Kendra Norwood
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!