BIRUTE BARODICAITE
Ballet Instructor
Birute trained with Richard Ellis, Christine DuBoulay, and Larry Long. Ms. Barodicaite danced with the Chicago Ballet in France, Austria, and Germany. Ms. Barodicaite has staged Ruth Page's Nutcracker, Con Spirito by Jim Clouser, for Chicago Ballet. In addition to teaching for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for many years, she has taught in Lithuania for Lithuanian National Ballet, Ballet Moscow in Idaho, and Chattanooga Ballet. She presently teaches at LCDS, Ruth Page's, Joel Hall, is the ballet mistress for Civic Ballet of Chicago, and has been a guest teacher for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Grand Rapids Ballet as well as HSDC in New York.

CLAIRE BATAILLE
LCDS Associate Director; Ballet Instructor
Claire was a founding member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She has been teaching dance in Chicago since 1975. She is currently on the faculty of HSDC, Lou Conte Dance Studio and River North Dance Company. Claire became a certified Pilates instructor in 2003 with Romana’s Pilates in New York. In September of 2005, she became the Associate Director of LCDS. The best job of all is being mom to her two sons, Isaac and Jack.

BARRY BENNETT
Accompanist
Barry is a native of Arkansas, holds a BFA in performance and resides in Chicago. He is the founder of the improvised art rock ensemble, MiLkBabY. You can listen, learn and adopt CD's by visiting milkbaby.net. In addition to performing regularly with a wide array of groups in various capacities in the Chicago area, Barry has created theatre and dance scores for folks like The Aardvark, Chicago Dramatists, Chicago Moving Company, Asimina Chremos, Estrogen Fest, Flush Puppy, Heartz & Bonies, National Pastime, NEXT Dance, PROP, Steppenwolf, Writer's Theatre and others. He has been a modern dance accompanist all over town for quite a few years and would like to thank all the dancers he watches toil everyday. Their dedication is inspiring.

CHRIS COURTNEY
Hip-Hop/Funk Instructor
Chris began his hip-hop dance career in 1998 as a breakdancer and then joined the national company Culture Shock Chicago. Chris began teaching in 2000 and has taught at the Columbia College Chicago, Beverly Arts Center, Old Town School of Folk Music, LCDS, Grant Elementary School, Crunch Fitness, the Chicago Cultural Center and Danza Viva. During his dynamic career, Chris has shared the stage with Ludacris, Camron, Chicago Dance Crash, Busta Rhymes, Stick and Move, LIFE, Fivestar Boogie, Common and Kanye West. He plans to expand his knowledge of dance and continue to influence those around him.

ARIANE DOLAN
Jazz Instructor
Ariane has been on the faculty of LCDS since 1996. She began her training at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park. She began taking classes at LCDS in 1981 when the studio was still on Hubbard Street! In 1983 she joined the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, with whom she performed until 1994, afterward joining the faculty, teaching ballet and Graham technique. Currently, she is a music theatre performer and has worked at the Mariott Lincolnshire Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, and the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. She has a BA in theatre from Roosevelt University.

GLENN EDGERTON
Ballet Instructor
Edgerton joined HSDC after an international career as a dancer and director. He began his dancing career at The Joffrey Ballet where, mentored by Robert Joffrey, he performed leading roles in the company's contemporary and classical repertoire for 11 years. In 1989, Edgerton joined the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater, and after dancing for five years retired from performing to become artistic director of the main company, leading NDT1 for a decade and presenting the works of Jirí Kylián, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Jorma Elo, Johan Inger, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, among others. From 2006 to 2008, he directed The Colburn Dance Institute at The Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. In 2007, Edgerton initiated a series of collaborations between The Colburn School and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Glenn joined HSDC’s artistic leadership team full-time as associate artistic director in 2008 and now, as artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, will guide the company forward, building on more than three decades of artistic leadership from both Lou Conte and Jim Vincent, whose extraordinary work has established the company as a leader in dance performance, education and appreciation.

