FACULTY

2026 Teaching Faculty

  • HORTON DANCE TECHNIQUE

    Keesha Beckford began her dance studies in Queens, New York, before graduating cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in American history and a minor in dance. She has performed the choreography of Milton Myers, Teri Lee and Oliver Steele, Danny Herman, Paige Cunningham-Caldarella, Amy Marshall, Michael Foley, and Lorn MacDougal, among others in the U.S. and abroad. Her teaching credits include Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Dance Center Evanston, Charlotte Ballet, the UNC Charlotte dance department, and as a guest teacher for Thodos Dance Chicago. Beckford most recently served as the Youth Programs Manager at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and has been the Dance Lab Program Liaison at the Grainger Academy since 2016.

  • EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR, MPE DIRECTOR, & BUTTERFLY B CHOREOGRAPHER

    Tori Cartee is the founder and director of Solarium Dance Company, a nonprofit company dedicated to inspiring individual change, destigmatizing mental health, and contributing to the betterment of humanity within and beyond its communities. She received a B.A. in Dance with a focus on Dance Performance, Choreography, and Theory from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 2019-2023, she danced with Trifecta Dance Collective, ultimately landing as a Principal Dancer and Choreographer for the company and artistic director of the second and youth companies.

    As a choreographer, her works have been performed across stages in the greater Chicagoland area as well as at festivals and showcases across the nation including Charlotte Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, Wake Forest Dance Festival, Loose Leaves Showcase, Trifecta Dance Festival, Peridance Spring Choreographers’ Showcase, Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Emergence, Detroit Dance City Festival, Noumenon Dance Ensemble’s “In this Neck of the Woods,” the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival of Orlando, FL, CU Dance Festival, Iowa Dance Festival, and Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Women in Dance Festival. Tori utilizes contemporary techniques and improvisational practices for movement generation, resulting in thoughtful, athletic, expansive, and experimental choreographic works.

    As an instructor with over a decade of experience, Tori believes her enthusiastic, authentic teaching style equips her students with the necessary dance and life skills for a career in the arts or otherwise. She prioritizes creating a safe and inclusive learning environment where students of all ages feel emboldened to be themselves. Tori prides herself on establishing a foundation of trust and open-mindedness in the dance classroom, leaving her students feeling open to incorporating a range of dynamics and new skillsets into their dance practice.

  • JAZZ TECHNIQUE

    Alyssa is originally from East Dundee, IL, and trained with the Visceral Studio Company under the direction of Nick Pupillo and Laura Wade. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Movement Science on a merit scholarship in December 2018. At Michigan, she performed works by Ohad Naharin, Shannon Gillen, the University of Michigan dance faculty, among others. During her summers, Alyssa studied with River North Dance Chicago, Backhausdance, Dance Works Chicago, and abroad in Paris.

  • BALLET TECHNIQUE & PARENT SEMINAR SPEAKER

    Carrie began studying dance in Rockford, IL under former Radio City Rockette, Kathy Nelson. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from Mercyhurst University and achieved her MBA degree at the University of Colorado, Denver. While attending Mercyhurst she danced various roles in Carmen, Coppelia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Sylphide, and Raymonda, under the direction of Tauna Hunter. She danced with Milwaukee Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet II, performing in Michael Pink’s Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Romeo and Juliet. Carrie performed in Denver with the David Taylor Dance Theater enjoying soloist and principal roles in works by James Wallace as well as Gregory Dawson’s “Eclipsing Venus.” She has also performed with 7 Dancers, notably in “ART” by Mandy Moore, of the hit television series “So You Think You Can Dance.” Carrie also danced the lead role in 101 Things to do in a Lifetime, featuring choreography by Chantal Robson. During her four year stay at Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Carrie performed numerous works by director Karen Mareck Grundy as well as works by Shannon Lee West, Thang Dao, Autumn Eckman, and Joshua Blake Carter. Carrie originated the role of Alice in Grundy’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

