Kendra Norwood and her hula students hit the final pose of a dance combination. The free dance class was hosted at Studio 34 in Chattanooga by The Pop-Up Project. Monday, November 23, 2025. (Photo by Sydney Banks)
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a blooming, bustling city in every sense of the words. Beyond its iconic natural landscapes, it thrives with a vibrant arts culture. Theater companies, music clubs, dance classes, the ballet, the symphony, and many other groups are among the most pivotal organizations in the community.
In January 2025, ArtsBuild, a private non-profit arts organization, announced a feasibility study to evaluate the need for a new performing arts center (PAC) in Chattanooga. Despite its vibrant arts scene, the city is grappling with a major issue: a lack of appropriate, flexible, mid-sized performing arts facilities. Local artists are restricted to rehearsing and performing in spaces that are unable to accommodate each type of audience; an aspect of the performing arts that is extremely important to the viewer’s experience.
This study examined the disconnect between local art groups and their individual struggles with limited space. Project manager Blake Harris, an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee and the artistic director of the local theater company Obvious Dad, initiated the study after recognizing these issues.
Sarah Thomas is the Co-Founder of 42E3, a K-pop dance cover group dedicated to bringing K-pop choreography’s energy, precision, and artistry to life in Chattanooga.
K-pop has been a growing global phenomenon in the past ten years; even in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 42E3 is a K-pop dance cover group that semi-frequently releases dance covers on their YouTube and Instagram pages.
Many of these dancers have experienced the rise of K-pop firsthand, having been fans themselves for over ten years. They have watched the landscape of fan interactions and song promotions shift over the years due to the rise of social media and COVID-19.
“I became a fan of K-pop in 2013, but I didn’t start dancing to K-pop until 2015, because I was kind of embarrassed to be a K-pop fan at first.” said Sarah Thomas, one of the founders of 42E3.
Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots. To listen to Scenic Roots, visit https://www.wutc.org/scenic-roots.
Tiny Bailarinas
Ava Nessell spoke with Wendy Reynoso, the student success and services coordinator at La Paz Chattanooga, about her experience finding a community in Chattanooga after immigrating from Guatemala.
Andrea Tankersley demonstrates how to perform an échappé sauté. Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (Photo by Abby White)
Little feet wrapped in socks and ballet slippers pitter-patter on concrete floors, metal chairs as makeshift barres, a mix between French ballet terms and the Spanish language are used to communicate the beauty of dance to little girls. This is non-profit La Paz Chattanooga ballet, taught by professional ballerina Andrea Tankersley.
Despite fighting through a language barrier within her childhood dance classes, Tankersley found a love for dance she passes down by teaching young Latina girls the art of ballet in their first language.
“It’s important for the classes to be taught in Spanish because it brings a sense of culture,” Tankersley said. “Knowing what your background is and where you come from, it allows you to be more confident and more unique.”
Andrea Tankersley evaluates her students’ form during practice. Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (Photo by Abby White)
Tankersley was immersed in vigorous dance classes in Mexico from a young age which continued when she moved to the United States at the age of nine through her senior year of high school. She continued her career in Nashville as a professional ballet dancer.
As a native Spanish-speaker, she encountered struggle after struggle when starting her dance journey in the United States. Luckily, ballet terms are universally in French so she was able to keep her head above water until she could understand English.
A language barrier is not the only personal struggle Tankersley overcame growing up in ballet classes. Tankersley was told throughout her dance career that she ‘had the heart of a dancer but not the body’. This is a viewpoint she strives to squash as a health and life coach; instead, she instills a more positive mindset into her students’ minds.
Tankersley received her health and life coach certification in order to improve her personal mindset and mental health, and in turn, is now able to help others with their mental health.
“I try to remind my students that each one of them is valuable. You are enough. You decide what you want to do. You have a voice,” Tankersley said.
To combat the strict and rigid composition of ballet she endured as a child, Tankersley always brings a fun and goofy twist to her classes. She believes that, especially at the age she is teaching, it is important to engage the kids with the fun aspects of dance rather than the cut-and-dry rules of the sport. Grande jetes across the floor turn into cartwheel contests, little laughs echo off the walls, and sweets are occasionally used as motivation.
