South Chicago Dance Theatre at The Center for Performing Arts

Trey Alexander (they/them), from St. Louis, MO, began their dance training at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) under the direction of Kirven and Antonio Douthit-Boyd. Trey received a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the UMKC Conservatory of Dance in 2019. While studying at the conservatory, they were mentored by Deeanna Hiett, Gary Abbott, and Paula Weber. They have performed works by choreographers George Balanchine, Frank Chavez, Gregory Dawson, Kevin Iega Jeff, Christopher Wheeldon and more. Trey has danced professionally with Wylliams-Henry Contemporary Dance Company, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and DanceWorks Chicago. Trey has performed works by Chicago-based choreographers Katlin Bourgeois, Shannon Alvis, and Stephanie Martinez. Trey is currently dancing with South Chicago Dance Theatre under the direction of Kia S. Smith.

Kelly Anderson, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She now resides in Chicago, Illinois as a Main Company Member of South Chicago Dance Theatre. This is Kelly’s third season with SCDT in which she also serves as Rehearsal Assistant. During her time with SCDT, she has had the privilege of working with choreographers such as Wade Schaaf, Stephanie Martinez, Ron de Jesus, and Kia S. Smith. In addition to her own dancing, Kelly finds joy in teaching and choreographing at local competitive dance studios and is privileged to share her love for dance with her students, company, and community.

Originally from Fort Worth Texas, Mya Bryant is an artist who values inclusivity and community. Bryant attended Margo Dean School of Ballet led by Margo and Webster Dean where she had the privilege of being a company member in Ballet Concerto, their summer company. In May of 2022, Bryant graduated from Sam Houston State University with her B.F.A in dance and minor in kinesiology.

Chloe Chandler, from Southeast Michigan, is a performer, creator, and dance educator. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan. She has had the privilege to work with artists such as Sidra Bell and Shannon Gillen, and assist artists such as Elizabeth Parkinson, Suzi Taylor, Will Johnston, John Crutchman, and more. Chloe is honored to be a new member of South Chicago Dance Theatre this season!

Valerie Chen is a Taiwanese American artist whose love for dance and movement creation began in Irvine, California. In high school she attended the Orange County School for the Arts in the Commercial Dance Conservatory, developing herself as a multifaceted dancer in both the commercial and classical spheres. Valerie simultaneously trained at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy and Jessie Riley’s Westside Dance Project. Continuing her dance education, Valerie received a BFA in Dance at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. While at Kaufman she witnessed new movement styles, a culture of care, and ingenious innovation which nourished her passion for performance and experimentation. She has performed works by Kyle Abraham, Hope Boykin, Jiří Kylián, Micaela Taylor, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, and Paul Taylor, among others. Valerie aspires to bring dance to new spaces, break boundaries of expectation, and share movement histories with each community she meets.

Jack began his dance training at the age of five in his hometown of St. Louis, MO at a small dance studio called Charmette Academy of Dance. Over the years, he trained extensively in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Modern. In 2013, he accepted a scholarship to continue his training with the University of Arizona School of Dance. He was privileged to perform incredible works by amazing professors and master artists, including José Limón and Sherry Zunker, as well as have the opportunity to tour in New York City and Europe. In May 2017 he graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in dance and a Minor in Sports Management, in addition to numerous awards and accolades. He feels incredibly lucky and humbled to have continued his training with the eclectic company Giordano Dance Chicago for four seasons, and to have performed with contemporary and street style fusion dance company, Chicago Dance Crash, for two years. In addition to dancing, he instructs group fitness classes at Equinox gyms, guests with AJA Talent Agency, and continues to build his career as an educator and choreographer at several local Chicago studios. Jack is excited to continue his career in his first season with all of the artists in South Chicago Dance Theatre

Elijah Richardson (San Jose, California) is a Filipino-American dancer based in Chicago. His early training consisted of musical theatre, classical choir, and figure skating before earning his BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University in 2018. After graduating, Elijah joined DanceWorks Chicago for three seasons and has appeared as a guest artist with Collage Dance Collective, Giordano Dance Chicago, Zion Dance Project, and The Cambrians. His repertory include works by Ohad Naharin, George Balanchine, Alex Ketley, Stephanie Martinez, Kia Smith, Ron De Jesus, Crystal Michelle Perkins, Hanna Brictson, Ido Tadmor, and Joshua Manculich. His own creations have been presented at South Chicago Dance Festival, Loyola University Chicago, Zion Dance Project, Evanston Dance Ensemble, Second City Dance Ministry, Trifecta Dance Festival, Iowa International Screendance Festival, and four times at Mobile Dance Film Festival. As an educator, he has shared classes at the University of Chicago, Western Michigan University, Northern Illinois University, University of Michigan, and Common Conservatory. Recently named Dance Magazine's 2023 “25 to Watch”, Elijah is currently in his third season with South Chicago Dance Theatre.

