Faculty

Adjunct Faculty

Staff


Staff & Faculty Bios


Holly Abney - Staff / Evening Receptionist   

(312) 369-8300


Julia Rae Antonick - Adjunct Faculty  

Julia Rae Antonick is an independent dancer, choreographer, videographer and teacher. Her dancing and choreography reflect a digestion of modern/contemporary dance, contact improvisation, ballet, yoga, Klein/Mahler technique and Indonesian dance with an emphasis on kinetics and fillagree. Julia graduated from the Chicago Academy for the Arts with the Dance Department's Award of Excellence and received her BFA in dance from CalArts. She has studied at Jacobs Pillow, Bates Dance Festival, The Joffrey Ballet, DNA (Dance Space), The Kitchen, Earthdance (with Nancy Stark-Smith) and other nooks and crannies.  She is currently teaching yoga at Yoga Now and Contact Improvisation at Columbia College.  Julia has received choreographic residencies at Links Hall (LinkUp), the Chicago Cultural Center (DanceBridge) and the Ragdale Foundation, and was chosen for Shirley Mordine's Emerging Artist Mentoring Program. She has received grants from CSDP, CAAP and was recently awarded the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Grant for 2009/2010.  Julia is currently engaged in a long-term collaboration with Jonathan Meyer and is plugging away at her CDF research exploring duality in movement forms from dressage to Balboa.



Julie Ballard - Adjunct Faculty / Staff / Lighting Director   

jballard@colum.edu     (312) 369-8348

Julie E. Ballard's lighting design credits include Cabaret, Landslide, Medea and a growing repertoire of dance choreography including international guest artist's hosted by The Center for World Arts at the University of Florida, a national premiere from Morrison Dance and Dance with Two Army Blankets (Shapiro & Smith Dance) in the National American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center. She is currently the lighting supervisor for David Dorfman Dance. Ms. Ballard has received her M.F.A at the University of Florida. She thanks her mother for all of her support. www.overlaplighting.com


Keesha Beckford - Adjunct Faculty   

Keesha Beckford began her dance studies in Queens, New York. She then went on to graduate cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in American history and a certificate in dance. Her senior project in dance was awarded the Louis Sudler prize for the Arts. While a member of the Princeton dance program she studied modern dance technique and composition with Ze'eva Cohen, Elizabeth Keen and Sally Hess. She has performed with the New York based companies Steeledance and Amy Marshall Dance Company. In New York she also performed works by distinguished choreographers such as Milton Myers and Lorn Macdougal. Ms. Beckford's performances have been seen in Europe with the German tour of the rock musical Tabaluga and Lilli. In Dublin, Ireland she performed the choreography of Michael Foley and Cathy O'Kennedy in the production of Giselle: The Presence of the Past. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2002, Ms. Beckford performed with Martha Connerton's Kinetic Works and Sabrina Berry's American Dance Art. Her choreography was also featured in the repertory of both companies. While in New York City, Ms. Beckford taught jazz and modern dance at Steps on Broadway, The Spence School, Trinity School and was a guest teacher at Yale University and Ballet Academy East. In Charlotte, Ms. Beckford joined the faculty of North Carolina Dance Theater, teaching jazz, modern and ballet, and she served as a guest choreographer for the University of North Carolina, Charlotte's dance department. She began teaching Pilates matwork at Charlotte's Alternative Fitness Pilates Studio in 2003, and received her Alternative Fitness reformer certification in 2004. Here in the Chicago area, she teaches ballet and modern at Dance Center Evanston, and Pilates at From the Center in Lakeview.


Bonnie Brooks - Faculty / Department Chair   

bbrooks@colum.edu     (312) 369-8350

Bonnie Brooks is a dance writer, dance educator, and arts advocate with an extensive background in dance administration and production. She studied English in her undergraduate work at Wheaton College (IL) and at George Mason University, where she received a Master of Arts degree and served as a research fellow at the Research Center for the Federal Theater Project. Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia, she was a visiting assistant professor in the graduate program of the World Arts & Cultures Department at UCLA, where she taught contemporary dance issues and practice. From 1990-1998, she was President and Executive Director of Dance/USA, the country's principal service organization for dance. While at Dance/USA, she oversaw numerous initiatives including the National Task Force on Dance Education and the development of numerous regranting programs including the American Dance Touring Initiative and the California-based Irvine Fellowships in Dance. During the 1980's, she was executive director at the Minnesota Dance Alliance (1985-88), managing director of NY-based David Gordon/Pick Up Co.(1982-85), and worked as a program specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts (1979-82). In addition to chairing the Dance Center, Bonnie teaches Introduction to Dance Studies, Contemporary Trends in Dance, Cross Cultural Perspectives in Dance, Western Dance History, and Artists and Audiences. She co-curates the Dance Center's presenting season with executive director Phil Reynolds, and serves as the Dance Center's primary audience dramaturg by presenting audience lectures, writing program notes, and moderating public talks with visiting artists. She sustains an active role in the regional and national dance community, and was a board member of the Music and Dance Theater of Chicago from 2000-2005. With colleagues from Links Hall and Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, she was a co-founder of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum. She has published articles and commentary in Dance Magazine (New York) and Dance Now (London), and is currently working on a history of the “arts wars” of the 1990s.


Liz Burritt - Adjunct Faculty   

lburritt@colum.edu

Malik R. Camara - Adjunct Faculty   

Malik R. Camara, a native of St. Louis, Malik R. Camara is a premier dancer for Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago and Assistant Artistic Director for Alyo Children's Dance Theatre. For the past several years he has worked as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and program coordinator in the Chicago area. Malik's early training in dance began with the Dunham Technique in East St. Louis, Illinois with Arthur Savage, Vivian Watt, and Theodore Jamison. Malik performed in the African Dance Ensemble under the direction of Sunshine and Terry Brown and Chamahaw, then Abdoulaye Camara, Deborah Ahmed and The St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre. After arriving in Chicago in the late 80s, Malik studied with Muntu, Imani Foster, Nahgeree Sutton, Denise Williams, S'hore Nuff Dance Studio, Woto Seta, Papa Camara Men of Muntu, Silembo Ballet, Vaune Blalock and Amaniyea Payne. Malik gives thanks and praise to the Creative Forces of the Ancestors and his teachers. Currently, Malik is teaching for Columbia College, Proviso East High School, Alyo Children's Dance Theatre and DCFS. He is also a member of the Dance Ministry at Trinity United Church of Christ. 


