Erin Fleck
Erin Fleck is a graduate of Indiana University with a BS in Kinesiology and an emphasis in modern dance. At IU, she studied ballet, modern and jazz under Elizabeth Shea, Laura Poole, and Gwendolyn Hamm. Erin also rehearsed with the Ben Munisteri Dance Company and Connie Donapoli, and she was a former member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Additionally, Erin was a Corps Member at Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre and a Company Member for the Abigail Alyn Dance Projects. Erin has taught dance at The Academy of Dance Arts in Fishers, Indiana and brings with her a love for dance and a passion for teaching children.
Drew Tamez Hull
Andrew Tamez Hull (Drew) is a triple threat: actor, dancer, and musician who is talented in three areas of the arts: dancing, acting, and singing. Although Drew has trained in most, if not all, styles of dance, his main forte is Hip Hop. He has spent half of his life competing with Xtreme Dance Force and training with Chicago’s Dance 2XS and Boom Crack. Drew has danced behind artists including Ludacris, Silento, Danity Kane and also choreographed a set for the B96 Pepsi Summer Bash.
As a choreographer, Drew has won numerous awards for his Hip Hop choreography, and he travels to work with the LSU Tiger Girls, one of our nation’s top dance teams. To strengthen his dance ability, Drew has trained in salsa, rumba and tango and swing partner dances. As an actor, Drew has been featured in two major motions pictures including Gran Torino (as a gang member) and was fortunate to work with Clint Eastwood, one of Hollywood’s best directors. Drew also appeared in season two of Empire and acted in Hulu’s tv series Wild Cards episodes 1, 2, and 3, appearing as himself. Drew also had the lead in the indie film Street Boy and has appeared in commercials for Diet Dr. Pepper and Hefty. As a singer, Drew was a finalist in the 2003 Aurora Idol competition and appeared on the TV show Inspiration Sensation on channel TLN in 2005. Currently, Drew has been releasing his music on iTunes under his artist name Dru.
Drew’s main focus is his love of dance, and he has decided to focus on teaching, choreographing, and coaching. Along with teaching and mentoring students at Soul 2 Sole Dance, Inc., Drew also teaches dance classes at Visceral Dance Center and Joffrey in Chicago. Drew is Coach and Artistic Director of Phenom Dance Company at Soul 2 Sole Dance, Inc.. His goal is to inspire and make every student count on the dance floor and to achieve their personal goals.
Julianne Deitz
Julianne began her training at the Ballet Barre School of Dance in New Jersey studying all styles of dance. Her love of ballet led her to the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. She continued her training in NYC at the Joffrey Ballet School, Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. After moving to Chicago, she began training and performing with Inaside Chicago Dance. Since then, during the past ten years, she has taught, performed and choreographed throughout the Chicagoland area and has developed her love for teaching the preschool ages. She is excited to continue working with the little ones at Soul 2 Sole Dance, Inc. during this upcoming season.
Ava Wolff
Ava started dancing at Earle Cobb Dance Studio in San Antonio, Texas, training in various styles. She majored in dance at North East School of the Arts. She then went to Columbia College Chicago to continue studying dance where she met Trae Turner and eventually started dancing in Boom Crack! Dance Company and is the current Captain. She has choreographed numerous pieces for Chicago NBA’s BullsKidz, top and platinum scoring pieces at regional and national competitions, and pieces for Boom Crack! Dance Company. She also competed at World of Dance and Hip Hop International, placing top in the country. Ava has been teaching various styles and ages for over fifteen years; she continues to spread a dance aesthetic of her own around the Chicagoland area.
Lexi Olander
Ms Lexi is from Milwaukee Wisconsin, and has been dancing since she was 13 in Poms, Hip-Hop. Contemporary Ballet & Jazz. She studied Industrial Design and Film at the Milwaukee Institute or Art & Design and continued training in Hip Hop and Jazz. She went on to dance professionally for multiple years in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks Dancers, working with touring music artists such as Montell Jordan, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Blackstreet. After dancing for the NBA, she started teaching, choreographing & subbing full-time at numerous studios and schools for dance, including The Milwaukee Ballet. Moving here just two years ago to continue pursuing professional opportunities in dance, she started taking class at Visceral Dance center where she met Mr. Drew and joined his adult company, Inside Out Professional Company. Since moving to Chicago she’s preformed and competed in many shows / competitions like World of Dance, Red Bull Dance Your Style, Carnival Choreographers Ball & Urbanite as well as working with music artists like Diljit Dosanjh & Megan Thee Stallion.
