We are proud of our dancers, and strive to demonstrate an
improvement in your child's physical and mental development,
dance skills, motivation, and love for the arts via their performance
as well as our own.
Lynn
D. Raley
 Lynn
D. Raley is Owner and Artistic Director
of South East Dance Academy. Lynn holds
a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Performance from East
Carolina University
and is a Certified Dance Educator through Dance Masters of
America. Lynn has served as a member of the Board of Directors
of Carolina Dance Masters since 1999 as well as the National
Board of Directors of Dance Masters of America since 2000.
Lynn was elected President of Carolina Dance Masters Chapter
15 in 2007 for a term of 4 years.
Lynn's dance education began as a young
child under the direction of Margaret Rose Damkee and Linda
Kalnen. In 1980, Lynn opened Beulaville Dance Academy in
Beulaville, NC and founded A Step of Class in Goldsboro, NC in
1987. She operated both schools until moving to Texas in 1993.
Lynn joined the staff of School of Dance and Performing Arts
in 1996 that became South East Dance Academy in 1998, where
she teaches Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, Musical Theatre,
Kinderdance, and Lyrical.
While teaching children is her primary passion, performing is a close 2nd. Lynn can be seen in film, television, and live theatrical performances. She has been the Dance Captain and performer with Opera House Theatre Company for such productions as "Chicago", "Victor/Victoria", "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", "Singing in the Rain," "42nd Street", " A Chorus Line", "Anything Goes", "Will Rogers Follies" and "George M!"
Lynn continues her dance education by attending numerous Seminars, Master Classes, and Dance Conventions thus allowing her to stay on top of the changes to this living art form. Lynn has studied with Masters such as Gregory Hines and Debbie Dee for Tap; Gus Giordano and Luigi for Jazz; Douglas Waddell and Karen Hebert for Ballet; Keith Clifton and Tracy Stanfield for Musical Theatre.
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Angela
Norman Brown
 In
1986, Angela graduated from East Carolina University with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Choreography. Angela’s
other dance education includes summers at North Carolina
School of the Arts, Joffrey Ballet with Margot Fontaine and
Wake Forest University as well as master classes with Gus
Giordano, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Mike Minery, Dan
Karaty, Frank Hachett and many others. Over the past 19 years,
Angela has owned and directed Wilmington Dance Academy and
Footworks Express Dance Arts Center. With three children of
her own, Angela has decided to turn over the ownership reigns
and concentrate her efforts on teaching. In 1985, she was Miss
Duplin County and in 1989 Miss Spivey’s Corner. Angela is
extremely excited to be teaching with friends and long time
colleagues. In addition to God and her family dance is an
instrumental part of her life. Angela, her husband Robby and
their three children, Zelle (17), Brody (13) and Leah (9) are
residents of Ogden.“Passing on my knowledge is a great privilege"
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Katherine
Hardison
Born and raised in
Wilmington, NC, Katherine Hardison began dancing at the age of
three at Arlene & Donna's School of Dance.
In 1998 Katherine began
dancing at South East Dance Theatre. Later in 2002, she
auditioned and became a member of the "VIP Company"
at SEDT.
The following year Katherine
joined another local dance company known as Wilmington X-treme
All-star Dancers. There, Katherine focused on Hip Hop
and Jazz Technique. Katherine was with WXA for three
years performing on the Senior and Collegiate levels.
She was selected as Captain each of the three years by her
coach and her peers.
In 2005 Katherine was given
the opportunity to go to New York City to attend the Rockette
Summer Intensive held at Radio City Music Hall. She
excepted and in June of 2005 Katherine flew to NY and took
classes several different Rockettes.
As a Senior in High School,
Katherine returned to SEDA as a student. She graduated
in the Spring of 2007 from New Hanover High School.
Since then Katherine has become a dancer for our very own
Wilmington Sea Dawgs Semi-Pro Basketball Team. She is
currently attending Cape Fear Community College. She is thrilled to be a part of the SEDA family.
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Linda R.
Kalnen 
Miss
Linda has been teaching for over 40 years. She is trained in
Ballet, Modern, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, and
Acro/Gymnastics. Linda has been a member of Dance Masters of
America for 25 years. During 1993-1995 she was Carolina Dance
Master's president. With the National Dance Masters of America
organization she served as Finance Comptroller, Public
Relations and is the National Examiner for new members. She is
also affiliated with UNITY, Uniting America's Dance
Organizations. Working on diverse films such as “Black
Knight” as a dancer, “Super Mario Brothers” as a dancer,
and “T-Bone and Weasel” (starring Gregory Hines) as a
demonstrator has offered Linda a wide range of invaluable
experience. She has also worked in the world of television;
with WWAY TV in Wilmington , she was featured on The Young
Indian Jones Chronicles as a dancer, and has worked on the
production crew for the Miss NC pageant. She is SAG eligible.
