About
UPside Dance Company offers contemporary dance classes, including Int/Advanced level technique and company class, adult classes, and auditions. The program teaches contemporary dance with a focus on Int/Advanced level technique and company class to the public.
UPside Dance Company is a contemporary dance company directed by Tanya Knippelmeir, with Kate and Tanya serving as co-directors. The co-directors have danced internationally in professional performance groups throughout California, Colorado, New York City, London, and St. Petersburg, Russia. UPside Dance is known for presenting innovative choreography in unconventional spaces since 2012 and for always including an aspect of interactive choreography in their work since 2012. The company is composed of professional dancers living in Sonoma County who bring worldwide dance experience and a variety of talents to stages, streets, and hillsides of Northern California. As dancers, the program’s classes introduce dance to those who are curious in a supportive and adventurous environment, create more performance opportunities for the developing dancer, and foster collaborations with local designers, artists, and musicians of Northern California and the Bay Area. Reasons given for the name UPside Dance include the UpSide of Life, looking at things upside down, embracing a new and fresh perspective, Sonoma County being up and to the side of California, and Kate and Tanya reuniting in a yoga class while literally “upside down” when they recognized each other. The co-directors state that these non-traditional performances bring dance to unpredictable and tangible ways of communicating to new audiences, and they wish to collaborate and communicate between local dance hubs to support the dance community, enhance artistic talent in local theaters, and share new ideas, connections, and masterclass opportunities.
Testimonials about UPside Dance Company include a message from Dana Kutches offering sound or lighting help after seeing an article about the company. Another testimonial from Ronald Woodman (DJ Loisaida) thanks the company for participating in an event at the Arlene Francis Center for the Arts and invites them to stay for a Carnival Dance and interactive closing segment involving whistles, drums, flutes, and dancing. A message from Teri Manning at Chateau Diana Winery invites the company to provide “Zombies” to dance to “Thriller” at a Zombie event, describing it as guaranteed fun. A testimonial from Paal (pam) Wunderlich praises a performance called “chrysalis” as creative, inspired, well-crafted, fresh, meaningful, and professionally performed modern dance, and comments on the use of an upstairs space, costumes, and the overall experience of the performance.
Last updated March 28, 2026.
UPside Dance Company is a contemporary dance company directed by Tanya Knippelmeir, with Kate and Tanya serving as co-directors. The co-directors have danced internationally in professional performance groups throughout California, Colorado, New York City, London, and St. Petersburg, Russia. UPside Dance is known for presenting innovative choreography in unconventional spaces since 2012 and for always including an aspect of interactive choreography in their work since 2012. The company is composed of professional dancers living in Sonoma County who bring worldwide dance experience and a variety of talents to stages, streets, and hillsides of Northern California. As dancers, the program’s classes introduce dance to those who are curious in a supportive and adventurous environment, create more performance opportunities for the developing dancer, and foster collaborations with local designers, artists, and musicians of Northern California and the Bay Area. Reasons given for the name UPside Dance include the UpSide of Life, looking at things upside down, embracing a new and fresh perspective, Sonoma County being up and to the side of California, and Kate and Tanya reuniting in a yoga class while literally “upside down” when they recognized each other. The co-directors state that these non-traditional performances bring dance to unpredictable and tangible ways of communicating to new audiences, and they wish to collaborate and communicate between local dance hubs to support the dance community, enhance artistic talent in local theaters, and share new ideas, connections, and masterclass opportunities.
Testimonials about UPside Dance Company include a message from Dana Kutches offering sound or lighting help after seeing an article about the company. Another testimonial from Ronald Woodman (DJ Loisaida) thanks the company for participating in an event at the Arlene Francis Center for the Arts and invites them to stay for a Carnival Dance and interactive closing segment involving whistles, drums, flutes, and dancing. A message from Teri Manning at Chateau Diana Winery invites the company to provide “Zombies” to dance to “Thriller” at a Zombie event, describing it as guaranteed fun. A testimonial from Paal (pam) Wunderlich praises a performance called “chrysalis” as creative, inspired, well-crafted, fresh, meaningful, and professionally performed modern dance, and comments on the use of an upstairs space, costumes, and the overall experience of the performance.
Last updated March 28, 2026.
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