LINDA DOBBINS DANCE STAFF
The Best in the Business
LINDA DOBBINS
OWNER
Linda is the owner and artistic director of Linda Dobbins Dance. She has won numerous awards for her teaching methods and is well known for her national champion competitive teams as well as her pre professional program and having performers receive $200,000 in scholarships and actual job placement with her students.
Named “Best Dance Trainer in Birmingham” by Birmingham Magazine
Her training consists of 35 years of dance education in the fields of jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, funk, lyrical, contemporary, vocal and acting. Starting her career in dance and moving on to acting, Linda has been seen throughout the country in national, regional and local commercials, films and print-work. Linda moved from the professional aspects of dancing and acting to open her own professional dance training studio in 1994. Many of her dancers have moved on to the Alabama School of Fine Arts, Radio City Rockettes, college dance teams, Broadway Bound and LA Bound dancers and actors have been featured in films, television and commercials.
Linda has a husband of over 30+ years, Barry, and two wonderful children, Michael and daughter in law Nanda, and her daughter Anna Marie. Her devotion to God, family, friends and dance is known throughout the Southeast region where she has lived all of her life.
ANNA MARIE DOBBINS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Anna Marie has been dancing since the age of 5. She has won numerous regional titles as well as National Champion Titles in the fields of jazz and hip hop. She has been trained under the “LDD” program as well as world renowned studios in Los Angeles such as “The Edge” and “Debbie Reynolds”. Anna Marie interned for the world renowned company The Pulse (home of Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Sonya and more superstars of the dance world)
Anna Marie is also a professional actress working the Birmingham, Atlanta, southeast, New York and Los Angeles Markets. She has been signed with MSA Dance Agency, Sovereign Talent, and Real People Talent Agency. Anna Marie is a graduate of Birmingham Southern with her BA in dance and choreography.
She can be seen in numerous feature films and television shows such as: Lifetime Movies, Footloose, Being Mary Jane, Cross, Stalked By My Doctor, My Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Evil Things, and more. She has also danced professional for TLC, Rod Stewart, The Beach Boy, Vegas Shows and more!
COWLEY GARRETT
Studio Manager/Instructor
Cowley Garrett is a native of Philadelphia, Mississippi. As a junior in high school, she was one of four dancers in the state of Mississippi to be accepted to the Mississippi School of the Arts where she studied in modern and ballet. Upon graduating from the Mississippi School of the Arts in 2019, she decided to further her education at the University of Alabama as a Dance Major and Business Minor. While studying at U.A., she has trained in ballet, modern, and jazz styles. Instead of graduating in the originally estimated four years, she has been able to complete her undergraduate degree in three years and graduates in May of 2022. She is currently working at Druid City School of Ballet where she teaches children of the ages 3-7 and helps at the RISE Center of Tuscaloosa teaching ballet to children with special needs. As a student in the Theatre and Dance Department, she is a member of the Dance Honors Society and teaches movement classes to students with cerebral palsy. Upon receiving her B.A. in Dance, she plans to continue a career in dance while working with children and those with mental or physical disabilities and eventually receive her Master’s Degree in Dance Education.
RENEE STREET
Academy Director
Renee grew up in Cartersville, GA. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree in education from Jacksonville State, then, went on to get her Masters Degree in Education and Educational Specialist degree at University of Alabama in Birmingham. She has been teaching in the public school system for 35 years. Renee joined our Academy as the Academy Director in 2017 and has really enjoyed the online learning programs as an educational choice for our pre-professional dancers.
Outside of the Academy, Renee enjoy spending time with her growing family. She has been married to her husband, Tommy, for 36 years. She has three daughters and two son-in-laws. She also loves Alabama football. Roll Tide!
EVA BARKLEY
Instructor
Eva began developing her passion for dance at the age of three in Dothan, Alabama where she studied at the Dothan School of Dance. She has developed a strong background in many styles of dance including ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, musical theatre, and hip-hop. She has studied under numerous choreographers such as Nick Bass, Bobby Newberry, Justin Giles, Nick Lazzarini, and Joey Arrigo. She has held various dance titles like National Miss Platinum and Junior, Teen, and Miss Dance of Alabama for Dance Masters of America. She was also named Pulse Protégé, Nuvo and Jump Overall Breakout Artist, and Co. Dance Apprentice. She was the youngest recipient to receive the Emerging Choreographer Award at the Southeast Regional Ballet Association (SERBA) festival in 2010. Eva has performed countless roles for the Southeast Alabama Dance Company including Peter in the production “Peter Pan,” Miss Potts in “Beauty in the Beast,” Flounder in the “Little Mermaid,” and Timon in the “Lion King.” Eva attended the University of Alabama from 2011- 2015 where she was very active in the dance program and participated in programs like Dance Alabama and Alabama Repertory Dance Theater. She also continued to teach and choreograph for the Dothan School of Dance during her four years at Alabama. Eva is very excited about her upcoming year at LDD and can not wait to share her passion with everyone at the studio!
