Faculty Heather Jackson, Owner and Artistic Director Heather has been instructing and choreographing professionally for over 15 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 Dance & Musical Theatre. She is the former Director of Dance at the Mayer Kaplan JCC in Skokie. Heather also established the Kaleidoscope Dance Ensemble in the Northshore area in 2001, for which she is the Artistic Director. Heather teaches 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. Tarah Ortiz 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 fifth year teaching at Kaleidoscope. Laura Vinci 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 second year teaching at Kaleidoscope Dance. Kerri Vaile 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 second year teaching at Kaleidoscope. Jamie Salas Originally from San Antonio, TX, Jamie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a concentration in performance and choreography. While attending UNLV, Jamie had the opportunity to perform at the International Dance Festival in Kiel, Germany; Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; and Korean National Sport University in Seoul, Korea. Jamie also traveled to Liverpool, England with UNLV students to create a collaborative show and group called LoopGasDeNada with dancers from Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. After graduation, Jamie apprenticed with the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater. Soon thereafter, she received a yearlong scholarship to train at the Giordano Dance School in Evanston, IL. Since moving to Chicago, Jamie has danced with Inaside Chicago Dance, Esoteric Dance Project and performed in several freelance shows such as Dance Chance, Dance Chicago and Chicago Freelance Dance. Her choreography has been featured at numerous venues including Northeastern University in Dance Chance: Redux and Chicago Theatre in A Family Portrait. Jamie is currently on faculty at Lomastro Performing Arts Academy and Forevermore Dance. She is very excited to begin sharing her knowledge and passion for dance with students at Kaleidoscope! Brittany Whitmoyer Brittany grew up dancing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and received her BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University in May 2008, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She has had the honor and opportunity to learn from and work with Nancy Stark Smith, Bebe Miller, Bridgman/Packer Dance, Kevin Wynn, Monica Bill Barnes, Colleen Thomas, Doug Varone, Mariana Bekerman Dance Company, Patricia Weeks, and Rodger Belman, among others. Upon graduation, Brittany moved to New York City, performed and taught professionally and established bnw:dance, a contemporary dance company entering their 4th year. After a full NYC season, bnw:dance relocated to Richmond, Virginia, where Brittany taught ballet and modern extensively, as well as choreographed for national competitions, while giving bnw:dance the opportunity to grow and develop, performing in Washington DC, Philadelphia, NYC, Richmond, and held a residency in London in 2010. Brittany is ecstatic to make Chicago her new home, and become part of the Kaleidoscope Family, passing along fresh, innovative, and athletic approaches to dance technique.  Sarah Hilarides Sarah is a graduate of Oakland University with a BA in Musical Theater and Dance. She has been teaching and choreographing for 11 years and been a professional performer for 10. She has been in productions such as, Into the Woods, The Mikado, Grease, Urinetown and much more. She is very excited to be a part of Kaleidoscope Dance and is looking forward to an amazing year! Jennifer Byers Jennifer began dancing at the age of 7 in the Chicagoland area and continued on to earn her Bachelor of Performing Arts from Oklahoma City University where she studied Dance Performance.  From there she has been teaching and choreographing all over the county, including time spent as the ballet Mistress and Concert Dance Ensemble director for the Naperville Park District, teaching both ballet and tap to students of all ages at the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center, and instructing jazz, tap, ballroom, and musical theatre to the students of the After3Arts Program at P.S. 142 in New York City.  Jennifer is looking forward to an amazing year with the students and staff at Kaleidoscope Dance! Kaleidoscope Dance & Movement Center, Inc. 3944 Church St Skokie, IL 60203  847-679-7842 Copyright © 2012, All Rights Reserved Dance Classes Programs Birthday Parties   Ballet   Children & Kids   Fairy Princess   Jazz   Youth   Ballerina   Hip Hop   Teen   Hip Hop   Tap   Advanced   Modern Private Dance Lessons   Contemporary Dance Ensemble   Fairytale Ballet Contact Us