A somber tune fills the dimly lit theatre. The stage is bare with the exception of a table to the right. No curtains, no overhead lights and no people – except a young couple tangoing across the stage, locked in each other’s arms.
The woman wears grey sweatpants and a lilac T-shirt with a navy vest. Her shiny, black hair is pulled into a loose ponytail with a swoop of bangs over her right eye.
The couple takes care to avoid the oddly placed table in one of their turns. They do not miss a step. The music ends and the woman nods and says, “OK.” She seems at home.
A dance teacher, a choreographer for “Grease” and a new mother, Cara Harker has kept busy since arriving in East Tennessee in 2006.
Her first taste of ETSU theatre came in her performance in “Three the Hard Way” fall of 2006. Since then, she has become a staple to the theatre and dance program.
“She is talented and a great teacher and she enriches our program beyond my wildest dreams,” said Theatre Division Head Patrick Cronin.
More recently, Harker became a faculty member teaching multiple dance classes and dance steps to ETSU students. She says she is trying to develop the dance program, which joined the Division of Theatre curriculum last year.
“Not only does she jump-start our new dance minor but she brings to our theatre majors the one missing element from their education,” Cronin said. “Mainly, their ability to move with grace and style – essential for any theatre person in our competitive world.”
Joining ETSU’s staff allows her to stay on the stage that she has made her home her whole life – at least since age 3. “My mom took me to one of those little dance classes where you run around,” Harker said. “I fell in love.”
From there, Harker began a mix of training. She studied jazz, tap, ballet and gymnastics, and she never slowed down. “I was always dragging my mom to practice, not the other way around,” Harker said.
Searching for more opportunities to dance, Harker said she found the theatre. What emerged was a parallel road of theatre and dance that sometimes came together.
Raised in Northern Kentucky, Harker earned her bachelor’s in theatre performance and English from Thomas More College, located at the Ohio border.
She then interned at a professional company called the Ensemble Theatre in Cincinnati. “I did everything,” Harker said. “I even wrote and produced a play while I was there.”
Her love of performance continued into the next chapter of her life, graduate school at Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt College. “It was intense,” said Harker, whose emphasis there was in theatre performance. “We would go from 8 a.m. to midnight acting and performing.”
During her stay in Chicago, Harker also found the man who would become her husband. From a chance meeting and a coffee shop, a four-year friendship evolved into marriage.
A job opportunity at ETSU brought the couple to Johnson City – her husband in philosophy and Harker in dance.
Equally exciting to her is the new addition to her life, her son, Harrison.
While pregnancy slows down some women, it had little influence on Harker and her dedication for teaching. “I was teaching classes until my due date,” said Harker with a laugh. “It was so funny. There I was dancing with the huge belly, and the students didn’t say a word. They were really polite. “
Her dedication for teaching, Harker says, comes from being a dance model for her classes. “The teacher would use me to demonstrate a move.” Harker said. “I have loved teaching ever since.”
Students enjoy her classes and teaching method. “She stays on your level,” said Maury Reed, a theatre major with an interest in dance. “She explains the emotion in every step. I love it.”
Reed performed in and choreographed for the dance program’s recent spring concert and is also choreographing the theatre Division’s spring musical Grease.
A teacher during the day, a choreographer in the evenings and a wife and mother full time, Harker seems to always be busy.
While some people would tire of dancing and performing, Harker realizes the special place dance holds in her life. “It makes me feel good,” she said. “If I am stressed, I can always dance and I can feel the tension go out of my body. I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love.

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