Marissa Thomas (she/her) is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at The Ohio State University in 2019. Marissa is currently in her second season with South Chicago Dance Theatre. She has previously danced as a Company Dancer with the Dancing Wheels Company in Cleveland, OH. Marissa has had the honor of performing and collaborating in works by choreographers Donald Byrd, Dianne McIntyre, Crystal Michelle Perkins, and André M. Zachery and performing in historic works by Merce Cunningham and Donald McKayle. Marissa is also a Teaching Artist for SCDT’s Education Programs and is the Tour Manager for the Dancing Wheels Company & School.

Brodie Wolf is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, where his training exposed him to an array of artists and dance styles, and sparked his interest in choreography, performance, and dance education. Brodie’s affinity for movement investigation led him to pursue a BFA in Dance at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance in a range of techniques including hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary. He has performed works by Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Yue Yin, and Kyle Abraham, among others. Brodie attended the School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Performance Ensemble where he collaborated on three new creations with Sidra Bell, Rena Butler, and Antoine Vereecken from Studio Wayne McGregor. Brodie pursued a double minor in Cinematic Arts and Entertainment Industry allowing him to work with production company RYBG.co and earn producing credit on IMDb from his work on Soundstage. He has been involved with Kaufman Connections, a community engagement initiative that provides dance classes to students at 32nd Street Elementary School in Los Angeles. Brodie curated a local event in Los Angeles titled “Where We Meet” to explore the relationships of dance, film, and music through a community-oriented environment.

Kia S. Smith is a Chicago native and she is the Founder, Resident Choreographer and Director of Vision and Strategy for South Chicago Dance Theatre. As a freelance choreographer, Kia’s recent and upcoming commissions include Scottish Ballet School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (2024), Resilience Dance (2024), New Dance Partners (2024), James Madison University (2024), Columbia College Chicago (2024), Opera Laguna (2024), Houston Contemporary Dance Company (2023), Chicago Opera Theater (2023), Giordano Dance Chicago (2023) and others. Kia’s first evening length work Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley for South Chicago Dance Theatre premiered at the Auditorium Theatre of Chicago in 2023 and See Chicago Dance affirmed “Smith’s first evening length piece ‘Memoirs’ is a tour de force and a sensory immersion into this artists creative well springs”. Kia is a member of the International Association of Blacks in Dance where she received the Joan Myers Brown Artist Development Fund scholarship in 2018. In 2021, she was a 3Arts Make A Wave awardee and an Ann & Weston Hicks Choreographic Fellow at the renowned Jacobs Pillow. In 2022, Kia received the prestigious Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist award. Kia was named a Rising Star in 2023 by Chicago Magazine, Player of the Moment in the category of Dance for New City Magazine's annual 50 Players List in 2023 and one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch for 2024. WBEZ recently recognized Kia as a “breakout artist” for 2024!

Tsai Hsi Hung graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts 2011. In 2009, she traveled to Australia as an exchange student for the Dance at Queensland Technology University Dance Department. She has worked with the Australian Dance Theater, Tasdance, Expressions Dance Company, and Chunky Move Dance Company Dancers. Since then, her choreography has been commissioned and performed throughout the United States and Asia. Hung was recently awarded the Jaffee and Hall Emerging Choreographer Award from Indiana’s Dance Kaleidoscope Company and will create a new work for the company in 2025. Hung will also premiere a new piece with the Joffrey Concert Group in New York City as part of their Creative Movers Choreography Commission. Later this year, Hung will create a new work for the South Chicago Dance Theatre. Hung's work has been featured at companies such as Philadelphia’s BalletX, Ballet Hispanico NYC, Milwaukee Ballet, Arkansas Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She has been in residence at Western Michigan University, Kennesaw University in Georgia and the National University of the Arts in Taiwan where she was a guest teacher from 2022-2024. In June of 2018, the MET Dance Company performed Hung’s work IO for 12 dancers at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas. In 2019, Hung’s piece DOUBLEND was performed at the NU VU Festival at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Martha Graham Studio Theater and NYU Skirball Center and her work Brushstroke 2X2 was performed at the 2020 APAP Peridance Showcase in New York. Hung’s choreography often features the interplay between dance and painting. In 2022, Hung created an original work inspired by the paintings of Hans Hofmann that was commissioned by the Battery Dance Company, NYC. In 2020, Hung received a Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts.

