Kristin's Dance Biography

I began my “dance training” in kindergarten at a small studio in the Chicago land area. I took classes in tap, jazz, and ballet, and didn’t have a strong love of dance until I got into high school. In 2007, as a freshman, I joined my high schools orchesis dance organization and performed in student works as well as choreographing a two group pieces and a solo. I realized that many of the dancers were at a higher skill level than me, so with advice from my fellow orchesis dancers I found a different studio, and only studied there for two years, until I became aquainted with Midwest Dance Collective.

Midwest Dance Collective is a pre-professional modern dance company under the direction of past Joffrey Ballet Company member, Ellen Werksman. It is at this point in my life that I realized my true passion for dance and ambition to make own contribution to the dance world. Through MDC I was able to perform in collaboration with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago at the Harris Theater, in collaboration with Inaside Chicago Dance, and as a featured guest artist with Ballet Legere. I also performed in pieces choreographed by Zachary Heller (Giordano Dance Company), John Lehrer (Lehrer Dance), Debra Nanni (Dance Motions), Director Ellen Werksman (Midwest Dance Collective).

I am currently a Bachelor of Fine Arts student (contemporary dance) at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I am studying Ballet, Modern, Improvisation, African, theory, and Composition. My professors have included Simone Ferro, Elizabeth Johnson, Dani Kuepper, Janet Lilly, Karissa Skiba, Marsha Parsons, Luc Vanier, Gerald Casel, Christina Briggs-Winslow, Katie Sopoci, Maria Gillespie, Ferne Bronson, and Debra Loewen. At the university I have performed in student works, and works by Janet Lilly, Gerald Casel, guest artists Petr Zahradnicek and currently Stephan Koplowitz. I have also choreographed a fully produced work at the university, and am currently working on an independent study solo.

I am interested in performing for various dance companies throughout the world. I intend to expand my knowledge in the world of dance and art, so that I can form my own choreographic voice and start my own site specific performance company. My interests are broad and I want to expand them further. I am very interested in multi-media collaborations, and site specific dance. I want to bring dance out of the darkness of the theater and into the public world with the same amount of strength as music and visual arts. I think dance is an underappreciated art form, and is not well understood by the public. Therefore, I’d love dance to be in busy public spaces, free of charge, so that people who may not have thought twice about buying a ticket to a dance performance can still be exposed to the art form.