“Keep hope alive.” ~ Rev. Jesse Jackson
Honoring Heritage, Building Legacy
Our Philosophy
At T.U.P.A.C., we cultivate the next generation of artists through rigorous, high-caliber ballet training grounded in discipline, artistry, and excellence. Our experienced faculty prepare students of all ages and levels for pre-professional pathways and lifelong engagement in the performing arts, nurturing both technical mastery and whole-person development.
Founded in 2017 by the late Kabby Mitchell III & Klair Ethridge, T.U.P.A.C. has grown into a dynamic cultural institution rooted in classical tradition and global expression. Alongside ballet, we offer Afro-Cuban, Casino Salsa, Flamenco, Belly Dance, Yoruba Cosmology, Sewing/Costume Design and Community Theatre programming — all reflecting our belief that technical excellence and cultural fluency are essential to developing complete artists.
Our studios are located in a shared arts space within a former grocery store in Tacoma’s historic Hilltop neighborhood. Hilltop’s legacy of resilience, leadership, and cultural innovation aligns with our mission to build artistic legacy with integrity and purpose.
At T.U.P.A.C., students do more than train — they enter a tradition of excellence, heritage, and possibility.
Our Mission
TUPAC’s mission is to provide Tacoma’s youth—especially those from underrepresented communities in the Historic Hilltop—with opportunities to achieve artistic excellence. We do this through culturally relevant pre-professional dance and theatre training, engaging community events, and other arts experiences.
We are committed to supporting our students through mentorship from local, national, and international artists, fostering their personal growth, and encouraging them to give back to the community.
Land & Community Acknowledgment
ʔi čəd ʔal tiił dxʷləšucid ʔaciɫtalbixʷ.
We stand on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish peoples.
Our Performing Arts Center occupies the traditional homelands of the Puyallup Tribe. We state this plainly: this land was not freely ceded. It was taken through colonization, displacement, and policies designed to dismantle Indigenous sovereignty, culture, and lifeways. Yet the Puyallup people and other Coast Salish nations endure. Their governance, culture, language, and stewardship of these lands and waters continue.
To acknowledge the land is not symbolic. It is a commitment to confront the history of occupation, to reject erasure, and to support Indigenous self-determination today.
We also acknowledge that this neighborhood, Hilltop was shaped by Black American families who built community, business, and cultural life here during an era of redlining, segregation, and exclusion. This area was subjected to racist labeling by white residents, yet Black leaders and families transformed it into a center of strength, creativity, and advocacy. Their legacy is foundational to this community.
We recognize that the histories of Indigenous dispossession and anti-Black racism are not past tense. They continue to shape systems, opportunity, and access.
As an organization, we commit not only to acknowledgment, but to action, to equity in practice, to representation in leadership, and to ensuring that our space reflects accountability to the peoples whose histories make our presence possible.
CLASSES
CREATIVE DANCE (Ages 3–5)
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
Based on Anne Green Gilbert’s Creative Dance for All Ages, this class introduces children ages 3–5 to the joy of movement. Through dance, music, and imagination, students develop early motor skills, coordination, and confidence.
Guided by stories and music, children explore basic dance concepts like time, space, and rhythm while discovering their own expressive voice. Classes meet once a week and provide a nurturing foundation for creativity, self-expression, and a lifelong love of movement.
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
This beginner ballet class for ages 6–8 introduces students to the Balanchine discipline using a syllabus developed by co-founder Kabby Mitchell III and former Artistic Director Julie Tobiason. Classes focus on encouragement, support, and positive growth, helping students build technical skill, creativity, and confidence while fostering a love for dance.
Our Programs
CHILDREN'S BALLET(Ages 6–8)
Our Programs
We offer a wide range of programs for students of all ages and skill levels, including music lessons, theatre workshops, and dance classes. Our programs are designed to be fun, engaging, and educational.
who we are
Kabby Mitchell III
Co-Founder
Bio to come soon
Klair Ethridge
Co-Founder & Executive Director
13 seconds in - hot pink legwarmers, hot pink & blue leo - Klair is upstage
Bio to come soon.
LaChelle Heard
Managing Director
Bio to come soon
Liliana Menendez
Liliana Menéndez was born in Matanzas, Cuba, and trained at the Vocational School of Art Alfonso Pérez Isaac and the National School of Ballet Fernando Alonso under the legendary Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso. Her teaching carries forward Alonso’s artistry, discipline, and elegance, inspiring students to connect deeply with classical tradition while discovering their own expressive voices.
She graduated in 2013 as a dancer and ballet teacher and joined the National Ballet of Cuba. Her repertoire includes Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, and Coppélia, as well as contemporary works by Alicia Alonso, Michel Fokine, Gustavo Herrera, and Ely Regina Hernández.
Most recently with Acosta Danza, performing worldwide, Liliana brings technical mastery and cultural knowledge to her teaching, guiding students to grow as confident, expressive, and culturally aware artists.
