Faculty Heather O'Connor Jackson, Owner and Artistic Director Heather has been instructing and choreographing professionally for over 14 years, with an emphasis on children's dance. Heather received her formal dance training from Claudette Soltis (former dancer of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) of the Joliet Ballet Society. The Ballet Society gave her the opportunity to work with many other ballet greats such as Irina Kolpakova of the American Ballet Theatre and Dace Dindonis, formerly of the Indianapolis Ballet. She is a graduate of Millikin University and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Performance degree in Musical Theatre and Dance. She is the former Director of Dance at the Mayer Kaplan JCC in Skokie where for 3 years she directed and instructed a full dance program which she designed for ages 3 - 18. She also choreographed all shows for the Young Actors Ensemble at the Mayer Kaplan JCC. Heather also established the Kaleidoscope Dance Ensemble in the Northshore area in 2001, for which she is the Artistic Director and choreographer. Heather continues to teach all forms of dance and several classes at the studio. Heather's choreography credits include Kaleidoscope Dance Ensemble, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie, Yours Anne, Sound of Music, Elixir of Love, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and several works with Millikin University Dance Ensemble. She has also danced with the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre and performed with Chicago's Timestep Players Children's Theatre. Performance credits include Steppin' Out, Pippin, Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls, Bartered Bride, Little Shop of Horrors and Millikin Dance Ensemble. Kara Rosengren, Instructor - Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap, Creative Movement Kara was raised in Holly, MI where she began dance training at CJ’s Dance Studio (now StarStruck Dance Center) at the age of seven.  She attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo where she earned a BFA in Dance.  She was a member of Korzatkowski Contemporary Dance under Kerrie Korzatkowski, and also trained with Inaside Chicago Dance under Kelly Ann Vitacca.  Kara founded Against the Grain Dance Project in the spring of 2008 as its Artistic & Executive Director, and has put on three shows in the city of Chicago.  In the fall of 2009, Against the Grain was given the opportunity to showcase its piece 35 at Dance Chicago.  This will be Kara’s sixth year teaching at Kaleidoscope Dance. Tarah Ortiz, Instructor - Hip-Hop Tarah grew up on stage in Michigan.  Dancing from the age of 8, she fell in love with performing.  She has studied everything from ballet to hip-hop across the country in studios, conventions and competitions.  Tarah attended Northwestern University, where she spent most of her time dancing.  In addition to choreographing for student musicals, she was also a member and co-director of Boomshaka, a percussion and dance ensemble.  With this group, she had amazing opportunities to choreograph, perform and teach across the country, while developing her love of hip-hop.  Today, she can be seen on stage in Chicago with the rhythmic performance ensemble, Be the Groove, as well as with JHDII, the second company of the Joel Hall Dancers.  She also continues to study all forms of dance with the ultimate goal of passing on new ideas to the students at Kaleidoscope.  Tarah is in her fourth year teaching at Kaleidoscope. Laura Vinci, Instructor - Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop Laura began her classical dance studies at the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio and The Boston Arts Academy High School for the Performing Arts, in Boston, MA.  She went on to study at The Ohio State University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance.  While studying at Ohio State, Laura was privileged to perform the works of Doug Varone, Mark Morris, Vaslav Nijinsky, Zvi Gottheiner and Larry Keigwin.  Upon graduation, Laura moved to Guatemala where she worked for the non-profit Safe Passage, teaching dance workshops for impoverished children.  In addition, she worked as a freelance choreographer in Guatemala.  Laura also presented her own work at The International Choreographer’s Showcase held at the National Theaters of Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Laura is now a dancer in Chicago for “The Moving Architects” and is in her first year teaching at Kaleidoscope Dance. Kerri Vaile, Instructor - Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip-Hop, Creative Movement Kerri started dancing at age 6 in Green Bay, WI.  She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Dance and a minor in business.  After graduating, she moved to Chicago to pursue her dancing and teaching career.  Kerri has trained in Ballet, Modern, Tap, Jazz and Creative Movement.  She has taught at various studios around the Chicagoland area, including Joel Hall Dance Center.  She has performed in both Milwaukee and Chicago for independent projects and has danced with Reveries in Motion Dance Company since 2007.  This is Kerri’s first year teaching at Kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscope Dance & Movement Center, Inc. 3944 Church St Skokie, IL 60203  847-679-7842 Copyright © 2010, All Rights Reserved Dance Classes offered in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap and Modern Serving the communities of Skokie, Evanston, Morton Grove, Glenview,               Wilmette and North Chicago