Kirstie Spadie, Artistic Director
Tim Schultheis Photography, NYC

Kirstie Spadie (formerly Kirstie Tice), Artistic Director and cofounder of North Carolina Dance Institute, received a Bachelors of Fine Art from the North Carolina School of the Arts with the Chancellors Award for Excellence. Kirstie was coached by Agnes de Mille as the Lead Cowgirl in "Rodeo" and played the role of Ado Annie in "Oklahoma". Kirstie performed in Milton Myers "Full Moon Rising" at Jacobs Pillow. She performed and toured nationally and internationally with musical theatre productions, most notably as the White Cat, Victoria, in Cats.

Kirstie performed in West Side Story in the US, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Munich, and Glasgow, Scotland. She has served as the Assistant Director for the original Jerome Robbins choreography for West Side Story. Kirstie performed for the Miss America Pageant in production numbers from "Grease" and has been in several national television commercials. She was last seen as the dancing red dress in the Subway national television commercial.

Kirstie as Victoria in CatsKirstie as Victoria in CatsKirstie is active in the community with teaching master classes at St. Mary's, Wakefield High School Drama Department, and choreographing for Broughton Show Choir. Her choreography has been presented at the NC Children's Dance Festival, the NC Educators Ball, NBC-17 "Tree of Lights" television special, Strut '08 and "Pieces of Gold". In 2003, Kirstie was awarded "Community Dance Educator of the Year" by the Dance Association for North Carolina Educators (DANCE).

Kirstie has taught thousands of children and adults throughout North Carolina. Students experience a positive and high-energy environment with respect towards traditions and discipline of dance. Kirstie trained with the National Dance Institute Teacher Training Program in NYC and believes highly in their teaching methodologies that dance can promote confidence, discipline, enrich children's lives and spark their artistic dreams for the future.

Kirstie and Jacques d'Amboise
Kirstie and Jacques d'Amboise
Kirstie was appointed by National Dance Institute founder, Jacques d'Amboise, as the Artistic Director for North Carolina Arts In Action from 2005-07. As the founding NCAIA Artistic Director, she conceived, choreographed and directed "Moving to the Masters" and "Got Jazz!".

Kirstie assisted Kevin Backstrom for the North Carolina School of the Arts 2007 production of "West Side Story". It was a monumental staging of the 50th anniversary of the musical theatre masterpiece. Kirstie was featured in the book Career Ideas for Kids who like Music and Dance and most recently, Firestarters: 100 Job Profiles to Inspire Young Women. Kirstie has been teaching and choreographing for 11 years. She values the personal connection between students and parents and hopes to develop dancers that will discover the magic of theatre.