Peter Carpenter - Faculty   

pcarpenter@colum.edu     (312) 369-8316

Peter Carpenter is an independent choreographer whose physical theater performances have often intersected with political activism and critical theory. Often acclaimed for his choreographic staging of queer theatricality, Carpenter has dedicated the majority of his career to tracking the complex ways in which identity has been shaped in subaltern communities by HIV/AIDS. His independent work has resulted in numerous repertory pieces and four evening-length works including Bareback Into the Sunset (2003), which, since its premiere at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, Calif., has been seen in excerpted versions at numerous conferences and performance events commemorating World AIDS Day. The full-version of Bareback Into the Sunset was recently presented by the Dance Center of Columbia College. Carpenter's work as an independent artist has been presented by numerous galleries, museums and theaters including the 29th Street Repertory Theater in New York, the Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago's Links Hall, and the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, N.C. Carpenter has also received funding to create new work from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council and has received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Outstanding Theater Choreography. Carpenter's independent work has been supplemented by affiliations with Chicago's XSIGHT! Performance Group where he served as an artistic associate (1993-2001) and the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance in Chicago and Chapel Hill, N.C. where he served as the resident choreographer (1992-2001). As a member of XSIGHT! Carpenter presented worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, Wesleyan College, University of Alaska in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Dance Works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the MEX experimental theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. Carpenter received his M.F.A. in Dance from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures in 2003 and is currently writing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in Culture and Performance Studies (also from UCLA). He received his B.S. from Northwestern University's Theater Department in 1992. Carpenter is currently a full-time faculty member at the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago.


Michael Caskey - Adjunct Faculty   

Michael Caskey hails from rural Southwestern Michigan. Graduating Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University's school of music in 1999, Michael has performed with artists as diverse as Chuck Mangione, Toni Tenille, Danilo Perez, Marvin Hamlisch, and John Sinclair. Currently, Michael is a part of Eastern Blok, a pan-cultural ensemble that performs and presents masterclasses throughout the United States. A DownBeat jazz magazine award winner and five-time Detroit Music Award recipient, Michael has performed for audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Poland, France, Germany, Denmark, and Belgium. At Columbia, Michael coordinates the department's accompanist program and teaches Rhythmic Analysis.


Zineb Chraibi - Adjunct Faculty   

Zineb Chraibi, a former dancer with the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, grew up in Casablanca, Morocco where she first started her training.   She later returned to her native city of Paris to study Ballet, Modern, and Jazz and furthered her training at Les Ballets Jazz De Montreal. In 1991, she completed her BA in Dance Magna Cum Laude at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pa while performing with the Playhouse Dance Theatre.  Since moving to Chicago, Miss Chraibi has performed with Winifred Haun and Dancers, as well as various independent choreographers.  She served on the faculty of the conservatory of dance at Barat College, the Joel Hall Dance Center, the Lou Conte Dance Studio, as well as The Chicago Academy for The Arts .  She is currently on the faculty at Columbia College, serves as an Artist-in- residence in various schools in the Chicago land area and guest teaches in the US and abroad. 


Ariel Cisneros - Adjunct Faculty   

 

Shaker Cohlmia - Adjunct Faculty   


Margi Cole - Faculty / Associate Chair    

macole@colum.edu     (312) 369-8333

Currently a Lecturer and Associate Chair at the Dance Center of Columbia College as well as Artistic Director of her own company, The Dance COLEctive. Margi graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, received a BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She has taught for organizations including the Alabama Ballet, the American College Dance Festival, Ballet Tennessee, and many schools, colleges and universities throughout Illinois, the Midwest, and the Southeast. The Alabama Ballet, Springfield Ballet Company, the Birmingham Museum of Art, Girl’s Preparatory School of Tennessee, Beloit College and Columbia College Chicago have commissioned Margi’s works.
 
Margi has danced with numerous well-known choreographers and companies, including Ralph Lemon, Joe Goode Performance Group, Stephen Koplowitz, Ann Boyd, David Rousseve, Bill Young, Douglas Nielsen, Timothy O’Slynne, Paula Frasz, Colleen Halloran, Mad Shak Dance Company, Mordine & Company Dance Theatre, Renee Wadleigh and Ellie Klopp. 
 
Awards and acknowledgements include making the list of “Teachers Rated Excellent by their Students” for four consecutive semesters while on faculty at the University of Illinois, receiving two Dance Center of Columbia College Choreographic Mentoring Scholarships, two Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships, a 2005 Chicago Dancemakers Forum grant, a 2006 American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, and winning at a Panoply Festival Choreography Award for Contemporary Dance in Huntsville, AL.
 
Margi is active in the Chicago dance community, serving on grant panels and in public forums as an arts administrator, dancer and choreographer.

 

Kym Costa - Adjunct Faculty   

Kym Costa comes from a professional Ballet Dancer's background having danced for the Civic Ballet at The Ruth Page Foundation in Chicago. She studied with several prominent ballet companies across the United States including The Joffrey Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet. Kym used her strong background as a Dancer to transition smoothly into the Fitness industry. As a Fitness Professional, Kym managed Group Exercise Programs at several upscale health clubs in the Chicago area. While managing a team of over 60 instructors, Kym used her knowledge of movement to instruct a variety of exercise classes including step, hi/low, cardio dance, Ballet, slide, sculpt, interval, stretch, Spin, circuit, water, walking, boxing and treading. She is an accomplished Sport Aerobic Competitor who ranked nationally two years in a row. Kym has coached and choreographed for Sport Aerobic Competitors as well as Fitness Competitors and continues to work with athletes who are ranking nationally in their divisions. Kym was the Co-Captain/Choreographer for Reebok's Performance Team and traveled nationally to conduct master classes and/or present Fitness Workshops. Kym's fitness certifications include: NASM Personal Trainer, ACE Instructor & Personal Trainer, AFAA Instructor, Spinning, N'Stretch and CPR. In the past seven years, Kym has turned her focus from mainstream fitness to the mind/body exercises of Yoga and Pilates. In 1999, Kym started to study Yoga regularly while living in Los Angeles studying at the Yoga Place in Costa Mesa, YogaWorks in Hollywood and Long Beach Yoga Centre in Long Beach. Kym has been fortunate enough to take workshop classes from several masters including Anna Forrest and Tim Miller. In New York, Kym studied at Jivamukti Yoga Center and in Chicago studies mainly with Quinn Kearney and Tom Quinn at Yoga View. In 2000, after completing over 700 hours of apprenticeship from the training centers in Chicago and New York, Kym received her certification in the Authentic Pilates Method of Body Conditioning now called Romana's Pilates. Romana Kryzanowska, Joseph Pilates' protÈgÈ, heads the certification which includes only about 1500 instructors in the world. This exclusive group continues to maintain the integrity of the exercises by teaching them exactly as Joseph Pilates developed and taught them. Today, Kym owns a small Pilates studio called Chicago's Pure Pilates located in the West Loop. Kym and her instructors teach one-on-one or two-on-one sessions in a private setting. 


