joel hall

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Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus

(He/Him) Joel Hall — a native of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood — established and co-founded the Chicago City Theatre Company in 1974. This unique performing arts organization includes the Chicago City Theatre Company, the professional concert dance company, Joel Hall Dancers, and a training facility, the Joel Hall Dancers & Center. Hall was the Artistic Director and prime choreographer for his dance company and the Chief Dance Instructor for the training studio. He has now mentored dancers who direct Joel Hall Dancers II and Joel Hall Dancers Youth Company.

van collins

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JHDYC Co-Director

(He/Him) Van Collins, a graduate of the first graduating class from Chicago Academy for the Arts, went on to train on scholarship with Chicago Multi-Cultural School for Performing Arts, Lou Conte, Joel Hall, and Ruth Page. Mr. Collins danced professionally with Joel Hall, Tyego, Anatomical Theatre, River North, and American Danz Theatre. Mr. Collins won the National Choreography Recognition Award by Regional Dance America Festival and Best Choreography by Black Theatre Alliance Awards. He has over 30 years’ experience teaching and choreographing all over the Midwest including Dance Dimensions, Joel Hall, Gus Giordano, Columbia College, and Milwaukee Ballet. His unorthodox technique challenges and inspires to evoke the best artistic environment. Mr. Collins is Founder and Artistic Director of Rasa Dance Chicago. He is the Executive Director of Good Vibes Teen Prevention Theatre. Good Vibes was established as a community outreach vehicle to increase and promote positive peer pressure through the performing arts.

ashaand simone

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Artistic Coordinator

(they/them) Ashaand Simone began their dance training in Seattle with Pacific Northwest Ballet School and later Spectrum Dance Theatre where they trained under Donald Byrd. Their artistic home in Chicago is at the Joel Hall Dancers and Center, where they are a First Company Apprentice, Program Manager, and instructor. They are honored to continue to grow and werkq with the Joel Hall Dancers in their second season with the company. Favorite outside dance/ movement credits include The Firebird, Masks and Myths, Unwinding (Mandala South Asian Performing Arts), Collaborations with Luke Greeff as Such Creatures, Rite of Spring (Brittany Harlin), The Fly Honey Show (The Inconvenience), Level (Kim Brandt), Portals (Reel Movement Project), and Movement Direction work for Grace or the Art of Climbing (Brown Paper Box Theatre Co.), and Les Innocents ((re)discover theatre).

natalie sams

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(She/Her) Natalie Sams received her formal training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance. Following graduation, Natalie apprenticed with Visceral Dance Chicago. She currently works as a freelance dancer with the Elan Artists Agency and Forward the Movement. Natalie is thrilled to have the opportunity to teach at JHDC and create work that spreads the joy of movement with all.

anne marie loesch

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(She/Her) Anne Marie Loesch began her training in Charlotte, North Carolina. She studied Humphrey-Weidman´s modern dance technique under Mary Ann Mee, dancer and demonstrator for Charles Weidman. Katharyn Horne provided Ms.Loesch with a thorough schooling in the methodology of Enrico Cecchetti. Ms. Horne was a devotee of Margaret Craske, Enrico Cecchetti´s only recognized teaching protégée. It was under these two talented women that Anne Marie began her professional dance career with Dance Central, Kinetyx Dance Ensemble, and Moving Poets Theatre of Dance. Since settling in Chicago she has worked with Against the Grain, For Dance, Paul Sanasardo, and Zephyr Dance.

melissa metro

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(She/Her) Melissa Metro grew up in Chicago where she played sports in Grammar School and danced at Joel Hall in High School. She attended the University of the Arts where she graduated with a BFA in Dance. After getting certified in group ex and yoga, she began teaching in gyms, schools and corporate offices all over Philadelphia. Upon returning to Chicago she returned to Joel Hall, guested with Chicago Dance Crash, entered in multiple hip hop battles and teaches multiple styles of yoga, dance and weight training for multiple gyms all over Chicago.

dorianne thomas

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Dorianne Thomas (she/hers) is a native of Chicago, IL and received her BFA in Dance, emphasizing in ballet from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. In addition to the faculty at Webster, Dorianne has had the pleasure of performing choreography by Michael Uthoff, Nejla Yatkin, Alicia Graf Mack, Cleo Parker Robinson, Judine Somerville, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Urban Bush Women, and Monique Haley. Post graduation, she joined South Chicago Dance Theatre (SCDT) as a performing apprentice under the direction of Kia Smith for two seasons. Currently, Dorianne is a contracted performing artist with Praize Productions Inc. and Joel Hall Dancers & Center. Additionally, she is a guest artist with SCDT. She teaches weekly ballet and jazz classes to a varied range of students in studio settings and after-school enrichment programs around the Chicagoland area. Dorianne is excited to have the opportunity to teach a wider range of dance artists through JHDC.

