About Us

The Director

ADRIENNE M. TATUM was born in Houston, Texas and began dancing at the age of three at Tammy Kim’s dance studio in Alvin, Texas. Adrienne has studied ballet, tap, jazz, clogging, character, modern, lyrical, gymnastics, and hula dance. Between the ages of 6-12, Adrienne competed and performed all over the state of Texas. During that time, Adrienne won over 50 first place awards, highpoint awards and the Miss Dance Texas Headliner title for the 12 and under age division.

After graduating high school in Alma, Arkansas, Adrienne’s interest in dance became more serious and she auditioned for the Dance Major program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. Upon acceptance, she studied under the instruction of Gregg Lizenbery who has appeared in choreography by José Limón, Anna Sokolow, Donald McKayle, Paul Sanasardo, John Butler, Glen Tetley, Matt Mattox, Viola Farber, Ethel Winter, Doris Humphrey, and Jennifer Muller. While in Hawaii Adrienne also performed works by Leeward Community College professor Stephanie Palombo as well as her own choreography.

In late 2003, Adrienne moved to Georgia and later auditioned for the Dance Education program at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia. Adrienne’s dancing has since blossomed under the instruction of Vincas Greene, Jolie Long, Natalie Berry, and the late Carol Smiarowski. In 2004, Adrienne formed her own dance instruction company, I Love Dance! in order to bring dance to the children of working parents. Her mission is to offer affordability and convenience to these families without compromising quality. ILD! has grown to include schools in Fulton, Cobb, Dekalb, Gwinnett and Hall counties.

From 2006-2007 Adrienne was accepted into the Brenau Dance Ensemble directed by Jolie Long and had the amazing opportunity to perform Marble Halls by Mark Morris from New York City. Later that year, Adrienne danced in Brenau’s very first Opera performance, The Impresario, complete with a live symphony playing Bach’s Eine Kleine Nacht Music. Adrienne serves to foster the love of the arts into each dancer through proper dance technique and a passion for excellence. In 2009, Adrienne will graduate from Brenau University with a B.F.A. in Dance Education and will eventually obtain her Masters degree in dance. Adrienne also hopes to perform professionally in the Atlanta area after graduation.

Instructors

CARISSA KOONTZ began her dance career at the age of four and became a serious dancer at eleven when she focused on ballet. She trained with Annette Hagopian at the Triangle Academy of Dance in Cary, North Carolina until the age of 16, and attended an intensive at the North Carolina School of the Arts in 1997.

Carissa began competitive Scottish Highland dance at the age of twelve, and attained the highest level of premier when she was sixteen. She has competed across the Eastern Seaboard, including becoming fourth runner up at The Carolina Open Championship at Loch Norman, 5th runner twice at the Atlantic Seaboard Championship at Grandfather Mountain, and winning the pre-championship at Grandfather Mountain in 2004. Carissa has twice appeared in Rhythms of Scotland, a professional show highlighting Scottish musical traditions. She shared the honor of dancing with world-renowned fiddler Alasdair Fraser in the 2005 performance, whose music is featured in The Last of the Mohicans and Titanic.

Recently, Carissa and her husband placed second in the duet category at the Loch Norman Highland games. She holds her teaching certification in Highland Dance from the British Association of Teachers of Dance.

KATE JENKINS began dancing at the age of 3. She became serious about dance when she began classes at Augusta West Dance Studio in Augusta Georgia. There she began assist teaching at age 14 and acquired her own classes at age 16. After graduating High School she attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she was on the Vols Pom Pom Squad. Her sophomore year she transferred to Oklahoma City University to major in Dance Performance and Dance Management. Kate graduated from OCU with honors and holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance Management.

Once in the professional field Kate performed with various production companies and in many different shows across the US to include but not limited to: Brett Daniels Magic Productions in Tunica MS, the Kirby Van Burch show in Branson MO, as well as many different Industrial shows in Las Vegas and Florida. She has also held numerous contracts with Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines. In addition to performing, Kate also worked in various other departments during her cruise line contracts to include the art auctions, photography, spas and shore excursions. Kate is excited to be teaching with “I Love Dance” and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and experiences with her students.

DEBORAH REDDING – GYMNASTICS INSTRUCTOR

DEBORAH REDDINGwas born in Albany, GA. and became involved in cheerleading and gymnastics at a very early age. She always had a strong passion for fitness and participated in various sports. Deborah began studying gymnastics and soon began to incorporate tumbling, cheerleading and dance as a part of her interests.

During high school, Deborah was a captain of her cheerleading squad and participated in camps where she was trained by Universal Cheerleading Association instructors. During this time, Deborah was also involved in competition level cheerleading. She created routines for her squad and continued on in this capacity after graduation, even serving as a judge for high school cheerleaders. Throughout her adult life her passion for staying active has continued as she began to take on activities such as hiking, running and spinning.

Deborah graduated from Hampton University where she obtained a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. After undergraduate school, she worked in Corporate Marketing for several years across the healthcare, publishing and consulting fields. In 2009, Deborah will graduate with an MBA in Marketing. She also owns a small media company. Deborah enjoys coaching gymnastics to kids of all ages and levels as well as instructing fitness courses in her spare time.