Meet Miss Erica

Miss Erica is the founder and artistic director of Smoky Mountain Dance Arts, a children's dance studio opening in Fall 2027 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. She has been immersed in the performing arts for more than four decades and is passionate about creating a welcoming environment where children can discover the joy of dance while building confidence, creativity, and character.

She began dancing at the age of two and received her dance training through Bradenton School of Ballet and Dance Arts in Bradenton, Florida. Her formal dance training encompasses ballet and pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary, ballroom, clogging, and acrobatics. Throughout her childhood, she also attended a performing arts academy in Sarasota, Florida, where she participated in theatre, performance, and show choir programs that helped cultivate her lifelong love of the performing arts.

In 2004, Miss Erica founded her first after-school dance program, beginning more than two decades of experience as a dance educator and program director in Sarasota, Florida. Since then, she has provided dance, musical theatre, and performing arts instruction to hundreds of children while creating programs designed to foster confidence, creativity, discipline, and a lifelong love of the arts. Her professional experience includes serving as owner and lead instructor of 5, 6, 7, 8 Dance Company, Drama Teacher, Show Choir Director, Choir Director, Music Director, choreographer, and Junior Artistic Director of Revelle Academy.

Her passion for the arts led her to earn a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Theatre from Middle Tennessee State University, with minors in Dance and English. As part of her undergraduate studies, she conceived, choreographed, and produced MTSU's first senior dance recital by a theatre major, coordinating multiple dancers and presenting performances in two Tennessee cities. This experience helped establish the leadership, teaching, and creative skills that continue to shape her work as an educator and studio director today.

During college, Miss Erica worked professionally as an entertainer for Dollywood and the Palm Beach Princess Cruise Line. As a child performer, she appeared in more than twenty productions and toured internationally in The Sound of Music, performing throughout Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea.

Throughout her performing career, Miss Erica has appeared in dozens of theatrical productions, including leading roles in The Addams Family (Morticia Addams), Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), 42nd Street (Anytime Annie), The Sound of Music (Maria), Grease (Sandy), and Footloose (Ariel), among many others.

In addition to her performing arts background, Miss Erica is a Registered Nurse with more than ten years of bedside nursing experience and holds a Master of Science in Nursing Education. Her background in healthcare, education, and child development helps create a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where students can thrive.

At Smoky Mountain Dance Arts, Miss Erica believes that dance should nurture confidence, creativity, and character while preserving the joy and wonder of childhood. Her teaching philosophy focuses on keeping dance age-appropriate, joyful, and developmentally healthy, allowing children to grow in confidence while fully enjoying each stage of childhood.

Through small class sizes, individualized attention, and a supportive atmosphere, she aims to provide a welcoming environment where every child can discover a lifelong love of dance, grow at their own pace, and feel valued. both inside and outside the studio.