Paige Cunningham - Faculty   

pcunningham@colum.edu     (312) 369-8318

Paige Cunningham studied under Sheila Cohen at Cincinnati's School for Creative and Performing Arts. She received her B.F.A. from the Juilliard School and went on to dance for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, touring throughout Europe, Australia and the U.S. Ms. Cunningham received an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was chosen as one of three choreographic fellows at Summer Stages Dance to create a new work on students. She has taught at the Cincinnati Ballet, Alabama School of Fine Arts and Boston Ballet among others.


Allen Desterhaft - Adjunct Faculty   

allen.desterhaft@colum.edu

Allen Desterhaft holds a BFA in dance from the Ohio State University. He has danced professionally with Chi-Town Jazz Dance Chicago, and Winifred Haun and Dancers. He has performed as a guest artist with the Joffrey Ballet, Dance for Life, Dance Theater North, Schaumburg Dance Ensemble, Evanston Dance Ensemble, Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble, and The Chicago Festival Ballet. He is a certified licentiate teacher of the Cecchetti Council of America, and is currently the ballet program director at The Rhythm Academy of Dance in Gurnee. Allen also has 21 years of experience in competitive and social Dancesport which he teaches at the University of Chicago, Dance Center Evanston, Dance Connection, Dance Center Chicago, and North Avenue Dance Studio.


Dan DiLuciano - Staff / Operations Coordinator   

ddiluciano@colum.edu   (312) 369-8314



Kevin Dirckson - Staff / Accounts Manager   

kdirckson@colum.edu    (312) 369-8346


Tabitha Faes - Adjunct Faculty   

Tabitha studied The Pilates Method under the guidance of Randi Whitman at Frog Temple Pilates Studio, Inc. She enjoys learning and teaching the subtleties found in Pilates and believes in the restorative power Pilates offers. Tabitha thrives on the challenge of sharing her knowledge of pilates with clients and students. She continually seeks exposure to various kinds of movement in addition to Pilates including modern dance, yoga, and gyrotonic. Currently, she continues her Pilates education at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Co. Her background is in modern dance. Tabitha earned a BFA in dance from Columbia College Chicago. Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Tabitha has been a founding member in Breakbone DanceCo. since 2001 under the artistic direction of Atalee Judy. She has been a member of several dance companies in the Chicago area including Chicago Moving Company, Synapse Arts Collective, and Without Shoes Modern Dance Company. This past year she co-produced a performance with Synapse and Elisa Foshay to present original choreography. She traveled to Paraguay courtesy of the Peace Corps and to Hawaii to teach dance workshops. Tabitha is thrilled to be creating a life in Chicago as a Pilates instructor and performing artist. 


Jyl Fehrenkamp - Adjunct Faculty / Staff / Academic Manager   

jfehrenkamp@colum.edu     (312) 369-8321

Jyl is an independent dancer, choreographer and arts administrator.  She received her BA in English and a minor in Dance Performance from Northern Illinois University.  Jyl has earned paper cuts in the administrative offices at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and has also worked as a freelance public relations consultant to a number of Chicago dance artists.  She is currently the Academic Manager at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and is also the host and curator of Links Hall’s Poonie’s Cabaret, an event dedicated to works-in-progress and experimentation in performance.  


Jyl’s performance work is influenced by her love of the quirky and fuses modern dance with burlesque inspired performance art.  Her work has been seen in Chicago at the Other Dance Festival, Around the Coyote Arts Festival, the P-Power Performance Project, The ValenSwine (a festival she co-created), the Girly-Q Variety Hour, Gurlesque Burlesque, the Mattacular, Heartless Bitch Entertainment and at various seedy Chicago nightclubs.  Jyl was also a 2004 Link-up Artist-in-Residence at Links Hall, where she created a work for 4 swimmers and a Great White Shark.  She has had the pleasure of dancing in works by Matthew Hollis, Breakbone DanceCo., Asimina Chremos, Ann Carlson, the Chicago Kings, Heather Hartley, Winifred Haun and many other wonderful artists.  


Erin T. Feiler - Adjunct Faculty / Staff / Media and Technology Coordinator   

efeiler@colum.edu     (312) 369-8334

Erin Tisdale Feiler received her MFA in Dance Documentation from The Ohio State University in 2006 and a dual BFA in Dance Performance and Dance Education from Kent State University in 2002. She is a member of Dance Research Forum Ireland (DRFI) as well as a recent presenter of her project at their 1st annual conference in Limerick, Ireland. Also a certified Labanotation Teacher by the Dance Notation Bureau, she has assisted in the training of Labanotation teachers. She recently joined the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) for the Dance Notation Bureau. Her master's project, The Preservation and Documentation of Irish Dance, focuses on the most commonly practiced forms of dance documentation, including video, text, and symbol based systems (specifically Labanotation).

In 2006 Feiler received a Fellowship from the Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC) concentrating on archiving dance materials, at the Department of Dance at Ohio State, the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute (TRI) at Ohio State, and for Columbus Dance Theatre. She has also worked on documentation projects with a variety of artists including Bebe Miller and Valarie Williams. Feiler has also been teaching modern, video and Irish Dance at numerous schools, universities and festivals. She has taught at the American College Dance Festival, been a visiting artist at Mercyhurst College, and a lecturer at The Ohio State University's Department of Dance.

Erin T. Feiler is currently the Media & Technology Coordinator in charge of all archiving and videos for The Dance Center, and also co-teaches Technology for Dancers.
www.erintfeiler.com


Sara Fisher - Adjunct Faculty   

Sara Fisher holds a BFA with honors in dance from the University of Iowa and is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise.  She also holds a perinatal fitness instructor certification through Healthy Moms Fitness®.  While at university, she began teaching dance classes in the Talented and Gifted program as well as dance workshops with the university affiliated Dancers In Company and was founding class president of the Undergraduate Dance Organization.  Since then, she has taught at various studios in Iowa and Illinois.  After graduating, she joined River Dance Collage as a full company member & soloist and was also the associate artistic director of River Dance Collage 2.  Since moving to Chicago in 2001, she has performed modern and ballet works with various companies, including Zephyr Dance, Ballet Entre Nous, and Tyego to name a few. 