Monique Haley is an Associate Professor of Dance and African American and African Studies at Western Michigan University (WMU). She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2018) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in performing arts, specializing in jazz dance, from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA (2001). Her research centers on African cultural values, ethos, and the importance of cultivating ritual in contemporary jazz dance pedagogy. Her chapter entitled, Cultivating African Diasporic Ethos and Cultural Values in Contemporary Jazz Dance is currently featured in a new scholarly textbook, Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the 21st Century, by editors Lindsay Guarino, Carlos Jones, and Wendy Oliver, centering the Diasporic Encounter Method (DEM)—a working methodology devised by Haley to focus the Africanist perspective on the classroom, rehearsal, and creative process. In addition, Monique is dance faculty for the prestigious American Dance Festival (ADF) as a part of their summer dance intensive (2022,2023), teaching contemporary jazz dance technique and reparatory. Haley uses DEM as a foundational teaching tool to inspire an authentic ethos and connection between participants in their daily jazz practice and her choreographic process. Ms. Haley also presented in a book panel discussing her chapter in Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the 21st Century, highlighting the DEM alongside the editors in the Dance Studies Association (DSA) conference, Dancing Resilience: Dance Studies and Activism in a Global Age, in Vancouver, Canada, 2022. Notably, her choreographic work, Culture Loop, in collaboration with Chicago's Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre (CRDT), was recently recognized by The Black Album Mixtape, a national and international platform for social and racial justice for African American artists of all mediums, created by Golden Globe award-winning actress, play-write, and activist Regina Taylor. While tending to her work at WMU in the CFA with the School of Theater and Dance, teaching jazz pedagogy and musical theatre performance, Monique choreographs and teaches dance nationally. She is the Resident Choreographer for Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre in Chicago, IL. She has set works, ROOT: mwanzo wa mwili ni roho (2018), Culture Loop (2020), and recently debuted a three-year development of an evening-length experience, Soul Remedy, which was the recipient of a 2022 National Endowment of the Arts grant towards its Chicago debut for Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre's 2022-2023 season. Monique also featured work at the Pritzker Pavilion summer of 2023 for South Chicago's Praize Productions Inc. Call Her by Name, under the direction of Enneressa Davis. In April 2022, Ms. Haley was a part of the Unveiling American Genius Symposium series as a feature guest panelist, A Woman's Voice: Then and Now? to discuss the roles of women as it relates to the visual arts, dance, popular culture, identity, and beauty culture, led by Kalamazoo Art Institute curator, Rehema Barber. In addition, Monique was a guest panelist alongside world-renowned jazz music and dance artists for the New York City Jazz Power Initiative's 2021 Online Conference (July 2021) for the Reconnecting Music and Dance- A More Holistic Jazz Pedagogy symposium. The discussion centers on the dreams, necessities, and hopes within jazz music and dance education and collaboration. Monique participated as a guest speaker for the National/International Movement Matters (April 2021), hosted by faculty Dr. RAS Mikey Courtney of the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University. Haley spoke of her jazz dance roots, honoring her lived and educational experiences as a jazz dance artist and the challenges of creativity in the field. This past February, she was a guest panelist for Seattle's PRICEarts, Move through Black History Month event to speak with other Black dance artists and educators about their experiences and navigating artistic plans for the future in our current time of social upheaval during the pandemic. As a dance educator, Monique has been a guest teacher in the 2016, 2017, and 2019 ACDA East Central Conferences. Monique was a frequent teacher for the former Lou Conte Dance Studio, the Visceral Dance Center, and the Joffrey Academy of Dance Trainee Program in Chicago. Monique participates yearly as part of the Chicago Dance Connection Jazz Camp Faculty and has taught for the former River North Chicago and Inaside Dance Company Summer Intensives. She has nationally set choreography for high school, collegiate, and professional companies. As a performing artist, Monique honored nine memorable years with the former River North Chicago Dance Company as the first African American female to join the company in 2001. She has also been a member of the Bermuda Dance Company and the Eleone Dance Theater of Philadelphia. In musical theater, Ms. Haley was a dancer and ensemble member in The Jungle Book's Disney musical, directed by Mary Zimmerman and choreographed by the Tony Award-winning Christopher Gattelli. In Chicago's regional theater scene, she was the dance captain/ensemble member, and associate choreographer, for the Drury Lane Oakbrook Theater's production of Aida and the associate choreographer of Paramount Theater Aurora's inaugural production of My Fair Lady. Additional theater credits include HAIR, Joseph, and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Mrs. Potiphar). Chicago (June), On the Town, amongst others. Recently, Monique had the opportunity to perform a duet, Be My Guest, choreographed by Cynthia Pratt, with fellow American Dance Festival faculty, and Associate Professor of Butler University, Ramón Flowers. Monique's career and creative works are recognized in such publications as Dance Spirit and Dance Magazine. In addition, Haley is one of the first artists to receive a 3Arts Award (2012) for choreography and dance and her contribution to the arts community in Chicago. Monique has choreographed for American Midwest Ballet, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Nomi Dance Company, Visceral Dance Company, the Chicago Repertory Ballet Company, and collaborative works with the Chicago - based companies Muntu African Dance Company and DanceWorks Chicago. In 2010, she created the entertainment segment for the Danny Clark Foundation Annual Celebrity Gala: Le Moulin Rouge, a Night in Paris, to help raise money to promote advocacy, education, and outreach programs for those in need. Haley's choreography has also been featured in Dance for Life Chicago, the annual aids benefit concert. In 2015, she premiered a collaborative theatre/dance piece, Still Life with Drumming, at the Myron S. Szold Music and Dance Hall at The Old Town School of Folk Music. Collegiate commissions include work for Wayne State University, James Madison University, Salve Regina University, Western Michigan University, and the University of the Arts, to name a few. Throughout the year, Monique passionately educates her students by teaching jazz dance theory and curriculum and working with and choreographing for the musical theater performance students in WMU's College of Fine Arts. She also works as a faculty member in a joint appointment with WMU's Institute of Intercultural and Anthropological Studies in the Department of African American and African Studies.