Halloween Creepy Crawlies at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble

Halloween Creepy Crawlies is a family friendly dance production that explores the mysteries of Halloween through a lost ghost’s search for her haunted home. On her way, she is helped by Ballerina Witches, Jazzy Vampires, Modern-Dancing Mummies, a Tap Dancing Skeleton and even a Jack O’ Lantern named Jake! Join us on October 25th at 2pm for this Halloween adventure!

During it's creation, this project was partially supported by an Individual Artists Program 2024 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. This performance has been generously subsidized through Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble’s artist's support and residency program.

This production was created by Mariah Eastman, artistic director of Darvin Dances, a Chicago based modern/contemporary dance company. Along with six professional dancers, there are two young dancers from the Chicago community participating in this production (dancers are based at Dovetail Studios and Dance on Broadway). The choreography was created by Mariah Eastman with Alicia Wilson choreographing for the young dancers. Illustrations were created by Nat Thomas (https://natthomas.work/work) with lighting design by Ruby Lowe.

Please note: the venue is only accessible via stairs; if this prevents you from coming to the performance, please email mariah@darvindances.com 

CHOREOGRAPHERS + PERFORMERS BIOS

Blake Campbell (she/her) was born in Elkhart, Indiana. At age 16, Blake moved to Chicago to pursue contemporary dance training with COMMON Conservatory 2019-2023. Blake has performed works by choreographers: Terence Marling, Katlin Michael Bourgeois, Alysia Johnson, Ethan Kirschbaum, Robyn Mineko Willams, Meredith Dincolo, Jackie Nowicki, and many more. Blake was selected for New Dances 2023 and 2024 in collaboration with DanceWorks Chicago. Currently, Blake is a dancer with Darvin Dances and Alluvion. When not dancing, Blake teaches art to children and in her spare time, enjoys writing poetry.

Ashton Craven (she/her) is a Chicago-based contemporary and tap artist. She spent her childhood training at Dance Center North, Libertyville under the direction of Stacy Keller. Ashton holds a Dance BA and Biological Sciences BS from the University of California-Irvine, where she studied with Molly Lynch, Charlotte Griffin, Lar Lubovitch, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, and Tong Wang. Her interdisciplinary thesis research culminated in a dance film using contemporary movement to explain complex microbiological topics. Ashton now trains with Chicago Movement Collective under the guidance of Ethan Kirschbaum. She has performed in collaboration with Winifred Haun and Dancer’s 3rd Coast Program in Persistent Spring and participated in the 2025 Dance for Life finale choreographed by Jonathan Alsberry. She teaches tap at various Chicagoland studios and works as an arts administrator with Ballet Chicago. Ashton is thrilled to be a guest artist with Darvin Dances!

Mariah Eastman (she/her) holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Dance and Choreography and recently received her MS in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern. In 2021 she created Café Cortado which explored caffeination culture and highlighted two local Chicago coffee shops through prerecorded interviews, dance film and livestream dance. She is the creator of the Holiday Dance Carol, an annual Chicago holiday tradition. In 2022 she presented Navigating the After, a performance exploring recovery after sexual assault using live dance and audio interviews from survivors. She started her own company “Darvin Dances” in 2023. Since January 2023 Darvin Dances has performed in multiple productions including the following; First Draft produced by Winifred Haun & Dancers, Breaking the Silence Café produced by Resilience Chicago, Common Ground produced by The Rooted Space, On the Move and Wave Walls produced by See Chicago Dance as well as their inaugural production of “Inclined to Decline”. Eastman has also toured her work in New York City, Baltimore, Marthas Vineyard and Richmond (VA). She is the creator of the Chicago Dancer Pay Transparency Project under the Darvin Dances umbrella. In 2024, she received an Individual Artist grant from DCASE for Halloween Creepy Crawlies.

Gabriella Estes (she/her) is a recent BFA alumni of the University of Arizona School of Dance. During her time there, she trained at the professional level in ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, and commercial dance styles. She was selected as an artist for the University of Arizona Dance Ensemble, where she performed works by Tamara Dyke- Compton, Michael Williams, Cat Cogliandro and Juel D. Lane. Most recently, she performed in the Finale for Dance For Life Chicago in August of 2025. In the past few years, she has had the opportunity to train with Boston Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Visceral Dance Company, Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet, River North Dance Chicago, and Interlochen Academy for the Arts, to name a few, under partial and full scholarships. She is super excited to be a guest artist with Darvin Dances for their 2025 Halloween Creepy Crawlies Performance.

Rene Kenefic (they/them) 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.

Mandy Milligan (she/her) has danced with companies from all over the midwest such as Mamluft & Co., Dance Kaleidoscope, Winifred Haun & Dancers, Simantikos Dance, Cocodaco Dance Company, Kanopy Dance Company and Darvin Dances. In addition, Mandy Milligan graduated from University of Cincinnati Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Ballet Performance. She received additional training at the Graham School for Contemporary Dance, Beijing Dance Academy, Dance Works Chicago, Interlochen Center for the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Perry-Mansfield.

Since moving to Chicago in 2017 her choreographic work has been shown at the Links Hall 40th Anniversary Celebration, the Overture Center in Madison WI, Dance Chance, Going Dutch Festival, First Drafts, RADfest, St. Louis Contemporary Dance Festival and Dance City Festival Chicago. Her dance film work has been shown at PREheat, enCore dance film festival and Dance City Film Festival. Mandy is currently the rehearsal director and dance artist with Darvin Dances. She is also the director of Mandy Milligan Movement Project.

Sidney Valdez is a multidisciplinary dancer from Elmhurst, IL. After growing up dancing at DuPage Dance Academy in Elmhurst, Sidney furthered her interest in both dance and the mind-body connection at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA where she graduated with a BS in Neuroscience and Dance. Sidney is a current Claire Bataille Legacy Program Student at Chicago Movement Collective and Staff Writer for See Chicago Dance. She also teaches dance to students of all ages in the western Chicago suburbs and is a physical therapy tech at Midwest Orthopedics at RUSH. Sidney is so excited to continue her dance career with Darvin Dances!

Alicia Wilson (she/her) began dancing at the age of three. Since then, she has trained in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, hip-hop, tap, lyrical, and acrobatics. When she was sixteen, she trained with Ballet Chicago at their 2009 Summer Intensive and fell in love with the city, so it was an easy choice to attend Columbia College Chicago, where she graduated in 2015 with a BA in Dance. She has spent time studying Urban styles of dance in London, England, where she helped to organize the 2014 Collide Dance Festival in Stratford. Alicia now lives, performs, choreographs, and teaches in Chicago. She is the Dovetail Studios Competition Team director.

Tickets for Halloween Creepy Crawlies are $20 for adults and $15 for children (coloring pages + crayons included)

https://www.darvindances.com