Instructor Bios

Jessica began her training in Decatur, Illinois where she was an exam candidate with the Royal Academy of Dance. At age eleven, she was accepted to the National Academy of Arts in Champaign where she trained until its closure in the spring of 1987. Jessica has trained and performed under a variety of notable teachers to include Petrus Bosman, David Keener, Robert Dicello, and Mark Schneider. Jessica has been a Dance Arts instructor since 1989 where she has taught all levels of Royal Academy of Dance ballet syllabus classes, as well as all levels of Adult Ballet.

Lorelei Cosper was born and raised in Champaign-Urbana and has been performing across the area since 2010. Their training started off through local schools and theatre programs in musical theatre, tap, and jazz. For the past decade, she has trained in ballet and Cunningham and Limon-based Modern. They have also taken classes learning Character and the foundations of Graham and Horton technique. She’s had the privilege of attending workshops with Mark Morris Dance Group members Billy Smith and Domingo Estrada Jr. 
Lorelei studied Psychology at Parkland College and is most interested in how the field entwines with dance. More specifically, how neurodiverse students can find safety, confidence, and joy through movement.

Anna Oates Schlaack (she/her) began her dance studies at the age of 14 at Dance Studio B in Wilson, NC after years of wishing to dance. Anna was and continues to be inspired by her younger sister who started to dance at the age of 2, before she could even walk. Her sister has Down Syndrome. From Western Carolina University, where she received a minor in dance, into her adulthood, Anna has carried her love for dance in academic applications and studio classes. 
Anna has studied ballet (primarily Cecchetti and Vaganova Methods), tap, jazz, musical theater dance, contemporary, and Modern, and has taught ballet, tap, tumbling, and creative movement for ages 3-7.
From her home to the studio and other forms of teaching, Anna is mindful of different learning abilities and strives to create an inclusive environment, especially for those individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Lillian Rice is an Arts Educator from Champaign Illinois. She teaches Beginning Adult Ballet as well as Creative Movement. She has had 12 years of Vaganova Ballet training, and is delighted to share her knowledge with emerging dancers of every age. In addition to her Dance Arts career, Lillian is a full time student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She is a senior majoring in Art Education. 

Kyla grew up dancing in Utah and studied Dance Education at Brigham Young University, where she had the opportunity to tour to Eastern Europe and South Africa and Zimbabwe to teach and perform. Kyla volunteered with two organizations in southern India where she taught life skills through dance to children from leprosy colonies. Post-school she started a dance program at a girls high school treatment center in Utah. After moving to Boston, Kyla performed with multiple companies, including Boston Community Dance Project, as well as taught in local studios. She now resides in Champaign with her husband and two kids. She had the opportunity to perform for the “Dancing With the CU Stars” event and has been enjoying teaching for the Champaign Parks District. Kyla has a love for teaching, advocating for, and performing many styles of dance such as contemporary, jazz, ballet, hip hop, tap, and musical theater. 

Whitney Havice began her dance training in ballet at the age of five in the Vaganova method at the Lee School of Ballet in Champaign, IL. and since then has studied, trained, and performed in numerous other styles of dance. She has choreographed, directed and/or appeared in over fifty musical theatre productions locally and in the Chicago area for the Champaign Urbana Theatre Company, Parkland College, the Station Theatre, Brown Paper Box Co, and others. In addition, she has served as the Dance Rehearsal Director for the LyricTheatre at the UI, and as the Musical Theatre Dance instructor at the Little Theatre on the Square.  She has also taught dance classes in a variety of styles at other studios in the Champaign-Urbana area, and is the class coordinator for the Dance for People with Parkinsons program at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.