Current CBLS Dancers

René is a strong and expressive dance artist and movement educator from Baltimore, MD. With passion and gratitude at the forefront, they value empowerment, balance, and expansion in their artistic practice. Since earning their BFA from Towson University, and their RYT200 from YogaCentric, they have danced with the Ruth Page Center, Dissonance Dance Theatre, and the Dance Institute of Washington. They have performed at esteemed venues across Chicago and the DMV, including RAVINIA, Chicago Danztheatre, Atlas Arts Intersections Festival, and The High Hall.

Ashton Craven is a Chicago-based contemporary and tap artist. She discovered her passion for dance at age three at Dancenter North in Libertyville where she trained with Stacy Keller, Julie Cartier, Matt Pospeshil, Greg Begley, and Victoria Barlow. Ashton also had the privilege of performing for two years in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade through the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. 

A recent graduate from the University of California-Irvine, Ashton has a BA in Dance and a BS in Biological Sciences. She studied under Charlotte Griffin, Molly Lynch, Lar Lubovitch, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Tong Wang, and Diane Diefenderfer at UCI. Throughout her time in college, Ashton was interested in investigating the overlap between the arts and sciences. Based on research done by the Microbial Evolution lab she trained in, Ashton created a dance film using contemporary movement to explain complex scientific topics. She hopes to continue exploring how information can be made more accessible through dance and is excited to be back in Illinois!

Elayne Podolske is a contemporary and classical ballet artist based in Chicago, Illinois. She gained her early training in ballet, jazz, modern and tap at the Dance Academy of Libertyville under Amy Rose, Rob Lane, Lisa Sheppard Shipman, Phil Brooks, Emily Winkler and Katie McCann. She has attended many summer programs and workshops with companies such as Milwaukee Ballet, Joffrey Academy of Dance, A&A Ballet, Ballet West, River North, Visceral Dance Chicago and DanceWorks Chicago. Upon graduating, she joined Fort Wayne Ballet as a trainee where she

performed in classical and contemporary works. She came back to Chicago by invitation to join Ruth Page’s Training Program in their inaugural season. While in the program she had the pleasure to work with Dolores Long, Birute Barodcaite, Rigo Sauro, Maray Guterriez & Victor Alexander. During that year she also traveled to dance and train with international schools InColBallet in Cali, Colombia and Escuela de Música y Danza in Coruna, Spain. During a short season as an apprentice with Ballet Quad Cities she helped run outreaches to local schools and performed in

regional tours with the company. Elayne then joined Ballet 5:8 as a trainee in 2020, followed by a promotion to the second company. She was then offered a company position with Central Illinois Ballet where she performed in Rebekah von Rathonyi’s The Nutcracker and an original ballet of Les Miserables as well as works by Jessie Williams and Dyson. Ramey. Elayne also worked as Operations Manager for their school where she organized fundraising events and co-directed outreach performances for local Peoria schools. Elayne is passionate about bringing dance to all audiences and is excited to be back in the Chicago area moving and grooving once again!

Julia Castillo Ungar is a Colombian multidisciplinary dancer who sees performing art as a catalyst for positive social and community transformation. She graduated in 2025 from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá with a degree in Performing Arts, where she focused on the body as a critical and expressive tool to spark dialogue around the intimate and the political.

Julia is the recipient of the Florecimiento Creation Fellowship – Collective Dance Creation at the REJUNTE Festival for emerging women in dance, and the Independent Bookstore Strengthening Grant of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge, through which she taught theatre to children as part of a broader mission to strengthen cultural spaces. Her work moves across disciplines, blending performance and presence to create projects that expand the boundaries of the stage while nurturing collective imagination, dialogue, and belonging.

Kalie Ferry is an artist, choreographer, performer, and instructor. She received her BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle Washington. She has been a company member of Metamorphosis Dance Company, Elemdi Performance Collaborative, and Balliamo Dance Collective. She has taught contemporary, jazz, and ballet to professional dancers in Rhode Island for several years, and has just moved to Chicago. Kalie is a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor, and nutrition coach through the International Sports Science Association. As an artist, Kalie is interested in exploring opposing energies of bound and free movement, while honoring the importance of anatomical sustainability. Kalie identifies as a dancer who pushes the boundaries of tradition to make space for mental, emotional, and physical health in the dance world.

Lauren Willmann is from Dallas, Texas, and began her serious training with the International Conservatory of Performing Arts Pre-Professional Company under the direction of Geralyn Del Corso Gardner and Jamie Thompson. Lauren continued her higher education at Oklahoma City University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Pedagogy (American Dance Teacher). After graduating, Lauren was the Performance Team director at McKinney Dance Studio. She has taught classes: creative movement, ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip hop, and musical theatre to various ages at numerous dance studios across Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. She is very passionate about dance and inspiring the future generation of dancers. Lauren currently tours as an assistant teacher with the Manhattan Dance Project convention with Bill Hotaling, and the ConnXion Experience convention with Suavé. She’s also currently a company dancer with the Hip Hop ConnXion HQ Family under the direction of Suavé. She’s grateful to be a recipient of CMC's Claire Bataille Legacy Scholarship and excited to continue her training in Chicago.

Mary Swansburg is originally from Boston, MA. She began her training at L’Ecole de Ballet and the MA-based ballet company, Dance Prism. She performed with Dance Prism’s corps de ballet in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty, among a variety of other ballets, and was promoted to apprentice company member in 2017. Mary went on to graduate from Wheaton College, MA (no affiliation with Wheaton College, IL) where she majored in English and Psychology and minored in Dance. At Wheaton, Mary studied primarily under Cheryl Mrozowski, Leticia Guerrero, and Andrea Taylor-Blenis. As a member and eventual Captain of the college’s dance company she had the opportunity to work with choreographers across New England such as Diane Arvientes, Kurt Adametz, and Sarah-Katarina (SKooj CorE-O.) Since graduating in 2022, Mary relocated to Chicago to continue her training with Winifred Haun’s 3rd Coast Contemporary Dance Program, and has been invited back to guest choreograph for the dance department at Wheaton for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons.

Sidney Valdez (she/her) is a multidisciplinary dancer from the Chicagoland area. Sidney grew up dancing at DuPage Dance Academy and graduated from Dickinson College in 2023 where she majored in Dance and Neuroscience and was awarded the Gould Award for exceptional contribution to the Theatre and Dance department. While at Dickinson, Sidney had the pleasure of working with Sarah Skaggs, Erin Crawley Woods, Emie Hughes, and Orange Grove Dance, as well as train with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet instructors including Frances Perez-Ball and Matthew Donnell. During her junior year, Sidney studied abroad at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy where she engaged in exploratory, conservatory style dance theater training under Alessio Trevisani. Sidney currently teaches dance in the Chicago area and writes for SeeChicagoDance.com through the Dance Writer Incubator Program.

Valerie Lowder is a classically trained ballet and modern dancer based in Chicago. She currently dances at CMC. Valerie has been doing ballet for 17 years and Horton-based modern for 10 years. She has also had 2 years of jazz training and has taken a variety of classes in hip hop, contemporary, and African. She spent 6 years in Hyde Park School of Dance’s pre professional company in high school where she danced 15+ hours every week. Throughout her time at Hyde Park School of Dance, she realized that she wants to dance professionally. Valerie is currently pursuing her BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago after which she aims to blend visual arts and dance to create new avenues of storytelling.