Dancenter North Staff

DANCENTER NORTH STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

SUSAN ANDERSON (Fitness Specialist, Ballet) studied dance at the Evanston School of Ballet, Campbell's of Lincolnshire and Dancenter North. She has performed with Heritage Dance Theatre and in The Magic of the Nutcracker and Cinderella. A graduate of Mundelein College, Susan has been teaching dance and fitness on the North Shore and in Chicago for over twenty years. As a nationally certified fitness specialist, she has lectured and taught nationally and internationally at studios and spas. Susan also actively judges for the NAC on a national and international basis at elite athletic competitions.

VICTORIA BARLOW (Ballet) completed her BA in Dance Education at Columbia College. She was a principal member of the Rockford Dance Company from 1987 to 1993, training with Kenneth Von Heideke of the Lyric Opera and Joy Xu, former principal dancer of the Shanghai Ballet of China. During 1992and 1994, Victoria toured China attending two international dance festivals. She was a member of the Bryant Ballet from 1996 to 2001 and has been seen in numerous Chicagoland productions of The Nutcracker. They include the Chicago Tribune Charities and the Dancenter North production, in which she was The Sugar Plum Fairy. She has danced the title roles in Dancenter North's Cinderella and Schaumburg Dance Ensemble's Snow White. She is currently performing with the Chicago Ballet under the direction of Paul Abrahamson. Ms. Barlow joined the Dancenter North staff in 1995.

GREG BEGLEY (Ballet) is a native of Flint, Michigan where he began his dance career with the Flint Ballet Theatre. He attended Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on a full dance scholarship and spent his summers performing in stock productions of many Broadway shows. Greg became a principal dancer with the Chicago Ballet under the direction of Ruth Page and Frederick Franklin, where he performed many traditional classical pas de deux including the grand pas in Ruth Page's production of The Nutcracker. He also danced the role of Johnny in Page's public television production of Frankie and Johnny, which Greg has recently set for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. In 1980 Greg became an original member of the world famous Hubbard Street Dance Company where he served as a principal dancer and the company dance master.

ALLISON BUCHWEITZ (Ballet, Jazz, Funk & Tap) received a BFA in Dance and a Minor in History from the University of Arizona. While at school, she performed works by faculty members including Susan Quinn, Michael Williams, and James Clouser. She also had the opportunity to learn and perform Balanchine’s Concerto Barrocco. During her senior year she performed as a dancer with the Arizona Opera in their production of Beauty and the Beast, and also taught dance for an after school enrichment program in the Tucson Unified School District. Since graduation, in addition to teaching, Allie has performed as a member of Joel Hall Dancers II and with RASA Dance Chicago.

JENNIFER CALLAGHAN (Ballet) began studies at Judith Lee Johnson's Dance Studio in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida. She attended Pinellas County Center for the Arts and received additional dance training at Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet schools. In 1994 Ms. Callaghan left the University of Utah to pursue a professional ballet career. Professionally she danced with Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Tulsa Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet companies in addition to guest performances with several regional companies throughout the U.S. Her favorite roles included Myrtha in Giselle and Polyhymnia in Apollo. Ms. Callaghan joined the DCN staff in 2003 and recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a B.S. in Conservation and Environmental Sciences and minors in Biology and Geography.

JULIE CARTIER (Tap & Jazz) has an extensive background in performing and teaching. Julie was a founding member of Chi Town Jazz Dance, and served as assistant to the artistic director. She has also performed with River North Dance Company, The Lynda Martha Dance Company, and has done a great deal of work in both the commercial and industrial aspects of dance. She is an original member and now the Artistic Director and Principal Performer with Chicago’s Especially Tap Company. This company was the first tap company to perform at the prestigious Kuopio Dance festival in Finland. Julie has taught master classes in ballet, jazz and tap throughout the United States and Germany and is the director of Chicago’s National Tap Day. She also choreographs and stages productions for Celebrity Cruise Lines.

