Adrea Gibbs is a freelance contributing writer with more than 20 years of experience writing for a variety of publications and has written several books. She has a spectrum of expertise that ranges from entertainment to business, travel to fitness, customer service to retail development, and uses her combined knowledge to benefit both the projects organizations with which she is associated.

Expertise

Entertainment,Business,Travel,Fitness,Customer service,Retail development,Food and Beverage

Occupation

  • Freelance Writer
  • Professional Dancer
  • Director and Choreographer
  • Personal Trainer

Certifications and Awards

  • American Council on Exercise (ACE) Certificate
  • Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) Certificate
  • National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certificate
  • International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) Certificate
  • Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA) Certificate

Affiliations and Memberships

  • International Amusement Parks & Attractions Association

Professional Dancer

Adrea has been a working professional dancer for over 30 years, appearing in shows like CATS, Starlight Express, and Crazy For You. She was a West Coast Radio City Music Hall Rockette in addition to making movie, television, and radio appearances.

Choreographer

As a director and choreographer, Adrea's work has been seen around the world including high-profile projects for Germany and the Czech Republic. Adrea’s DVD, Getting Your Kicks!: A Beginner's Guide to Choreography, was created specifically for novices who suddenly find themselves having to stage the community musical. It dovetails off a comprehensive choreography book created for Meriwether Publishing’s musical Yankee Doodle Dandy: The Song and Dance Man.

Theme Parks Experience

An active member of IAAPA (International Amusement Parks & Attractions Association), in addition to working on various projects throughout the years for the organization, she has also served as Managing Director of the Planet Aqua Group, the Chairman of the Games & Merchandise Subcommittee, and been a member of the Education Committee and a former Hall of Fame Committee member.

IAAPA Expo Presenter

Adrea is a yearly presenter at the annual IAAPA Expo. She speaks on a wide variety of industry-related topics, working with professionals from across the industry.

Theme Park Work History

During Adrea's career, she has worked for Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, DisneyFest tour in Taipei, Knott’s Berry Farm, Windows on China (Taiwan), Ramoji Film City (India), and Slagharen Attractie-Park (Netherlands).

Andrea has worked in areas ranging from live entertainment productions and food & beverage to operations and retail. She specializes in branding and the guest experience.

Costume Designer

Creating theatre within both large and minimal budgets has given Adrea the ability to be highly resourceful in creating costumes. Whether fabricating a knight’s armor from cardboard and newspaper or puppets from Styrofoam and foam board, she enjoys the challenge of re-purposing materials as much as designing elaborate gowns crafted from brocade and taffeta.

Some of Adrea's favorite costumes were done when she worked at Ramoji Film City in India. Her work there included The Anikids, colorfully dressed performers whose hats sported animal ears while their shorts had tails, Caterpillers, dancers in dramatic orange swing-style coats, and costumes running the gamut from classic Hollywood to a traditionally inspired Indian wardrobe for The Spirit of Ramoji show.

When given a chance, Adrea loves to design for kids, using items they have readily available that can be magically transformed into something special.

Certified Personal Trainer

Adrea is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor with certifications from American Council on Exercise (ACE), Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), and Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA).

Fitness Philosophy

Adrea believes that fitness should be accessible to everyone. Working with special populations, such as obese, senior, mentally and physically challenged, and children, she specializes in creating adaptable programming that will increase fitness levels for participants.

Adrea's main objective is fitness fun. She believes that a solid skillset, acquired and practiced knowledge, appreciating the needs and goals of individuals, and using creativity can go a long way in helping people become happy and healthy.

Other Interests and Hobbies

Adrea feels blessed every day to have been able to meet and work with so many amazing people on unique projects in strange places and hopes to continue to do so. At present, in addition to her writing and consulting work, she is an avid illustrator, working primarily in paper. You can check out some of her work at her CaféPress website, An Alriginal. She’d love to have you visit.

Connect With Adrea Gibbs

Find out more about Adrea's work by connecting with her on LinkedIn.