Amy Dimeo

Teacher

Amy began my dancing journey the moment she was born, God gave her a passion and love to dance. Born and raised in New Jersey and not far from Manhattans Theatre district, it fired her passions for dance and the arts. She began taking classes in Ballet, Tap, Lyrical, Acrobatics, Jazz, Hip Hop, and being on a dance competition team for the dance company.

As most children she involved herself in many activities. Her family were members of a Christian Church that offered weekly acting classes, performed productions in our church that also lead to community productions.

Being so close to Manhattan she was able to attend acting classes that lead to auditions for Disney. She also enjoyed being a cheerleader, and in High school became part of the traveling competition cheerleading team.

Having a love for the Arts, in college she continued with their dance program and studied photography. She became  a professional photographer with some of her work published in magazines and around Brevard county.

As a mom and a dance teacher, she gets to share her God given love and passion of dance with her son and Graceful Gifts sweet children.

Kathleen Marleneanu

Teacher

Kathleen started dancing at the age of 10 and hasn’t stopped since! She is from Arkansas where she began her dance journey with Deborah Moore Academy of Dance. She continued training at Henderson State University where she performed and choreographed for the HSU Dance Company and American College Dance Festivals, and graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English and minor in Dance. She is trained in jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, hip hop, and tap.

Kathleen did not know exactly how dance would remain in her life, but God has continued to grow her passion and open doors. Over the years, she has been blessed to attend dance intensives in Chicago, Boulder, Austin, Wichita, Monroe, St. Louis, Laramie, and Houston, as well as to take classes in LA and NYC. Kathleen first danced professionally in Branson, then taught and directed the middle school dance program at Arkansas Arts Academy for 3 years before joining the Christian-based nonprofit New Creation Dance Company. With New Creation, she discovered the most meaningful purpose of dance, and had the privilege of performing, choreographing, and teaching for 12 years, the last three of which she also served as director. 

Additionally, Kathleen holds an M.Ed. in Learning Systems Technology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is on the AR Arts Council's Arts in Education Roster, and is a nationally credentialed teaching artist through Young Audiences Arts for Learning. As a teaching artist for over 10 years, Kathleen uses dance to inspire joy, discovery, and connections via residencies for schools, museums, libraries, and organizations such as AR Learning Through the Arts and A Plus, as well as writing curriculum and presenting PD on arts integration. After moving to Melbourne with her husband and two children, Kathleen is so grateful to have found Graceful Gifts and continue using dance to share the love and peace of God.

Angelina Shank-Corea

Teacher

Angelina has been dancing since the age of two. She began dancing in the styles of Tahitian and hula with the Aloha dancers in Whidbey Island, dancing professionally by three years old. One year later, Angelina found a love for ballet and tap. She danced for the Polly B Dance Academy for multiple years and took gymnastics lessons at TNT Gymnastics and Fitness. Angelina trained in lyrical, modern, contemporary, hip hop, ballet, tap, acro, jazz, and improv. During this time, her home dance schools were the University of Performing Arts Center, Rhythm in Motion, and Dance Arts Center. 

Angelina has been performing in Musical Theater for 15 years and counting. As a Florida Thespian, she competed in many categories, winning over 15 superiors, best of the show, critique's choice, and the all-star cast award. She has also been in two films, including Amazon Prime's movie, "The Time Piece." Angelina was a protégé for So You Think You Can Dance contestant Erik Silky Moore in the BE dance company during this time.

Angelina went to school at Eastern Florida State College. She graduated Cum Laude with her Associate of Arts degree and a College Certificate in Business and Entrepreneurship. She is currently finishing her Bachelor’s degree in Sales and Marketing. In 2021, she worked professionally in North Carolina as a principal dancer, actress, and combatant at the Unto These Hills outdoor theatre when she learned that she and her husband were expecting a child. Angelina is a mother to her daughter and is thankful to the Lord Jesus for blessing her with the gift of motherhood. Angelina took a one-year break from performing and then began to do choreography again for Surfside Playhouse and Arts Unlimited, where she did the choreography for "Home for the Holidays," "A Dream of Freedom," "Birmingham Ground Zero," "Godspell," "Cinderella," and more. 

When Angelina dances, she feels connected to the Lord and wanted to share this connection with others. Then she stumbled across Graceful Gifts Dance Academy and knew that it was a sign from God.