Meet Our Dance Instructors!

Amy H - Dance

Amy Hubert

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: All levels
Studio Impulse: Contemporary, Broadway Bound, Jazz, Tap

Amy (she/her) received her formative dance training and performance experience as a student at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet under the direction of Susan Lloyd, Gus Giordano Dance Center, Joel Hall Dance Center and Winifred Haun. She was a member of Prospect High School’s Orchesis program, where she served as President and received several honors for her choreography, including presenting original work at the Illinois High School Dance Festival. She continued to dance at the University of Iowa, studying ballet, modern and jazz and was selected to perform in the annual Dance Gala, performing in well-known pieces of repertoire by Balanchine and Humphrey as well as several original works. Amy also performed in numerous other productions and was a member of Belue Jazz Dance Company. Amy was selected to work with the Joffrey Ballet as the children’s assistant for the Iowa City production of The Nutcracker. Her success in that role lead to her being hired to teach classes through the University of Iowa Talented and Gifted (TAG) ballet program, offering talented young dancers year-round pre-professional ballet training. Upon returning to Chicago, she has passed on her love of dance to students as a teacher for the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet and Studio Impulse. In 2006, she was named Artistic Director of the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet and Studio Impulse and is the Director of MPSCB’s Ballet Expressions performance company. Amy is certified by the Cecchetti Council of America, passing highly commended through Grade IV and earned a scholarship to the Cecchetti Council of America International Summer Workshop. She has also attended several prestigious workshops with master teacher Finis Jhung, Ann Reinking, the Ballet Intensive from Moscow to name a few. Amy is also the choreographer for St. Raymond’s Youth Musical Theater program in Mt. Prospect and has choreographed more than 20 musicals in her career.

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Victoria Baron

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: Princess Ballerinas, Pre-Ballet, Intro to Ballet

Mrs. Vikki began her ballet training with Loretta Jacobs in Northern California. For as long as she can remember, she aspired to be a dance teacher, and was invited to teach under Ms. Jacobs at the age of 16. She continued to teach ballet while attending Southern Illinois University where she was awarded a dance scholarship. At SIU, she studied with Winston Grant Gray and was a member of the Southern Repertory Dance Company, a regional dance company that performed and toured through southern Illinois and Kentucky. After graduating with a degree in communications and a specialization in Dance/Theatre, Mrs. Vikki began teaching ballet at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet (MPSCB). In collaboration with Susan Lloyd, she developed the MPSCB’s Pre-Ballet program into one of the most well-known and highly regarded ballet training programs in the Northwest suburbs. She continues to share her time and talents with the community by directing the St. Raymond Liturgical Dance program, which she originated, providing students additional opportunities to perform and share their love of dance with others.

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Laura Berigan

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: All levels
Studio Impulse: Mini Medley, Kindergarten Combo, Tap & Jazz Combo, Jazz Plus, Broadway Bound, Tap: All levels, Contemporary

Laura (she/her) has been dancing since she was two and can’t imagine a world without it. Laura trained at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet and Studio Impulse from the age of seven and premiered the role of Snow White in MPSCB’s original story ballet Fairest of them All. She graduated from Ball State University in May with a BFA in Dance and is very excited to be back at her home studio to teach! While at Ball State, Laura traveled to New York City to perform with Gibney Dance Company and served as Production Manager for the dance program’s Student Choreography Project where she also had the opportunity to present two original works of her own. She is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with young dancers this year, and believes “Ratatouille” had it right, but in the sense that anyone can dance!

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Linda Berry

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: Junior Ballet, Intermediate Ballet, Advanced Ballet, Adult Ballet, Meet Me at the Barre

Linda comes to the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet (MPSCB) with a wealth of experience and knowledge of ballet. Linda started dancing at the age of four and has continued ever since. She graduated from the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy performing arts high school and went on to dance at the University of Utah where she studied ballet and communications. After graduation, she danced with the Kansas City Ballet before moving to Chicago. She started taking classes with MPSCB and her exceptional technique and artistry caught the attention of director Susan Lloyd who recruited her to join the program’s faculty shortly after that. Linda teaches Junior Ballet through adult levels and her Beginning and Continuing Adult Ballet class is a community favorite. Linda also has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Allison B - Dance

