DINA METER
VIRGINIA SMITH
ERIN FLYNN
ZOE KOHLHAGAN
TERESE PIKULA
KELLY ROWE
KELSEY ZAKRZEWSKI
LIZ YERKOVICH
OUR MISSION
To help students build life skills by reinforcing self-confidence, promoting team spirit and teaching responsibility. Through discipline and training we encourage an appreciation for creativity and the art of dance.
DINA METER (DM)
Owner, director and teacher, has been teaching on the south side for over 28 years. Her dance training includes the studios Park Avenue, Gus Giordano and Lou Conte. Mrs. Meter danced professionally for Radio City Music Hall in Kansas City's Starlight Theater. She also competed in several professional ballroom competitions winning the Smooth and Latin Theater Arts divisions 3 years in a row. Dina now teaches the young students at TDC while her daughter Virginia and staff work with the advanced students.
VIRGINIA SMITH (VM)
Artistic director and teacher, received her Associates in Arts degree from Moraine Valley Community College and Bachelors of Science in Education with a dance emphasis from Nothern Illinois University. At Northern, Mrs. Smith choreographed for and perfomed as a soloist with Northern Dance Theater II and Orchesis groups. She has also been seen choreographing and performing locally with several theater groups. Her fondest roll was playing Victoria in Cats. Other credits include soloist and featured dancer with Shallow Cliff Dance Company. Virginia has been with TDC since its opening in 1998.
ERIN FLYNN (EF)
Age: 27
Began Dancing as a child.
Years at Dance Company: 2
Dance Education
B.A. Elementary Education, Dance Minor
Teaching Experience
Teaching & Choreographer, The Studio of Dance, Texas
ZOE KOHLHAGAN (Zoe)
Age: 27
Began Dancing as a child.
Years at Dance Company: 2
Dance Education
JJC alum of 2005 and a 2007 graduate of North Central College, graduating just under Cum Laude Honors, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Musical Theatre Performance.
Teaching Experience
Studied numerous genres of dance with the American Dance Center of Orland Park, where she danced in such festivals as Dance Chicago, alongside Hubbard Street Dance, as well as competing in Dance Olympus Conventions and performing at Six Flags Great America. While at JJC, she participated in Talking With (“Twirler”), Shakespeare’s As You Like It (“Celia”), and South Pacific (“Nellie”). While at North Central, she was a featured dancer in Beauty and the Beast and West Side Story.
Other Training
Currently studies dance at Lou Conte Dance Studio-Chicago
KELLY ROWE (KR)
Began Dancing as a child.
Education
BFA in Musical Theater with minors in Dance and Creative Writing, from Milikin University in Decatur.
Teaching Experience
Over the past 5 years Kelly has instructed dance for many studios and schools including, Mother McAuley's99th Street Summer Theatre program, St. Xavier University: Master Jazz Program, The Dance Workshop of Orland Park, Dance Gallery in Beverly, American Dance Center in Homewood, Southwest School of Dance in Orland, and FIne Arts Stageworks in Palos Heights.
Other Training
Kelly trained with Lou Conte Dance Studio in CHicago, as well as the former "Applause Dance Academy" of Chicago.
Performances
"The Sound of Music", as Leisl, and trained with the exclusive pianist for the famous "Red Head Piano Bar, in Chicago. Illinois TheaterAll-State production of 'Pirates of Penzance', as well as performed on NBC's 2006 reality show:" Grease - You are the one that I want."
TERESE PIKULA (TP)
Began Dancing as a child.
Years at Dance Company: 5
Education
Saint Xavier
Biology / Pre-Physical Therapy
Performances
Walt Disney World Entertainer & Performer
Choreographer of High School Musical, Grease, Mame and Beauty & The Beast
Competitive Cheerleading Team
KELSEY ZAKRZEWSKI (KZ)
Age: 20
Began Dancing as a child at age 5.
Years at The Dance Company: Student from 1999-2009, Instructor since 2007
Education
Lincoln Way East High School, graduated in 2009
University of Illinois at Chicago, undergraduate Kinesiology degree in process with the intent of attending graduate school to obtain her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.
Dance Experience
-During her high school years, she participated in numerous high school and community theatre productions as a dancer, singer, and assistant choreographer.
-At the college level, she had been a member and captain of the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Dancing Flames dance team. Her accomplishments there include placing 2nd in the nation at the Universal Dance Association Competition in Orlando, Florida, performing at the UIC Flames basketball games, and dancing and volunteering for charitable events and opening nights.
Other Training
Although Kelsey does not have a formal degree in dance, her lifetime training, exposure to audiences, performing on stage and her dedication and passion for the art have provided her with the knowledge and ability to share what she has learned with her students.
Performances
Curtain call Community Theatre’s (CCCT) Beauty and the Beast as featured dancer
CCCT’s Peter Pan as featured dancer
CCCT’s Music Man as Zaneeta
CCCT’s Children’s Camp assistant director It’s a Big Big World
Lincoln Way East’s production (LWE) Merrily We Roll Along as featured dancer
LWE’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as featured dancer
LWE’s Songs for a New World as featured dancer and assistant choreographer
LIZ YERKOVICH (LY)
Liz Yerkovich is a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Liz studied at the renowned Broadway Dance Center and has performed in numerous shows in New York including Noises Off, Baby, and Pippin. Upon moving to Chicago in 2002, Liz performed in musicals such as Chicago, A Chorus Line, and Anything Goes and has directed and choreographed productions of BIG the musical, A Chorus Line and RENT. Liz found her passion for children in Chicago teaching at the Glenview and Skokie Park District, Soul 2 Soul Dance in Highland Park and served as the director of dance at The Entertainment Project, a theater conservatory for children located in the heart of the city. She has taught ballet, tap, jazz, modern, poms, hip-hop and musical theater to children ranging in age from three to eighteen. Liz thrives on teaching proper technique to young dancers while focusing on keeping dance the way is is meant to be… FUN!