Greg Begley 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.

Christina Bushala began her dance training at the age of 4 at Dancenter North. She attended Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and was the recipient of the CNADM ballet scholarship.  She has had the honor of performing throughout the Chicagoland area.  She attended summer intensive programs for Orlando Ballet and Ruth Page Dance Center.  She attended Point Park Conservatory of Dance, where she studied ballet, jazz, and modern dance.  She then transferred to Illinois State University to complete her Elementary Education degree and Dance minor.  During her time at Illinois State she worked with Denise Vale and Sandra Kaufmann in the re-staging of Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels.  She also danced a lead role in Pas de Quatre and many other original pieces by Sara Semonis, Darby Wilde, and Greg Merriman.  Christina is currently a fifth grade teacher at Hawthorn Elementary North.

A native of Russia, Olga graduated with a Masters degree with Honors from the prestigious GITIS Institute of the Arts in Moscow.  Trained in the Vaganova method, her co-students were such famous dancers as Sergey Radchenko & Maris Liepa (partners of Maya Plisetskya).  Olga performed with the world famous Bolshoi Ballet in both classical & modern roles.  She received her PhD inArt Criticism & worked as a Professor of Choreography at the University of Culture and has also been a master teacher in Russia & Belarus.  Olga came to the U.S. in 2001 joining the DCN staff in 2003.

Franny Komperda grew up in Long Grove, IL. She attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL, where she was very involved in dance. Franny was a member of her high school’s dance company, Repertory. During her last two years in high school, Franny was a Dance Leader for beginner students where she assisted in teaching, choreography, and grading of students. Her instructors, Angela Dauphin and Tiffany VanCleaf guided her through pedagogical practices and grading in contemporary, ballet, and modern styles. Franny received additional dance training in Libertyville, IL, at Dancenter North. She was involved in Jazz, Ballet, and Modern companies. Through her ballet company,she performed in her studio's annual The Magic of the Nutcracker as well as ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and various Balanchine works. She also completed Summer Intensives at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, as well as at Hubbard Street Dance and Giordano Dance in Chicago.  

In May 2021, Franny received a Bachelorof Fine Arts in Dance and an Interdisciplinary Minor in Legal Studies at Colorado State University. She performed in over a dozen works choreographed by colleagues, professors, and guest artists. In her senior year she was cast in a particularly sentimental solo, As Tall As They that featured a dancing projection and choreography in collaboration with her professor, Madeline Harvey. Franny has been educated and trained in teaching essential courses at the University level from professors Judy Bejarano, Grace Gallagher, and Lisa Morgan in Modern Pedagogy, Ballet Pedagogy, and Teaching Creative Movement. Their teachings translated well into her breaks away from CSU where she taught in her hometown to dancers of all ages in various studio settings. After graduation, Franny moved back to the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago to continue her dance training on a professional path through performance, teaching dance, and choreographing works for higher education dance students.

Emily began her dance training at Dancenter North at the age of eight. She attended San Diego City Ballet and Orlando Ballet summer intensives both on scholarship where she was privileged to work with David Howard, Susan Jaffe, Fernando Bujones, and more. Emily was a soloist performer while attending both intensives, but also in Chicago National Associations of Dance Masters which she attended for four years on scholarship. Emily graduated from Western Michigan University with a BA in dance and communication. While at WMU, she performed in Serenade which was staged by Victoria Simon from the New York City Ballet and Balanchine Trust and performed a solo variation in Birthday Variations staged by Willy Shives from the Joffrey Ballet. Emily has spent ten seasons working at Six Flags Great America as a featured performer, choreographer and dance captain of the shows performed in the Grand Music Hall. She has been awarded with the best female dancer of the year award and three Big “E” awards from IAAPA. From 2012-13 Emily was the casting director, choreographer, featured performer and dance captain of the Lady Gaga inspired touring production, Bad Romance. She currently assistant directs "The Magic of the Nutcracker" and coaches the Lake Forest High School JV Dance Team.

Phyllis Warrender 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