    In 2011 Carrie became the founding director and lead instructor of the School of Missouri Contemporary Ballet. During this time she coordinated DanceReach, offering dance to at-risk youth in the community. In 2013 she co-founded DanceAbility, a program offering dance classes to students with special needs. In 2016 Carrie was appointed Executive & Artistic Director of the Susquehanna Youth Ballet and in her first year mounted a brand-new full-length Nutcracker as well as choreographing new contemporary works for the company. In addition to directing the non-profit SYB, Carrie also assumed the role of Ballet Director at EMC Performing Arts Studio. She has served on the board of the Maryland Council for Dance. She has adjudicated for Energy National Dance Competitions and was a roster member of Impact Dance Adjudicators. Carrie’s original choreography has been performed by students as well as professionals and she has extensive experience instructing and coaching dancers of all ages in ballet, jazz, tap, and modern/contemporary styles. Carrie most recently served four years as full-time Faculty at the Boston Ballet School and is the Artistic Director of Etoile Dance Competition, a nationally touring ballet and concert dance-focused event.

  • MPE BUTTERFLY B CHOREOGRAPHER

    Andi Fitzgerald was born and raised in Woodstock, Illinois. She went on to earn a degree in Dance Business at Anderson University. While there, she worked with artists such as Earl Mosley, Eddy Ocampo and Gregory Hancock. Following her time at Anderson, Andi went off to train with Hubbard Street's Professional Program under the direction of Alexandra Wells. Andi has had the opportunity to perform at the American College Dance Festival's National Gala, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's winter series and New Dance's 2020 Virtual Performance. She has performed in various projects around the Chicagoland area, such as guesting in multiple films with Purus Motus. She has recently been diving into her choreographic career. Her work has been shown at many festivals over the past few years, such as Trifecta Dance Festival, Elpis Dance Festival and Iowa Dance Festival. Andi has also been teaching for over seven years, sharing her love for dance to students of all ages. She is currently working with Trifecta Dance Collective and Solarium Dance Company.  Andi believes deeply in the transformative impact of movement and the countless values that dance offers. She is grateful to continue on in her career, blending together her passion for teaching, choreographing and performing!

  • TAKE FLIGHT & MPE CHRYSALIS CHOREOGRAPHER

    Born and raised in Papillion Nebraska, Annalee Larsen grew up dancing with American Midwest Ballet’s second company, and competing with Bellevue Dance Academy. She spent breaks training with Dance West, American Dance Festival, Next Generation Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Chicago, as well as Ballet Nebraska, and Oklahoma City Ballet on scholarship. She performed with the Live Entertainment Company at Kansas City theme park, Worlds of Fun. In 2022, Annalee graduated with honors from The University of Kansas with a BFA in dance performance and pre-physical therapy. She received the dance and theatre program’s jump start award, Loren Kennedy scholarship, and Lee Family scholarship. Aside from her own dancing, she also has developed a love for teaching from her work at numerous studios in Kansas, Nebraska, and now Chicagoland, as well as a passion for choreography from work in studios, competition teams, and live theatre. Since moving to the Chicago area, she has been grateful to dance for Trifecta Dance Collective as a principal dancer, a guest artist for Ballet Legere, numerous independent projects, and recently as a company dancer for Solarium Dance Company.

  • MPE CATERPILLAR CHOREOGRAPHER

    Katherine (Kate) Moorhouse was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She began her dance training with the Dance and Music Academy under the direction of Krissie Odegard Geye. Kate supplemented her year-round training with summer intensives at the Cecchetti Council of America, Fort Wayne Ballet, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Orlando Ballet School, and UNCSA Professional Studies Intensive. She continued her dance education by attending The Chicago High School for the Arts as a dance major, where she worked with Kim Sagami, Ted Seymour, Sarah Ford Thompson, and Maan Almodovar. In 2018, Kate was invited to join Trifecta Dance Collective as a Student Apprentice and performed with the company across the Chicagoland area and in New York City during high school. Following graduation, Kate moved away from Chicago to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She recently obtained her BFA in Contemporary Dance and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship in May 2023. While at UNCSA, she has trained with Brenda Daniels, Sean Sullivan, Kira Blazek Ziaii, Ming-Lung Yang, Ashley Lindsey, and Abigail Yager. Her performance highlights include works by Igal Perry, Shen Wei, José Limón, Juel Lane, Gaspard Louis, Kira Blazek-Ziaii, Wesley Williams, Mariana Oliveira, and Ashley Lindsey. Kate also had the pleasure of collaborating with Garen Scribner and Danielle Rowe in their 2021 dance parody, “Swan Lake: Cancelled” and their upcoming parody film, “Shellbreaker.” Additionally, Kate is the choreographer of the first-ever musical film from UNCSA’s School of Film, “Homer: Great Teller of Tales” in 2022. She was one of the founding members of UNCSA Live, an interdisciplinary student-led group that put on shadow cast performances for the student body, where she served as co-choreographer and dance captain. In 2021, she was invited to become a member of Trifecta Dance Collective’s second company, TDC2, for their inaugural season. She made her debut with TDC2 at Trifecta Dance Festival in March of 2022.

