Meet the heart of Sanctuary

Mrs. Sarah Borum is a Roane County native who began her ballet training at an early age under the instruction of the late Lila Valieva at the Arts in Motion studio in Kingston, Tennessee. She is now a Radford University graduate who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance with a concentration in Classical Ballet/Performance. While there, her ballet training came from Inessa Plekhanova. Throughout college, Sarah also studied modern, jazz, tap, musical theatre, choreography, and methods of teaching. She has had the opportunity to perform in New York City for the Choreographer's Canvas, as well as the New York Jazz Choreography Project.

While living in Memphis, TN, she performed with Project: Motion Modern Dance Collective, and then became a company member of Tennessee Ballet Theatre. Here she continued her extensive Vaganova [Russian ballet style] ballet training and was a featured soloist in the ballet “Les Sylphides,” and also was a soloist as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and the Harlequin Doll in the ballet “The Nutcracker.” While with this company, she also had exciting opportunities to perform at several different historical landmarks across the city, bringing the stories of these buildings to life through various styles of dance.

After moving back to East Tennessee, Sarah taught ballet, pointe, and tap for a year at Studio Arts for Dancers in Knoxville. While with this studio, she also performed with their company, “Go! Contemporary Dance Works.” After this, she stepped into her favorite role yet—motherhood! After a few years off the dance floor, Sarah is thrilled to step back into teaching with Sanctuary Dance Academy. She has always felt a calling to combine her love for the Lord with her love for dance. Sanctuary provides the perfect environment to follow God's leading to fulfill this dream.

Katherine Dockery grew up in Maryland as the youngest child in a military family. She has been dancing for 18 years and has never once gotten tired of it. She started as a far too energetic four-year-old at Sharon's Studio of Dance in Maryland, continuing in tap and ballet until she moved to Tennessee in 2013 and picked up once again at Bezalel School. There she took several years of Worship and International dance under Christen McCuiston, and that is where she first fell in love with it! Chronic health concerns drew Katherine to Israeli folk dance especially, and she truly believes in its ability to be adapted for all ages, every skill level, and each body's ability.

Katherine is trained in ballet, pointe, worship and international, tap, and musical theater. She has danced and acted in countless shows across the US and abroad, including with the For Zion's Sake dance team and in productions such as Newsies and White Christmas.

Since 2022, Katherine has served as Artistic Director and dance and drama teacher at Bezalel School, where she teaches all ages and writes biblically founded scripts for her students to perform. She believes that dancing is one of the best ways to worship and praise the Lord (Psalm 149:3 and 2 Samuel 6:14).

When she is not teaching, Katherine is studying at Maryville College, pursuing her ASL-English Interpreting degree in hopes of serving the Deaf community. She can often be found on stage or backstage with local theater companies such as the Wordplayers and The Palace Players, and she has no plans of giving up dance or theater any time soon!

Sensei Michael A. Farren began his training in martial arts as a young man in his early teenage years. He and his brother John studied the art of Taekwondo. As life went on, Sensei Mike found that on-and-off training was not benefiting his active lifestyle. Sensei Mike would find himself in Colorado as a head chef for a large campus and campground. It was here that he would find both the end to one career and a start for two. For several years Sensei Mike and his children would study at Cedaredge Seidokan Karate under the instruction of Sensei Rodney Grantham. Sensei Mike had found his perfect fit in the Seidokan style.

During his time learning with Sensei Grantham he participated in numerous tournaments, either as a contestant or a judge, which he continues to this day. While no longer the case, Sensei Mike was Director of the Western Colorado Karate League (WCKL) for several years. He completed multiple Masters and Doctorates after having heard his call to serve the Lord. He was called to move away to a town in Southwest Colorado, where he would preach the word of God at a large Baptist Church for nearly ten years. He would utilize his skills in both fields, Karate and Evangelism, to open his first dojo in 2004.

During his time as an instructor Sensei Mike would teach anywhere from ages 6 to 60+ years old. He enjoyed teaching the younger crowds and children, as they had high spirits; however, he also anticipated teaching and practicing with the older and more knowledgeable students so he too could refine his skills. He would utilize programs like Little Dragons to promote learning for younger students. He put together fundraisers and created a team of people that would travel from the local community across the states to demonstrate the style for different causes: cancer patients, boys and girls clubs, 4H programs, and women's self-defense classes. With the widespread reach of Sensei Mike's Dove Creek Karate Dojo, he was able to host and sponsor multiple club attendees' tournaments and seminars.

Sensei Mike taught as a guest in other dojos across the United States and was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2008. Late in 2010, with his mission for the Lord and his country still unfinished, Sensei Mike joined the military as an officer Chaplain. He is still serving in this capacity and would often teach both the gospel and karate while on deployments to the Middle East. After all of his accolades and achievements, Sensei Mike obtained his fifth-degree Black Belt, “Godan,” and is well on his way to testing for his sixth degree. To this day several of Sensei Mike's students are national champions and world invitees. However, he will only tell you that it was their hard work, dedication, and the secret to everything in life: practice.

Meet Carla! If you stop by on a Monday, you'll likely be greeted by her smiling face at our front desk. While she serves as our wonderful receptionist, Carla's connection to dance goes back decades—as both a dedicated dance mom and the proud mom of our owner and director! She has spent years cheering on dancers, supporting dance teachers, and helping behind the scenes, making her an invaluable part of our studio family. As a homeschool mom for more than 20 years, Carla has a special gift for encouraging and connecting with children and their parents. Her kind heart, welcoming spirit, and wealth of life experience help make Sanctuary Dance Academy feel like home. We're so thankful to have her as one of the first friendly faces our families see each week!