Sara co-founded Woman Centered Fitness where she designed and instructed Buggy Babes, an outdoor stroller class.  She has also designed & taught mommy & me exercise ball classes as well as general fitness classes.  She authored 2 chapters on perinatal fitness in Complete Program Design: For the Rest of Us by Evan Osar (www.fitnesseducationseminars.com), and in 2007 Sara gave a presentation on perinatal fitness at the Annual Midwest Strength, Conditioning & Rehabilitation Symposium.

Sara also founded Roots in Rhythm Dance Project and choreographed a work for the Great Performers of Illinois Series alongside the internationally charted Bluegrass band Tangleweed (www.tangleweed.org).  She currently works with O.S.A.R. Consulting as a personal trainer and is on faculty at Columbia College where she teaches body conditioning.  As a faculty member at Truman College, Sara designs and teaches various fitness classes that are open to the student body and the public.  Sara is a founding member and part of the leadership team for the Holistic Moms Network (www.holisticmoms.org) Chicago chapter, and she spends every moment possible with her husband and two boys.

Kim Larimore Goldman - Adjunct Faculty   

kgoldman@colum.edu

Kim Larimore Goldman currently dances with Lucky Plush Productions and choreographs independently. While earning a M.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography at New York University/Tisch School of the Arts, she danced in the works of Terry O'Connor, Larry Keigwin, Gerald Casel, etc. Also in New York, she danced for several independant choreographers such as Matthew Brookoff, James Hansen/Assemblage, Amanda Selwyn, Evangelos Poulinas and Tracy Lang, and performed at venues like the Skirball Center, Madison Square Garden Theater, the Joyce Soho, and The Duke on 42nd St. Her choreography has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, St. Mark's Church, Dance Space Center, Williamsburg Art neXus ad The College of William & Mary (VA). In Chicago, Kim previously danced with Mordine & Co. and Hedwig Dances, Inc. She was on the dance faculty of Illinois Wesleyan University from 1999-2000. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, and is a certified yoga instructor.

Lisa Gonzales - Faculty   

lgonzales@colum.edu     (312) 369-8317

Lisa Gonzales is an independent dance maker, improviser and performing artist. She began her training in choreography and improvisation with Penny Campbell, Andrea Olsen, Peter Schmitz and Jill Becker at Middlebury College where she received her B.A. She went on to earn her M.F.A. from Ohio State University and moved to New York City in 1999 where she was based until 2004. In 1999, with Pamela Vail, Jennifer Kayle and Kathrine Ferrier, she founded the Architects, an improvisational dance company that performs nationally and internationally. She has performed and shown her choreography in New York at such venues as DTW, Danspace at St. Mark's Church, Joyce Soho, WAX, Joe's Pub, John Jay College, Brick Studio, University Settlement and others, as well as in spaces across the United States. Internationally, she has presented her work in Taiwan, Russia and Finland and has been invited to teach and perform in the Dominican Republic in January. She credits many artists with whom she has worked as being influential to her own art making including Peter Schmitz, Penny Campbell, Susan Sgorbati, Andrea Olsen, Deborah Hay, Angie Hauser, Chris Aiken, Paul Matteson, K.J. Holmes, Amy Chavasse, Deana Acheson, her work with the Architects, and others. She has also had the pleasure of touring with choreographer/puppeteer Dan Hurlin in his Obie award-winning work Hiroshima Maiden, and is currently collaborating with New York puppeteers Chris Green and Erin Ore on a work entitled Tin Lightening that combines elements of dance, theater, object performance and puppetry. She is beginning a new evening length dance work of her own which will premier in the fall of 2008 and is presenting work in Chicago at Links Hall in February and in March. She is a lecturer at Columbia College, Chicago and on faculty at the Movement Intensive in Compositional Improvisation which happens annually in June at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.


Christina Gonzalez-Gillett - Adjunct Faculty   

cgonzalez-gillett@colum.edu     (312) 369-8300

Christina Gonzalez-Gillett grew up in the Chicagoland area and studied locally under Mary Ann Lajoie at the Center of Creative Dance until attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she graduated with a BFA in Dance. During her time as an undergraduate, Christina also studied at the Ailey School in New York City and spent a year abroad in London at the Laban Centre studying Laban theory and technique in a conservatory setting.   She returned to the Laban Centre upon graduation from the University of Illinois to pursue a master's degree.  During her time in London, Christina had the privilege of working and performing with local and international artists and studying under Rosemary Butcher, Dr. Valerie Preston-Dunlop, and Dr. Val Rimmer.  After completing an MA in Dance Studies at Laban, she remained in London to teach and continue projects with several choreographers and BlueWhite Dance Company under the direction of Melanie Clarke. Christina decided to return to Chicago in 2003 and has since been thrilled to continue to pursue her passion for teaching at Columbia College and perform with The Seldoms under the direction of Carrie Hanson. Christina is also a certified Pilates instructor and member of the Pilates Method Alliance and has been teaching Pilates in the Chicago area since 2006.  This year Christina will complete a certificate of Laban Movement Analysis under the direction of Carol-Lynne Moore and Dr. Warren Lamb.


Jennifer Grisham - Adjunct Faculty   

Jennifer Grisham, received a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Arizona. She has been performing, choreographing and teaching in Chicago for the past 9 years. Her work has been produced for local festivals, some of which include Chicago's Next Dance Festival and the Around the Coyote. She has also co-produced the Valentine's day extravaganza, "ValenSWINE". Jen has been performing with The Seldoms since 2003.


Veronica Guadalupe - Adjunct Faculty   

Veronica Guadalupe is a Chicago area native that received her dance training at the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, VA. Under the artistic direction of Petrus Bosman and the tutelage of the V.S.A. faculty, she was given the opportunity to perform in France and Italy. Veronica went on to study on scholarship at the Giordano Dance Center and perform with their second company, the GGJDCII's. She also spent a season as an apprentice with River North Chicago Dance Company and was a principal with Luna Negra Dance Theater from 2002-2008.  In addition to her company work, Veronica has had the great experience of working with a wide variety of independent choreographers such as Randy Duncan, Lauri Stallings, and Eddy Ocampo. While working for Eddy Ocampo and Lauri Stallings, she was able to travel to Istanbul, Turkey to perform their works. Veronica is certified in Romana's Pilates (also called Authentic Pilates) through Romana Krzyzanowska and studied at the Pilates Studio of the Midwest Training Center under Master Teacher Juanita Lopez. She has also had the great opportunity of working with Master Teacher Sari Mejia-Santos and a number of wonderful teacher trainers from across the country. Veronica is an independent Pilates instructor working mainly in one-one sessions as well as duet and small group classes.  She teaches at the Lou Conte Dance Studio has been teaching Pilates to the students of Columbia College since 2002.


