Meet the 2026 Faculty
DANIEL RODRIGUEZ (Ballet, Pas de deux, Repertoire, & Social dance) is a dance educator and creative from New York City with an MFA in dance from the prestigious Hollins University. Once he was introduced to dance by the nonprofit National Dance Institute, he became enamored with classical ballet and began his training under Deborah Wingert, Francois Perron, and Nadege Hottier at the Manhattan Youth Ballet. After graduating from LaGuardia’s Dance department with multiple awards and honors, he began a 15 year career with dance companies across the United States including Sarasota Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and the Nashville Ballet. He got to perform works by acclaimed choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Twlya Tharp, Dwight Rhoden and Justin Peck. He also studied and taught Ballroom dance under
KAYLA ROWSER TAZIK (Ballet) During her 14-year career as a professional ballet dancer, Kayla Rowser performed principal roles such as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lucy in Lucy Negro Redux, among others. She also performed featured roles in works such as George Balanchine’s Western Symphony and Serenade, Christopher Wheeldon’s Ghosts, and many original roles created by Nashville Ballet Artistic Director Paul Vasterling. Rowser has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, and Huffington Post, and she was named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” She has performed at the Kennedy Center with Nashville Ballet, in the Kansas City Dance Festival, Spoleto Dance Festival, Spring to Dance in St. Louis, and the Big Ears Music Festival with musician Rhiannon Giddens. Rowser has taught across the U.S including master classes at Yale University. Since retiring from her performance career in 2020, Rowser has continued to speak, teach, and mentor students. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with honors from The University of Arkansas in May 2022 and currently works in corporate marketing and communications.
NOELIA GARCIA CARMONA (Flamenco) is a dance educator, performer, and choreographer from Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), with more than 30 years of professional experience. From an early age, she followed her passion for dance, a journey that led her to perform and teach around the world. A graduate of the Institut del Teatre i Dansa in Barcelona, she specialized in Spanish Dance and Flamenco. Soon after, she co-founded Increpación Danza, a Flamenco and contemporary dance company with which she toured internationally for a decade across Europe, China, and the Philippines. In 2003, Noelia made Memphis, Tennessee her home. As Dance Director and faculty with New Ballet Ensemble & School, she created and performed original works that reached both local and national stages, including the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra. Today, Noelia continues to share her artistry teaching ballet and Flamenco, as part of the faculty at Collage Dance Conservatory, Company D, and the University of Memphis, and as a teaching artist & choreographer with the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. She was guest choreographer for University of the South at Sewanee to create a new work ReBirth for their Fall Concert. She is also the founder and Artistic Director of Flamenco Memphis, an initiative dedicated to sharing the beauty and power of Flamenco Dance through performances, residencies, and community programs.
REBEKAH HAMPTON BARGER (Aerial) is a choreographer and dancer based in Nashville whose work combines classical, modern, and aerial dance. Rebekah draws on personal experience, deep connection to her community, and collaboration across genres and disciplines to articulate the experience of those living with chronic pain and illness. At age twenty-six, ongoing pain from severe scoliosis and related injuries threatened her ability to continue performing at a professional level. Then she discovered aerial dance and with it came strength-building plus spinal and joint traction which allowed Rebekah to continue her career. She learned to listen to her body during choreography, which developed her unique approach to movement creation: one that honors dancers’ bodies and helps them discover how to work within their own limitations and abilities. With more than three decade of experience as a teacher, performer, and choreographer, Rebekah thrives on collaboration, constantly seeking ways to connect across disciplines and communities. As the founder and director FALL, she has served as the choreographer or lead artist for multiple projects and arts organizations in the Nashville area since 2010. Her creative process draws on deep community research and interdisciplinary exploration to create work that is bold, innovative, and socially engaged.
More guest artists to be announced!