PATTI
Ballet Instructor
Patti studied in California, Maryland, and on full scholarship at the American Ballet Theatre School in New York. She performed with the Lyric Opera Ballet and was a founding member of the Chicago City Ballet. She danced with Ballet Chicago from its inception in 1987 until 1993, performing in George Balanchine's Square Dance, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, and Rubies. She has danced principal roles in Balanchine's Steadfast Tin Soldier and Stuart Sebastian's Rodin, and she was featured in Daniel Duell's Seven Poetic Waltzes, Verdi Divertimenti, and Octet à Tête, which was televised on WTTW/Channel 11. She also has appeared in Gordon Pierce Schmidt's Brahms Quintet in G Major and was a featured soloist in By Django and in the Ruth Page Foundation's production of The Nutcracker. She was on the faculty of the School of Ballet Chicago from 1995 to 2001 and is on the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance Board of Directors.

JEFF HANCOCK
Jazz Instructor
Jeff is originally from Michigan, but he has lived and worked all over the world. He is currently Associate Director of Same Planet Different World Dance Theater. He was a founding member and principal dancer for River North Chicago Dance Co. from 1991-2001. He also danced for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dance Kaleidoscope, Jan Erkert & Dancers, WatsOn Dance, and others. He has had the pleasure of performing the works of Paul Taylor, Daniel Ezralow, Twyla Tharp, William Soleau, and others. He has appeared in numerous musicals and toured internationally with WatsOn Dance and Disney. Jeff is currently on faculty at Columbia College and several other studios. He has taught master classes nationally and internationally, at Ballet Nurnberg, University of Arizona Tucson, Ohio Northern University, and most recently at Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. His choreography has been set on River North Chicago Dance Co., Hubbard Street 2, Same Planet Different World, Ohio Northern University, Chicago's Next Dance Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, and numerous regional companies. He was nominated for Ruth Page Awards for his dancing and his choreography.

WINIFRED HAUN
Modern Instructor
Winifred received the major part of her ballet training from Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay and the major part of her modern dance training from Randy Duncan and Harriet Ross. She performed as a soloist with the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre (JHCDT) from 1985 to 1991. In 1991 Wini founded her own modern dance company, Winifred Haun & Dancers. She has won numerous awards for her dancing and choreography, including a Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Dance Community. Wini has taught modern dance and dance composition at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, Dance Center at Columbia College, University of Nevada, Illinois Wesleyan University and at numerous festivals and workshops worldwide. She holds a B.A. degree in Theatre/Dance from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

TARYN KASCHOCK RUSSELL
Ballet Instructor
Kaschock Russell was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1995 and spent seven years performing and touring extensively with the company. During that time, she expanded her artistry by dancing the principal roles in classic works by Agnes DeMille, George Balanchine, Martha Graham and John Cranko. She was also the first woman outside of David Parsons company to dance his signature solo Caught. Kaschock joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2002 and the following January was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” Her repertoire, while dancing with HSDC, included master works by Jirí Kylián, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe and Ohad Naharin. Kaschock also found much growth and inspiration participating in numerous original creations while a member of the company. In 2007, Kaschock became a member of HSDC’s artistic staff and began teaching company class, conducting rehearsals and re-setting choreography. Recently named the  Director of Hubbard Street 2, she also now coordinates HSDC’s National Choreographic Competition as well as nurtures the growth of promising young artists.

REBECCA LEMME
Ballet, Modern and Jazz Instructor
Rebecca Lemme is a recent graduate of Princeton University, where she received a B.A. in English with a concentration in Theatre and Dance. Artistic Director of BodyHype Dance Company and a member of the modern dance department, while at Princeton she studied contemporary dance under Ze’eva Cohen and Diann Sichel. Additionally, she was a 2002 recipient of the Francis LeMoyne Page Theater Award. Currently a member of Instruments of Movement and Hedwig Dances, she has apprenticed with River North Dance Chicago and performed with numerous independent choreographers throughout Chicago. Rebecca’s early training was at the Von Heidecke School of Ballet where she trained under Kenneth von Heidecke and Sherry Moray. She has also studied at Boston Ballet, Summer Stages Dance and ODC/San Francisco.

