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We are Teaching Artists

We are a team of educators that come from highly eclectic backgrounds, dance training, and experience.

Louie Marin-Howard

Executive and Program Director

Louie Marin-Howard attended the University of Florida New World School of the Arts, under the direction of Daniel Lewis; on full scholarship. He received his B.F.A. with High Honors in 2005. Louie was a scholarship student of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, and Jennifer Muller/The Works School. He has performed with Dance NOW Miami, Freddick Bratcher and Co., Sasha Soreff Dance Theater, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater, Paskal Rekoert/ Flexicurve, Graham II, and Carolyn Dorfman Dance (CDD), for whom he continues to coach and teach. Louie has taught regionally, nationally, and internationally; and is known for classes that explore the power, breath, speed, and passion of contemporary modern dance, and the demands of today’s repertory. Locally, Louie has taught Masterclasses at Chattanooga Center for the Creative Arts, Chattanooga Dance Theater, The Baylor School, Ballet Esprit, and Chattanooga Theatre Centre. This Summer, Louie was appointed Executive and Program Director of The Pop-up Project. He works closely with his incredible administrative team and TPUP Teaching Artists to make intentional and relevant impact in our community. The Pop-up Project is the BRIDGE in Dance Education for Hamilton County. Louie and the team are working tirelessly to provide and continue to foster the JOY of Dance through their accessible, age-appropriate, quality Dance Education program and curriculum.

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Marah Bates

Director of Program Operations

Marah Bates received her Bachelor of Science degree in Theatre-Dance Performance from Illinois State University in 2016.  After graduating college, she moved to Nashville, TN where she continued her training with ViShun Dance Company and New Dialect dance Company. She also received her 200hr RYT yoga certification from Asheville Yoga Center in January 2017. As TPUP Director of Programs Operations, Marah works with our  Administrative and Teaching Artist Team to run and bring our program and mission to life. She is the Lead Teaching Artist at Normal Park Upper School where she teaches 4th-8th grade dance; and she is proud to help run an organization that brings quality dance education to over 500 children and 200 adults a week.

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Ashley Tisdale

Teaching Artist

A Chattanooga native, Ashley's love of dance started after seeing her first ballet, Dracula, at age three. She has a passion for movement, dance accessibility and performance, training in many forms of dance including ballet, modern, jazz, & musical theater. As a professional artist, Ashley has had the opportunity to perform with various artists and companies around the Chattanooga area including the performance company formerly known as The Pop-Up Project and Katheirne Dunham’s JUBA Ensemble. Ashley shares her love of dance teaching for Chattanooga Dance Theatre, Studio34 and as a Teaching Artist for The Pop-Up Project.

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Ryan Roberts

Teaching Artist

Ryan was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Chattanooga, TN. Ryan found his love of Hip Hop dance at the tender age of 9 years old and has been dancing ever since. To better his Hip Hop skills, he took several dance classes anywhere he could and love to watch live performances from his favorite artists. From 2013-2015 Ryan trained at WEAVE: A Conceptual Dance Company to help shape his Hip Hop style and learn other dance styles. Ryan has taught Hip-Hop at various dance studios and schools around Chattanooga such as Ballet Tennessee, Chattanooga Ballet, Modern Play, Divine Dance Studio, Raw Art Dance and Entertainment Corp, Baylor School, Girls Preparatory School, Chattanooga High Center of Creative Arts, and Tennessee Association of Dance. He is currently teaching Hip-Hop at Velocity Dance Center and D.Williams Dance Academy. He is also an instructor and company member of The Pop-Up Project and appeared in their dance film “The Light We Share”. Ryan preforms at different events and collaborate with local artists on special projects around the Chattanooga area.  

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A'mya Collins

Teaching Artist

A Chattanooga native, A'mya Collins graduated from Ridgeland High School. Her early training in musical theater and competitive cheerleading sparked her passing in pursuing more dance training. In 2021, A'mya was cast in The Pop-up Project's production of "Romeo + Julieta", and began her training with the company in various dance genres and on stage. Since then she has performed with Doetry (2022,2023), Juba Dance (2022), BEC Awards (2022,2023), as a model, and with local recording artists. A'mya looks forward to creating a safe space for students to learn confidence and freedom; teaching them to express their feelings and emotions within their bodies. A'mya is thrilled to be joining our Teaching Artist Team. 

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Jess Ortega

Teaching Artist

Jess Ortega holds a bachelor’s degree in Dance from Middle Tennessee State University with a specialization in pedagogical theory. She has worked in dance studios including Chattanooga Ballet and Cannon Arts and currently teaches with The Pop Up Project and ProjectDance. Jess is interested in many movement modalities, having been trained extensively in ballet, modern dance, yoga, and Noyes Rhythm. Incorporating elements of these styles and the Speaking Through Dance curriculum, she seeks to create movement through an environmentally informed lens. She and her students have made dances about beetles, natural disasters, and floral growth! In her instruction, Jess also works to contextualize movement for students, situating technique in history and influence. 

In addition to teaching, Jess is active in performance with Understory Experiential and Duncan Dance South. She has danced in a variety of settings, including immersive events, long form improvisation, and historical recreations.

