Director/Children's Instructor
Kathleen Tucker was the owner/director of Evergreen Ballet Center in Longview, Washington for twenty years. EBC was a respected regional ballet facility that includes a tap and jazz department and five satellite ballet studios in surrounding communities. During her ownership the school had approximately 350-400 students and a staff of about five or six instructors.
During her career Mrs. Tucker specialized in teaching Pre School Ballet (ages 3-5), Ballet I, II, and III as well as Adult Ballet. Her staff taught students from Ballet IV up through pre-professional.
Besides her dance career, Mrs. Tucker and her husband both served careers in the US Army Reserves. Together they were mountain climbing instructors for 15 years and raised two children. Upon retirement in 1994, they sold all their belongings and literally sailed off into the sunset on their 36-foot sailboat. After six wonderful years cruising the Pacific, they sold the boat in New Zealand and returned to the States to spend a few years traveling by RV before settling on the lower Alabama coast.
Kathleen is also currently working as an artist. She creates painted wall murals and tile mosaics in local resorts, rental condos and private homes. Her paintings are shown in several local galleries and at art festivals through out the Gulf Coast. Her art work can be seen at www.kathleentucker.com
Andrea Dickey
Pre-Pointe and Pointe Instructor
A native of Southern Alabama, Miss Dickey discovered her passion for ballet the first time she saw The Nutcracker. Determined to become a ballerina, Andrea started training at age 5. For the past 19 years she has studied under many area instructors at various area studios including Susan's Academy of Dance and Dorthy's Dance Plus as well as out-of-state ballet schools such as Austin Ballet and Central Florida Ballet.
Serving as Captain of the Susan's Sensation Dance Company, Miss Dickey lead the company to numerous competitions and workshops. Later, as a Junior dance member in Alabama Contemporary Dance Company, she toured New York City in honor of 9/11's one year anniversary.
Andrea is the founder and current Artistic Director of Gulf Coast Dance Workshop. This is a group of accomplished regional dancers bringing instructional workshops to local communities to give young dancers exposure to a wide variety of dance forms.
Miss Dicky has been instructing the most advance dancers at Gulf Coast Ballet for several years. She choreographs her students rolls in ballets like The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan with great care to challenge them to grow, yet keeping with-in the limits of each dancer's level of training.
She is also the manager of GCB's sister studio, Triple Threat Studio and teaches Jazz and Zumba there.
Ballet IV and V Instructor
Dorothy Lister first met Bobby when she was a guest teacher at his school and soon after seeing him dance, she invited him to be a part of Kaleidoscope and Ballet Pensacola. In 1999 he was honored to attend The Joffery Ballet Summer Intensive in New York City on scholarship. Mr. Biggs says that words cannot describe how much he learned during that six week program.
After graduation he joined the United States Marine Corps and served from 2000 to 2004. Upon his discharge from the USMC he knew what his choice of careers would be…to dance! He joined Northwest Florida Ballet, dancing with them for five years and also became an instructor.
Mr. Biggs started doing guest work for The Mobile Ballet in 2005 and continues to perform with them. He also continues to study and teach with Dorothy Lister in Pensacola and is an instructor at Gulf Coast Ballet in Orange Beach. He specializes in teaching ballet, tap, jazz, modern and hip hop.
Ballet Instructor
April LaCour's lifetime love with dance began 30 years ago. She danced at Sylvia Stewart's Academy of Dance in Gadsden, Alabama for 9 years. Knowing her passion for dance and watching her talent grow over the years, Sylvia referred her to Monica Barnett-Smith in Birmingham, Alabama where she auditioned for Exclusively Ballet. Attending a High School Vocational Program, she was able to study academics during the morning and dance in the afternoon. During the summers April attended The Alabama Ballet Summer Workshop Series in Gorham’s Bluff, Alabama. The University of Southern Mississippi offered her a scholarship in dance. They danced at ACDF (American College Dance Festival) each year. Ms LaCour says, "The artistic side of me wanted to complete my ballet degree, but my logical side told me to change my major to a more lucrative career."
April returned to Alabama and began teaching ballet at a local school while earning her Bachelor of Science in Sociology. For 5 years April was the Head of the Dance Department, personally teaching 40 to 50 students a day and directing, choreographing and loving 250 students each year. Strut USA is a competitive dance school in Rainbow City, Alabama. During her time teaching at Strut USA, she continued her dance education at workshops in Atlanta, Memphis, Birmingham, and Nashville.. In Los Angeles, she had the pleasure of learning from the great Debbie Reynolds at her studio and many instructors at The Edge Dance Studio.
At 24, Mrs Lacour followed another dream ….to live at the beach. After 4 years with Green Acres Dance Academy in Robertsdale, Alabama, April took a year off to really listen to herself and do what her heart and soul are driven to do. She says, "Only 3 months later, I was calling Gulf Coast Ballet just to take a ballet class. I could not be more impressed with the quality of instructors, facilities, talent and knowledge that make Gulf Coast Ballet the best studio in Baldwin County. I have long wanted to become a Pilate’s instructor because it fits so well with ballet and I wanted a new craft to challenge myself. With the help of Gulf Coast Ballet and Triple Threat Studios, it looks like another dream coming true!"
April is currently the Pilates instructor for Triple Threat Studio and a ballet instructor at Gulf Coast Ballet in Orange Beach.