Nyah Heart
Nyah is a dancer, musician, and choreographer with more than 16 years of experience. Raised in Washington State, she has trained and performed across the U.S. and Canada, bringing technical versatility and cultural depth to her work.
Her training spans ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop, and she has appeared in music videos, performed as a backup dancer, and earned recognition for her choreography. Deeply connected to tap dance, she shares its rich cultural and historical legacy alongside technique.
A dedicated mentor, Nyah guides students of all ages and abilities to develop confidence, discipline, and creative expression, while fostering an understanding of dance as a living cultural and artistic practice.
Marisela Fleites
Flamenco is more than dance — it is rhythm, history, voice, and spirit woven together. Maristela Fleites has devoted more than 55 years to studying and performing Flamenco and has shared her artistry in the Puget Sound community for over two decades.
Her classes explore the dialogue between cante (song), toque (guitar), and baile (dance), guiding students through intricate coordination of footwork, arms, hands, and full-body expression while learning choreography that honors tradition and individual creativity.
As founder and director of Sabor Flamenco, TUPAC’s resident Flamenco company, Maristela inspires students to grow technically, artistically, and culturally, cultivating both skill and a deep love for this vibrant art form.
Maristela Guillén Calogera
Maristela Guillen Calogen brings a vibrant career as a performer, choreographer, and educator to her work at TUPAC. Her training began in central New Mexico, studying ballet, tap, and jazz under Elva Mico and Cecilia Jaramillo, and continued through Los Angeles, Miami, Denmark, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque, where she deepened her study of modern, contemporary, and Flamenco dance.
She has trained with distinguished artists and cultural leaders, including Bill Evans, Jennifer Predock-Linnell, Eva Encinias-Sandoval, Marisol Encinias, Joaquin Encinias, and Marisela Fleites.
As a dedicated teaching artist, Maristela inspires students of all ages and backgrounds to grow in technique, artistry, and creative voice. Through her mentorship and teaching, she cultivates confidence, cultural awareness, and a love for the transformative power of dance.
Takechi Ruiz
Takechi Ruiz is a dancer and choreographer from Santiago de Cuba, trained at the Professional Academy of Arts, where he specialized in performance and teaching. Now based in Seattle, he shares his artistry through classes, workshops, and performances at Cuban festivals across the United States.
Takechi’s work is deeply rooted in the rhythms, movement, and musicality of Cuban culture. Through projects like Repartiendo Cubanía, he invites students to connect with the stories, traditions, and heritage behind the dance, making each step both a technical challenge and a cultural experience.
As a teacher and mentor, Takechi inspires students to move with confidence, creativity, and intention, helping them grow not only as dancers but as artists who understand and honor the cultural roots of their craft.
Fatumbi Williams-Lee
Fatumbí is a multidisciplinary healing artist whose work blends sound, ritual, ecology, and ancestral memory. Drawing from Yoruba cosmology, Black diasporic traditions, and cross-cultural esoteric lineages, they explore how art can be a transformative tool for coherence, liberation, and spiritual attunement.
As a shamanic Reiki master, massage therapist, birthworker, and cultural practitioner, Fatumbí guides immersive experiences rooted in mantra, cowrie-shell divination, and somatic healing.
Through sound journeys, teachings, and community-rooted ritual arts, Fatumbí centers the sovereignty of third-gendered and queer Black lineages while honoring water, earth, and the subtle forces that support collective well-being. In the classroom and in ritual, they inspire students to connect deeply with their bodies, their creativity, and the ancestral wisdom that informs their practice.
Evelyn Thompson
Evelyn is a lifelong dancer and devoted caregiver whose passion for movement has brought joy and creativity into every part of her life. She has been dancing for over 30 years, with the past decade focused on belly dance, inspired by her first ballet instructor and a love for expressive movement.
Her favorite moves, shimmies, and sparkly accessories reflect the energy, confidence, and playfulness she brings to every class. Through belly dance, Evelyn guides students to connect with their bodies, express their creativity, and celebrate the beauty and transformative power of movement.
Her teaching fosters confidence, joy, and self-expression, helping students of all ages discover the artistry, rhythm, and cultural richness of this dynamic dance form.
Ruth Esther
Military veteran | Self-taught Seamstress & Fashion Designer
Ruth Esther is a self-taught fashion designer and military veteran who creates one-of-a-kind garments that inspire self-awareness, confidence, and self-expression. She began sewing in the mid-1990s, turning an early mishap with a thrifted sundress into a lifelong passion for garment-making.
After leaving active duty, Ruth honed her craft while traveling the world, drawing inspiration from South America, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Her designs fuse vintage techniques with modern, avant-garde flair, reflecting a global perspective and deep understanding of the psychology of clothing.
Ruth’s work is more than fashion — she shapes garments that honor not only the silhouette but the essence of the person wearing them.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
T.U.P.A.C. is an anti-racist school. We will not discriminate and will take "affirmative action" measures to ensure against discrimination in school enrollment, class placement, performance casting, employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading,