Current CBLS Dancers

Anna Yardley is a contemporary dance artist originally from Miami, Florida. At age 2, Anna started competitive gymnastics and ballet. Her love for ballet eventually took over, and Anna spent the next decade and a half practicing. She trained in many styles at Sarah’s School of Dance in Titusville, Florida. She went to Kent State University to study Art Education, but eventually transferred to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts summer conservatory program with a background in acting and musical theatre. During her time in New York City, she trained and completed workshops at PMT House of Dance and Steps on Broadway. She’s taught ballet, lyrical, and acro and choreographed recital routines to students at Chasing Gravity located in Airway Heights, Washington. Anna has been lucky to train under the likes of Brendan McCall, John Scacchetti, Alex Pepperman, Julia Schaeffer, and Sarah Nelson, and Mack Pereira. Anna identifies as an artist who chooses dance as her medium. She is honored to receive the Claire Bataille Legacy Scholarship from CMC and looks forward to advancing her training in Chicago.

Katerina Willis is an Interdisciplinary Artist originally from Southeast Michigan. They graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Video Art Minor from Western Michigan University in 2024. At WMU they performed in faculty and student works, and created choreography and projection design. After graduating, Katerina joined Movement Reservoir Dance Company under the direction of Lachan Niedbala as a company member and choreographer for their 3rd Season. They are a guest performer for Dance Playhouse in a dance film by Kate Karaskiewicz set to premiere in 2026. Katerina connected with youth and adult dancers alike as a Wellspring Dance Academy instructor and as a team member for Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival 2025.

Katerina’s work has been featured throughout the Kalamazoo community and beyond: Movement Reservoir Dance Company, Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, OutFront Kalamazoo, WMU Graduating Presentations, Orchesis Dance Society, Kalamazoo Art Hop, DanceWorks Chicago, Short Stack Film Festival (Chicago), and IMARP Film Festival (Brazil).

Katerina is also a passionate NASM Certified Personal Trainer, with experience training clients individually and in group settings, throughout various gyms as well as through Kalamazoo College. They are currently working as a Personal Trainer at Sport Express Fitness in Portage Park, where their ongoing movement research informs their practice.

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.

Millicent Collins (she/her) originally from Saint Louis, began her training with Turning Pointe Academy of Dance, where she was a member of Tourdance, a pre-professional dance company, that focused on ballet and modern techniques in concert dance. During this time, she also performed and trained with The Big Muddy Dance Company in their Student Elevate Project. 

In the spring of 2025, Millicent received her BFA in Dance Performance from Northern Illinois University where she trained with and performed choreography by Richard Grund, Marc Macaranas, Michel Rodriguez Cintra, Paula Frasz, Judith Chitwood, Sarita Smith Childs, and Daniel Gibson. At NIU, Millicent also performed in residencies with Red Clay Dance Company and Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, performing works and repertoire choreographed by Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Monique Haley, and Brian Enos. Millicent also directed student-led showcases for Northern Dance Theater. She was able to perform works created by her peers, as well as experiment with her own choreography on stage. Millicent also holds a minor in nonprofit studies from Northern Illinois University, and one day hopes to combine her love of dance, arts advocacy, and social outreach, to connect the community through dance. During the summers, she participated in summer intensives with COCA Saint Louis, Nashville Ballet, and DanceWorks Chicago.

Valerie Lowderis 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.