At the helm for 38 years, Nan’s leadership of Giordano Dance Chicago began in 1985 as Associate Director, and in 1993 was appointed the title of Artistic Director.  Nan was trained by her father and mentor, Gus Giordano, who created the world-renowned Giordano Technique.  Developer of the Nan Giordano Certification Program®, Nan is the world’s preeminent authority on the essence, discipline, progression, and continuance of the Giordano Technique; the vision of the NGCP® is to provide worldwide, ongoing, and in-depth access to this ground-breaking dance form.[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#0000ff” expand_text=”Click for More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ] She had an extensive performing career in concert dance, as well as in the industrial and fashion worlds.  Before taking the reins on the artistic side, her concert dance experience began with Giordano Dance Theatre, apprenticing and then joining GDC.  With her father at the helm of the company, she traveled and performed extensively around the world; she also had the opportunity to perform in numerous WTTW dance television specials choreographed by her father including the Emmy Award-winning The Rehearsal. When an injury ended her performing career in 1985, Nan became Associate Director of the company and was instrumental in establishing a working Board of Directors, which has evolved into today’s three separate boards.  In the last thirty-four years, under Nan’s direction, GDC has established a high profile reputation for excellence in the Chicago dance community, as well as in the national and international dance worlds. Nan has guided the development of a large and diverse repertoire. Nan’s concert choreography credits include five works in GDC’s repertoire. On the commercial side, Nan has choreographed several television commercials.  Nan teaches master classes throughout the United States and has toured internationally as a guest teacher in many countries including Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Mexico, and Israel.  She is also the driving force behind Jazz Dance/Science & Health, GDC’s outreach program in three underserved Chicago Public Schools. Nan received the Manford Byrd Jr. Wizard of Oz Award for Outstanding Service from Howland School of the Arts.  Nan is Artistic Director of Jazz Dance World Congress (JDWC), an event that draws dancers, choreographers, and teachers from more than 30 countries.  Nan served three years on the Illinois Arts Council Dance Panel and also served on the Community Arts Assistance Program Dance Panel for the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs.  She currently serves on the International Ballet Competition, National Honorary Committee, and the Advisory Board for Dance Magazine. Nan was also honored by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who declared on June 9, 2018, Nan Giordano Day for her leadership and contributions to the Chicago community. In August 2018, Chicago Dancers United honored Nan (along with Lou Conte) with the Dance for Life Impact Award, recognizing her contributions to the Chicago dance community and Dance for Life. In celebration of Nan’s landmark year, the Chicago Tribune released their “2018 Chicagoans of the Year”, of which she was spotlighted as the city’s “Dance” honoree. In the summer of 2019, Nan was honored with the Grace Wakefield Lifetime Achievement Award by Star Dance Alliance at the Circle of Excellence Gala. Most recently Nan launched a virtual project in Latin America, Illuminate the Possibilities partnered with DUBOFOCE. [/bg_collapse]

Heather Beal (Dunham Instructor), received her B.A. in dance from Columbia College Chicago and her MFA in dance from Washington University in St. Louis.  She is a certified Dunham Technique Instructor and was a principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham Museum Children’s Workshop Performance Company from the age of six into young adulthood. She performed with the company around the United States and France. She has also performed in many productions at The Black Rep and several productions at the St. Louis MUNY.  Her Black Rep credits include Nina Simone: Four Woman, Purlie, The Me Nobody Knows, Le Freak C’est Chic, DreamGirls. Theatre credits include Ghost (Metro Theatre), and Feeding Beatrice (The Rep). College credits include: For Colored Girls… (Washington University), Little Shop of Horrors and First Date (University of Southern Indiana).  She is best known for her work #triggerwarning and Black AF, a dance critique of police brutality against Black folx in America.

Starinah “Star” Dixon is an assistant director, choreographer, and original principal dancer of world-renowned tap company, M.A.D.D. Rhythms. She has taught and performed at the most distinguished tap festivals in the country including The L.A. Tap Fest, DC Tap Fest, RIFF Dallas, Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Rhythm World, and MADD Rhythms own Chicago Tap Summit. She’s performed internationally in Poland, Japan, and Brazil to name a few. Performance venues include Jacob’s Pillow, Kennedy Center, and the Lincoln Center. Outside of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, she’s performed as a guest with such companies as Michelle Dorrance’s Dorrance Dance and Savion Glover’s All Funk’d Up. Star is currently on staff at numerous dance studios in and around Chicago.

