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Home, love and dance is who we are.

Creating a safe space to educate children thru dance is what we do. Twelve seasons in Mableton and counting.

Chan'nel Johnson with ETD dancers — Chan'nel Johnson, Owner and Artistic Director

How it started

“What began as outreach in local schools, renting spaces and building relationships, took a turn when a determined parent found the building that would become ETD.”

ETD Dance Studio grew out of the Education Thru Dance Outreach Program. Chan'nel Johnson was teaching dance inside schools and community centers across Georgia, and she kept running into the same problem: her students would age out of those programs with nowhere to keep training.

She opened the studio in 2014 to close that gap. The performance company came even earlier, in 2010, which means The Dance Project is older than the building it rehearses in.

Twelve seasons later, the students who were babies in her first classes are teenagers on stage. Some of them teach here now. Through losses, a pandemic and every transition in between, the doors stayed open.

Ms. Chan'nelFounder · Artistic Director

What we believe

We nurture the whole student.

ETD is a technique-based, performance-driven studio. But the reason families stay has less to do with technique than with what technique teaches: showing up, being corrected, trying again, and standing in front of people anyway.

Technique first
Every division is built on real training. Correct placement, real vocabulary, and progression that means something when a dancer auditions somewhere else.
Bridge the gap
Our stated goal is to bridge the gap for aspiring artists. That means school to studio, recreational to company, and studio to conservatory or college program.
Confidence off the stage
Discipline, teamwork and creativity translate directly into the classroom. Our school partners see it in focus and academic performance.
A safe space
Dancers are known here. Small faculty, long relationships, and a room where a nervous five-year-old and a competitive sixteen-year-old both belong.

Recognition

Twelve seasons of receipts.

Quality Business Awards

Best Ballet School in Mableton

Ranked first in the city for ballet instruction.

The Dance Project

Two-time national champions

Over 150 first-place trophies, plus entertainment and choreography awards, since the company was founded in 2010.

Alumni placement

Where our dancers land

Company members have been accepted into The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Joffrey Ballet School, Debbie Allen Dance Academy and Lula Washington Dance Theatre.

Who your dancer trains with

A small faculty, on purpose.

The same teachers follow your dancer from one season to the next. They learn how she works, what she avoids, and when to push. That continuity is the whole point.

Chan'nel Johnson

Owner · Artistic Director

Founded the Education Thru Dance outreach program, then the studio in 2014. Choreographs for The Dance Project and has spent over twenty years working inside Georgia school systems.

Denise McClendon

Ballet Director

An Atlanta dance pioneer who leads ETD's ballet program and teaches Pointe. Currently accepting private students for the season.

Jasmine Roberts

ABT Certified Ballet Coach

Joins ETD through an exclusive partnership, offering small group ballet instruction to dancers ready for focused technical coaching.

The rest of the team

Join the team

Come meet us in person.

The fastest way to know whether ETD is right for your dancer is to stand in the room. Your first class is free.

Book your studio visit