CARISSA CASBON (Vocal) received her Bachelors degree in Voice Performance from Northwestern University and her Masters degree at Indiana University in Bloomington. A captivating performer, Carissa Casbon has appeared in principal roles nationwide with the Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera and the Light Opera Works in Evanston. Carissa portrayed such diverse roles as Madame Angele in Kurt Weil's The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken and Princess Ninetta in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges. She has extensive teaching experience and has conducted master classes and led workshops on singing and acting. Carissa was a Regional Finalist in the 2000 Metropolitan Opera Auditions, she is the recipient of the Judith Raskin Memorial Award for Singers presented by the Santa Fe Opera, the Gina Monastero Award presented by the Bel Canto Association and the Northwestern University Award for Excellence in the Arts.

NEYSA ETIENNE (Zumba!) has been teaching in Chicago for the past year. Neysa received her dance training with the following programs: Ithaca College, New York (1989-1991) Dance Minor: Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Modern and, Dance for Musical Theatre, Northport High School, New York (1985-1989): Dance Precision Team Choreographer/Captain/Dancer, Vic D’Amore School of Dance, New York (1985-1989): Tap, Jazz, Ballet Instruction and Performance, Posey School of Dance, New York (1975-1985): Classical Ballet Instruction and Performance.

JESSICA FISHER (Voice, Drama) has been teaching in the Lake County area since she graduated from Barat College of DePaul University in 2004. Jessica was an ensemble member at the Improv Playhouse and the Northbrook Park District where she portrayed the roles of The Little Mermaid, Stuart Little, The Velveteen Rabbit, and Chronicles of Narnia character, Lucy Pevensie. She has also performed with Light Opera Works, Bailiwick Reperetory, Theatre at the Center and Theatre Building Chicago. Mo

MATTHEW GEIGER (Ballet) began studying ballet, tap and jazz ag age 5 at Pashkova Studios. At age 13 he became a company member with Pasadena Dance Theatre. Matthew became an apprentice with Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet at age 16. He competed in the Denver Ballet Guild Competition and took 1st place. In 1998 he joined The Louisville Ballet as a corps member, under the directorship of Alun Jones. In 1999 he joined ABT's Studio Company. He also worked a spring season in Connecticut with the Hartford Ballet with Joseph Albano. From 2001 to 2004 he performed corps and soloist roles with Ballet Met. In 2002 he became a soloist with Ballet Met. Fall of 2004 Matthew joined Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka and became the Associate Director of the company and school and also the Ballet Master. In 2005 through 2006 he performed and taught at the Coffee Mill Dance Studio in Key West, Florida and was part of the Nutcracker Key West which survived to perform after the devastating hurricanes. Later he worked is choreography with Columbus Dance Theatre. Matthew has worked with various choreographers, including Tom Mossbrucker, Jean Phillipe, Bruce Marks, David Howard, Willy Berman, Dwight Rhoden, Stanton Welch, David Nixon, Diane Cartier and James Kuldelka.

MICHAEL KAPLAN (Yoga) received recognition as a Yoga Instructor by the Yoga Alliance Organization. Michael has been a yoga practitioner for over 30 years. He believes that yoga should flow like dance and teaches a style of yoga that is gentle but invigorating. Michael can be seen in Dancenter North's, "The Magic of the Nutcracker", and in "Cinderella".

LINDSEY KATSETOS (Jazz, Funk) received her early training in ballet, jazz, and tap while growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Upon moving to Chicago in 2006, Lindsey took her firsts hip-hop class and immediately fell in love with the style. For three years Lindsey was a dancer and choreographer, to Hip- Hop Connxion Chicago and eventually named general director during her last year with the company. Now under the Direction of Karlo Familara and Angelina Grima, Lindsey currently dances with [Design] an up and coming hip- hop company in the Chicago area and winners to the first ever Prelude Midwest Hip-Hop Competition and Move if You Want it. In September of 2009 Lindsey had the opportunity to be an assistant choreographer for the “O Project” which aired on the Oprah Show for her 24^th season kick off featuring the Black Eyed Peas. Additional credits include the McDonalds International Convention in Orlando with an audience of 13,000, the B96 summer B Bash performing for DJ flipside, as well as up and coming Chicago artist- Adero, and Cox Cable TV commercials. This summer she has the privilege of not only representing [Design], but also Chicago in the 2010 World Hip-Hop Championships. Not just a performer Lindsey has taught and choreographed all over the mid-west and Boston Receiving many choreography awards for her work in solo and duet pieces. Some of her teaching credits include, the Lou Conte Dance Studio (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago), the DARE Dance after school program, Visceral Dance Chicago, Mass Motion Dance (Boston). A firm believer in constant growth as a dancer, Lindsey continues to train at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Visceral Dance Chicago, as well as workshops around the country.

