MEET THE INSTRUCTORS.
MEET ELISE SIGMON
Clogging, Hip Hop, Preschool
Elise is the owner of Sole Impact Studios and co-owner (with her husband, Kyle) of The Big Blue Center for Expressive Arts! She grew up learning to clog and beginning her teaching career with the High Country Cloggers where she had the opportunity to perform in the 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl Halftime Show with Charlie Daniels!
After graduating from ASU in 2006 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (concentrations in business and dance), she co-founded Appalachian Rhythm Clogging & Dance which allowed her the chance to clog in Hawaii (2007) and Disney World (2017)!
In the summer of 2018, Elise opened Sole Impact Studios which has won Best of the Best dance studio in Boone for the past 2 years! She took a group of dancers back to Disney World in 2023 (and looks forward to going again in the future)! Elise loves dancing and teaching dance to all ages.
In April 2021, Elise was named a finalist in the Business Owner category for the Boone Chamber 4 Under 40 Award!
Outside the studio, Elise enjoys being outside and tubing down the New River with her family! She and Kyle have four biological kids and adopted another in 2021!
MEET CARRIE STONE
Ballet, Jazz, Musical Theater, Acro, Conditioning
Carrie is an accomplished dance professional with a passion for teaching and performing! She has over 20 years of teaching experience and is trained in many dance forms including ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, acro, and contemporary. She loves to inspire dancers of all ages and skill levels to achieve their fullest potential by creating and delivering high-energy and professional quality dance classes. She is the former owner of Pleasure Island Dance Company, has directed numerous successful competitive dance teams and recreational dance programs, and been a dance adjudicator with Star Power National Talent Competition. She graduated from The Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts in 1994, where she studied Dance and Music Theater. She moved to Boone with her two children in 2005. After living in the Wilmington area since 2008, we are so fortunate that she is back in the High Country, serving our community through dance at Sole Impact!
MEET ADDISON BIRKMIRE
Clogging
Addison has been clogging for almost his whole life and has been with Sole Impact from the beginning! He has taught at Smoky Mountain Encore and the National Clogging Convention.
He has won many solo titles in both contemporary and traditional clogging. He and his sister, Chynna, have also won numerous duet titles.
Outside of clogging, Addison is quite the performer! He has been a cowboy, clogger, and magician at Tweetsie Railroad and he has also been cast in several shows at Dollywood including It's a Wonderful Life and Dolly's Little Engine Playhouse Theater. This summer he will be at Dollywood again performing as a dancer in the HydroJive Junction show!
We are super excited to have him teaching with us this year!! He brings such positive energy and enthusiasm to Sole Impact!
MEET SHEA SNYDER
Clogging
Shea is a local of the High Country and fell in love with clogging when she began at 5 years old. She has performed and competed on dozens of stages winning numerous first place team and duet titles. This is her third year teaching at Sole Impact and we are lucky to have her again teaching beginning clogging for tweens and teens.
She and her husband, Dawson, live in Mountain City, TN. She's a 2021 graduate of Northeast State Community College with an associate degree in nursing. She is now a Registered Nurse at Mountain City Medical Center in the operating room!
Shea's friendly smile and warm personality will make you feel right at home!
MEET FAITH HICKS
Clogging
Faith is a native of the High Country and has been clogging for 13 years! She has now found a passion for teaching as well. She and her husband, Thomas, have a adorable 2 year old daughter named Jesslynn.
Faith earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Appalachian State University in 2022 and she is currently working on getting her CPA license. She is a wonderful role model to young, impressionable students and a hard-working, friendly teammate. We are lucky to have her teaching clogging technique to our intermediate level competition cloggers!
MEET CHYNNA BIRKMIRE
Competition Clogging
Chynna began clogging and dancing at the age of 3 when her family moved to North Carolina. In dance, she has found her life long passion! She has been teaching clogging since 2013 and became a Certified Clogging Instructor (CCI) in 2016 at the National Clogging Convention in Nashville, TN. She has taught at numerous clogging workshops including Mason-Dixon Spring Stomp, Smoky Mountain Encore, Mountain Madness, and the National Clogging Convention in Atlanta, GA!
