Jessica Stillman (aka “Jess”) has been with ROOTS since 2014. Growing up in the Franklin/Brentwood area, Jessica studied dance at various studios in the area including Dance With Tracy, DC Dance Factory, and Music City All Stars (now known as DanceMania and Apex). Her passion for dance began at an early age, but truly blossomed in high school when she competed for Ravenwood High School’s Dance Team. During her years on the team, she won three TSSAA State Championship titles and placed 2nd at UDA Nationals in Orlando. In 2010, she became a member of the first Music City All Stars Senior team, winning their first UDA National Championship in 2011 and attending the USASF World Championship that same year. 

After graduating, Jessica spent a year in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee, where she was a member of the nationally ranked University of Tennessee Dance Team. After her freshman year, Jessica transferred back home to Nashville to kickstart her teaching and choreography career. While a full-time student, she coached for the Music City All Stars and captained the Middle Tennessee State University Dance Team. During that time, she choreographed for several middle and high school dance teams across both Williamson and Rutherford Counties and modeled for Varsity Spirit Fashions.

Jessica graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Organizational Communication. Since then, she has worked with dance programs at schools such as Ensworth High School, Brentwood Academy, Ravenwood High School, Independence High School, Spain Park High School and more. Her passion for mentoring dancers goes beyond technical excellence; her goal is to encourage confidence and self-worth in any dancer she has the opportunity to work with.

Over the last decade, Jessica has seen the dance program at ROOTS grow from 1 small building with 15 dancers in 2012 to a campus with currently more than 700 dancers. In just the last 5 years, she’s accelerated the Company teams from just 15 performance dancers and 14 competitive dancers to now over 140 competitive dancers with award-winning routines and choreography. The future is bright and Jessica is excited to see what’s in store for the next decade at ROOTS Dance Academy.