Mailey Paupore
Mailey Paupore grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia and is a recent graduate from Radford University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Professional and Technical Writing. Her first professional job was with Saltare in Elementis Dance Collective as a dancer in their film, Hurricane 6. She has worked and trained under James W. Robey, Ji-Eun Lee, Deborah McLaughlin, Inessa Plekhanova, Aleksey Plekhanov, and Rachel Rugh and with Hubbard Street Dance Company’s Summer Intensive. Currently, she is a part of Visceral Dance Company’s Trainee Program in Chicago Illinois. Mailey is hoping to continue to pursue her career in dance and she is looking forward to attending as many Chicago Cubs games as she can.
Stacy Marie
Stacy began her early dance training in Chicago and instantly fell in love with dance. She grew up dancing competitively in a variety of styles and later joined Xtreme Dance Force where she had the opportunity to work with top LA choreographers. Stacy went on to graduate from Northeastern IL University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Media, and Theatre and a minor in dance. Her choreography was chosen to be featured at the American College Dance Association’s festivals in 2014 and 2015. While completing her undergraduate degree, Stacy danced with Gifted Souls, a professional latin fusion dance company. She performed around the country and placed 2nd in the world at the Ultimate Latin Dance Championship.Stacy has since been devoted to perfecting her craft and sharing her love of dance with others. Some of Stacy’s dance credits include: Kanye West, Young Thug, Fox’s The Big Leap, & MG Dance Company. Her choreography has won “Best Choreography”, Industry Dance Awards Nominations, several 1st place overall awards, and gotten teams to the UDA National Finals. She is so excited to share her passion for dance with her students at Soul 2 Sole!
Alexa Wilcox
Alexa is a Chicago based teaching artist and choreographer with a passion for teaching Jazz, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Styles. She graduated from Roosevelts Chicago College of Performing Arts with a BFA in Musical Theatre Dance. She grew up in Park City Utah where she danced with Ballet West Park City focusing in Ballet, Lyrical, and Contemporary. Aside from theatre and dance, Alexa loves to crochet and go on hikes with her beagle Freckles!
Demi Agaiby
Demiana Agaiby is a dance artist, educator and sport and performance psychology consultant. Throughout the course of 20 years of dance training, Demi has been immersed in both concert and commercial dance realms. In 2019, Demi earned her B.A in Dance and B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. As a product of her dual major, Demi was convinced that the intersection of psychology and dance had powerful implications; this inspired Demi to pursue a M.S in Sport and Exercise Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. While in Southern California, Demi continued her dance training in addition to teaching and choreographing. With a focus on psychological skills training and social-emotional learning, Demi is committed to empowering young artists, professionals, and educators alike to achieve personal excellence.
Pause Eddie
Hailing from Chicago, Pause Eddie began dancing at the age of 15 and has not looked back since. Out of options with nowhere to turn and eager to avoid the violence that plagued his neighborhood, Pause picked up dance as a creative outlet. What began as just a hobby, Pause quickly turned into a full-fledged career teaching all over the U.S. in studios such as Broadway Dance Center, Debbie Reynolds, Millennium Dance Complex, and Hubbard Street Dance. In addition to his teaching credentials, Pause has performed on some of the biggest stages including MTV’s ABDC, America’s Got Talent, World of Dance, Apollo, and Chance The Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring Day tour.
Always remembering his roots, he constantly gives back to the community by training dancers through his company Creation. Pause has also donated his time to different local programs such as After School Matters, as well as teaching in low income/project areas to encourage the youth to better their lives. His unwavering drive to keep pushing his art is motivated by his peers, friends and family, and the tragic death of his brother Kendall. Through all the sacrifice and struggle, he hopes to show that with drive and positive energy. anything is possible.
Danielle Kfoury
Originally from Carol Stream, IL, Dani began her dance training at the age of 5. She went
on to pursue a B.F.A. in Dance and Minor in Education from The Ohio State University, where
she graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in Dance. Dani has performed in works by
Sarah Hixon, Susan Petry, Crystal Michelle Perkins, and Edward Taketa. She also spent two
summers at American Dance Festival where she was selected to perform in repertory work by
Ronald K. Brown. In 2017, Dani travelled to Denmark where she taught at various Danish youth
programs and performed at Landsstævne and Gerlev Idrætshøjskole. Currently, Dani enters her
3rd performance season with Hixon Dance Company based out of Columbus, OH. She has been
the recipient of the Artists in the Community Resource Grant and the Margaret Noell Kindberg
Award for her performance and education endeavors in Columbus. Dani has taught for various
dance studios and non-profits, sharing her love of dance with over 600 students in the past year.
