Get to know the Directors…   Brent and Alyssa Maddox have been serving as the directors of the Firespark! Programs since December 2005. Their involvement in the program started several years before as they served as instructors in the drama and dance programs. At the suggestion of former director, Terry Robinson, Brent and Alyssa were hired by Brenau University to fill the director position and continue the reputable programs of Firespark! They both consider it a great privilege to work with Firespark!’s professional faculty and staff and to engage in the lives of almost 200 young talents each summer. Their goal is to maintain the Firespark traditions of providing students ages 13-18 with quality training in their fields of interest. For specific individual information, please see bios below.   Alyssa Maddox (Executive Director) launched her dancing career at a young age-coming from a military family she has trained literally all over the United States and abroad including a year long ballet intensive with the famed Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Alyssa holds a degree in dance from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA where she had the opportunity to perform with the pre-professional modern dance company, CORE, as well as train with such professionals as Joan LaGhee, Molissa Finley, Kent DeSpain, and Matt Kent of Pilobolus. Other training includes jazz with Cornelius Carter of the University of Alabama, Limon technique with Alan Danielson in New York, and two years at Brenau University under Vincas Green and Carol Smiarowsky. Her choreography ranges from jazz and contemporary ballet repertoire for the Gainesville Ballet Company to musicals like Annie and Grease and for private studios such as Heather Wayne’s Dance Company, Decatur’s Metro Dance Company, and for Martelly’s School of Ballet in Marshall, TX. For the past 7 years, Alyssa has been teaching ballet and contemporary dance forms to students of all ages in both the Atlanta area and East Texas and currently serves as an instructor for Brenau University’s Dance Department. Most recently, Alyssa performed with Rommie Stalnaker in the only live dance performance at the 7th annual International Arts and Humanities and Technology Conference in Oahu, Hawaii.   Brent Maddox (Managing Director) is in his fourth year with the Gainesville Theatre Alliance (www.gainesvilletheatrealliance.org), where he serves as an Assistant Professor of Theatre, teaching acting, voice and diction, movement, and theatre appreciation classes. Before arriving to GTA, he served as the Department Chair and Artistic Director at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX. During his tenure there, he was an active member in the Southwest Theatre Association and the Texas Education Theatre Association. Brent has earned degrees in Theatre from Gainesville College, Brenau University, and the University of Alabama, where he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Theatre with an emphasis in acting. While at UA, he received “Actor Combatant” recognition from the Society of American Fight Directors under the instruction of certified teacher, Robert Wesley. As an actor, he has performed professionally with theatre companies including The Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, GA; The Main Street Theatre in Quakertown, PA; The Lincoln Amphitheatre in Lincoln, IN; The North Country Center for the Arts in Lincoln, NH, and the Dallas Shakespeare Festival in Dallas, TX. He enjoys acting, directing, teaching, being outdoors, and spending time with his family and friends.