KATIE DROZD
Instructor
Katie Drozd’s passion for dance was sparked at a young age when she began ballet and musical theater classes at a local dance studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her love grew and evolved as she continued her training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). She attended both their high school and college program, receiving a BFA in Ballet with a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship and a Pilates certification.
Some of her repertoire includes soloist and corps roles in Sleeping Beauty, Don Q, Serenade by George Balanchine, and various roles in Ethan Stiefel’s The Nutcracker. In 2019 she participated in Prix de Lausanne’s Partner School’s Choreographic Project dancing in Didy Veldman’s world premiere of Is To Be. She is now dancing with the Alabama Ballet and is excited to continue teaching dance and Pilates in Birmingham!
CODY MAGGIORE
Instructor
Cody was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico where he began dancing at Dance Arts Los Alamos with Cristin Severini and Jonathan Guise. At age 16 he was accepted into The HARID Conservatory’s year round program where he finished his final two years of high school and graduated in 2017 studying primarily under Meelis Pakri. Furthering his training at Butler University he earned a BA in Dance Pedagogy and a minor in Environmental Studies graduating in 2021. While with Butler Ballet, Cody had the opportunity to perform principal roles in The Nutcracker, and Marek Cholewa’s Facets, he also performed in Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, and Patrick deBana’s world premiere of Falling Sky among other pieces and productions. He was one of two students selected to represent Butler at an international gala in Bratislava, Slovakia in November of 2019. After graduating with honors, Cody is currently dancing with Alabama Ballet as an apprentice. Cody has additionally studied at various summer programs including The Joffrey Ballet School, The HARID Conservatory, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and American Ballet Theatre in New York City, all on full scholarship.
MADISON CHAMBLEE
Instructor
Madison Chamblee is an LDD alum and began dancing at the age of 5. She is trained in ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, and musical theater. She has danced competitively since second grade and was one of two protégés from the 2013 to 2014 season. Madison went on to dance on AU Rhythm’s co-ed hip hop troupe and graduated with a B.S in Environmental Design at Auburn University. Currently she is a member of the BhamBeatBullyz group and an instructor through YesMaamDanceHam for those 18+. Madison also works in paid digital media but still has a passion for teaching, mentorship, and of course dance. In her free time she likes to explore with her goldendoodle, Oliver, thrift new treasures, and create unique makeup looks.
ABIGAIL MILLER
Instructor
Abigail is a graduate from Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She has studied various dance styles during her time at NSU including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, hip-hop, lyrical, and partnering. While at NSU, she has performed in big dance productions, such as The Cat in the Hat, as “Thing 2”, and Cinderella, as "Stepsister #2". Abigail also choreographed her own piece, Voyage, for her Senior Dance Concert show put on by all graduating seniors. She has had the opportunity to take classes and work with artists such as Michael Lomeka, Mary Page Nance, Donald Jones Jr., Jared Doster, and Crystal Lewis. Abigail recently spent her past summer of 2021 performing at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.
Besides dancing all the time, Abigail loves to spend time with family, cooking, graphic design, and photography.
EMMA THEUS
Instructor
Emma is a graduate of the University of Florida where she was on Dazzlers, the official dance team of the Florida Gators. She began dancing at age 2 and competitively at age 5 at her mother’s studio where she was trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, and musical theatre. Emma has won numerous regional titles such as Senior, Teen, and Junior Miss Platinum, Teen Miss Legacy, Teen Miss Starsystems, and Junior Miss Starbound. Her national titles include 2015 Celebration Talent’s Senior Dancer of the Year, Teen National Miss Platinum, and Junior International Dance Idol. While dancing competitively, she attended Lavilla School of the Arts and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts where she was classically trained in pointe, ballet, and modern. Emma was also an apprentice for Tremaine Dance Conventions where she traveled across the nation assisting choreographers such as Derrick Schrader, Tiffany Maher, and Meghan Sanett. Some of her favorite dance memories have been dancing at Debbie Reynold’s studio in LA, modeling for Glamour Costumes catalog in NY, and appearing on Season 3 of Dance Moms!
PROTEGE PROGRAM
Teacher Assistant Position
To be Eligible:
Competitive Company Member going into their Junior Year
You must have received DOMinator
You must have a A/B average in academics and maintain that average while protégé. If your grades drop below an A/B average while protege, then you go on probation and your protégé duties/title are no longer effective until grades are back up. If you are in our Academy you (as protege) can never be more than 5 lessons behind or Protege will be on probation.
You must have a dance teacher recommendation.
You must not be involved in any other outside activities, as you are expected to be at the studio daily
You must score platinum or double platinum (whatever the highest score is of the competition) in elite and place top 3 overall at a competition. All done at one time (It can not be platinum at one competition and high gold top 3 at another.) There must be at least 10 or more dancers in elite solos and/or title for eligibility. It must also be a competition we are attending as a studio.
Duties:
Protégés will be assistants in classes and rehearsals for their protege year. They will be the leaders and mentors of the studio. They will be in charge of assisting at competitions and LDD outings.
Their senior year they attend all dance classes for free. A $2,500.00 scholarship and can return anytime after their senior year for free classes. They are also hired as a teacher assistant at $10.00 per hour.
It is the highest honor of our studio.