About me

I work across multiple roles—as a movement artist and collaborator, dance educator, producer, and choreographer—but each is rooted in the same practice. I have been based in Chicago, IL, since 2016, and how I engage with dance and Chicago’s dance community is always shifting. As an artist, I take on the perspective of a forever-student. My work is process-driven and emotionally grounded, shaped by attention to people, environments, and relationships. I believe dance is a powerful vehicle for understanding the self, and that creating and/or experiencing dance—and dance-making—should not be gate-kept. I practice living in a world where dance is accessible.

Whether I am performing, teaching, producing, or choreographing, I am interested in how we show up in our bodies and minds, how we communicate, and how space, care, and curiosity can support meaningful artistic exchange. These roles are not separate compartments; they inform and challenge one another, creating a flexible, responsive way of working.

This page is organized by role, but you do not need to read it in any particular order.

If you would like a CV/Resume or require any marketing/press material, please contact me.

Movement Artist / Collaborator

I am an observer. I like to get a feel for an environment. There is an awareness of who is in the space. I am often asking myself: What does it mean to observe? What does it mean to simply take someone or something in? What lens do I have on right now?

I am informed by various styles of dance, which has led me to feel most comfortable describing myself as an improviser. My movement choices are emotionally driven. The depth to which I share or offer is highly circumstantial. To share or reveal takes practice.

Collaboration is essential to me. I believe that the more we reveal to others, the more we can learn about ourselves. I enter collaborations with curiosity and an eagerness to learn. To know and understand another person or group of people informs my working style, including uncovering communication strategies together.

I am process-driven. I appreciate and encourage the seminal, no-limitation conversation that comes with it. I want to get to know you and understand how you think and what you value. Trial and error are important to me. I want to live in what isn’t working initially. There is a tendency to edit right away—let’s sit with what makes us uncomfortable. There is probably something there.

Collaborators / Organizations

Amanda Maraist, Aerial Dance Chicago, Ashwaty Chennat, Ayako Kato, Chih-Jou Cheng, Chris Knowlton, Cristal Sabbagh’s Freedom From and Freedom To, Darling Squire, Erin Killmuray, Gabby Martinez, Helen Lee, IS/LAND Performance Collaborative, Ishti Collective, Laksha Dantran, Lakshmi Ramagopal, Mandala Arts, Michael Zerang/Hamid Drake Solstice Concert Series, Scott Rubin, Timothy Buckley, Winged Things Collective and Yanira Castro

Educator

I work with all ages and levels, with the most experience teaching ballet. I teach students as young as five years old, and believe there is no age that is too old to learn. As a teacher, I have just as much to learn as any student in my class. My teaching approach aims to challenge the inherent hierarchical systems and power dynamics often found in learning environments.

My goal as a teacher is to create an environment that acknowledges the role and impact of each person in the room. We all share responsibility for managing the emotional environment—ensuring that we feel comfortable asking questions and engaging directly with one another.

I lead with questions, recognizing that I cannot fully know a student’s experience. I tend to offer observation-based feedback that relates back to a shared and agreed upon goal. I focus on offering tools and strategies that support a deeper awareness of the mind and body, prioritizing safety and practicality.

I am in constant conversation with myself about what "dance technique" is and what it comprises. Dance is physical and emotional; therefore, technique should address both. I guide physical exploration through realistic and consented upon repetition, encouraging a return to a beginner’s mind, humility, curiosity, and perseverance. How we experience class or performance shapes what the body conveys. If dance is a language, artistic expression is an idiom— cultural significance, personal stories, lineage. My role as a teacher is not to determine what is good or bad, but to support students in building their own systems for measuring success in their dance technique. I guide an environment where students explore their joy through dance, their sadness through dance, their anger through dance. We are emotional beings, after all.

Teaching Experience (studio)

Aerial Dance Chicago (2018-present, all levels of Aerial Silks, all levels of Ballet)

Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy (2013, 2022-present, Summer Guest Instructor (All levels, including pre-pointe and pointe)

Chicago Contemporary Dance Theater (2018-2024, Advanced Ballet, Pre-pointe and Pointe Instructor)

DanceLife Center (2015-2016, Intermediate Ballet, Advanced Ballet, Pre-pointe and Pointe Instructor)

Community Workshop / Series

Ballet Unboxed (Chicago, 2024- present, Producer + Educator)

Columbia College “Friday Dance Series” (Chicago, 2025, Open Level Community Ballet Workshop)

University of Michigan SUMMIT: THROUGH HER RISE (October 2023, Open-Level Community Ballet Workshop)

Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, June 2022, Adult Beginning Ballet Workshop)

Walter Payton College Prep High School- Ishti Collective Teaching Artist ( Chicago, 2018-2019, 8-week Indian Dance Workshop)

Producer

As a producer in the Chicago dance community, I prioritize commitment, simplicity, sustainability, collaboration, and tapping into shared resources. Community partnerships are essential. It is rare for a grassroots organization to have all the necessary resources on its own, which is why reciprocity is central to how I build relationships. A project or series should support the people or entities that, in return, offer support, guidance, and care. Producing must feel sustainable—without that, long-term impact cannot occur.

I am drawn to ideas that leave room for variance: simple prompts or themes that allow space for interpretation, creative energy, and individual drive. Accessibility drives my project ideas, and I am especially interested in low-stakes environments. These spaces act as a counter to high-stakes settings such as expensive classes, workshops, or large-scale productions, making participation feel more possible and less intimidating.

The J e l l o Performance Series (founded in 2017) has supported over 200 movement artists by offering a platform to share work that may or may not be in its final form. It is a space to share an idea. I served as a producer for many years, during which time I became the behind-the-scenes force that made the series possible. The intention of J e l l o was always to be passed on. I developed systems that worked for me, and participation was determined on a first-come, first-served basis rather than curatorial selection. When I felt my time as a producer had concluded, the series was passed on to another. Learn more about J e l l o here.

Ballet Unboxed began as an educational platform that approaches ballet holistically—where movement meets dialogue. It explores ballet’s impact by inviting a diverse group of educators to share their relationships to the form and how it has shaped their experiences. Each workshop has taken a different approach, reflecting the unique and personal relationship each facilitator has with ballet and approaches to teaching the form. Read more about Ballet Unboxed here.

At the core of my producing practice is a desire to build with community. I love learning people’s stories—this is what makes us human, and what has driven the arts for centuries. Community-centered projects take time, energy, persistence, and a degree of selflessness to see them through. As I continue to learn about my community—or as it grows—I consistently ask myself: What are the needs? What can I offer? Where do we align?

Choreographer

I choreograph Ballets.

Balletic movement comes to me naturally. By the end of a work’s creation, it may no longer look like ballet, but it remains rooted in that lineage.

When I begin creating new dance work, I do not see choreography as setting exact movement on others. This perspective mirrors how I approach teaching. Dance is a language unique to the beholder, and to understand one another, we must take each other in—through conversation, observation, and shared movement.

Setting choreography is a negotiation. As a choreographer, I bring a vision and ideas I want to explore, but the moment an idea passes through my mouth and becomes a prompt for a dancer, it shifts. I find it exciting to experience a dancer’s interpretation of my vision.

When working with dancers, I deeply value their input. It is my responsibility to clearly communicate the vision and expectations of the work, while also understanding what a performer grasps and what may still be unfolding. I want performers to feel confident in what they are working toward. While I may set specific movements that I created, I always welcome how a dancer reshapes it. Our bodies and abilities are different, and the performance should reflect that.

My approach as a choreographer is no different from how I approach dance education. Artistic expression is what captivates both the audience and the performer. My greatest ask of the dancers I work with is that they tap into their authenticity and commit to it—only then does the work become unquestionable. Artistic expression, for me, is the commitment to self in the present moment. The work I create often carries a narrative or dives deeply into an emotional inquiry, rooted in presence, authenticity, and the lived experience of the performers.