KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For one Knoxville dance teacher, the pandemic forced a change in perspective. When COVID shut down studios, she picked up her camera.
Some people dance with their feet. Michelle Carr dances with her heart.
"For me, it is kind of that string that reminds me who I am," Carr said.
She's no stranger to the studio. She was a professional ballerina for a "long time" as she says, and has been teaching dance for 35 years. On top of that, she's a mother and occupational therapist.
That's why, when the pandemic made its way center stage, she found a way to change her perspective.
"The studio shut down, and art shut down, and so I decided that wasn't going to happen for me," Carr said. "We threw on their pointe shoes and we tried to create some art."
The camera became her catharsis. She snapped pictures of ballerinas from different studios all over Knoxville. The landscape became everything from streets, to old cars and even wooded areas.
"It was just my way of breathing life back into myself, and also hope for it for them as well," Carr said. "I don't think we realize the incredible talent that we have just right here in our city."
Now, she's reflecting on the pain of the pandemic, as her work hangs in the Robin Easter Design Studio in the Old City on Jackson Avenue.
"The name of the exhibit is, 'What's the Pointe?' Of course, it's spelled like a pointe shoe," Carr said. "We still created even when COVID was happening, even though everything was shut down. Creativity never ever stops unless you allow it to."
Her photos are fusing her passions in a time when it would be easy to stop dreaming.
"It's about presenting who you are because you have a stage to do that on," Carr said.
In the meantime, she'll keep dancing with her feet, camera, and heart.
The exhibit will be open on Jackson Avenue in the Old City until Friday, February 18. It is open by appointment only throughout the week and will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the 18th.
After that, the pictures will be on display at Phoenix Pharmacy on Gay Street starting April 1.