Allison Bulson

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: All levels
Studio Impulse: Contemporary, Broadway Bound, Jazz, Tap

Allison is a graduate of Hope College where she studied Business and Dance, focusing on ballet, jazz, and modern. At Hope College, Allison was a member of StrikeTime Dance Company under the direction of Nicole Flinn and H2 Dance Company under the direction of Matt Farmer and Crystal
Frazier. Allison toured with the companies both domestically and internationally and performed as a featured soloist. She has also trained with the Radio City Rockettes. Allison has danced with Outlet Dance Company in Elk Grove, Illinois, and has taught at various studios in the Northwest suburbs. Outside of dance Allison works at Stryker, a leading global medical device company.

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Susan Lloyd

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: Master Ballet Class Series – Intermediate and Advanced Technique

Ballet has been an important part of Sue’s life for more than 70 years. Her ballet education began in 1950 at a dance school in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. From 1953 through 1968 she studied with Marion Rice and the nationally recognized Carolyn Rice Brown. Mrs. Rice recognized her ability to both dance and instruct by awarding her a teaching position in 1964. Sue attended Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts, earning a degree with a major in Sociology and a minor in Education. She furthered her ballet education after moving to the Chicago area, studying with Libby Komaiko, then under Barry Vancura and Anna Baker. With the exception of a two-year sabbatical, Mrs. Lloyd has been involved with the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet since 1976, where she was the director of the program until 2006. She developed the foundation of MPSCB’s progressive curriculum which has trained many dancers. She directed and produced 27 original ballets, created and directed MPSCB’s traveling ballet troupe Ballet Expressions, created the Trainee Program and originated MPSCB’s master classes, bringing professional dancers to Mt. Prospect to teach. Sue currently teaches MPSCB’s popular Master Ballet Class Series classes and continues to share her passion for ballet with her students.

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Kim Klinger

Studio Impulse: Jazz and Contemporary, Advanced Jazz and Contemporary, Director of Impulse Dance Ensemble

Kim began her dance training at Stevens Dance Studio in Ohio where she studied the Cecchetti method of ballet. She then went on to earn her BA in dance at The University of Akron. Upon graduation Kim, moved to Chicago to dance. She was a member of Innervation Dance Cooperative for several years performing in God Monsters and Heroes and Speaks. She was also a member of Reveries in Motion and Matter of Reaction Dance Project among other Chicago dance companies. She began teaching in Mt. Prospect in 2011 and became the Director of Impulse Dance Ensemble in 2013. Currently, she lives in Berwyn with her husband and two young daughters.

Katelyn R - Dance

Katelyn Reyes

Studio Impulse: Intermediate Jazz and Contemporary, Advanced Jazz and Contemporary, Adult Jazz and Contemporary

It is a full circle for Katelyn – She began her dance training at age four at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet, where she trained for fourteen years and was a member of Ballet Expressions. She expanded to jazz and contemporary classes through Studio Impulse and Elk Grove High School’s
Orchesis program where she served as President and attended the Illinois High School Dance Festival as well as National High School Dance Festival in Miami. Katelyn holds degrees in Dance Teacher Education, Physical Education, and Business Administration from Illinois State University where she served as Vice President of the Illinois State Dance Association and was a part of the Illinois State Dance Theatre performance company. Katelyn also has a Master of Science in Teaching & Learning with a concentration in Health Education from University of St. Francis. She is currently working on her Micro-Credential in Learning Behavior Specialist I from the American College of Education. In addition, Katelyn has her 200-hour Yoga Teacher certification from CorePower Yoga and is an active member with Chicago National Association of Dance Masters (CNADM) and with the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). She serves on the steering committee for Illinois High School Dance Festival as the Professional Company Performance Coordinator. Katelyn also volunteers with Chicago Dancers United, Dance for Life and Dance Divas. She performed as a company member with the Joel Hall Dancers and now teaches full-time at Barrington High School where she teaches dance and directs Barrington High School Orchesis. She co-produces the Giordano Choreography Project with Nan Giordano and Giordano Dance Chicago. Katelyn is grateful to work in education and performing arts. Dance has taught Katelyn how hard work, passion, and dedication can help one achieve success and happiness and Katelyn is thrilled to be giving back to the dance program that started it all!

