They’re suddenly on everyone’s radar
I have to admit it—I’ve been sleeping on Chattanooga Dance Theatre. The studio in Hixson has just two full-time professional company members, but they partner with a lot of well-known Chattanooga dancers and choreographers, and their student body now numbers—wait for it—around 400.
That’s what Chloe Russell, dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company administrator, tells me when we get together to discuss the company. She’s glowing with excitement—though I’ve seen her dance before, this glow tells me she’s absorbed in what she’s doing now, and I need to see it, pronto.
Russell is not Chattanooga’s only well-known dancer or choreographer who’s gravitated toward CDT: director Christine Mashburn-Paul has a history with Chattanooga Ballet and is currently president of Tennessee Association of Dance; Brittany Mills-Johnson, an inspiring teacher and choreographer with roots at Ballet Tennessee, recently came on board as assistant director; and Frank Hay, well known for his powerful works created for Chattanooga Ballet, is teaching and choreographing with CDT.
Other faculty include the explosive and multifaceted dancer Kerri Lamb, the luminous Brie Timmons, and plenty of other familiar faces. While right now the children students—in particular, the preschoolers—make up a bulk of the school, they are looking at building up their advanced dancers and adding more professionals, Russell says.
“I think people coming to work [here], we are all really attracted to the atmosphere at CDT,” she says. “It’s a really inviting place…really exceptional training and teaching we have going on here. It’s very inclusive, and our boss [emphasizes] self-expression.”
The school follows a Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, but teachers are continually studying the science of dance and dance training, she adds.
Just now, CDT is preparing for “Nooga Nutcracker” on December 21 at the Walker Theatre at Memorial Auditorium.
“The biggest thing about it is it’s a modern take on the traditional Nutcracker,” Russell says. “Traditionally, it’s a Christmas party. We changed all that.”
While the action still starts with Clara, Fritz, and man of mystery Drosselmeyer at a party, complete with a toy Nutcracker who comes to life, that’s where the similarity to conventional Nutcrackers ends.
“The ‘Nooga Nutcracker’ makes the classic ballet more relatable to today’s audiences with its setting in present-day Chattanooga and the use of many forms of dance, not only ballet,” Mashburn-Paul says.
“We incorporate jazz, acrobatics, and modern dance, [in addition to] ballet,” Russell adds. “We are working with a projector, too. Traditionally, in the second act, the Land of Sweets, it’s dances from different countries. But what we are doing at CDT is they visit different parts of Chattanooga, like the walking bridge, the carousel, the Tennessee River, the Aquarium fish. We use the mountains, too—[we have] mountain fairies and gnomes.”
They’ve kept the evergreen favorites, the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier, but the snow scene is interpreted through contemporary dance. Special props will represent local themes and locations. If you haven’t been to a Nutcracker yet, or maybe you got burned out years ago, this is the place for a fresh start.
If you want a taste of the holidays sooner, or if Hixson’s closer for you, consider attending the Clara’s Tea fundraiser on November 17. Held at CDT’s studio at 5151 Austin Road in Hixson, the event is $25 for children and $12 for adults.
The donation gets guests snacks, tea with Nutcracker characters, take-home crafts including ballet-shoe painting and costume-making, and a small performance at the in-house studio theater.
It sounds like a perfect early holiday present for a special duo—a grandparent and grandchild, perhaps. It’s also a good way for people of any age to visit the school, interact with the dancers, and see whether they’re interested in studying dance.
“At CDT, one thing we do well is keeping dance relatable to audiences,” Russell says. “We do a good job of incorporating different styles and the efforts of people with a lot of dance backgrounds in order to create an experience that is relatable but also compelling for an audience.”