DALLAS — A North Texas dance and theater teacher hopes to channel her own past trauma to better the mental health of young artists everywhere. 

Kellie Carroll of Flower Mound and her team at Rebel Theatrics just wrapped up a three-day convention in uptown Dallas where they converted a hotel ballroom into a full training theater for youths from around the area to hone their crafts in dancing, acting, singing and more. Carroll said it was one of the group’s first major events since deciding to go all in on the touring event.

“When we ask, ‘What that means to be a rebel?’ —  each of these kids has a different and personal answer,” said Carroll, a 15-year veteran of the stage herself.

Carroll said the name "Rebel" was originally just a place holder, but as she mulled over creating the touring event it just seemed to fit, especially as her thoughts were with a lost rebel in her own life.

“Unfortunately, I lost my brother to a mental health crisis just a few years ago,” said Carroll as she set up the ballroom in Dallas for the event.

Carroll said her brother Scott was a lifelong supporter of her work and was always the life of the room when he walked in. She showed pictures of Scott doing his best James Bond impression as the brother and sister posed at a charity event a few years back.

However, behind the smiles, Scott was going through something, and Carroll said their family got the news that he unexpectedly died to suicide.

“There, there wasn’t a lot of signs and there wasn’t a lot of implications,” she said. “He told me he was overwhelmed.”

The loss was difficult for Carroll, but it led the long-time performance coach and teacher to suddenly see her worlds colliding.

Carroll said she started to really notice the strain and difficulty faced by her colleagues in the performance industry, but maybe even moreso by all of the young artists out there trying to break out in the incredibly tough to crack field.

“The industry is super hard, and it's judgmental,” said Carroll, “and you’re constantly closing a show and trying to get another one, and that question of 'am I good enough?'”

So, with the pain of her own loss still fresh, Carroll decided to get her crew together and create their Rebel training conference to help those kids and teens hone their craft, but also to help them do so with a focus on their mental well-being.

All around the Dallas hotel that was hosting the event, Carroll put up posters addressing the mental strain of getting on stage, reminding students to breathe and reassuring them that it’s OK to be overwhelmed in their efforts to become artists. She said a big part of the three-day event would be conversations about mental health and techniques to get through those tough moments.

“What we’re doing is weaving in all these mental health aspects,” said Carroll. “It’s OK to pause and have a moment of uncertainty before you challenge yourself to be great.”

Leaders at Rebel said so far, the reception to the idea has been strong and they’ve gone out of their way to get every student in who signs up.

It comes at a time when some experts have said the United States is in a mental health crisis, especially following the pandemic during which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more kids and teens are reporting deteriorating mental health due to the unique circumstances.

Carroll hopes she can at least help a few of those kids breathe a little easier.

“Our goal is that a student can come out of Rebel feeling like whatever they’re feeling is OK and that they’re enough,” she said.