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Tara Schulz

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: Junior 1 and Junior 2 Ballet

Tara began her ballet career at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet under the direction of Susan Lloyd when she was six years old. She was a member of the Trainee program throughout middle and high school and was an original member of Ballet Expressions, the performing troupe of the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet. Tara continued her ballet studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she graduated with an engineering degree. She began teaching at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet in 1999 and teaches Junior 1 and Junior 2 level ballet classes. Tara finds it tremendously rewarding to teach Junior level dancers as they develop the ballet fundamentals that are critical to developing into a strong intermediate and advanced level ballet dancer. Tara continues her ballet studies by taking MPSCB’s Advanced Technique class each week. She enjoys dancing with the program’s upper-level dancers who trained with her years ago in Junior Ballet.

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Micki Smolenski

Studio Impulse: Kindergarten Combo, Tap & Jazz Combo, Jazz Plus, Broadway Bound, Tap: All levels, Contemporary

Micki began her dance training at three years old at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet and Studio Impulse and was a member of both Ballet Expressions and Impulse Dance Ensemble. At Prospect High School, she was a member of Orchesis, show choir, and served as dance captain for many of the school musicals. She studied modern, jazz and choreography at Miami University alongside Theatre Arts. At Miami, she choreographed four musicals, performed in the dance film, Squared, and devised her own six-part dance concert featuring both dance and poetry for the Miami University Independent Artist Series. In addition to teaching with Studio Impulse, since returning to
Chicago, Micki has choreographed original musicals for the Sigman Brothers theater company.

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Sandy Smolenski

Studio Impulse: Tap & Jazz Combo, Tap: All levels, Adult Tap

Sandy has been studying dance since the age of five.  In addition to studying tap, jazz, and ballet at Lynette's School of Dance in Park Ridge, Sandy studied, performed, and competed in Irish step dance with Pat Moore for several years, earning medals in the Reel.  In high school. Sandy was the Junior Captain and Captain/Trainer of her championship dance team and also performed with the choir and in musical theater productions.  At the University of Illinois at Urbana, Sandy studied jazz dance and performed with and choreographed for musical theater and vocal performance groups. Sandy was a certified fitness instructor for over 20 years and has been teaching tap, jazz, ballet, and adult dance for over 15 years at several local studios. She has also choreographed musicals in several area school districts. Sandy is the mom of two MPSCB/SI dance graduates and is currently a 7th and 8th grade Spanish teacher at a K-8 school where she is also the sponsor of the Dance Club.

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Makayla Staszel Terpstra

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: Princess Ballerinas, Pre-Ballet, Intro to Ballet
Studio Impulse: Mini Medley, Kindergarten Combo, Tap & Jazz Combo, Jazz Plus, Broadway Bound, Tap: All levels, Contemporary

Makayla began dancing at the Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet at the age of five. She was a seven-year member of Ballet Expressions where she also choreographed original works for the company and performed the role of Dorothy in MPSCB’s original story ballet Over the Rainbow. She also performed with Impulse Dance Ensemble, Elk Grove High School Orchesis and Dance Team and the Schaumburg Youth Dance Ensemble.  She attended Point Park University for a year studying Dance with a concentration in Ballet Performance. She currently attends Harper College where she is working on her associate degree in Fine Arts and plans to apply to complete a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology/Exercise Science with a minor in Psychology. Makayla loves teaching dance and connecting each dancer as an individual while having the opportunity to watch them grow and achieve their goals in life and in dance!

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Rachel Vogeney

Mt. Prospect School of Classical Ballet: All levels
Studio Impulse: Advanced Jazz and Contemporary

Rachel graduated with a BA in Dance Performance from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2015. Since returning to Chicago, she has worked with Mordine & Company, AscenDance Chicago and J. Lindsay Brown Dance. Taking advantage of various performance opportunities, Rachel has performed with The Beach Boys and for American Beauty Show to name a few. As a choreographer, Rachel has enjoyed choreographing different styles on dancers from PBAU’s Dance Team, Dancing Waters, AscenDance Chicago and in collaboration with Bailey Johnson and Resonate Dance Chicago. As a certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, Rachel is a Studio Leader at Life Time.