Kelsie Kokotan
Kelsie has been dancing since she was 7 years old. She is classically and professionally trained in Contemporary and Ballet in the Vaganova, Cecchetti & Balanchine Method. Kelsie jumped around from studio to studio growing up, but eventually landed on Visceral Dance Center. At Visceral, she has trained vigorously under the direction of Nick Pupillo & Laura Wade. Kelsie was a part of the Pre-Professional Visceral Studio Company for two years. There she has performed numerous works by Nick Pupillo, and received scholarships at many competitions. Kelsie has attended many summer & winter intensives with Visceral Dance Chicago, CLI Conservatory, MIP2, etc. For only a short semester, She was a trainee at the Boston Dance Theater.
Throughout her dance career, Kelsie has learned numerous works from several well-known choreographers. Although she loves to dance, Kelsie has found a new love for teaching dance. Kelsie loves teaching young dancers from the age of 18 months all the way to 18 years. She specializes in teaching Ballet Technique & Contemporary Technique and Acrobatic Dance for all ages. Kelsie is certified by Acrobatic Arts to teach preschool acro (2-5 yrs) and module one acro (ages 6+)! Kelsie is very versatile as she has additional experience teaching Early Childhood Dance, Poms, Jazz, Improvisation, Modern, and Beginning Tap classes. Kelsie is a certified yoga sculpt instructor through Corepower Yoga and is certified through Pretzel Kids to teach yoga to kids of all ages.
Along with teaching, Kelsie enjoys choreographing dance pieces. She is currently a competition choreographer for several studios in the Chicagoland area. She has hopes of becoming a successful Contemporary dance choreographer one day. She is very eager to teach and inspire these young dancers to become the best versions of themselves, not only in dance but in life.
Rachel Naomi
My name is Rachél and I am born and raised from The Netherlands. I started dancing when I was only 4 years old and never stopped- as a young kid and into my teen years, my weekends existed out of rehearsals, competitions & more rehearsals. Once I stepped into adulthood, I decided to move onto the other side of dance and start teaching the new and next generation. When I was 18 I started teaching hip-hop to kids at a well known studio in the Netherlands. Ever since, I’ve been choreographing and teaching everywhere I end up moving or traveling to. In 2021 I decided to make the move to Chicago and continue my dance path here. I met Drew after a few months of living here and he took me under his wing to introduce me to the Chicago dance scene. In Chicago so far I’ve had the opportunity to choreograph for my team at World of Dance , Carnival Choreographers Ball and many other showcases as a part of Drews team Inside out professional. I’m so excited to be at Soul 2 Sole and continue my passion for teaching the next generation of talented, young dancers!
Katya Suvorova
Katya Suvorova began her dance career in Ukraine where she fell in love and gained a passion for dancing. In 2019 she moved to Poland where she trained & improved her skills/foundations in styles like hip-hop , jazz-funk and choreography by world-wide choreographers like Klaudia Antos, Amari Monster, Tony Tzar, Zacc Milne , Shay Latukolan , Kerrie Milne , Marcin Rebilas , Maniek Kartman , Diana Matos , Nat Bat, Tyrik Patterson, Kenzo Alvares, Lola Beckers, Mecnun Giazar and many more!
She was in many programs which concentrated on the art and expression side of choreography and performing while working professionally on stages working with many different artists.
Her teaching experience began 4 years ago with all different ages across multiple countries before relocating here to Chicago-she is now a part of Soul 2 Sole and is excited to share her diverse knowledge of multiple styles with her students!
Kaylah King
Kaylah King is a dancer, choreographer and teaching artist based in Chicago, IL. She received her BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University in May 2022. She began training in Houston, TX under the direction of Sherese Campbell. King has showcased original choreography in the SHSU undergraduate showcase “Dances @ 8” as well as presented her film “ARE YOU OKAY” in DanceWorks Chicago’s DanceChance. Furthermore, her piece “Les Funérailles Du Jazz” was featured at the Barnstorm Dance Festival in May 2022.
She has had the honor to learn and work with a variety of acclaimed dance artists; Some of these notable choreographers include Joshua Manculich, Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Shonna Hickman-Matlock, Kevin Ward and Alexis Diggs. She has been a member of Red Clay Dance Company and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s Second Company. King is currently a freelance artist dancing for a Noumenon Dance Ensemble and Meher Dance Company.
Ajonay Harris
Ajonay Harris is a professional dance artist from Chicago, Il. Ajonay began training in street styles and hip-hop within her hometown of Chicago at the age of 18 years old. Later moving to Los Angeles to further her training and career, Ajonay was exposed to many styles including jazz, contemporary and fusion that she now applies to her own personal choreography style. Ajonay continues elevating her knowledge of dance by prioritizing her training with legendary Chicago artists.