Daniel Halkin - Adjunct Faculty  


Colleen Halloran - Adjunct Faculty   

challoran@colum.edu     (312) 369-8300

Colleen Halloran received her BA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago.  She has been making dance theater work for over 15 years as an independent artist in Chicago.  Ms. Halloran’s dance works have been performed by such companies as Mordine & Company Dance Theater, The Dance COLEctive, Same Planet, Different World Dance Theater, and Breakbone Dance Co.  Colleen’s film work has screened at numerous festivals including deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma, The Opening Night party for The San Francisco Independent Film Festival, and The Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival where it won the award for Audience Favorite.  She will receive her MFA in Film from Columbia College Chicago in 2009.


Jeff Hancock - Adjunct Faculty   

Jeff Hancock was a founding member of River North Dance Chicago, has danced for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Jan Erkert & Dancers, Dance Kaleidoscope, WatsOn Dance, Joe Goode, Same Planet Different World Dance Theater, and a long list of independent choreographers and artists. West Side Story, Song and Dance, Oklahoma, Romeo and Juliet, and Disney are some of the tours he has done, nationally and internationally. He has set choreography on River North Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street ll, Columbia College, Northwestern University, the Edinburgh Festival, Ruth Mitchell Dance Theater, Dance Chicago, and Same Planet Different World among others. He has been teaching for 17 years, at a variety of schools,festivals, organizations, and Universities, including Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Butler College, Chicago National Assoc. of Dance Masters, and was a Co-Artistic Director of Same Planet Different World Dance Theater for many years. He has created and constructed costumes also for a variety of companies and artists, among them, River North, Gus Giordano, The Dance COLEctive, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center and many others. He has been nominated for Ruth Page Awards for his dancing and choreography, and received a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.


Carrie Hanson - Adjunct Faculty    

chanson@colum.edu

Carrie Hanson has been performing, teaching and making dance in Chicago for sixteen years, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Seldoms. Her solo and ensemble dance work has been performed nationally and in Germany. Since founding The Seldoms in 2001, she has directed and choreographed twelve new works for the company. Time Out Chicago calls her "a virtuoso of meticulous composition" who makes "clear-edged, challenging dances."

Ms. Hanson has received two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships for Choreography and a Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Dance for her performance with Jan Erkert and Dancers and Loop Troop. In 2005, she was awarded a prestigious Chicago Dancemaker's Forum Lab Artist grant, and created GIANT FIX, a site-specific work for and Olympic sized outdoor, drained pool. Her interest in staging dance outside the traditional theater has also placed The Seldoms under the Tiffany glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center, an 80,000 sq. ft. antiques showroom, on the grounds of a historic Arts & Crafts mansion, in Millenium Park in downtown Chicago, and a 17,000 sq. ft. garage.

Ms. Hanson teaches contemporary technique, dancemaking and anatomy classes at The Dance Center. She has been a guest teacher for Hubbard street Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company, Mordine & Company, and Thodos and Dancers. Ms. Hanson holds an MA in Dance Studies from Laban Centre London and a BFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University, and is certified in Laban Movement Analysis.


Malcolm-Curtis Hill -  Staff / Box Office Manager   

mhill@colum.edu   (312) 369-8189



Ligia Himebaugh - Staff / Marketing Director   

lhimebaugh@colum.edu     (312) 369-8345

After receiving a Comprehensive Theatre degree from Northern Illinois University, Ligia delved into the world of directing, dramaturgy, and literary management, and worked for several local theatres including Lifeline, Goodman, and Court Theatre. She most recently worked as the Marketing/PR Director for Apple Tree Theatre and served as Marketing Coordinator for Chicago Scenic Studios. Ligia has also been a part of the Chicago film scene, serving as Associate Producer for several local productions, including the documentary, The 95th, shown on PBS, and the feature film, Design, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival a few years ago. As the Marketing Director for the Dance Center of Columbia College, she is responsible for implementing and supervising all marketing efforts for the academic unit and performance series.


Anthony Ingram - Staff / Technical Associate/Audio   

aingram@colum.edu   (312) 369-8325



Darrell Jones - Faculty   

drjones@colum.edu     (312) 369-8315

Darrell Jones performs in the United States and abroad with a variety of choreographers and companies, including Bebe Miller, Urban Bush Women, Ronald K. Brown, Min Tanaka, Ralph Lemon and KOKUMA Dance Theater. He was on tour with the Bebe Miller Company throughout the summer and fall of 2005. Along with performing Darrell choreographs and teaches. He has collaborated with other choreographers (Fiona Millward, Jeremy Wade, Angie Hauser), writers (Cheryl Boyce Taylor), musicians (Brian Schulur, Jesse Manno, NOMAD), and designers (Mahwish Syed), in dance films, documentations and interactive multimedia installations. In addition to his collaborative duets he also works in solo forms. His choreography has been presented at The Place Theater in London, Kwanju Biennale in South Korea, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC and Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Darrell has taught workshops and master classes throughout the United States and in other countries such as South Africa, UK, and South Korea. His classes are informed by his training and studies in a variety of contemporary dance techniques, improvisation, Butoh and Traditional Dance forms. He will be full-time on the Dance Center faculty in January, 2006, where he will be teaching dancemaking, improvisation, and modern technique.


Mary Klonowski - Adjunct Faculty   

Mary Klonowski has been practicing yoga since 1985 and teaching since 1995. She quit her 9-5 day job and began teaching yoga full-time in September 2001. She currently teaches Ashtanga, Iyengar and therapeutic forms of yoga at various studios throughout Chicago, including her own studio on the Northwest side and at Gilda's Club - a cancer wellness center. Mary pursued continuing education through her study with Sri K. Pattabhis Jois, the 89 year-old master of the Astanga method of yoga. She was meditating with him and 250 other yogis in the early hours of September 11th in New York City, a profound experience that has strongly affected her yoga practice. Other study included with Tim Miller, L'no Miele, Dennis Dean, Marju Jois (Pattabhis' son), Lori King and Dena Kingsberg.


