An instructor at Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance in Roswell is making a name for herself in the high-powered world of show business.

Her given name is Likesa Harris, but don’t look for that moniker when the credits roll. To everyone she knows, it’s Pumkin.

“I’ve had Pumkin since birth and no one ever calls me Likesa, not even teachers throughout my school years,” Harris said.

Her most recent role is a gospel choir member in “Joyful Noise,” a new movie starring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah, who play church choir directors with differing styles and opinions.

The movie, which is playing in theaters now, was shot in and around Atlanta last winter, Harris said. Her segment was filmed in one day, 12 hours straight, after a week of rehearsals.

In that segment, Harris is highly visible in the front of the choir. “I’m the one with the short blonde hair cut with red in the bangs,” she said.

Her performance is exuberant, which mirrors her personality, said Nancy Tolbert Yilmaz, owner of the dance studio where Harris teaches jazz and hip hop a few days each week.

“She’s a very positive person, very enthusiastic and upbeat. This role was made for her, because she is a ‘joyful noise,’” Tolbert Yilmaz said.

Harris teaches kids from ages 6 to 18 at the studio, and she is extremely popular. “There is a waiting list to get into her classes,” Tolbert Yilmaz said.

“I love teaching,” Harris said. “I think it’s one of the things that’s in my blood. Even when I am audi-tioning, I’ll be teaching. I can pick up a routine quickly and I enjoy helping others at the audition to learn it.”

An Atlanta native, Harris is the head of the dance ministry at her church, Atlanta Metropolitan Ca-thedral. Her string of professional credits includes dancing in the HBO movie “Miss Evers’ Boys” and a Tyler Perry movie, “I Can do Bad All by Myself.”

According to her resume, Harris’ talents have taken her around the world, from Alabama to South Africa and Japan. She has toured with many recording artists — including Ciara, Mary J. Blige, Kandi and Keith Sweat — as a choreographer and backup dancer,

But dancing is only part of her repertoire.

Harris has been in the recording studio working on an album with her female alternative rap group The Gang of Roses.

Information: www.tysod.com.