brought focus and maturity to their lives.

A loving environment with a foundation of strong discipline leads students to realize their inspiration from within themselves. She says, “Each child is an individual with thoughts and emotions uniquely their own. My teaching staff and I approach every child as an individual.” The success of this approach is reflected in an enormous growth in the number of students at The Dance Academy of Stuart.

Since its inception in 1997, The Dance Academy of Stuart has been dedicated to providing a positive future in the performing arts from the classical to the contemporary.

With our vast knowledge of ballet instruction, the young dancer is exposed to several schools of ballet which include: The Cecchetti Method, Vaganova, Royal Academy of Dance, The Cuban National Ballet, and Neo Classical Ballet/ Balanchine. Exposure to these different schools of ballet prepares the young dancer with the knowledge and technique required for a professional ballet career. This education also provides the dancer with the tools necessary to advance confidently through our pre-professional Senior company “Stuart City Dancers”. For the dancer desiring a career with a professional ballet company, advancing through our program with skills and determination students have achieved this goal.

To help foster the student’s positive future, in 2014 Miss Chodera founded Atlantic East Coast Dance Theatre, a non-profit 501 (c) 3 charitable organization providing the serious student the opportunity to perform professionally. Atlantic East Coast Dance Theatre’s mission is to bridge the gap between dance student to dance professional artist while enriching the arts throughout the Treasure Coast. Atlantic East Coast Dance Theatre will continue to grow reaching thousands of people annually. By providing professional performances, and educational and outreach programs, and participating in charitable organizations and events our community will be artistically enriched. Learn more at www.atlanticeastcoastdance.org.