Tennessee Association of Dance Plans for 2025
The Tennessee Association of Dance (TAD) has been offline for a few years, but we are not gone. We have been going through a shift after COVID, just like much of the world. Since 2022, we have been taking a good long look at our strengths and weaknesses though research completed by Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and going through a strategic review. We are launching the new us in 2025.
We uploaded a new website in December 2024. It was a long time coming. Everything we have put onto the website came from information we gained from the MTSU research. As we grow over the next few years, we will add more material to the website based on user and member comments. One idea we are already working on is a kind of “Poshmark” for lightly used dance costumes.
Our members will be connected to even more information than the general public depending on their membership level, including a job board and a list of medical and physical therapy professionals who work with dancers.
Our membership levels have changed a bit. We have added some new types of memberships, including a Senior Membership for those over 55, a Community Supporter Membership for those who want to support the dance community but are not dancers, and a Corporate Membership. We will be offering these new memberships at our old fee levels until July 1, 2025.
A big fundraising and membership event will be taking place Spring 2025. Be on the lookout for more details. It will be part live, part online, and give members of the dance community an opportunity to express themselves.
In September 2025, TAD will be bringing a new event to Tennessee -- free dance lessons in select communities on September 19, the International Day of Dance. We will be starting small, focusing on introducing dance to at-risk youth, seniors over 60, and those who have disabilities. We hope to grow the event to reach all over the state eventually.
Coming back, but with a few changes, will be our annual fall event for young dancers. Previously known as TAD Fall Dance Festival, it will become Pathways Youth Dance Conference. The focus will be on providing those interested on enhancing their dance skills with additional training, as well as panel discussions on possible careers in dance companies, in theater, in videos and online, owning a dance business, and unique jobs where a background in dance will come in handy. There will still be audition opportunities, a choreography competition, and performances one evening.
Training for dance professionals will return in Spring 2026. Part of the focus of the event will be to introduce the new state dance curriculum standards that will go into effect during the 2028-2029 school year to dance teachers from around the state. There will also be hands-on professional development classes, and a new works competition.
“Our goal is to do what we have done well over the last 50 plus years, while also expanding our reach to more forms of dance, to new dancers, and to dance supporters while continuing to do what we have done well in the past,” said new Executive Director Lee Rennick.