KAYLA ROWSER TAZIK (Ballet) During her 14-year career as a professional ballet dancer, Kayla Rowser performed principal roles such as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lucy in Lucy Negro Redux, among others. She also performed featured roles in works such as George Balanchine’s Western Symphony and Serenade, Christopher Wheeldon’s Ghosts, and many original roles created by Nashville Ballet Artistic Director Paul Vasterling. Rowser has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, and Huffington Post, and she was named one of Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” She has performed at the Kennedy Center with Nashville Ballet, in the Kansas City Dance Festival, Spoleto Dance Festival, Spring to Dance in St. Louis, and the Big Ears Music Festival with musician Rhiannon Giddens. Rowser has taught across the U.S including master classes at Yale University. Since retiring from her performance career in 2020, Rowser has continued to speak, teach, and mentor students. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with honors from The University of Arkansas in May 2022 and currently works in corporate marketing and communications.
NOELIA GARCIA CARMONA (Flamenco) is a dance educator, performer, and choreographer from Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), with more than 30 years of professional experience. From an early age, she followed her passion for dance, a journey that led her to perform and teach around the world. A graduate of the Institut del Teatre i Dansa in Barcelona, she specialized in Spanish Dance and Flamenco. Soon after, she co-founded Increpación Danza, a Flamenco and contemporary dance company with which she toured internationally for a decade across Europe, China, and the Philippines. In 2003, Noelia made Memphis, Tennessee her home. As Dance Director and faculty with New Ballet Ensemble & School, she created and performed original works that reached both local and national stages, including the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra. Today, Noelia continues to share her artistry teaching ballet and Flamenco, as part of the faculty at Collage Dance Conservatory, Company D, and the University of Memphis, and as a teaching artist & choreographer with the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. She was guest choreographer for University of the South at Sewanee to create a new work ReBirth for their Fall Concert. She is also the founder and Artistic Director of Flamenco Memphis, an initiative dedicated to sharing the beauty and power of Flamenco Dance through performances, residencies, and community programs.
REBEKAH HAMPTON BARGER (Aerial) is a choreographer and dancer based in Nashville whose work combines classical, modern, and aerial dance. Rebekah draws on personal experience, deep connection to her community, and collaboration across genres and disciplines to articulate the experience of those living with chronic pain and illness. At age twenty-six, ongoing pain from severe scoliosis and related injuries threatened her ability to continue performing at a professional level. Then she discovered aerial dance and with it came strength-building plus spinal and joint traction which allowed Rebekah to continue her career. She learned to listen to her body during choreography, which developed her unique approach to movement creation: one that honors dancers’ bodies and helps them discover how to work within their own limitations and abilities. With more than three decade of experience as a teacher, performer, and choreographer, Rebekah thrives on collaboration, constantly seeking ways to connect across disciplines and communities. As the founder and director FALL, she has served as the choreographer or lead artist for multiple projects and arts organizations in the Nashville area since 2010. Her creative process draws on deep community research and interdisciplinary exploration to create work that is bold, innovative, and socially engaged.
More guest artists to be announced!
2025 FACULTY:
LENORE PAVLOKAS MORALES (Ballet)
KAYLA ROWSER TAZIK (Ballet)
JULIA EISEN (Ballet)
BANNING BOULDIN (Contemporary)
ALEXANDRA (ALEX) WINER (Modern)
DANIELLA PARISOT (Progressing Ballet Technique)
MELANIE SWIHART (Yoga)
WINDSHIP BOYD (West African)
TANTSOVA GRUPA (Folk Dance)
MICHELLE BURLINGAME (Tap)
ELIZABETH TILSTRA, PT, DPT (Dancer Health Seminar)
ANNA PEPPER, M.A. (Supporting Dance Mental Health)
LENORE PAVLOKAS MORALES (Ballet)
KAYLA ROWSER TAZIK (Ballet)
JULIA EISEN (Ballet)
BANNING BOULDIN (Contemporary)
ALEXANDRA (ALEX) WINER (Modern)
DANIELLA PARISOT (Progressing Ballet Technique)
MELANIE SWIHART (Yoga)
WINDSHIP BOYD (West African)
TANTSOVA GRUPA (Folk Dance)
MICHELLE BURLINGAME (Tap)
ELIZABETH TILSTRA, PT, DPT (Dancer Health Seminar)
ANNA PEPPER, M.A. (Supporting Dance Mental Health)
