I was raised in Grassland. I watched the field turn into Food Lion, slurped on ICEEs from C.Y. market enjoyed many nights of chicken fingers from Grassland Grille and rented movies from Video Max. The best part of all is Grassland still feels like home after so many years and like Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” It is a magical community surrounded by loving families that I am proud to be a part of.

Grassland Estates was my old stomping ground. Summer nights were filled with endless games of “German Spotlight” and “Capture the Flag” and days were spent bike riding and splashing in the creek.

My mother, Kay Callahan, started me in dance lessons when I was three years old. Little did she know that dance would become my life and my career. I had a true passion for dance and never stopped, taking every class from ballet to tap to jazz.

My first job as a professional dancer was onboard the Celebrity Cruise ship “Infinity”. My new home was a large ship weighing ninety one thousand tons at nine hundred sixty five feet long. 

I continued performing onboard for five years, traveling to exotic locations such as Bora Bora, Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand, and dancing my way through the European countries of Italy, Turkey, Greece and the beautiful Greek islands.

I never thought, while studying the world map in Coach Rice’s World Geography Class at Franklin High School, that I would actually go to those magnificent places, embrace all the different cultures that I was exposed to, and meet dear friends from all over the world!

Holding various positions such as dance captain, wardrobe supervisor and, of course, production dancer onboard Celebrity Infinity, Millennium and Solstice was truly unforgettable. 

Furthering my dance education I took on Aerial, an acrobatic art form consisting of trapeze, aerial lira or hoop, and Spanish web. My passion for dance was taken to a whole new level - dancing in the air. Learning this style of art takes a lot of focus, will power, strength and determination as the training at this level is rigorous and very demanding. Excelling in this training brought on a lot of other opportunities for my career. I was cast in “Cirque on Ice” where I performed trapeze over ice in Singapore. Along with being a performer in the show I was also Company Manager responsible for twenty plus cast and crew, all of the show’s logistics and the artistic integrity of the show.

On completion of this show I continued working for Celebrity Cruises holding various roles on my last contract as a dance captain, trapeze artist, production dancer and wardrobe supervisor. I then accepted a position with Poet Productions as Artistic Manager and moved to Fort Lauderdale Florida. There I was responsible for all of the “Solstice Class” production shows rehearsing sixteen plus cast members on four different shows before joining the ship and mounting the shows while onboard. I also assisted in casting singers, dancers and acrobats for the shows.

After working at sea for nearly six years I was ready to put down roots and what better place to be than Franklin, Tennessee? This brings me to my current endeavor, Grassland Dance Academy. I am happy and excited to be the Director/Owner of Grassland Dance Academy in the community of Grassland, my home.

My goal for Grassland Dance Academy is to guide the youth of today in the direction of their goals and to help develop the self-confidence to achieve all they want to achieve through dance and creative movement. Dance gives children a creative outlet to enjoy music, learn coordination and rhythm, develop self confidence, work on fitness and most of all, have fun! Dance brings joy to the soul!

— Maureen

Katie joins Grassland Dance Academy from The University of Tennessee Chattanooga. With thirteen years of dance experience she has honed her skills through Grassland Dance Academy's internship program during Spring 2014 and is proud to now be an instructor for GDA. Katie has traveled to New York City where she trained with some of the cast members from the Tony Award winning Broadway show Billy Elliot. Including some of the original cast. She has performed in Walt Disney World and was a Junior Member of the Southern Association of Dance Masters. She has worked with various well-known choreographers and has participated in multiple dance conventions over the years.  Katie was recently a back up dancer for an upcoming A&E television show and has received her associates degree in Commercial Entertainment through Columbia State Community College . Spreading the joy of dance is Katie's passion and she looks forward to sharing that very passion with Grassland Dance Academy's students!

Aimee began dancing at the age of 7 and began pointe training at age 9 in New York State. She won first place at the Dance Masters Regional and received the highest score overall winning the title of Grand Champion in the Summer Dance Festival in Upstate NY. After moving to Tucson, AZ at age 11, she was awarded a position with the Tucson Metropolitan Jr Ballet Company and later went on to become a paid contract soloist dancing the parts of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the prestigious combined solos of Clara, Dew Drop, and the Grand Pas De Deux in Balanchine’s version of The Nutcracker Ballet, the Fouette Section duet in Graduation Ball, Cygnets in Swan Lake, and The Flower Seller solo in Gaite Parisienne.

As a teenager Aimee received Scholarships to the Houston Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet company training summer intensives.

During her summers, Aimee also performed with The Southern Arizona Light Opera Company in such roles as Susan the Silent in Finian’s Rainbow, Eliza in The King and I, and in other chorus roles. She also made her first tv appearance in Little House on the Prairie. At age 18, Aimee relocated to Los Angeles where she studied jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap and hip hop and performed in productions. She was one of five finalists selected out of 5,000 for a lead role in the TV series Fame and was hand-picked by a talent scout to audition for the lead role in the movie Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Aimee has also studied in New York with NYCDA’s Joe Lanteri and with both Steps and Broadway Dance Center and at Pineapple Dance Center in London, England.

At age 22 Aimee went to work for Walt Disney Productions where she performed in hundreds of shows. Aimee performed and choreographed for The World Dancers at Epcot. She also maintained 27 tracks in 9 different shows and was called upon to perform in conventions as well as in numerous TV specials, music videos and commercials with celebrities throughout Walt Disney World property. In 1991 Aimee was offered a contract with Tokyo Disney which she declined. In 1994 Aimee relocated to Nashville, TN with her husband Steve, a studio session musician, where she has performed, choreographed, directed, and/or produced for road tours, conventions, live shows, music videos, churches and tv specials. She also worked as assistant to the Vice President of Artists and Development for Diadem records.