COURTNEY KRAMER (Ballet) is originally from Crystal Lake, Illinois, where she received her formal training with Judith Svalander. In 2003 she graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. After completing the Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II program, Ms. Kramer joined The Milwaukee Ballet in 2005. She was honored to have performed the world premiere of Michael Pink’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Ms. Kramer has enjoyed performing featured roles in Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free, George Balanchine's Agon, Marius Petipa's La Bayadere, Clara in Michael Pink's The Nutcracker and TigerLily in Michael Pink's Peter Pan. She has also danced many classical and contemporary roles including those choreographed by Michael Pink, Maurice Causey, Trey McIntyre, Nelly Van Bommel, Lila York and Val Caniparoli. Ms. Kramer will be continuing for her 6th season with The Milwaukee Ballet and is excited for all of the challenges that come with it!

KAREN LANDRIAN (Fitness) studied ballet st the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet and continued training in ballet, modern dance and choreography under the directiion of Jack and Marjorie Tygett, artistic directors and choreographers for the San Diego Starlight Theatre in Balboa Park. A competitive skater for 16 years, competing both at the U.S. Nationals and Internationally in singles and pairs. Karen coached figure skating for over 20 years. Certified instructor in Zumba, Zumba Toning and Zumbatomic.

NIKKI LAZZARETTO (Ballet, Jazz) Nikki is a graduate of Rollins College. Performing with the college’s dance company, she was named Rollins Outstanding Dancer and received the Annie Russel Dance Scholarship. She received her BA in English with a minor in Secondary Education and Dance in 1998. She has received her MA in teaching and leadership and recently earned her MA in reading and literacy. Nikki has studied at Dancenter North, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and Dupree Jazz Forum, as well as under Homer Bryant, Robert Sherry, Pam Boling and Russel Sultzbach of American Ballet Theatre. She performed in the 1993 World Cup Opening Ceremonies and starred in an Ameritech commercial. Nikki currently coaches and choreographs for the award winning Varsity Pom Squad at Libertyville High

TARA LEADERBRAND (Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre) began her training at Dancenter North and went on to receive a BA in Elementary Education and Dance at the University of Iowa in 2007. While in Iowa, Tara was a member of touring performance group Dancers in Company under the direction of Jennifer Kayle and George De La Pena. She was also a member of the contemporary dance company Duarte Dance Works under the direction of Armando Duarte, which performed throughout the state of Iowa. Her choreography was selected and showcased as the undergraduate representative for UI at the American College Dance Festival in 2007.

CHERI LINDELL, MDE (School Director) Dancenter North's founder, studied with the Stone-Camryn Ballet School and was a triple major in theatre, voice and dance at the University of Kansas. She performed on stage and television throughout Europe and the United States. Cheri worked as a choreographer with the Petite Ballet Company, Lake Shore Dance Theatre and served as Artistic Director for Heritage Dance Theatre. Formerly a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, she has also been active in the National Association for Regional Ballet and the Chicago Dance Coalition. Her choreography has been seen at the month-long Dance Chicago Festival at the Athenaum Theatre in Chicago. She is a lecturer and master teacher and has served on the Board of Directors of Main Street Libertyville. She is the proud producer, director and choreographer of The Magic of the Nutcracker and Cinderella.

VALERIE LINDH(Ballet, Tap, Jazz) is an accomplished ballet, jazz and tap performer/choreographer and teaches throughout the Chicagoland area. She received her training in the Chicago area and studied dance at Barat College in Lake Forest. Recently she directed the Dancenter North Senior Jazz Company while Elijah Gibson was on sabbatical. Along with teaching at Dancenter North, Valerie has performed in several DCN productions including The Magic of the Nutcracker as the Nanny and in the Arabian dance, Cinderella and Potpourri. Other accomplishments have beeen guest appearances with Motivity at Links Hall, Solestance, Dance Chicago, Chicago Human Rhythm Project and Six Flags Great America. Currently she is a member of Cartier Collective under the direction of Julie Cartier.