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Hayden Turitto

Teaching Artist

Beginning their training in Chattanooga, Hayden danced with Chattanooga Ballet from 2004-2014. They are a graduate of Center for Creative Arts, being a dance major throughout middle and high school. With a heavy ballet background, Hayden also specializes in contemporary and improvisational movement. They continued dancing with various companies and college groups, all of different styles, until 2022 when they began rehearsing and performing with The Pop Up Project. They are now also a teaching artist for The Pop Up Project’s Outreach Program.

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Andrea Tankersley

Teaching Artist

Began dancing at an early age in Monterrey Mexico, where she attended La Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey and studied different styles of dance with a main passion for ballet. After moving to the U.S she continued to pursue ballet in Texas and later danced professionally with Dance Theatre of Tennessee, Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, Ballet Esprit and has guested with Sterling Baca, Niccolo Orsolani, Travis Stancil and Casey Haywood. Andrea has acted as a liaison for Global Education Center and Casa Azafrán, Chattanooga Dance Theatre and Best Beginnings Early Learning, Ballet Esprit and Montessori Elementary and Wauhatchie Nature School. Aside from teaching dance Andrea is a certified PBT (Progressive Ballet Technique), Health and Life Coach and hopes to educate, support, and empower her students through their journey. She also stays current with her Adult, Child and Baby First Aid/ CPR/AED certification.

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Kendra Norwood

Teaching Artist

Kendra Norwood is a Chattanooga-based professional dancer with a calming, gentle teaching style. She grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia, and began dancing at the age of 4 with classes in ballet, tap, and jazz. After switching to gymnastics for several years, Kendra returned to dance in high school, where she performed in Musical Theater productions. During college, she focused on her degree in Communication Studies while dancing, choreographing, and teaching on the side. Post-graduation, Kendra moved to the Kona, Hawai’i for a dance training program where she received interdisciplinary training for various technique styles and dance pedagogy. She had the opportunity to work under the tutelage of teachers including Vincent Hardy, Fred Vasallo, Tammy Tolaas, Chelsea Dawn, Cynthia Newland, BBoy Xodus, Cheryl Cutlip, and Kumu Christine (her Hula teacher). As a part of her training, Kendra taught dance classes for children in the Kona community. She also spent time in San José, Costa Rica teaching dance master classes and workshops while continuing her training. Kendra performed in a live and filmed dance production with Prince Dance Company, a unique project that portrayed the 7 stages of grief. The film premiered on Kahilu TV in 2021. She also danced for Why We Move Collaborative, a dance company that focused on digital film projects with dance and spoken word. Kendra then joined the Pop-up Project in 2023 and danced in the November show Until the Sun Rises. She is thrilled to now be part of the Teaching Artist team and share dance with the beautiful community of Chattanooga!

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Matty Dangerfield

Teaching Artist

Matty Dangerfield (Parker) has been an enthusiastic mover since his early childhood days. Always inspired by professional artists and movers he watched growing up, Matty began training virtually in any space he could find. A few short years after moving to Chattanooga he found a dance community and furthered his training in various styles. He began dancing professionally after joining The Pop Up Project Company in 2019 and was ecstatic to perform in their debut dance film The Light We Share. In the following years he performed in the immersive shows Romeo y Julieta and If These Walls Could Talk. He performed and choreographed again in Pop Up Project’s most recent show Until The Sun Rises. Matty is also a member of The Juba Dance Ensemble where he has performed and choreographed in two showcases celebrating African American history and culture. Inspired most by movement’s encouragement of individual expression via the human body, Matty loves to study various styles including vogue, contemporary, hip-hop, modern, jazz, ballet, musical theatre jazz, hula, and improvisation. Matty is extremely grateful to have found a movement community to play, create, and grow with. He plans to be a lifelong student, illustrator, and supporter of dance.

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Tania Cuenca

Teaching Artist

Tania began her artistic journey as a gymnast at the age of six in Quito-Ecuador. She graduated in 2014 from the Metropolitan School of Dance of the National Ballet of Ecuador, as a modern dance interpreter, with a focus on ballroom and urban dance styles. Tania furthered her studies in Performing Arts, Directing, and Playwriting at the Central University of Ecuador and is certified as a Cultural Manager. Her passion for multidisciplinary art has led her to participate in diverse artistic productions, as well as performing in both conventional and unconventional spaces. Currently, she teaches with The Pop Up Project, where she emphasizes organic movement, body awareness, and empowerment through the transformative power of dance.

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Jessi Faircloth

Teaching Artist

Jessi Faircloth is a mover, writer, artist, and social worker from Chattanooga, TN. Her writing centers in the form of free-verse poetry as she explores the human condition through words. Jessi's artistic work whether collage, poetry, or dance focuses on utilizing art as a healing modality. Her work brings awareness to justice within the mental health system as well as the personal experience of having a stigmatized mental health diagnosis. You may have heard her poetry in the Pop Up Project's Film "The Light we Share". 

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Professional Development

Our Teaching Artist team continues their own development as dance educators with quarterly professional development to continually unpack, grow, and to be better suited to serve in the dance community.

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Join our team!

3214 Brainerd Road

Chattanooga, TN 37411

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