Artistic Associates
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Philip Armstrong (Teaching Artist) has a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communication from Millikin University. Phillip has found his ultimate calling to educate, enlighten, and inspire through the power of music. He supports and strongly encourages youth to find their voice within their own community. Bringing change to communities, inspiring youth, and engaging social change, are all attributes to the power and change music brings to many.
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Maria Blanco (Teaching Artist) is a dancer, choreographer, and sociologist from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Maria received her B.A in Dance and Sociology from Loyola University Chicago. In collaboration with Yariana Baralt Torres, she co-founded LOUD BODIES, a dance company that combines dance and activism to provoke change and bring a voice to oppressed topics or communities. Maria has presented her works at the American College Dance Association, Loyola University Chicago, the Greenhouse Theatre, Links Hall, the Athenaeum Theatre, the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse (in collaboration with Synapse Arts), and Collaboraction’s Peacebook festival.
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Melissa Economou (Teaching Artist) has been a dancer since she was 10 years old. She grew to love the art and choreography became her passion. She attended Millikin University, where she was heavily involved in the department of theatre and dance. She graduated in 2013 with a BA in theatre with minors in dance and vocal music. She has been teaching at various studios and park districts since 2011. She loves teaching and bringing the art of dance to children of all ages and backgrounds. She hopes to continue to teach and be able to express herself through art.
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Naomi Flores (Teaching Artist) recently moved back to Chicago from Denver where she was focused on community organizing. She has a passion for the arts and education. Naomi received a bachelor’s degree in interactive and industrial design from Syracuse University.
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Sarah Franzel (Ensemble) has appeared in many CDE productions, including Ethereal Abandonment and the Adventures of Ricky the Rabbit (collaboration with Chicago Park District). She has worked with various companies in Maine and Chicago including Theater at Monmouth, Harborside Shakespeare, City Lit, EDGE, and Unrehearsed Shakespeare.
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David Goodloe (Ensemble, Teaching Artist), a Chicago native, has been acting professionally since 2006. At the University of Chicago, he began to hone his skills and build a repertoire which reignited his love of performing. After college and a Peace Corps stint, David started acting and has been involved in many on-camera and theatre projects. He has performed in several productions with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, including HOPE and The Yellow Wallpaper.
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Kristin Hammargren (Teaching Artist) is a teaching artist and actor whose professional work includes the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Door Shakespeare, Forward Theater, American Players Theatre, In Tandem Theatre, and Midsommer Flight. In addition to CDE, she teaches with Writers Theatre and the Beverly Arts Center. More information about Kristin and her original one-woman show about Jane Austen, Discovering Austen, available at www.kristinhammargren.com.
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Thomson Jaffe (Teaching Artist) is a professional child wrangler and pathological storyteller. She has been working as a teaching artist since graduating from DeSales University (Center Valley, PA) in 2014. She has a big imagination and an impressive unicorn collection.
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Jordan Kunkel (Teaching Artist) is a Chicago dance artist and teacher. She creates and performs work that tells meaningful stories and addresses socio-political issues. In 2019 she self-curated and produced “On Being Well,” an evening of dance by local choreographers investigating stigmas and structures surrounding mental health in America today. She is very excited to bring her passion for dance and learning to Chicago Public Schools. Jordan received a B.A. in dance and journalism from Loyola University Chicago.
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Lisa Leszczewicz (Teaching Artist) has been an ensemble member and teaching artist with CDE since 2010. She graduated from Columbia College in Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in dancemaking. In addition to performing and teaching with CDE, she is also a founding member of the local company Laboratory Dancers. Lisa feels very fortunate to have previously performed with Under Construction Dance Project and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.
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Ben F. Locke (Ensemble, Teaching Artist) is happy to be with CDE. He loves getting to expose kids to new styles of music, dance, thinking and collaborating. It's always great to see a majority of the kids in his classes that look like him, and he hopes that the kids appreciate having a teacher that looks like most of them. Ben also loves doing community outreach. He enjoys learning about new organizations and finding new ways to collaborate with other artists.
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Moni Pizano Luna (Teaching Artist) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice functions as reflection - the physical creation of an analysis. Influenced by their identity as a first-generation Mexican American, the artist sees their position as being compromised by disequilibrium, essentially the embodiment of negotiation. Language, symbols, ideologies and experience become the catalyst for this notion - two generations ago, the language only existed orally, one generation ago the culture was transplanted. As their generation suffers a disconnect, trapped between opposing realities - one fixed, and the other constantly in flux, the work becomes a process of bridging, which seeks to harmonize their identity.
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Cari Maher (Teaching Artist) is a performer, producer, and teacher around the Chicago area. Along with her work with CDE she is also a performer and teacher with Chicago Improv Productions and an onsite producer with the College Improv Tournament.
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Joshua Miller (Teaching Artist) (He/They) is a Chicago-born artist that brings life to the work that he does. He is excited to join Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble for yet another amazing year of teaching. Joshua is a playwright and performer looking to explore the identity of what it means to be Black and Queer today. His play At Arm’s Length is currently being workshopped by actors from Chicago and New York.
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Tony Springs (Ensemble) holds a BA in Theatre Arts, with a minor in Dance, from Northern Kentucky University. He has choreographed and performed with several companies including Cincinnati Landmark Productions, Cincinnati Music Theatre, Showbiz Players Inc. and Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement. He currently works with the Devonshire Cultural Centers' "Devonshire Playhouse," choreographing musical productions. Tony is also the Artistic Director of the Devonshire Dance Ensemble.
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Nathaniel Swift (Teaching Artist) is the Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre Company, where he has been involved in every Eclipse production since 1999; as a director, actor, designer and producer. He was honored with a Non-Equity Jeff Award for Directing in 2002 for Romulus Linney’s 2, and for Acting in a Supporting Role in 2009 for playing Doug in Rebecca Gilman’s BLUE SURGE. He has a Bachelor of Science in Theatre from Northwestern University. He has taught theatre at ChiArts, The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Leyden High School, and at Northside College Prep High School, and he currently teaches and directs musicals at A.N. Pritzker Elementary School. Nat lives in Chicago within walking distance of Wrigley Field.
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Katie Wood (Teaching Artist) creates soundscapes, videos, transmissions and live works featuring sounds of water and wind, howls, whispers, seismic vibrations, and radio interference. Their work deals with knowledge production around land and landscape. Katie has shown work in the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Gene Siskel Film Center, Links Hall (Chicago), Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, Experimental Sound Studio (Chicago), Institut für Alles Mögliche (Berlin), Hundred Years Gallery (London), Gallery 062 (Chicago), LITHIUM gallery (Chicago), and the College of William & Mary.
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