Linda has strong ties within the Eastern NC community; she has
worked with the Opera House Theatre Co., the historic Thalian
Association located in downtown Wilmington, and the
Jacksonville Civic Ballet. She has offered her strong years of
experience as a master teacher at the Western Carolina
University Gymnastics Camp, the Dance Masters Teachers
Training School , and Dansorama. Miss Linda is excited to call
SEDA her new home. She hopes that her love and knowledge of
the dance world will inspire a new generation of dancers to
pursue their dreams therefore expanding their horizon.
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Temperance
Robancho
 Temperance
is thrilled to be returning back to her home state of North
Carolina after being away for seven years. Beginning dance at
the age of 3, Temperance studied at various studios in the
Wake Forest area, her favorite forms being ballet, lyrical and
jazz. At 16, she took her dancing a step further by
traveling with Dance Caravan as a Caravan Kid on their
national summer tour. This experience let her know right away
that dance was going to be a career, not just a hobby. After
graduating from high school in 2000, she became a student at
Oklahoma City University, where she was on dance and academic
scholarships. She was a member of the American Spirit Dance
Company, a member of Pep Dancers, a member of Alpha Phi
Sorority, and was lucky to be a part of the musical theatre
productions of West Side Story, Kiss Me, Kate!, and The Merry
Widow. She was also featured in the Student Choreography
Shows, and was a choreographer for this production her senior
year. Her other performing credits include working for
Six Flags-Frontier City as a dancer and magician's assistant,
as well as working for Royal Caribbean Cruiselines from
2004-2005 as a dancer in their production shows. In the
last 2 years, she has taught full time at a dance studio in
east Texas, as well as choreographed for over seven
competition teams. She is so excited to share what she
has learned from her past experiences and inspire her new
students to dance with passion and style. Temperance, her
husband Ken, their two dogs, Lucy and Tex, and their kitten,
Pumpkin, can't wait to see what Wilmington has to offer and
get to know the SEDA family.
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Kristi
Stevens
 Kristi
Stevens has been dancing for over sixteen years at local
studios in Connecticut and North Carolina, with training in
ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, modern, liturgical and
creative movement. She is certified to teach through
Dance Masters Teacher Training School in ballet, jazz, modern
and tap, and is also a member of Carolina Dance Masters.
Through this prestigious organization, she met Linda Kalnen,
who directed the Jacksonville Civic Ballet, and helped for two
seasons as a co-choreographer and rehearsal assistant while
attending East Carolina University.
Upon graduation from ECU with a BFA degree
in Dance Education, Kristi went home to study massage therapy
at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy, graduating from
the clinical massage program in July 2006. Today Kristi
lives in Wilmington with her husband Seth, while providing
therapeutic massage as a licensed massage and bodywork
therapist in the Wilmington area.
With the knowledge gained from both dance
and massage therapy training, Kristi loves to educate students
on the importance of taking care of the dancers' body, how to
use their bodies properly, and help them find a greater
respect and awareness of their bodies, while instilling a
sense of accomplishment and self-esteem through dance.
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Rachael
Thoma
 Rachael
comes to us from Pennsylvania where she graduated from Point
Park University with a degree in the art of Dance. She
has been trained in numerous forms of dance and exposed to
several different styles of teaching. Much of her work
experience has been interacting with the public, which she
enjoys very much. She has always had a passion for
dance. She trained at Ken and Jean's Dance Studio in
North Versailles, PA for 10 years. While a student she
was awarded 1st place overall with Pennsylvania's Dance
Masters of America. She also performed in two dance
pieces choreographed by Pearlann Porter, founder and
choreographer of the Pittsburgh Pillow Project Company.
She has trained with Darcy Field, Jean Phifer and Nicholas
Petrov just to name a few. Her other skills involve
Puppeteer work and Juggling. Rachael is excited to teach
along side such great people and work with wonderful dancers.
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Great care and individual attention nurtures the abilities of
our students to their fullest potential. SEDA's professional
staff is highly trained as certified dance educators by Dance
Masters of America. We are dedicated to helping children
succeed. Emphasis is placed on proper technique and
professionalism as well as on developing an appreciation for
the performing arts. SEDA offers guest teachers, workshops,
field trips, and dance competitions for all students
throughout the dance year.
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