Helen Lee - Staff / House Manager  

hlee@colum.edu     (312) 369-8349


Hau Kum Leung-Kneip - Adjunct Faculty   

Hau Kum Leung-Kneip teaches Tai Chi. She received the bulk of her training in Hong Kong and Taiwan, in association with Master Cheng Shen Chi. Hau Kum has won the All-China Martial Arts Demonstration Contest and a provincial head Tai Chi Chuan Master. She now uses her skills as a teacher and lecturer.


Yael Levitin - Adjunct Faculty   


Nadine Lollino - Adjunct Faculty   

Nadine Lollino brings her background in modern dance, movement therapy, massage therapy and Pilates to her yoga classes. She graduated from Barat College, Lake Forest, IL with degrees in the study of dance, psychology and dance/movement therapy.  Nadine is currently co-founder of Poster Child, a multi-media performance group experimenting with music, dance, projection, fashion and photography, and whatever else they can come up with.  She began her yoga practice under the guidance of Suddha Wexler and continued with Michelle Latronica at Eight Limbs Yoga Center where she assisted with teacher trainings. Certified through the Yoga Alliance, her self-practice includes study in hatha, astanga and anusara styles.  Nadine teaches that which has inspired her - a flowing balance between alignment and technique to preserve health, and the dance of spirit and heart to be free of fear.

Nadine has taught massage workshops at yoga studios as well as for Northwestern University first year med students. She has just returned from touring nationally for the past 2 years offering yoga workshops and massage while continuing her in-depth study into the anatomy and the heart of yoga.

Nadine stresses the importance of alignment in postures, upper body strength, concentration on the breath, identifying and working through fears and gaining more self-awareness in all aspects of our lives. And of course, being happy!


Dardi McGinley-Gallivan - Faculty   

dmcginley@colum.edu     (312) 369-8320

Dardi McGinley-Gallivan has BA in Art History, Emory University, MA in Dance, The Ohio State she is the Artist in Residence. She teaches Modern technique and Dance Pedagogy and oversees our student advising program. Dardi has coordinated the outreach programs for Mordine & Company Dance Theatre and helped administrate many of Columbia's academic programs. Since 1993, Dardi has been a member of Mordine & Company Dance Theatre. In 1996 she received a Ruth Page Award for performance. Dardi is also a founding member of Mad Shak Dance Company.


Michael McGinn - Adjunct Faculty   

Michael McGinn holds a BA in Dance, Columbia College, and teaches Tai Chi. Michael brings a diverse synthesis of holistic healing and movement disciplines to his practice. He also teaches Tai Chi to chronically and terminally ill students. 


Robert McKee - Adjunct Faculty   


Pam McNeil - Adjunct Faculty  

pmcneil@colum.edu     (312) 369-8344


Raquel Monroe, Ph.D - Faculty   

Raquel L. Monroe, Ph.D is a scholar, artist, and activist with a long history in academia and in diverse communities engaging the ways in which dance influences and is influenced by the social discourses on race, gender, sexuality, class, and culture. Her current manuscript encompasses research in dance, performance studies, theatre, feminist, public health, queer, and critical race theories to explore the performance and representation of black female sexulaities and black social mobility in the Americas. As an artist, Raquel has worked with choreographers David Rousseve, Ronald K. Brown, Marianne Kim, and Ana Maria Alvarez. Her greatest passions are dance, yoga, and working with young artists who are eager to explore how art intervenes, impacts, and speaks to issues of social justice.


Jimmy Payne Jr. - Adjunct Faculty   

Jimmy Payne Jr. began his tap lessons at the Jimmy Payne School of Dance located in Chicago. His teacher and father was legendary tap master Jimmy Payne, who taught Afro-Cuban and tap in New York and Chicago for over seventy years. Jimmy Payne Jr. is an evolution of rhythm tap dance that knows no boundaries. When Jimmy Sr. taught his son to tap; he stressed the importance of having a strong tap vocabulary and practicing to perfection. Because of this training Jimmy Jr. is able to create solo pieces for himself, duets with his sister Sara, and group numbers for his company, Perfect Timing. Jimmy is especially known for the pieces he creates while in performance. Jimmy attributes his gift of improvising to having a good vocabulary of steps and his willingness to explore and build. One critic describes Jimmy's dancing as, "digging deep. He's not tapping around it; he becomes it." A few of Jimmy's performance credits include Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Blues Fest, and Dance Chicago. Jimmy has also performed with legendary saxophonist Von Freeman, Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and 21st Century Jazz Review, whom he accompanied to India for a series of concerts. Jimmy also teaches at several leading dance institutions in the Chicagoland area including Jo's Footwork Dance Studios, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, and Dorothy's Dance Unlimited.


Christopher Perricelli- Adjunct Faculty  


Kimberly Pugh - Adjunct Faculty   

 

Natalie Rast - Adjunct Faculty   

Natalie Rast began her study of ballet in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 10. She continued her studies in Chicago with Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay (formerly of the Royal Ballet) when her family relocated to DeKalb, IL. She attended Northern Illinois University for three years as a dance major. She transferred to Barat College where she was introduced to jazz dance. Shortly thereafter, she auditioned for Joel Hall Dancers, ending her college studies but beginning her professional dance career. She was a principal dancer with Joel Hall Dancers from 1981-1986 during which time the company toured extensively. During this same period she was on faculty at the Joel Hall Dance Center as well. In addition to studying with Joel Hall, Homer Bryant, Anna Czajun and Orin Kayan. Natalie is proud to have studied with Larry Long, Birute Barodicaite, Dolores Lipinski and Maria Tallchief. She studied extensively with Anna Paskevska and credits her with understanding of teaching dance today. She danced with the Chicago Dance Medium as well as many independent Chicago choreographers including Winifred Haun, Christy Munch and David Puszch. Her teaching credits include Joel Hall Dance Center, Chicago City Ballet, Joseph Holmes Dance Theater, Hyde Park School of Ballet, Columbia College Dance Center and the Chicago Academy for the Arts. She has served has served as ballet mistress for Winifred Haun and Dancers and Zephyr Dance. She founded Rast Ballet, a school focused on the study of ballet for the adult student, in December 1993. In March 2007, she opened her own dance space, Rast Ballet and Dance Studio, where she now holds classes for children as well as adults. The space is also used by many Chicago dance companies for rehearsal space. She is pleased to be joining the dance faculty at the Chicago Academy for the Arts in the school year 2007-08.