TERENCE MARLING
Ballet Instructor
From Chicago, Illinois, Marling began his ballet training in 1982 at the Ruth Page School of Dance under the direction of Larry Long. In 1994, he joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater directed by Patricia Wilde, where he performed leading roles in Don Quixote, Glen Tetley’s Le Sacre du Printemps, Balanchine’s Rubies, Ohad Naharin’s Tabula Rasa, Paul Taylor’s Airs and Jirí Kylián’s Return to the Strange Land. Marling also originated roles in ballets by Kevin O’Day, Dwight Rhoden, Ib Andersen, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Robert Hill. Directors O’Day and Dominique Dumais invited him to join the Nationaltheater Mannheim in Germany in 2003, where he participated in the creation of ten works. Marling joined HSDC in April 2006 and is continuing to choreograph and teach in his spare time.

SLAVA MENDELSON
Accompanist
Slava was born in Odessa, Ukraine and graduated from Latvian Conservatory with a master's degree in piano. He won first prize in a Rachmaninov Competition and second prize in Republican, in addition to receiving honors at several other regional competitions. After immigrating to the United States in 1980, Slava established his residence in Chicago and currently teaches piano and is a solo performer as well as an accompanist. Since 1980, Slava has worked extensively with such companies as Boitsov Ballet, Dance Space, Ellis-DuBoulay School of Ballet, Gus Giordano Dance Center, and Lou Conte Dance Studio.

EDDY OCAMPO
Jazz Instructor
Eddy started his dance training at the University of Illinois as an elective for his pre-medical studies. After finding his new calling in life, he quickly changed majors from pre-medical to dance and theater. While in college, Eddy worked in the Chicago musical theater circuit where he performed in such shows, as West Side Story, Carousel, The King and I and It's a Wonderful Life, to name a few. He also studied under ballet masters Homer Hans Bryant of Dance Theater of Harlem, Pamela Johnson Tanis of the Joffrey Ballet, as well as jazz masters Frank Chavez and Sherry Zunker of River North Chicago Dance Company. After college, he danced with the Joel Hall Dancers, River North Chicago Dance Company and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, where he danced the remaining years of his performing career. After moving to Los Angeles for two years to pursue a film and television career, Eddy returned to Chicago to serve as school director of the Giordano Dance Center, as well as director of Giordano II and scholarship director for three years. As a master jazz teacher, Eddy has taught in Europe, Mexico, Canada, the Russian Republic and throughout the U.S. Eddy is also the founding artistic director of the American Jazz Dance Festival-New Generation in the Russian Republic and continues to travel to Russia yearly to spread his passion of jazz dance to many who may have never been exposed to the art form. As a choreographer, Eddy's works can be seen on such companies as Houston Metropolitan Dance Company, Odyssey Dance Company (Salt Lake City, UT), Kannon Dance (St. Petersburg, Russia), Lisa Clark Dancers (San Francisco, CA), Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and many regional ballet companies across the U.S. He has also worked with recording artist Josie Aeillo, Suzanne Palmer and soon-to-be-released London artist, Affe Adel. Eddy has worked with such choreographers as Gus Giordano, Randy Duncan, Frank Chavez, Sam Watson, Sherry Zunker, Wade Robson, Joe Tremaine and Liz Imperio. He has made guest appearances with the Kalamazoo Ballet, Augusta Opera, Cerqua Rivera Art Experience, Terpsichore Dancers, LaJazz Dance as well as appeared in many television and film cameos. Eddy currently works as an independent teacher and choreographer for his own production company, Bento Box Productions, and resides in Chicago, IL.

