1500 S Jackson St., Frankfort, IN 46041
765-659-1954
Follow Us
1500 S Jackson St., Frankfort, IN 46041
765-659-1954
Follow Us
Faculty
Bernadette Bricker
Studio Director
Bernadette Bricker grew up in Frankfort and started ballet at the age of four with Kirsten Maish. She then continued dance at the Tap Academy for 10 years, up until her senior solo in 2009.
She attended IU Bloomington and earned a degree in Elementary Education. She worked at Clinton Central for seven years and one year at St. Matthew Preschool. She is now taking some time off to be a stay-at-home mama for Mable and baby Leon. Her passion is early childhood, and she is excited to be helping Stage I use that passion with dance!
Emily Goodman
Instructor
Emily Goodman is a proud 13-year alumna of The Tap Academy, where she danced until graduating in 2019. She trained in a variety of styles including Lyrical, Ballet, Tap, Musical Theatre, and Hip Hop.
Emily went on to earn her undergraduate degree in Psychological Sciences from Ball State University and her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marian University. She now works in the mental health field as an associate therapist.
Returning to Stage 1 feels like coming home for Emily. She’s excited to reconnect with her passion for dance and hopes to serve as both an instructor and mentor to her students.
Sarah Bruton
Instructor
Sarah Bruton started dancing when she was three years old at DMG in Lafayette. At age 7, Sarah started dancing with Lynne Brinkley at The Tap Academy and continued through graduation. Sarah quickly fell in love with dance, with a special interest in ballet. Being a 2020 graduate, she unfortunately had an abrupt exit from the studio leaving her longing to dance again, so she is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work for Stage I! Sarah can hardly wait to meet all of you and share her love of dance!
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
Katie Stahlhut
CEO & Executive Director
Katie Stahlhut has the distinct honor of carrying on Ms. Beverly’s legacy of dance excellence. Ms. Beverly passed the torch after 55 years of ownership. Katie has been a part of Stage I Dance Academy since elementary school. She was privileged to be a part of Stage I’s Performing Company and participated in many excellent performance opportunities during her time as a dancer. Katie has a degree in Business Management from the Kelley School of Business. She is also a graduate of Leadership Johnson County’s class of 2018.
Her passion is providing a nurturing environment for children to develop as not only dancers, but young ladies and gentleman. Her priority is maintain a high standard for morals and values. She does so by continuing to provide quality training with age appropriate movement and costuming. Her favorite aspect of dance is giving back to the community by performing at nursing homes and other community opportunities. Katie feels blessed to have the opportunity to be a positive role model in today’s youth.
Morgan Johnson
Instructor
Morgan Johnson’s dance training began in Greenwood, Indiana under the guidance of Beverly Smithey for the duration of fifteen years. After six years of weekly jazz and tap classes, Johnson joined the performing company with Stage 1 Dance Academy competing with dances of many genres, including jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, and musical theatre.
Throughout her college career at Indiana University, she has balanced performing various guest artist works, such as Radio Show by Kyle Abraham, Suite from Psalm by José Limón, and D-Man in the Waters by Bill T. Jones, and teaching and choreographing for young dancers in the Bloomington community. Upon graduation, she has returned home to Stage 1 Dance Academy to continue teaching the same lessons and values she was humbly taught by the instructors before her.
Lynne Brinkley
Founder of The Tap Academy
Lynne was born and raised in New Jersey. She studied dance for 14 years. After High School graduation, she studied nursing. Upon graduation from Nursing school, she moved to Indiana and focused her attention on Obstetrical nursing. Lynne met her husband, Brian, on his first day working at the same hospital. In 1995, Lynne was blessed to see her childhood dream come alive with the opening of The Tap Academy.
She became a certified member of Dance Educators in 1998. This year, 2020, is the 25th anniversary for The Tap Academy. This journey has been incredible. I love to see children grow in their dance skills and as individuals. At this time, I could not be more thrilled for the future of the Academy! Ms. Katie is so gifted in all aspects of directing dance schools! I can't wait to see all the exciting opportunities that await the academy students here in Clinton and surrounding counties.
Testimonials
My daughter completed her first year at stage 1 dance academy and loved it! She learned so much! Ms. Bernadette is an extremely patient and loving teacher and my daughter looked forward to seeing her every day. Thank you stage 1!
Rebekah S.
This is our 2nd year at this studio! We love it! My older daughter takes 2 classes (lyrical and tap/jazz) and my younger takes the ballet/tap combo class for preschoolers. They love their dance teachers and are excited to go every week!
Meggie C.
Contact Us
ADDRESS
1500 S Jackson St
Frankfort, IN 46041
Monday CLOSED
Tuesday 5:00-8:00pm (Boutique Open)
Wednesday : Classes Only
Thursday: 5:00-8:00pm (Boutique Open)
Friday : Closed
Saturday: Closed
Sunday : Closed
Our mission is to partner with families to cultivate an environment for sound character development by loving, encouraging and empowering.
ADDRESS: 1500 S. Jackson St., Frankfort IN 46041
Email: stage1frankfort@gmail.com
Telephone: 765-659-1954
©2023 Stage 1 Dance Academy. All Rights Reserved.