ELIZABETH MCGLEAM (Ballet) was born and raised in Downers Grove, Illinois. She began studying dance at the Salt Creek Ballet Company in Westmont under the direction of Sergey Kozadeyev and Zhanna Dubrovskya. The summer of 2008 was spent at BalletMet’s summer intensive, studying with Gerard Charles and Rebecca Rodriguez while performing Serenade, and as a soloist in Colores de Alma, originally choreographed by Deanna Carter. She graduated from Butler University in May 2010 with a Bachelors of Arts in Dance Pedagogy. At Butler, she had a chance to perform in classical works such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, and Cinderella, along with choreographic works by Marek Cholewa, Cynthia Pratt and Tong Wang. She also traveled with Butler Ballet to St. Petersburg, Russia for a month in 2007, where she performed and took various classes throughout the city. She is extremely passionate about dancing and teaching, and thoroughly enjoys sharing her knowledge and love for dance with others

JANINE NEWMAN (Ballet, Pilates) trained in ballet at the Ellis Duboulay School and continued at the Ruth Page Center. She studied with such ballet greats as Richard Ellis, Larry Long, Dolores Lipinski, Warren Conover and Daniel Duell. For six years, Janine performed in the Chicago Tribune Charities production of The Nutcracker. She also performed in Paquita, Coppèlia and Graduation Ball. Most recently, Janine has performed in the Dancenter North productions of The Magic of the Nutcracker and Cinderella. In addition to her teaching of ballet, Janine is a certified Pilates instructor teaching in the Chicagoland area.

MATT POSPESHIL (Funk, Jazz, Tap) spent 2009 as a performing apprentice with Inaside Chicago Dance. Now he is performing with the Cartier Collective, previously known as Especially Tap Chicago. He graduated from WesternMichiganUniversity with a BA in Dance December 2008. He performed in George Balanchine’s Serenade and excerpts from George Faison’s Suit Otis while attending college. His musical theater credits at Western are West Side Story as the part of Indio and On the Town as a featured dancer. He also previously danced for Six Flags Great America. Matt has been teaching dance for 8 years in the disciplines of Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip-hop, Lyrical & Modern. He also dances with the DJ Company, FLOW Entertainment.

MARIA SCHNEIDER (Vocal) received a B.F.A. in Drama with a Minor in Music from Illinois Wesleyan University. She is a singer, actor, and dancer and has performed around Chicagoland in numerous musicals, including the leads in Evita, Little Shop of Horrors, Hello Dolly, and more. She has also earned an After Dark Award for her ensemble work in Godspell. She has worked as music director for Centerlight Theatre, and for the past 7 years, has been the music director of the Youth Choir at Santa Maria Church. Maria has taught music theatre at Fisher Dance Center and has been a member of the faculty at Santa Maria School, teaching Jr. High Music.

JEN SWANSON (Ballet) – began her dance training at Dancenter North when she was six years old. During her years at Dancenter North she was a member of Heritage Dance Company and performed in eight seasons of The Magic of the Nutcracker, where she held such title roles as Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy, American Beauty Rose and Snow Queen. In 1996, she attended the Joffrey Midwest Workshop in Flint, Michigan, where she studied under Mia Michaels, Judy Rice, Francoise Martinet and John Magnus. In 1998, she attended the City Ballet of San Diego’s Summer Intensive program where she took classes from Gelsey Kirkland, David Howard and Fernando Bujones. In 2000, she was accepted into the Butler Ballet at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Jen graduated from Butler University in 2005 with a BA in Media Arts.

PHYLLIS WARRENDER (Ballet & Tap) received her BFA in Theatre and Dance from Barat College where she was a soloist with the Barat Repertory Company. While attending Barat College she performed in several musical productions. Professionally, she danced at Marriott's Great America, Spectrum Theatre, Dance & Co., and as a soloist with Heritage Dance Theatre. She also performed with Northstage Theatre Company productions of Bye Bye Birdie and Brigadoon and in Dancenter North's The Magic of the Nutcracker and Cinderella. Phyllis has taught dance at Dancenter North since 1983.