Stina Smith is the owner and artistic director of the Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy. Mrs. Smith, a native of the city of Cape May, received her initial dance training locally and then at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. Mrs. Smith continued her dance training under the guidance of many of the top dance instructors, master teachers, and choreographers in New York City. Still to this day, Mrs. Smith continues her studies as the dance world is ever changing.

After a successful modeling and performing career, which included print work for international and national magazines as well as the runway, being a featured dancer at Resorts International, playing the lead role of Cassie in "A Chorus Line", and performing with Bill Cosby, Ben Vereen, and Gene Kelly, Stina returned to her hometown to open her own dance studio. From a rented building with a modest number of students, the business has grown over the past 37 years to become the most successful dance studio in southern New Jersey. In 1997, Dancer Magazine, a nationally published dance trade magazine, named the Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy among the top ten dance studios in the country. In 2002, another national dance magazine, Dance Teacher Now, claimed the Dance Academy was among the top 50 schools in the United States and Canada to "watch out for".

The studio's competition team, over the past 25 years of competing, has won numerous national awards and recognition for their outstanding work in all areas of dance. Mrs. Smith was honored by yet another national magazine, Dance Magazine, when she was given the distinguished Bill Como Award for Excellence for her Holocaust piece "Suffer the Innocence. The New Jersey State Commission of Holocaust Education then backed the piece for its school programming. The students in this piece have performed and educated on the horrors of the Holocaust and on the importance of tolerance for tens of thousands of children throughout the state of New Jersey for the past 8 years. Today, the video of this award-winning piece is still used in classrooms throughout the state to educate children on the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Many of Mrs. Smith's students have performed for Disney, Cruise Lines, on Broadway, and with National Touring Companies, as well as the Radio City Rockettes. Students have also danced back-up for stars like Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake, as well as dancing at the Oscars, MTV Video Awards, and Emmy's. Mrs. Smith's students have been seen on national television shows. In 2010, six of her students, called the Pixie's, were in the top forty of NBC's America's Got Talent. In 2011, nineteen of her students, called “Shore Thing”, were seen on CBS in Paula Abdul's show “Live to Dance” and in 2013, another group of her students, called “Unity in Motion” were again seen on NBC in the top 48 of America's Got Talent.

Kelly Rossi has been a part of the Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy since the age of two, taking her very first gymnastics class with Stina Smith. Kelly is now the Director of Gymnastics at the Academy, having trained with some of the country's top gymnastics coaches. Working with a USAG safety certification, Kelly brings an extensive background in the field of gymnastics and cheerleading to all of her students. Teaching all levels of gymnastics, contortion, and cheerleading, Kelly's classes are full of high energy, fun, and always exciting!

Kelly also has a background in the competitive world, competing at the regional and national levels. She has been recognized with top honors such as Jr. Miss Starpower and Jr. Miss Acrobat of New Jersey. She received top honors, placing at the Nationals in Dallas, Texas, Orlando, Florida, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with her All-Star Collegiate Cheerleading Team. Kelly has credentials with the National Cheerleading Association and has been an instructor for NCA cheerleading programs throughout the United States. Sharing her cheerleading expertise, Kelly has coached many local teams, such as Margaret Mace, Crest Memorial, Teitelman, Wildwood High, Lower Cape May Regional, and Wildwood Catholic. Choreographing individual routines for many cheerleaders who have placed first at the national level. Kelly is also a judge for the national cheer competitions.

12 of Kelly's students have had the honor of being chosen for the United States Acrobatic Team, being highlighted performers at such venues as Madison Square Garden, Walt Disney World, and Times Square in New York City with DRA. One of Kelly's students, who held the title of Miss Acrobat of the United States in 2005, was a featured performer on the CBS morning show. Kelly is extremely proud of her students and their accomplishments, many of which hold some of the country's highest titles, such as Petite Miss Acrobat, Jr. Miss Acrobat, and Miss Acrobat of the United States. Kelly's students have competed in two seasons of America's Got Talent and Live to Dance.

Kelly also taught acro at Jovo Dance, under the direction of Scott Jovovich of the New York City Dance Alliance. She is looking forward to many more rewarding years at the Academy and feels very blessed to call Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy her home.

Bryce Sol Yerk has been a part of the dance world for as long as she can remember, taking her first dance steps with her aunt, Stina Smith, owner and artistic director of Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy in Cape May, NJ. Bryce was also trained in gymnastics and contortion at Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy and trained with Kendra Hemingway, Chris Davis, Carrie Locklyn, Kelly Rossi, Mark Marino, Sky Hofman, Ray Leeper, and Shelia Barker. Bryce continued to further her dance and gymnastics training with classes at the prestigious Broadway Dance Center and Ripley Grier Dance Studio in NYC. During Bryce's years on the competition circuit, Bryce held such prestigious titles as Miss Acrobat of the United States and Miss Dance of New Jersey and was also a member of the United States Dance and Acrobatic Team. Bryce has worked as a professional performer for the Miss America pageant and for the world-famous New York Knicks with their acro-break show.

Currently, Bryce is a staff member at Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy, teaching all forms of dance and gymnastics. Bryce is certified with “USA Gymnastics” as a safety-certified gymnastics coach. Bryce specializes in all forms of contortion hand-balancing, contortion partner work, and hand-balancing canes.

Bryce was part of the Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy staff that took 19 students known as “Shore Thing” to Hollywood to be a part of the new CBS television show with Paula Abdul, “Live to Dance”. Bryce got to work with Paula Abdul as well as the world-famous choreographers Travis Payne and Kimberly Watts. Bryce‘s students have also been semi-finalists on two different seasons of the NBC show America's Got Talent. Bryce is also a second-grade teacher at Mitnick School in Lower Township.

Elena came to the United States of America nine years ago from Kyrgyzstan, where she was head of the dance department in Karakol City and a certified physical therapy technician. She has also served as a choreographer instructor with preschool children and a coach of rhythmic gymnastics at several different schools throughout Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation, where her students have achieved multiple honors. For the last nine years here in America, she has spent teaching contortion at Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy. Elena enjoys sharing her attributes and her time working with the young students at Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy.

Inga La Puma began ballet at the age of six. She grew up dancing in the pre-professional program at the Virginia Ballet Company and School, where she studied with Oleg Tupine of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Tatiana Rousseau, who trained under Olga Preobrajenska in Paris. She performed in the Nutcracker every year from ages 12 to 20 and in numerous full-length ballets, including Les Sylphides and Coppelia.

She first taught at the Virginia Ballet Company while also attending ballet courses at George Mason University. She continued to learn different styles at Eugene Ballet Oregon and Florida International University in Miami. She took company classes with artistic director Douglas Martin of the Princeton Ballet School and performed as Kitri's mother in Don Quixote and the queen in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. She continued her studies under Ballet Master Rachelle Butler at Madison Ballet in Wisconsin. When Inga's girls were 3 and 5, she chose Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy as their studio because she recognized the high level of technique and an emphasis on ballet as the bedrock of dance. In 2018, Inga was invited to teach ballet with the Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy family and is excited to be a part of its stellar staff. Inga has a Ph.D. in Ecology and is the science lead for a national vegetation and fuel mapping program with the United States Forest Service.

Miss Tracey is a queen dance mom. Now she keeps us all straight, running the office at Jersey Cape Dance & Gymnastics Academy. We love you, Tracey Nagel!