Instructors

Michelle Murnen

Owner / Director

Michelle Murnen began her dance training as a young girl at Denise Sabala’s School of Dance in Lake Zurich, Illinois. There she began dancing all styles of dance, including tap, ballet and jazz and later danced competitively at that studio. As a young dancer, Michelle earned dance scholarships to dance conventions all over Chicago. At the age of 12, Michelle was scouted out and chosen to be a part of the Sesame Street Production which toured across the United States. She performed various dance numbers with the entire cast and dancers of all ages.

Michelle continued to dance through high school and was a member of Neuqua Valley’s orchesis troupe and Pom Squad. When she wasn’t entertaining a crowd at high school football and basketball games, Michelle continued to commit herself to studio dance and also began assisting and teaching classes at local studios at the age of 16.

Michelle went on to graduate with honors from Columbia College Chicago in 2006 with a B.A in broadcast journalism. During her 4 years in college, she continued to teach dance at Steps Dance Center in Aurora. There, she had the opportunity of working with all levels of dance and founded their hip hop program which she grew to become one of the most successful troupes in the area. Her award winning choreography and creative hip hop pieces earned the highest scores at competitions and her dance was chosen to be a part of the Dance Olympics in Germany.

Michelle has put years of hard work and dedication to her passion and is excited to finally have the opportunity to begin her own business and build what will become one of the most successful studios in the area. Surrounding herself with the best instructors and the most creative and innovative choreographers, Michelle is proud to call Midwest Edge Dance Academy her new home.

Danielle Masciopinto

Owner / Director

Danielle Masciopinto started dance at the age of 7. She trained in ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop at some of the top studios in the area. Continuing to enjoy the art of dance and music, Danielle became a member of Varsity Poms at Neuqua Valley Highschool and Orchesis Dance Troupe as a young freshman where she competed and created pieces for the many shows. At 16 she began teaching at local studios where she created award winning hip hop pieces at many competitions. Danielle has been pushing her dancers to reach their fullest potential and is instilling in them a true passion for dance. Recently Danielle choreographed a piece that beat out the famous reality show dancer’s from “Abby Lee Miller’s” Studio. Danielle wants to pass down her passion of performing and knowledge of dance to her students at Midwest Edge and other dancers she teaches in the future.

Cindy Berkley-Mooney

Instructor

Cindy’s passion for dance began at the age of three. At Denise Sabala’s Dance Studio in Arlington Heights, she began her dance education in ballet, tap, and jazz. As a member of their performing group, Cindy danced in competitions earning scholarships to Gus Giordano and Joel Hall. During high school, she was a member and choreographer for Waubonsie Valley’s Orchesis Dance Troupe, Varsity Pom Squad, and Swing Choir, as well as performing in Crazy For You, Music Man, and Grease. Cindy continued her education in dance receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance Performance and Business Management from Ball State University in 2004. There she studied several styles of dance: ballet, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, musical theatre, clogging, and hip hop. As a member of Ball State Dance Theatre, Cindy danced on stage for the American College Dance Festival receiving a student choreography award. She participated in Junior and Senior Choreography showcases and choreographed Violet and The Fantasticks. In 2002, Cindy spent her summer dancing in the Character Show and parade at Six Flags Great America. Studying abroad in Australia, she had the opportunity to dance with Edith Cowan’s Dance Company in 2003. For the past four years, Cindy has taught a variety of styles to all ages at Steps Dance Center. During this time, she continued her education receiving a Masters degree in Special Education. Cindy currently teaches at Oswego East High School. She looks forward to this wonderful opportunity to work with the talented instructors and students at MidWest Edge Dance Academy.

Katie Biegel

Instructor

Katie Biegel is a recent graduate of Indiana University earning a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a Modern Dance Major and Creative Writing Minor. Training in dance since a young age she has studied with many different studios in the Chicago land area including The School of DanceWest Ballet and Steps Dance Center. She has had the oppotrunity to study at summer intensives with the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company and Parsons Dance in New York City. Since being at Indiana University she has been given the opportunity to work with world renowned artists such as David Parsons, Liz Koeppen, Bill Evans, Connie Dinapoli, Nora Reynolds, Nicole Wolcott, Laurie Eisenhower, Liz Lehrman and Benjamin Wegman. She has been given the opportunity to perform in such works as David Parson’s Nascimento Novo, Bella Lewitzky’s Suite Satie, and Laurie Eisenhower’s Long Way Round.

Katie has taught Jazz and Hip Hop for the IU Contemporary Pre-College program for the past two years. She is on faculty at Midwest Edge Dance Academy in Naperville, Illinois and has also taught for Steps Dance Center in Naperville. She has taught master classes at Neuqua Valley high school in contemporary and improvisation.