  • CONTEMPORARY HIP-HOP

    A native of Elgin, Illinois & first generation Mexican-American, Christian Sosa started dance at the age of 15 in high school in the style of Hip Hop and choreography. He later expanded his training in various Latin styles at Ivangel Dance Studio (Elgin, IL) and broadened his training in classical styles such as Jazz, Ballet & Contemporary at Urban Dance Concept (Elgin, IL). Christian has been a part of various dance companies as a member and in directive roles with Ascension Performing Arts (Chicago, IL), DLD Professional Dance Company (Downers Grove, IL), and CODA (Chicago Onyx Dance Alliance)(Chicago, IL) who is the current host team of @preludemidwest

    He is currently one of the Executive Directors for CODA (Chicago Onyx Dance Alliance) and dances professionally on the Chicago Bulls’ Entertainment team, 312 Crew @bulls.entertainment, going on his second season where he performs at multiple home games at the United Center.

    Christian is also a faculty member for Activate Your Artistry Dance Convention teaching various styles including Latin alongside his partner, Karen Arreola. Christian has also been brought on to teach for other conventions such as Metamorphosis Fearless Evolution.

    Christian also works as a Certified Surgical Technologist and strongly advocates for finding balance between different careers. He has a love for helping all students feel welcome and pushes towards an education-driven style of teaching to showcase the respect and history dance movement has evolved into today.

  • CONTEMPORARY

    Abigail Stachnik is a dance artist, choreographer, and educator based in Chicago, IL. She earned her BFA in Dance with Honors from the University of the Arts in 2015. After graduation, she moved to Chicago and joined the Lou Conte Scholarship Program under the direction of Claire Bataille. Abigail is currently dancing and collaborating with Symbiosis Arts and Still Inspired. Previously she has danced with various companies, projects, and choreographers including Hattie Haggard Gobble, Moonwater Dance Project, MitchellMovement, Jessica Miller Tomlinson Choreography, Cocodaco Dance Project, Marlene Skog Dance, Chicago Repertory Ballet, and others.

    Abigail has choreographed new works for The LAUNCH Chicago, Movementum Dance Project, Trifecta Dance Collective, and Simantikos Dance Chicago. Her choreography has also been presented at Moonwater Dance Project’s Phases, Alluvion’s Emergence, Take Up Space dance festival, the College of DuPage’s Choreography Showcase, and Simantikos’ Choreo Kick-Of.

    Abigail shares her passion for dance by teaching classes and intensives in the Chicago area. She teaches on faculty at Duet Dance Academy and Talent Forum, where she is also director of Forum Dance Theatre’s second company. Her past experiences include roles as assistant director of Auroris Dance Company at Niles North High School and Artistic Director of Moonwater Youth Company during its inaugural season.

  • JAZZ TECHNIQUE

    Katie Zale is a Chicago-based dance artist, educator, and arts leader originally from South Elgin, Illinois. She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois, where she developed a strong foundation in contemporary movement and collaborative performance.

    Zale danced with Inaside Chicago Dance for four seasons, performing in new works and repertory while also assisting with the company’s Youth Training Program, where she helped mentor and support the next generation of dancers.

    She is currently in her fourth season as Co-Artistic and Executive Director of The LAUNCH Chicago, a nonprofit contemporary dance company dedicated to creating performance opportunities for emerging artists and fostering community through movement. Through her work as both a performer and director, Zale is passionate about cultivating a supportive and inclusive dance environment that encourages artistic growth, collaboration, and creative exploration.