“I’ve done a lot of class versus the teacher, and then we have cupcake parties if they win. You can have both things. You can have everything. It’s just your perspective and how you look at things,” Tankersley said.
Pierceton Mazell stretches in the studio at Chattanooga Ballet. Thursday, December 3, 2022. (Photo By Madison Van Horn).
The world of ballet is more than just sugar plum fairies and pirouettes. With years of training and a deep passion for artistry, professional dancers like Pierceton Mazell revolve their lives around dance.
“A lot of people haven’t been exposed to this type of lifestyle,” Mazell said. “Dancers are professional athletes without the benefits of professional athletes. You know, it’s a passion project and it’s a lifestyle job.”
Video By Jules Jackson. Cover Photo By Alexis McMurtry.
The skeletal remains of the Standard-Coosa-Thatcher mill complex glow as if they were on fire. Inside, the Pop-up Project is going through the final rehearsal for If These Walls Could Talk, an immersive dance performance that seeks to tell the history of the mill before it is lost to the collective memory of Chattanooga.
“It’s just such a beautiful space,” says Jules Downum, director and co-founder of the Pop-up Project. “It didn’t take a lot of work on our part to make the space impactful. And the stories were already here.”
Founding members of the Ember Benders pose alongside fellow performers. Monday, November 15, 2021. (Photo by Olivia Ross)
People will spend a lifetime searching for that one thing that fuels their passion and lights a fire inside of them. For David Ayers and Farah Miller, founding members of the Ember Benders, fire was just that thing.
Sarah Yvonne displays her pointe shoes while practicing different ballet techniques at the bar. Yvonne is the director of Ballet Esprit that is housed at The Spot Venue in downtown Chattanooga, TN. (Photo by Kelley Kindle)
“The revelation that exists within art is, to tell the truth. You have to be able to be expressive, to be able to project but also to be vulnerable. Good artists can’t be cagey and have walls up. Being vulnerable is the revolutionary heart of every art form, says Melissa.”
Melissa Miller is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher at the dance studio located in Chattanooga Tennessee named “Ballet Esprit”. Growing up, Miller played soccer for some time, however, women do not have their own soccer league in Europe. That is when she decided to partake in something that women could have as their own, so she became a dancer at the age of 11. Miller danced all through middle and high school and traveled back to the states to earn her degree in dancing. She then moved to New York where she danced professionally for 5 years. After having her daughter, she came to the south where her husband’s family is from, thus landing her at Ballet Esprit.
“I grew up in a very artistic family.., so I always knew that my path would be in arts in some way,” says Miller. “ I think the reason I connect the most with dance is that it is an all-encompassing experience; it takes your mind, spirit, and body. It is also a relational experience, it requires an ability to project and communicate with people,” says Melissa. Miller says, “ I try less to share a message, but to ask a question, as honestly, humbly and with as much humanity as I can.”
Melissa Miller and Sarah Yvonne stand proudly side by side each other. Miller and Yvonne’s passion for dance has inspired them to express their art to the world through Ballet Esprit. (Photo by Kelley Kindle)
History reveals that dance has always been a form of protest. “Dance is the only form of art that is directly tied to our bodies and physicality. This is important because as women, we can protest with our bodies against the social norms of how we are supposed to move and how our bodies are supposed to look,” says Miller. The studio Ballet Espirit’s, next appearance will be The ALTER- Nut, their annual winter benefit. All proceeds go to their “ Hold Our Space SPOT Venue Covid-19 relief campaign”. The event will be held on December 5, 2020, at 5:30 P.M. at Lookout Lake, 3408 Elder Mt. Rd.
Decorated, pastel ballet costumes hang along ballet bars at Ballet Esprit. These costumes are waiting to be showcased in the company’s annual winter benefit called The ALTER-Nut. (Photo by Kelley Kindle)Audio by Mckenzie Carver