Katie recently choreographed four different pieces for studios in Jasper, Indiana and Crawfordsville, Indiana. She has choreographed 6 different works for the Neuqua Valley Orchesis Dance Troupe in Naperville, Illinois. While at Indiana University she has created two works for Contemporary Dance Departments Hammer and Nail performance as well as one piece performed at her senior summary show. Her piece “In Between,” which premired in December 2011 was recently performed at the American College Dance Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was asked to be the opening piece at the American College Dance Festival Gala performance.

Katie is currently working towards a certification in STOTT Pilates and is going to begin the certification process for CorePower Yoga.

Teddy Chavez

Instructor

Through his endless determination, dedication and drive, Teddy Chavez has become an undeniable force with the brightest of futures ahead. As a performer, choreographer, instructor and director, he truly understands and appreciates all facets in the art of dance. Currently represented by Lily’s Talent Agency/Clear Talent Group, his skills have led him to share the stage with multi-platinum selling music artists such as Twista, Ying Yang Twins, Nick Cannon, and others. He is frequently training at local studios and participating in intensives all over the U.S. with some of the hottest choreographers in the industry such as Marty Kudelka (Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson), Gil Doldualao (Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Jennifer Lopez), Brian Friedman (Usher, Britney Spears, Mario Vaquez, Beyonce), and Kevin Maher (Missy Elliot, Alicia Keys, Rihanna) to name a few. It has been through constant exposure to knowledge and inspiration that Teddy has honed and continues to evolve his craft. He helped lead his Hip Hop Dance Company, CODA, to 6th place in the Nation at the U.S. & World Hip Hop Championships which is organized by Hip Hop International (now made famous through MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew”). Teddy has made appearances on seasons 1&3 of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance”, placing top 100 (Vegas Finalist) in the nation on season 3.

Aside from his love of performing, Teddy’s other passion is passing on his knowledge and acquiring knowledge through instruction. As a Hip Hop Dancer, he presses upon students the need to understand the roots and foundation of true Hip Hop Dance because “you can’t understand where you’re going until you know where you’ve been!” As an instructor Teddy focuses on quality over quantity in a learning environment to ensure that students are walking away with an enriching experience. His versatile, energetic, challenging and non-stop teaching style has made him a favorite among his students.

“To inspire and educate someone through dance gives meaning to what I do…” ~Teddy Chavez~

Debbie Ford

Instructor

Debbie Ford was born in St. Louis, MO. At an early age, it became very apparent as to where Debbie’s gifts and passion laid. She began dance lessons at the age of five. By the age of ten she was accepted into the junior company of a regional ballet company and by age 13 she was performing with the senior company. Also during this time, Debbie explored many other forms of entertainment. She took piano, voice, drama, acrobatic and even trapeze lessons.

Ms. Ford has appeared with the St. Louis Municipal Opera, Six Flags Over Mid-America, and supered with several international and national professional ballet companies (Stuttgart Ballet, The Royal Ballet Company, Harkness Ballet Company, New York City Ballet). At the age of 16 she was chosen to be a recipient of a scholarship to Juilliard School in New York. During her senior year in high school, she tore the ligaments in her knee and lost her place with the ballet company, as well as her scholarship.

Debbie decided that her ballet career was over and decided to switch over to Broadway. She has performed with Dick Van Dyke in “Music Man”, Carol Channing in “Hello Dolly”; as well as several other touring companies and has appeared in numerous commercials.

In 1998, Debbie decided to share her passion of dance with other eager young dancers and opened a ballet studio in Portland, Oregon. In June 2001, her husband was transferred to the Chicago area. Since being in Chicago area she has taught for Steps Dance Center, Gold Star Dance and Storm Dance Alliance. But it wasn’t until she began teaching at Midwest Edge that she finally felt like she found her “studio” home!

Sara Fragen

Instructor

Sara has been dancing since the age of three. She trained in jazz, lyrical/contemporary, ballet, tap, and hip hop at some of the most well-known studios in the midwest. She earned many awards competing for Midwest Movement Dance Company. During high school she participated in poms and orchesis at Neuqua Valley High School. Currently Sara is on the dance team at North Central College. She began teaching at the age of nineteen at Midwest Movement and as an working as an assistant for Xtreme Dance Force. In addition, she is a coach for Owsego East High School’s poms team. Sara is excited to express her passion for dance by working with the dancers at Midwest Edge Dance Academy.