jacqueline sinclair

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Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus

(She/Her) Ms. Sinclair has been as a member of the Joel Hall Dancers for nearly thirty years. She is continually inspired by Mr. Hall’s visions and Urban Jazz style. It is with honor that she has danced in many of his world premieres, including El Gato Negro, The Phoenix, Nuts & Bolts, Great White Cheddak, Te Deum II, Y2 Day, The Crossing, For Marvin, Silkman Suites, An Evening with Nina Simone, Sweets for my Suite, The March and Conversations with Charles Heath. After several years as the company’s Rehearsal Director she was promoted to Assistant Artistic Director. Today she serves the organization as Artistic Director and Executive Director.

heather zimny

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JHDYC Co-Director

(She/Her) Heather Zimny is originally from Park Ridge, and holds a BA in dance from Columbia College Chicago and both a Power Yoga Certification and a Yoga Sculpt Certification from CPY. She can currently be seen getting sassy onstage with the Joel Hall Dancers with whom she has danced with for the majority of her career. Other dance credits include Aerial Dance Chicago, Rasa Dance Chicago, Trifecta Dance Collective, Alliance Dance Company, Ballet Entre Nous, D. I. A. L, Paul Sanasardo and numerous independent choreographers and appearances in music videos. Dance has taken her all over world performing on stages in multiple festivals and concerts across the U.S.(Spring Into Dance St. Louis, IABD in Dayton OH, Anita’s Way in Times Square NY, and Miami Beach Florida to name a few) and overseas in Liverpool as a part of their LEAP program’s 10th year anniversary. Heather is continually inspired by the amazing artists she has the opportunity to learn from and share the marley with and is honored to pass on the knowledge, wisdom and love of this beautiful art form so graciously given to her.

jacquelyn sanders

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Payroll Coordinator

(She/Her) Jacquelyn Sanders loves to dance and has been dancing since she could walk. She began her professional dance training with the Kalamazoo Ballet Company. She later trained at the Ailey School and relocated to Chicago where she trained and performed with Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre. She has also danced with Tyego Dance Project, Ascension, The Kirby Reed Project, and Nucleus Dance Collective. Although she loves ballet and modern even more, she needed some jazz, funk, and house in her life. Then she met Poppa Joel and he turned the Ballerina into a Jazzarina and the rest is history.

betsy herskind

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(She/Her) Betsy Herskind began her dance training with Edna McRae and Ellis-DuBoulay. She has danced professionally with Lyric Opera Ballet, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Illinois Ballet, Melody Top Theater and in Ruth Page’s Nutcracker. Ms. Herskind had her own dance school for more than thirty years on the northwest side of Chicago. She is currently on the faculties of the Joel Hall Dance Center and Dance Center Evanston.

emmanuel r. hernandez

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(He/Him) Emmanuel Ramirez is a dancer, teacher and choreographer. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Drama from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico. Emmanuel also trained intensively at the School of the Dynamic Method by Sergio Vicencio. From 2006-2015 he danced for the Contemporary Company Guadalajara en Movimiento, The Company of Dance Classical and Neoclassical of Jalisco, UNAM Company with the project Bailando a Marquez en la UNAM and Company of Dance Classical of the Quintana Roo State. He danced in Chicago for several companies In addition to his teaching experience in Mexico, here he has been a guest teacher in Ballet Legere and Stairway of the Stars Dance Studio. Emmanuel is honored to be a part of Joel Hall Dancers & Center, sharing his love and passion for Dance.

christina morrison

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(She/Her) Christina Morrison is a Massachusetts native. She graduated in 2018 with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Since moving to Chicago, she has performed and/or presented works in festivals at Stage 773, Links Hall, The Edge Theater, and The Greenhouse Theater, and Links Hall. Current projects include the commission of her work “Out of Sight” for Simantikos Dance, navigating a dance film with Jacqueline Sinclair under Joel Hall’s Mentorship Program, and dancing as a Guest Artist for Peckish Rhodes.

julie matolo

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(She/Her) Julie Matolo is a dancer, actress, stunt performer, choreographer, aerialist and dance instructor. She is based out of California and Chicago. Her artistic goals have led her to travel and perform in the majority of our fifty states, in addition to Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and throughout Europe. Julie toured with the largest touring stunt show, “MARVEL Universe Live”, where she played, Agent Maria Hill and Black Cat, in addition to multiple other tracks in the show. This world traveler has also performed on Royal Caribbean as a dancer and as a featured aerialist. She considers The Joel Hall Dancers her longtime home dance company. Favorite Joel pieces Julie has performed in include “El Gato Negro” and “Y2 Day”. Additional concert dance companies, Julie has performed with are; Andrea Kelly Dance Theater, Aerial Dance Chicago, The Willingham Project, Corpo Dance, The Kirby Reed Project, Duwane Pendarvis and Company, Dereque Withurs, Innervation Dance Cooperative. Julie is grateful to dance the work of the legendary Joel Hall!