Kevin Rechner - Staff / Technical Director   

krechner@colum.edu     (312) 369-8324

Kevin Rechner has been the Production Manager, Technical Director and Lighting Designer for the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago since 1996. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from Illinois State University and spent 3 years in Paris, France studying Movement Theatre with Jacques Lecoq and Daniel Stein, He has created 4 solo performance works including I AM HUGO. Technically, he has worn many hats for many people including: The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Ballet Theatre of Chicago, Daniel Stein, Akira Kasai, Kota Yamazaki, XSIGHT!, MASS, Momenta!, Robin Lakes Rough Dance, Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, Hedwig Dances and others. He has designed lights for Peter Carpenter, Urban Bush Women, Mordine & Company Dance Theatre, HT Chen and Dancers, Natya Dance Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Latin Street Dancing, Lucky Plush, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, The Dance COLEctive, The Seldoms, and others. He served as the LD / TD for the Dance Division of the National High School Institute for 5 years, and can still say "STOP" and "NO" in many languages.


Mary Carpenter-Rechner - Staff / Program Coordinator   

mrechner@colum.edu     (312) 369-8342

In 1989 theater was an avocation for Mary Carpenter Rechner starting with improv classes at The Players Workshop of Second City. For the following few years she directed, performed and ran lights for various small improv troupes in a variety of off-off loop theaters. As a company member of Transient Theater in Uptown from 1992-96 she designed lights, sets and costumes for four seasons of plays. In the mid 1990's Mary formally studied lighting and set design at Columbia College Chicago and worked as a stagehand at The Dance Center of Columbia College as well as a freelance lighting designer for local modern dance companies. After three years at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has returned to The Dance Center in 2002 handling contracts and residency details for the presenting season.

 

Kirby Reed - Adjunct Faculty   

The founder and Artistic director of Ascension/The Kirby Reed Project and also House of Ascension. Mr. Reed is a former concert dancer of the Joel Hall Dancers.  He is an active teacher or guest master instructor, at Hubbard Street/ Lou Conte’s Dance Studio, Columbia College, Gus Giordano’s Dance Center, and the Joel Hall Dance Center in Chicago, also having taught through Dance Educators of America, Giordano’s World Jazz Congress and a variety of festivals  in cities through out the United States, Mexico, Central  and South America.  As an artist he has appeared in music videos and in concert with L.L. Cool J , Rupaul, Chaka Khan, and  Jennifer Holiday, to name but a few.  Mr. Reed has been a featured dancer on the Jay Leno Show, the television series "The Untouchables", and in the major movie film "Hoodlums" as a principal dancer. Mr. Reed has had the opportunity to choreograph works for The Joel Hall Dancers, Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance and Dallas Black Dance Theatre to name but a few. Mr. Reed completed closing numbers for televised projects for the Emmy nominated 16th and 18th annual Stellar Awards, with renowned artist Donald Lawrence, choreographing and assistant directing the former touring musical Bible Stories, along with the musicals Anything Goes, Honk, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, and Fame. Through his company Ascension, he was worked in celebratory festivals for Bishop T. D. Jakes for his Women of Praise Graduating national event, and The Silver Anniversary Celebration Held in the cities of Nashville, Tenn. and Dallas, Texas. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 Mr. Reed has had the honor of teaching for the Giordano’s Jazz Dance World Congress. Mr. Reed has also been nominated for 7 consecutive years (2000 thru 2006) for the BTAA awards for Best Choreography in a Music Dance/ Program.


Phil Reynolds - Staff / Executive Director   

preynolds@colum.edu     (312) 369-8319

Phil Reynolds began his tenure at The Dance Center in 1998. Prior to moving to Chicago, he lived and worked in Vermont for seven years where he directed Catamount Film and Arts Company, an exemplary multi-disciplinary presenter and local arts agency. Mr. Reynolds began his professional career at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where he was employed as Director of Planning & Government Grants. He was also employed in New York as Executive Director of the Nikolais and Murray Louis Foundation for Dance. Reynolds has served on panels for The Japan Foundation, Dance Advance, Illinois Arts Council, Vermont Arts Council, Connecticut Arts Commission, and Chamber Music America. Mr. Reynolds received a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA in Arts Management from Columbia University. Phil is the father of eleven-year-old Sam Reynolds.  


Joanna Rosenthal - Adjunct Faculty   


Larry Russo - Staff / Receptionist    

lrusso@colum.edu     (312) 369-8310

Larry Russo began his career as a professional actor, singer and dancer in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin while performing with the Skylight Opera Co., the Florentine Opera Co., and the Milwaukee Ballet. Since moving to Chicago in 1974 he has been featured in over 80 productions at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Court, and the Organic. From 1984-1985 he was a member of the Acting company of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada.


Katrina Ryan - Adjunct Faculty   

Katrina Ryan is the Yoga Program Coordinator, and teaches Hatha yoga, which she has practiced for over 20 years. She began her career as a dancer, studying under Alvin Ailey, Bella Lewitsky and Bill Evans. After becoming certified in massage therapy in California, she developed two teaching institutions that offer a diverse program of body/mind integration. She brings this wide spectrum of experience into her teaching and massage practice, giving strong emphasis to the breath. 


Cara Sabin - Staff / Student Services Coordinator & Assistant to the Chair    

csabin@colum.edu     (312) 369-8353

Cara Sabin received a BFA from The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago in 2006. She is a company member with The Seldoms and has performed as a guest with Lucky Plush, Margaret Morris and most recently performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and at Lincoln Center in New York with fellow alums. She has worked with political organizations, the non-profit sector and in arts administration throughout her years in Chicago.


Sarah Schafer - Adjunct Faculty   

Sarah Schafer began her dance training as a scholarship student at the School of Ballet Omaha in her hometown of Omaha, NE.   As a student, she attended several summer programs including Dance Aspen, Briansky Saratoga Dance Center, Hartford Ballet and the Hitomi Haas Ballettschule in Stuttgart, Germany.
At the age of 17, Sarah made her professional debut with Ballet Omaha,  where she was able to perform in such works as Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco", Mauricio Wainrot's "Anne Frank", Lew Christensen's "Con Amore" and "Il Distratto", and Jill Eathorne Bahr's "Dracula", among others.  After moving to Chicago, Sarah performed in Ruth Page's "Nutcracker",  with Paul Abrahamson's Moose Project, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, and with the Dallas Opera's "Die Fledermaus". In 2002, she returned to Nebraska to dance for two seasons with Omaha Theater Ballet, where she performed as a soloist in many ballets, including "Paquita" (Petipa), "A Midsummernight's Dream" (Wells), "Nutcracker" and "Dreamplay" (Benichou).  Sarah also choreographed "Momentum is a Vector" for the company.  Since her return to Chicago, Sarah has been seen with the Lyric Opera, as a guest artist with Civic Ballet of Chicago, and with the Alma Dance Company.