Angelica Garza

Instructor

Angelica Garza started dancing seriously at the age of 12, when she trained on scholarship at the Ruth Page Foundation in Chicago under the tutelage of the late Larry Long. While at Ruth Page, she also had the privilege of being a company member of the Civic Ballet of Chicago, Angelica performed in ballets like The Nutcracker, Coppelia, and Hubbard Street’s Line Drive. Angelica has also spent summers at both the Houston Ballet and Boston Ballet to further her training. She went on to study at the prestigious Ailey/Fordham BFA program in New York City where she worked with notable teachers and choreographers Nicolo Fonte, Denise Jefferson, Pedro Ruiz, Christopher Huggins, and Larry Keigwan. During her time at The Ailey School, Angelica was selected to perform at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Gala at New York City Center, as well as the Ailey at the Apollo Gala at the acclaimed Apollo Theatre. During her senior year, Angelica became an apprentice with Ballet Hispanico where she performed with them at the Izod Center in New Jersey.
Aside from her love of performing, Angelica also has a passion for teaching. She began teaching both ballet and jazz in college, and hasn’t stopped since. Her teaching and choreography has taken her to numerous studios in Illinois, New York, and Alabama. Her main goal as an instructor is to share the gift of dance with her students and to teach them about using dance as an artistic outlet. She is thrilled to now be an instructor at Midwest Edge!

Michele Kremer

Instructor

Michele Kremer began dancing at the age of twelve and over the years her passion for dance grew stronger. Kremer attended Oswego High School and danced all four years there as a Pom. She was also privileged enough to hold the position of captain for two of those years. The OHS Poms competed in IDTA and UDA Nationals in Florida. During her years in Poms, Michele gained experience in jazz, pom, kick and hip hop. Aside from poms, she performed in various other school groups including Acapella Choir, Show Choir, The Wiz Musical, Dance Club and Step Team. She simply loved to perform.

While attending college at Bradley University, working toward her degree in Elementary Education, Michele immediately joined a hip hop team. But after lack of leadership skills broke down the team, Kremer and some fellow dancers went on to start their own dance team. HiPNOTiQ Hip Hop Dance Troupe is still a big success on Bradley’s campus and Kremer is proud to have been a part of it.

Since college, Michele has taken master classes in Chicago. In 2010 she danced with a semi-pro team, performing pom and jazz routines at football games in Chicago. More locally, Michele has subbed at Midwest Edge and other studios here and there. Most recently, Kremer coached and choreographed the Oswego High School JV Poms. During her two years with them, she choreographed hip hop routines as well as open pom and open dance routines. In 2011, both of their competition routines in the styles of Hip Hop and Open Pom qualified for State. At the JV State Championship they brought home 1st place in hip hop – Kremer couldn’t have been more proud.

2011 marks a year of firsts for Kremer. It is her first year teaching First Grade in District 308. It is her first year choreographing for the Oswego High School Show Choir. And it will be her first year teaching full time at Midwest Edge – and she couldn’t be more excited!

Elizabeth McGleam

Instructor

Elizabeth McGleam began studying dance at the Salt Creek Ballet Company in Westmont, Illinois under the direction of Sergey Kozadeyev and Zhanna Dubrovskya. At Salt Creek, she performed in many classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Alice in Wonderland, and Paquita. McGleam graduated from Butler University in May 2010 with a Bachelors of Arts in Dance Pedagogy. At Butler, she had a chance to perform in classical works such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, and Cinderella, along with choreographic works by Marek Cholewa, Cynthia Pratt and Tong Wang. She also traveled with Butler Ballet to St. Petersburg, Russia for a month in 2007, where she performed and took various classes throughout the city. She spent the summer of 2008 at BalletMet’s summer intensive, studying with Gerard Charles and Rebecca Rodriguez while performing Serenade, and as a soloist in Colores de Alma. She is extremely passionate about dancing and teaching, and thoroughly enjoys sharing her knowledge and love for dance with others.

Danielle Wilson

Instructor

Danielle began her dance training at the young age of two, studying a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, tap, and hip hop. The bulk of her training took place at Perseverance Dance Company where she focused her dance studies on jazz, lyrical/contemporary, and ballet. Danielle later trained at the University of Minnesota as a BFA Dance major. As a student in the U of M’s dance program, she expanded her studies to a more modern based style of dance, as well as studying the nutritional and musical aspects of the art. Danielle has danced for and worked with choreographers such as Sonya Tayeh and Dee Caspery (both choreographers from the well-known television show, So You Think You Can Dance). She also spends her time accepting any performance opportunities that come her way such as the Carnival Choreographer showcase that performs semi-annually in Chicago, World of Dance, and various other performing prospects. Aside from teaching, training, and performing, Danielle is now working towards a degree in small business management at Harper College; she is hoping to one day apply her business management education to managing a dance studio or company.

Chris Xayarath

Instructor

Born in Aurora, IL, Chris Xayarath started dancing in 2002. His interest in Hip Hop dance grew over the years and learning many different styles to this day. Chris has worked personally with choreographers such as Kevin Maher, Matt Cady, and David Moore. Chris was also given the opportunity to open the show for Hip Hop artist Soulja Boy at Northern Illinois University in 2008. Also, he opened up for artist Fat Joe and Bruno Mars at the House of Blues September of 2010. Now Chris travels to train with his dancing career in Chicago where he is now dancing in two Hip Hop dance groups, CODA and Redefinition.