The greatest highlights of Aimee’s career were: Performing for President George Bush, Representing the United States of America in the World Dance Championships in London England, performing on the RIOT tour with Christian Artist “Carman” and being a Tennessee Oilers (aka Tennessee Titans) Cheerleader, however, her greatest joy has been raising her 3 wonderful children, Caleb, Drew and Sarah Grace. Aimee attributes her career success to great training and a solid foundation of ballet technique. She continues to teach, choreograph, direct and coach competitive, professional and recreational dance and choreograph stage and video productions. Aimee currently teaches at dance studios in Middle Tennessee and served as head coach of the Grassland Middle School varsity Dance Team in Franklin for the past ten years. Aimee has coached award winning dancers including a Youth Grand Prix Finalist who was recently accepted into the Kirov Ballet Academy.

Aimee is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and also holds NCCPT and ISSA CPT training certifications.

Alexis (Alex) Strobel is a Nashville native who graduated Magna cum laude from Middle Tennessee State University. She holds a B.S. in Dance: Performance and Choreography and a B.S. in Journalism: Public Relations and Advertising. As an undergraduate, she participated in MTSU’s pre-professional dance company, MTSU Dance Theatre. She studied ballet, jazz, musical theatre, modern, house, hip-hop, kinesiology, and choreography. She also traveled to Durham, North Carolina to participate in the American Dance Festival on scholarship. She studied with Monique Hayley, Rodney Hill, Ramon Flowers, and many more. She hopes to bring all the knowledge she learned to her own practices as a teacher.. Most recently, she worked with Dana Wilson on the upcoming feature film, Holland, Michigan as a dancer. She feels incredibly thankful for this opportunity and looks forward to enriching her students this year!

Sandy Bennett was born in Oklahoma and  moved to Texas where she became a competitive gymnast. She loved competing and coaching youth gymnastics throughout high school. Her junior year of High School she started training in rhythmic gymnastics. When it became an Olympic sport, her senior year, she moved away from her family to Florida to train in Rhythmic gymnastics with Russian coach, Marina Davidovich. Sandy qualified and competed in the USA Nationals for 5 years. She was chosen twice to train at the Olympic training center. She received many awards during her competitive years and was able to travel nationally and internationally. 

Sandy also has a love for choreography.  She has choreographed several music videos, Worship Jamz TV commercials, a Dove awards show open along with countless other events. She has been very involved in Dance Ministry in churches where she has choreographed for many large church conferences and musicals. She also has choreographed many projects for Life Way including their VBS for the last 6 years. 

Sandy also travelled with singer Nicole C. Mullen, performing Rhythmic gymnastics at her concerts and Women of Faith conferences. 

Sandy was certified in Tae Bo® in 2008. She has been teaching with Shellie Blanks Cimarosti (Billy Blanks’ daughter)
for nearly a decade and has been a part of many fitness videos with Billy Blanks. She is also certified in others areas of fitness and teaches at several gyms. 

Sandy graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in Fashion Design and Art minor. Sandy continues to teach dance, choreograph, teach tumbling and enjoys spending time with her husband, Joel and three sons, Zach, and twins, Andy and Alex. 

I’m Steph Axtell and I can’t wait to meet you! I want you to know my passion is walking alongside women to help them gain strength, confidence, and embrace their unique bodies. My training style is creating progressive and scalable options for you in whatever season of life you’re in, and cultivating a life-long love of fitness and nutrition. My goal is to teach women not to fear lifting heavy weights, but be educated on the benefits of strength training in a safe environment. I have 10 years of experience in personal training, group training and nutrition coaching with a deep love of creating community through these avenues. Fitness is not a one size fits all approach and I look forward to helping you and our Grassland community become the best version of yourself for not only you, but your friends and family! Women are rockstars and our bodies and hormones change. My hope is for this to be a space to come as you are and leave feeling confident and grateful for the body you’re in!

A little background of what brings me to Grassland Dance Academy: First of all, I am a native of Brentwood, TN (where I frequented CY market after church on Sundays and Sonic after softball games). I moved right back after completing my undergraduate degree in Journalism at Samford University in Birmingham, AL and began my career working in the nonprofit sector for several years doing anywhere from volunteer management to donor relations to making popcorn for kids waiting for their first counseling appointment. I also volunteered for the ministry called Younglife in Birmingham and then at Centennial High School in Franklin, TN for 7 years where I mentored teen girls (this stage of life is near and dear to my heart as I know teen years are tough). I’ve always loved playing sports, trying different fitness classes, and pushing myself as I’m innately competitive with myself! I began taking classes at Title Boxing where they asked if I’d ever be interested in teaching a class. I responded, “What do I have to lose?” Through that yes, it turned into a complete career pivot. I got certified to be a personal trainer and nutrition coach,  began taking on individual clients and coached at various group fitness programs around town. I then took a full time position as a coach at Iron Tribe Fitness - Cool Springs in 2018 where I coached group fitness and semi-private training classes, and most recently managed the gym since July of 2023.

With that, I also have two little girls (age 3 and 1) and an amazing husband. I have craved more time with them and have prayed for an avenue to allow that. I am now pursuing a certification in two different specializations: menopause and pre + postnatal and cannot wait to bring my knowledge to the Grassland Fitness community! We will be offering group fitness classes (focusing on total body strength, core + pelvic floor health) personal and semi-private training and nutrition coaching and accountability. If this sounds like something you’ve been wanting please join us for a trial week of group fitness classes! I will be taking on a few personal training and nutrition clients to start growing this community and I’d love for you to join me! So bring a friend, neighbor, sister, mother and let’s do this together! Hope to meet you real soon.