DIONNA PRIDGEON
Jazz Instructor
Dionna PridGeon received her B.A. in dance from Point Park University (PA) in May 2004. Dionna is a recipient of the Future Star Award from Dance Spirit Magazine, a full scholarship through Monsters of Hip Hop, an invitation to Janet Jackson’s private audition in L.A, and is now represented by Lily’s Talent Agency/Clear Talent Group. Currently, she performs with Dance2xs Chicago and also works with pillowproject dance company in Pittsburgh. Dionna has been on staff at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for about 2 years now. She is a teaching artist for the Education Program in partnership with D.A.R.E. and Kraft Foods. In addition, she also teaches dance at 5 other facilities around the city of Chicago suburbs. Aside from teaching, Dionna has had the privilege to perform works by well-known choreographers, such as Robert Battle, Kim Bears-Bailey, Danny Burchezchi, Lou Conte, Carmen deLavallade, Daniel Ezralow, Kevin Iega Jeff, Donald McKayle, Mark Morris and Margo Sappington. Her other performance credits include Congo Square’s production of Black Nativity at The Goodman Theatre, December 2005.

WILFREDO RIVERA
Jazz Instructor
Wilfredo is the Associate Artistic Director and Choreographer in Residence of the critically acclaimed Cerqua Rivera Art Experience, an ensemble of dancers and musicians dedicated to combine live music and dance performance with the visual artwork of Matt Lamb. To date, he has created 15 multi-art ensemble pieces to much critical acclaim. Mr. Rivera's choreography received the 2001 After Dark Award for CRAE's "The American Plan." He is also the recipient of the 1997 Jeff Citation Award for original choreography in Bailiwick's theater production of "Nagasaki Dust." He is a founding member and former soloist of River North Dance Company and is featured in the Emmy winning PBS special Reality of a Dreamer. Other Chicago concert credits include Trinity Irish Co., Randy Duncan, The James Kelly Project, Ginger Farley, and numerous independent projects. Commercially, Mr. Rivera was a featured dancer in music videos for recording artists Valentina and Jamie Principal and has performed in productions featuring Diana Ross, Oprah Winfrey, Liza Minelli, and Ben Green. He served as Talent Coordinator for the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas in the Air national tours 1997 and 1998 and was featured choreographer for Nordstrom's store's grand opening Gala in 2000. He choreographs and performs in numerous industrials, fashion shows, corporate and commercial events both regionally and nationwide. Mr. Rivera collaborates with Columbia College Theater and Music Departments, serving as choreographer for numerous productions. As a teacher/coach, he assisted in creating the syllabus for the class: Movement for Actors. In addition, he also choreographs and/or is a featured dancer for Springfield Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet School.

MOLLY SHANAHAN
Modern Instructor
Molly is the Founder and Choreographer for Mad Shak Dance Company in Chicago. She holds a B.A. in Dance and English from Denison University, and an M.A. in Dance from The Ohio State University. She has choreographed over 35 dances and has created commissioned work for students at universities throughout the Midwest and for the Repertory Project (Cleveland, Ohio). In 2002, her work was selected to appear at the 8th Rencontres Choreography Gathering in Austin, Texas. In addition to teaching at LCDS, she teaches at Northwestern University and The University of Chicago.

JUMAANE TAYLOR
Tap Instructor
Jumaane has performed side-by-side with Bril Barrett and Martin Duman II in festivals all over the US and had the opportunity to study and share the stage with Savion Glover, Dianne “Lady Di” Walker, Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Robert Reed, Van “The Man” Porter, Idella Reed, Jeni LeGon, Jay Faygon, Jimmy Payne Jr. and Ted Levy. Jumaane has also traveled to Oklahoma, Florida and Michigan and has performed in tap festivals such as the St. Louis Tap Festival and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. Currently, Jumaane is teaching choreography and performing with his crew, M.A.D.D. Rhythms, founded by Bril Barrett and Martin Duman III. Together, they will teach the world how to tap dance.