william gill

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Assistant Artistic Director

(He/Him) William Gill (Will Gill) is a Chicago native who has taught professionally throughout the U.S., and internationally for the past 12 years. He moved back to Chicago after touring with The Dallas Black Dance Theatre for seven years. Will has worked with such noted dance legends as Donald Bryd, Alonzo King, Donald McKayle, and Milton Myers. In 2005, Will was asked to teach and perform with The Austrian Dance Festival in Vienna. During the festival, Will performed the legendary solo ”Ostrich”, choreographed by the renowned, Asadata Dafora.

Since his return to Chicago, Will has taught and choreographed at Joel Hall Dancers & Center, Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center/The School of Homer Bryant, and Visceral Dance Center. He was also on staff at Inaside Dance Chicago as the Modern Dance Teacher for the main company.

On the performance stage, Will was recently a principle dancer for the musical, “Showboat”. This production has been performed at Chicago’s Civic Opera House, The Houston Grand Opera House, and The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

As choreographer and coordinator, Will is working with acclaimed Chicago artist, Nick Cave. Cave is also the Dean of Graduate Fashion Studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. Most recently, Will was the choreographer for Cave’s production “Heard, NY”, which received critical acclaim and an extensive write-up in the New York Times. Will is currently teaching in the Adult Division at JHDC, is a Resident Choreographer for Joel Hall Dancers Adult Scholarship Program, and serves as Assistant Artistic Director for their main Company.

joan oberndorf

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(She/Her) Joan Oberndorf’s early ballet training was with Bentley Stone and Walter Camryn. She has also studied ballet with Larry and Dolores Long, Orrin Kayan, and Birute Birodicaite, and jazz with Lou Conte and Claire Bataille. As a dancer she performed with Light Opera Works and Topeka Civic Theatre as well as doing industrial work for several corporations including Sperry-Rand and Carson Pirie Scott. Joan focuses on alignment, building strength and proper placement while also stressing musicality as she teaches. She works to enable students of any age or level to move and dance at their fullest potential. As a practicing massage therapist, Joan incorporates her training and experience with bodywork to help the dancers in her class stay injury free.

merrick mitchell

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(He/Him) Merrick Mitchell (Chicago, Il) is a veteran member of the Joel Hall Dancers. He is a former member of the Julian Swain Inner City Dance Theatre and Joseph Holmes Dance Theatre (under the direction of Joseph Holmes and Randy Duncan). Merrick holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Illinois State University and a M.A. in School Leadership from Concordia University. He currently teaches Graham based Modern at the Joel Hall Dance Center. In addition to teaching dance, he is certified in Beginner and Intermediate Pilates Mat classes and is a very active member of his church. Merrick is blessed and thankful to be able to continue to share his craft.

breon arzell

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(He/Him) Detroit native, Breon Arzell, came to Chicago in 2013, after performing and teaching overseas for 6 years. Miami University graduate, Actor, Choreographer, Director, Writer; he is constantly striving to deliver love and light into this world. A career spanning 22 years (and counting), his talents have allowed him to perform all across the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany, Denmark, London, & Singapore. Developing his own style of movement and storytelling (a fusion of Hip Hop, Modern, Jazz, and Contemporary), and as an independent contractor, he has taught/choreographed at LaShelle's School of Dance, Senn High School, Walter Payton College Prep, Agassiz Elementary, Northwestern, DePaul, Goodman Theatre, and all across the Chicago storefront and equity theater community. www.breonarzell.com.

kristin samerson vollmer

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(She/Her) Kristin Samerson Vollmer began her dance career at the age of 3 at Kehl School of Dance in Madison, Wisconsin. She later trained with the Madison Youth Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Milwaukee Ballet, and Alvin Ailey. In her professional career Kristin has worked with the Joel Hall Dancers performing works by Joel Hall, Paul Sanasardo, Jim Morrow, Jarrett Kelly and William Gill in many performances including the Jazz Dance World Congress. She has also danced for Cerqua Rivera, Inaside Chicago Dance, Chicago Dance Crash, in a USO tour in South Korea and as a backup dancer in Bollywood film Dhoom 3. Kristin received her Business and Dance degrees from Northeastern Illinois University, and has served as Joel Hall Dancers Youth Company Co-Artistic Director and JHDC Program Manager. She's currently dancing professionally for the Joel Hall Dancers, teaching for Design Dance, Dance on Broadway, The Hall and SNAP. She would like to thank her husband Kevin for his unending support in her career as a dancer and instructor while raising their sweet Sammie Joy.