Jacquie Franz

Jacquie is the Owner/Director of Academy of Dance, located in Jacksonville, Florida.  She began her career as a dance instructor in 1978 at the Dance Center, Inc. in Miami, Florida where she spent 10 years instructing classes in Tap, Jazz, Modern, Classical Ballet, and Musical Theater.  During this time she also was employed by the Dade County Magnet School Program as a Jazz and Tap teacher, choreographer, and consultant.  Following this position, Jacquie was hired by Dance Works of Miami teaching Tap, Jazz, and Classical Ballet.  While there, she directed and produced six Musical Theater Summer Workshops. She has studied jazz extensively with Karen Finan of The Dance Center in Miami and Frederick Brather, formerly of the Alvin Ailey Dance Co. She has studied modern dance with Delma IIes, Director of the Momentum Dance Co. and classical ballet with Thomas Armor and Judith Newman of the Miami Conservatory. Jacquie has been trained in the teaching of the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus of Ballet in addition to being a F.A.P.A. Certified Tap Instructor.

Jacquie and her husband relocated to Jacksonville in September 1997 and was employed as the assistant director at the Nieden-Johnson Academy of Dance in Mandarin.  In August 2001, she acquired the business and became owner/director of what is now called Academy of Dance.  In addition to running the studio and instructing classes, Jacquie created Dance on Location 17 years ago.  This program offers instruction at area schools as part of their after school programs.  She is also a guest teacher at the Lavilla School of the Arts.

Jill Quigley

Jillian Quigley was born in South Korea and was raised in Boston, Massachusetts.  She began dancing at the age of four and has developed a love of the art.  She is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships from various competitions and conventions, including Showstoppers, Terpsichore and Dance Masters of America (DMA).  She attended Jacksonville University, majoring in Dance Education, where her dance technique and choreography have also been recognized.  Jillian graduated with honors in May of 2002 and plans to further her education by attending graduate school.  Jill has been an instructor at Academy of Dance since Jacquie Franz took over in 2001.

Emily Crawford

We are so pleased to have Emily join our staff.  She will be teaching beginning and advanced Hip Hop classes.  Emily is a cheerleader for "The Roar,"  the cheerleading squad for Jacksonville's professional football team, the Jaguars.  Emily started her dancing career almost 17 years ago.  She studied dance with the Academy of Dance for 9 years.  Emily placed in many competitions as a soloist with the studio.  As a student at Batram Trails High School, she became a member of the Varsity Hip-Hop Team and was captain of the Dance Team her senior year. Currently, Emily is attending the University of North Florida, where she will obtain her degree in nursing.

Carolyn Collins

Carolyn came to the Academy of Dance as a dancer almost 10 years ago.  She is trained in ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop, and tap.  For the past year, Carolyn began as an instructor assisting the introductory ballet and tap classes.  The director saw talent in her as a choreographer and instructor and turned the Saturday classes over to her.  Currently, she is a senior at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, where she will obtain her bachelor's degree in English. She has used her skill and desire for writing to share narrations for the studio's end of the year performances. 

Lindsay is our newest addition to our talented instructors at Academy of Dance.  A native of Altamonte Springs, Florida, Lindsay began dancing as a teenager.  She quickly excelled as a dancer and it became her passion. She obtained degrees in "Dance Performance" from Valencia Community College and Jacksonville University.  She is trained in various types of dance and choreography including ballet, modern, jazz, and pointe.  Lindsay has performed and choreographed numerous productions through school and the community.  Her teaching experience encompasses ballet, jazz, modern, pointe, tap, creative movement, tumbling, and musical theater.  We welcome Lindsay and look forward to her sharing her drive and experience to mold our dancers.