ELENA TUMANOVA
Accompanist
Elena graduated from the Moscow Academy of Music (previously Gresin's Music State Institute) with degrees in three departments: piano, composing, and sound engineering. Ms. Tumanova worked as a pianist with such teachers and choreographers from Bolshoi Theater as Natalia Sacharova and Tatyana Petzova, in private ballet schools, and with School Years, an ensemble of folk and classical dance. She also worked as a sound engineer at Moscow Radio Home. In 1997, Ms. Tumanova moved to the US, and she currently works with Salt Creek Ballet Company, Gus Giordano Dance Company, and the Dance Center of Columbia College.

TRAE TURNER
Hip-Hop/Funk Instructor
Trae realized his passion for dance, choreography and teaching early in life after he began break dancing with the J-Town Breakers. Having grown up in urban America with limited hip-hop classes or instructors, Trae developed an expressive, unfiltered style that reflects his experiences and combines commercial pop with raw Hip-Hop movements such as B-Boy style and California hip hop. Trae has taken master classes from the top Hip-Hop choreographers on the West Coast such as: Theresa Espenosa (Janet Jackson), Wade Robson (‘N SYNC, Britney Spears), Super Dave, Havic, Dante, Jason Wright, Sleepy (You Got Served) and Sky Hoffman (Justin Timberlake) and trained locally with Angela Molsson, Matt Maclenden (The Collective, Lil Brat Ent.) and Lisa Torres (OSU, The Collective). As founder of and choreographer for The Collective Hip Hop, the only multi-cultural, professional, all adult crew in Chicago and the official dance crew for the Midwest chapter of the Ruff Ryders, Trae performs regularly, most recently with The Collective College Tour, The Showcase of Life and with rapper Sasolina, among other benefits, events and competitions. Trae has also performed across the nation with the interactive entertainment company Charizma and Revelation Productions, where he trained dancers and choreographed for clients. He has also taught at Jays Day Camp and Mazur Dance Studio.

LAURA WADE
Ballet Instructor
Laura currently is Ballet Mistress for River North Chicago Dance Company, is on faculty at Northwestern University's Dance Program, and teaches at LCDS and the Evanston School of Ballet. For many years, she taught at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance and through the last ten years has been a frequent guest teacher of company class for HSDC. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, Ms. Wade began her dance training at the Toledo Ballet School under Velta Cernonok and Marie Vogt. She went on to receive a Bachelor's degree in Dance Education from Indiana University, studying under Marina Svetlova, Anna Paskevska, Colin Russell, and Kenneth Melville. Nicholas Beriosov cast her in soloist roles in the ballets he staged and was quite an inspirational figure. Since moving to Chicago, Ms. Wade has trained primarily with Larry Long. Other influential teachers have been Warren Conover, Bella Lewitzky, Nana Shineflug, Maya Plisetskaya, Patricia Neary, Ohad Naharin, and Kerry Hubata. For nine years, Ms. Wade was the Artistic Director of the AKASHA Dance Company. Under her leadership, this repertory company commissioned original works from choreographers such as Austin Hartel (Pilobolus), Claire Bataille (HSDC), Ginger Farley (HSDC), Martin Kravitz (Batsheva Dance Company of Israel), and Nora Reynolds (Lar Lubovitch Dance Company). In addition to extensive touring throughout the Midwest, AKASHA also performed throughout England and at the Edinburgh Festival. In cooperation with the Urban Gateways program and the Illinois Arts Council, AKASHA's sought-after outreach program took the company to schools throughout Chicagoland, reaching over 400,000 children. Ms. Wade was a soloist in Ruth Page's The Nutcracker for fifteen years and has danced with David Dorfman, Robin Lakes/Rough Dance, The Moose Project, Scott Putman, Ballet Chicago, and Louisville's Ballet Espanol.

VLADISLAV YEVSTRATOV
Accompanist
Vladislav graduated from Moscow State Institute of Music in 1980 and worked as a ballet pianist at the Academy of Dance in Moscow. He has also worked as a guest ballet pianist in Austria and in Finland for ballet seminars from 1994 to 1999. Since moving to the US in 1997, Mr. Yevstratov has been working with such Chicago-area ballet schools as Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance, Ballet Chicago, the Academy of Movement and Arts, and Salt Creek Ballet.