She has won numerous awards for clogging both as a soloist, team member, and duet partner (with her brother Addison), including 2 Grand Champion National Titles at the Cadence Clogging Nationals in 2014 and again at the USA National Championship in 2021 for her choreographed solo. She was crowned the 2017 Miss Young Adult Southeastern Clogger and the 2018 Overall Miss ACHF Traditional Ambassador. Chynna has danced with the Bailey Mountain Cloggers, All That!, American Racket, TNC Elite, and is a member of the NCHC All-Star Team.
Chynna loves music and theatre and performed at Tweetsie Railroad as a clogger and Can-Can dancer for many years. She is also a performer at Dollywood during the summer! We are grateful and happy to have Chynna on our team and part of our stellar teaching staff!
MEET RACHEL GAILLARD
Creative Movement, Hip Hop
Rachel is from Winston-Salem, NC and is a Junior at Appalachian State University majoring in Public Health and minoring in Social Work. She has been dancing for 13 years and is a 3rd year member of the ASU Dance Team. She danced competitively at Triple Threat Dance Center and was a member of her high school dance team where she became a UDA All-American dancer! She has over seven years of experience teaching and assisting various dance classes for kids of all ages. This is her second year teaching at Sole Impact and she is a great addition to our teaching staff! She is friendly and professional and we are lucky to have her as a lead hip hop teacher this season! She is amazing with kids of all ages, welcoming each dancer by name as they arrive for class. Rachel plans to pursue a Masters in both Public Health and Social Work in hopes of becoming a hospital social worker. Besides seeing her at ASU football and basketball games, you might see her if you enjoying cycling at Revolution Boone where she works part time. Our dancers adore Ms. Rachel and the energy she brings to Sole Impact!
MEET BECKY MORETZ
Adult Clogging, QuickFit
Becky started taking ballet at the age of 5. She added tap and jazz at age 10 and competed with her dance group at local and national competitions. She danced on the dance team at Watauga High School ("Pacers", 1994-1997) and was captain her senior year of high school. Becky began clogging for fun in 2013 and quickly excelled to an advanced level. She is very dedicated and highly committed to practicing and is excited for another great year teaching clogging and QuickFit at Sole Impact!
Becky completed her undergraduate degree (2001), medical school (2005), and psychiatry residency (2010) at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is married and has 2 teen girls, Sydney and Savannah, who also clog and dance. At her primary job she is the psychiatrist at ASU Student Health.
Besides loving to clog, Becky also enjoys running and has run a marathon and many half marathons! Her friendly nature and warm smile will guarantee you feel welcome in her class.
MEET TERRI MILLER
Adult Clogging
Terri is Elise's multi-talented mom! She has been clogging for 13 years now and enjoys it for the exercise, the friendships and the mental challenge it provides! This year, she and three other talented ladies won gold medals with their clogging routine at the High Country Senior Games (continuing their streak from 2017 and 2018) and are going on to compete in the State Games in Raleigh, NC.
Terri is not new to performing arts! She has a degree in Music Therapy from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M), is a professional pianist and teaches piano lessons, taught middle school band and orchestra at Green Valley Elementary School, and now owns Kudzu Music with her husband (Elise's dad), Richard Miller. Terri enjoys making music, spending time with her 7 grandchildren, and of course, clogging! Terri is pictured above with two of her dancing grandkids.
MEET MARY STERETT
Hip Hop
Mary a sophomore at Appalachian State University majoring in Communication Sciences & Disorders with a double minor in dance and American Sign Language. She has danced for over 14 years and is a member of the university’s hip hop crew, Entropy Dance Crew, where she currently serves as the Service Chair organizing all of the volunteering and community outreach the crew does. She is originally from Swansboro, NC where she danced competitively at Jessica’s Dance Academy and is currently a choreographer for their competitive dance program. She has over 7 years of dance teaching and assisting experience for a variety of genres and ages. After getting her undergrad, she plans to get her masters degree in speech-language pathology to become a pediatric speech-language pathologist! She is so beyond thrilled to join Sole Impact this year and we are lucky to have her!