In addition to teaching at Columbia, Sarah also currently teaches at Hubbard Street's Lou Conte Dance Studio, Visceral Dance, and is a faculty member at the Jillana School Summer Ballet Intensive in Taos Ski Valley, NM. She has also been a certified Pilates instructor since 2004.


Alycia Scott - Staff / Community Outreach and Education Manager   

ascott@colum.edu     (312) 369-8341

Alycia Scott cultivates multi-media arts programs with a keen awareness of the artist as citizen and the arts as a mode of inspiration. She develops projects and exhibitions, both local and global, that address socio-political issues from women’s rights and food production, to the body as a preserving vehicle of culture and spirit. As a dancer, Alycia has performed around the globe in spaces ranging from theaters in Russia to balconies in Guatemala, a graveyard in Mexico and art galleries in the United States. At The Dance Center, she works with artists from around the globe in developing interactive educational and experiential programs that deepen engagement with dance and the world. She holds a Masters of Art in Art Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.


Kyle Seguin - Adjunct Faculty   

Kyle Seguin began his dance training in Huntsville, Alabama before attending the University of Alabama as a full scholarship dance major. From 2001 – 2008, Kyle danced with the Alabama Ballet in Birmingham, Alabama, where he performed many principal roles including, Count Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, Franz in Coppelia, El Capitan in George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, and the title roles in Dracula and Romeo and Juliet. In addition, Kyle danced with Teri Weksler’s Southern DanceWorks and was featured in Red Mountain Theatre Company’s productions of Cats (Mr. Mistoffeles), Song and Dance (Joe), and Chicago. Kyle is a Pilates instructor, an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, and holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. His choreography is part of the 2008-2009 seasons of both the Alabama Ballet and Arova Contemporary Dance, and won the Ballet and Overall categories at the Panoply Choreography Competition in April 2008. 


Emily Stein - Adjunct Faculty   

Emily Stein began dancing as a child in Buffalo, New York. While studying at the University of Iowa under Francoise Martinet, she began teaching in the university's Talented and Gifted childrens' program. She holds an MFA in Performance and Choreography from Smith College. Before joining the faculty of the Dance Center of Columbia College, she taught ballet and modern technique at Smith College, Hampshire College, the University of Massachusetts and Barat College, and at a wide variety of private studios in the Chicago area. Since 1993, she has choreographed and performed with Chicago's Zephyr Dance, of which she is Associate Artistic Director. With Zephyr, her dancing and choreography have been seen throughout the US, from Florida to Texas to New York City and Toronto. Emily has also produced several independent concerts of her work in Chicago and her work has twice been nominated for Chicago Dance Achievement/Ruth Page Awards. Since 1995, she has been a teaching artist through Zephyr Dance in the Chicago Public Schools, practicing Zephyr's collaborative model of Arts Integration. Her own dancing journey has taken her from Balanchine to Deborah Hay and everywhere in between, and she strives to use this breadth to train dancers with open minds and intelligent bodies.


Trae Turner - Adjunct Faculty   

Hip Hop dance empowers youth to release emotions through the sounds, melodies, and lyrics of hip hop music. The unifying strength of hip hop can be seen by the convergence of diverse peoples. Trae Turner, hip hop teacher/choreographer, will entertain and energize a diverse group of students with his positive and patient personality.
Trae Turner embraces multiculturalism, as he is a recognized and highly regarded choreographer at national dance conventions all over the country. He is the artistic director of Hip Hop ConnXion Chicago (HHCC), an award winning, world famous adult multicultural dance company. However it is not his role as an artistic director that he prides himself on, but rather his hard work to inspire young people to be positive and aware that they have the ability to inspire others as well. "Our Future Is Here Today" is a statement that Trae Turner not only believes in, but lives by.  Trae works closely with D.A.R.E, Kumba Linx, ASM, and other High School and College organizations to bring together people of all races and ethnicities, not simply to dance and express love for the culture of hip hop, but to learn to respect one another. It is this kind of open attitude and desire for his craft that makes Trae one of the best choreographers in Chicago, not just known for his movement, but for his ability to teach hip hop technique, and how to perform. With packed classes and dedicated students he is inspired by dancers and they are challenged and inspired by him. 


Ni'Ja Whitson - Adjunct Faculty   

nwhitson@colum.edu

Ni'Ja Whitson is a multi-disciplinary dance, performance, and visual artist. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she was a Merit Grant and Scholarship student, and BA from Oberlin College. At both institutions she received recognition and awards for her artistic contributions and innovation. At Oberlin she received the Helen M. Ward memorial award in theater and dance, as a result of a groundbreaking full-length senior work. Still a college student she founded And What!? an all women's hip hop performance group which has been noted for its unique education & expression combination,  along with its activism. As a choreographer in Chicago, she has been sought out for productions from the Victory Gardens Theater to the Vic Theater. Ms. Whitson regularly teaches workshops and conducts residencies in and outside of Chicago displaying her many interests, installation, media, and live performance which are informed by her intense study of contemporary dance and art. Ms. Whitson received an MFA Fellowship Award at SAIC, where she is also faculty, and has received many grants for completion of new and experimental work. 


Meghann Wilkinson - Adjunct Faculty    


Richard Woodbury - Faculty / Music Director    

rwoodbury@colum.edu     (312) 369-8322

Richard Woodbury holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in music and dance from the Experimental College of the University of Minnesota. Richard is a composer and sound designer. His compositions include collaborations with some of Chicago’s leading choreographers, and works for theatre, experimental film/video, and various commercial projects. Richard’s work for theatre includes original music and/or sound design for numerous productions at Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatres as well as work on Tony Award winning Broadway productions including: August: Osage County, A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Death of a Salesman and The Night of the Iguana. Richard has received the Joseph Jefferson Award for sound design, the Chicago Dance Coalition’s Ruth Page Award for “Outstanding Collaborative Artist”, the Helen Hayes Award for “Outstanding Theatrical Sound Design”, and several New York Drama Desk Award nominations for both original music and sound design. A faculty member since 1976, Richard teaches Music and Rhythm for Dance, Technology for Dancers, and Dancemaking II & III. He also served for many years as Associate Chair of the Department. In his current position as Music Director, Richard holds broad responsibility for development and oversight of music-related curricula, resources, and services.


Thomas Zwergel - Adjunct Faculty