We are pleased to share Melissa Turnage’s reflections on The Dance Foundation’s past, present, and future. Melissa is a supporter, a teacher at The Dance Foundation, and the daughter of our founder, Jennie Robertson.
My mother, Jennie Robertson, was my mentor growing up, and The Dance Foundation was her dream. She loved children and loved being around them. She found them exciting and loved being part of their exploration of the world and introducing them to the art of dance. She started off teaching little ones, and things started to grow when everybody realized how talented she was.
My mother never really imagined that The Dance Foundation could become all that it is now. But dancers didn’t want to leave as they got older, and that helped us grow into what it is today, with former students bringing their kids and people of all ages participating in adult classes. She was just amazed at what The Dance Foundation turned into during her lifetime as we brought in more people, more diverse dance teachers, and different styles of dance. She was just absolutely in heaven about the whole thing.
One of the things I love about this building is the dividers between the studio and the hall where the parents can observe class. Parents keep an eye on what’s happening and experience the magic, but the kids can’t see the parents, which gives them the freedom to express themselves without feeling they are being watched. In some ways, my mother was teaching the parents as well.
When I moved back to Birmingham about 17 years ago, my mother asked me if I wanted to teach a class at the Dance Foundation. I said, “I’m taking a break from teaching.” And she said, “Just one class. That’s it. Okay?” I agreed because it was a lot easier to say yes and avoid her spiel about why it was important for me to do this thing. She was in a senior living situation when I started teaching the class, but she would get a ride to the studio, sit on the bench, and watch me with the other parents. They didn’t know who she was. She would just watch me teach, and we both really loved that.
My mother continued teaching into her 80s. She would reserve the little rec center at her senior community and invite “the old people” to dance class, many of whom were younger than she was. She would show up with her little props and tape recorder and teach dance to the old people. Teaching was just something that was part of her.
The Dance Foundation became an extension of her mission. The work the foundation has done over the last 5 decades teaching dance to students regardless of their abilities or means, using dance to help students prepare to learn in school classrooms, and providing space for artists to start their own studios is a natural result of my mother’s view that every body is a dancer and everybody can dance.
A Foundation for the Future
The atmosphere at The Dance Foundation today is exactly what my mother would have wanted to create. It’s absolutely inclusive. Dancers understand that they are wanted here. We want to dance with you, and we want to be with you and explore this magic together.
The impact is so much more than just movement and dance. When you come in that door, the rest of the world stays out. One of my adult participants says, “This is an hour I’m doing for me. This is my therapy.”
I think that more populations can be reached, but The Dance Foundation is busting at the seams. We don’t know what will happen, but whatever it is will happen organically like it has from the beginning. We just have to invest in creating the space for the magic to take place.
#DanceFoundation50
2025 marks The Dance Foundation’s 50th anniversary . Throughout this year, we are celebrating our legacy and developing strategies to grow our future impact.
Photograph of Jennie (bottom row, center) and her family, including Melissa Turnage (bottom row, left).