The daughter of two great flamenco artists, Carmen Mora and Mario Maya, Belen began her dance studies at the studios AMOR DE DIOS in Madrid. Her training in classical dance has been with Rosa Naranjo and Juana Taft. In classical Spanish dance, she has studied under Maria Magdalena, Paco Romero and Jose Antonio. In the areas of jazz and contemporary dance she has studied with Goyo Montero, Teresa Nieto, and the Alvin Ailey dance company in New York. Her flamenco teachers have included Paco Fernandez, Manolete, La Tati, El Gueito, Carmen Cortes, La Tona, and many others. Later she entered the School of the Spanish National Ballet directed at that time by Maria de Avila. After a year she decided to relocate to Seville in order to focus on flamenco. She joined the Mario Maya Company where within three years she went from being a member of the ensemble to becoming the principal dancer and repetiteur of the company. Meanwhile, she also gained experience in the tablaos of Seville, LOS GALLOS and EL PATIO. Belen left the Mario Maya Company to form her own and spent six months in Tokyo at the tablao FLAMENCO of Tokyo, together with other important artists including Yolanda Heredia, Rafael Jimenez Falo, Jesus Torres, and Alejandro Granados. Upon returning from Japan, she became the principal for the Dance Company of Andalucia. She was invited by Carlos Saura to represent the new generation of flamenco in his world-renowned film FLAMENCO. Belen’s performance in this film would become a milestone in flamenco dance as interpreted by women, opening new avenues in terms of concept, musicality, movement, and costuming. In 1996, she again formed her own company with its first production being The Goddess Within Us, with Teresa Nieto as choreographer and Emilio de Diego as musical director. The company was composed entirely of bailaoras: Yolanda Heredia, Teresa Nieto, Rafaela Carrasco, and Isabel Bayon. [bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#0000ff” expand_text=”Click for More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ] In 1997 she was invited by Mayte Martin to the Grec Festival in Barcelona. From this pivotal collaboration was born a shared company, MAYTE MARTIN Y BELEN MAYA, the fruit of an absolute artistic connection and a common understanding of flamenco. This collaboration gave rise to two shows: MAYTE MARTIN Y BELEN MAYA , and FLAMENCO DE CAMARA. Both have received outstanding critical praise in important venues such as the Festival of Jerez (2002 and 2003), the Royal Theatre of Madrid, the Grec Theatre of Barcelona, the Autumn Festival of Madrid, the Central Theatre and Lope de Vega Theatre of Seville, the Music and Dance Festival of Granada, Teatre de la Ville of Paris, the Spai of Barcelona, and the Symphony Space of New York among others.
In 2004 Belen participated in LOS CAMINOS DE LORCA (The Paths of Lorca) with the Dance Company of Andalucia under the direction of Pepa Gamboa and performed in the premiere of FUERA DE LOS LIMITES(Beyond the Boundaries) together with Rafaela Carrasco under the direction of Ramon Oller.In 2005 she presented the show (Dibujos), (Drawings), in Madrid as part of the Summers at La Villa series to both public and critical acclaim. In 2006 this was restaged and premiered at the 10th Flamenco Festival in Jerez.
After a long period of study with Juan Carlos Lerida and David Montero she presented (Souvenir) and (La Voz de su Amo) last March in Seville. Both shows are of great artistic initiative, they have surprised the audience tremendiously and is currently touring most successfully; both shows are a co production with el Mercat de les Flors. [/bg_collapse]

CU Boulder Associate Professor Donna Mejia is the Inaugural Chancellor’s Scholar of Health and Wellness for the Crown Wellness Institute, and a member of the Theatre & Dance Department. She is also affiliate faculty for Women & Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, and the Center for Teaching & Learning. She is the first tenured faculty globally for Transcultural Fusion Dance (TcFD), a hybrid tradition that dialogs dances of the African and Arab Diasporas with American Hip Hop and Contemporary Dance. Her 40 years of study in ethnography, yoga, meditation and somatic studies continue to be central in all that she does. This interdisciplinary work and her performances, approached through the vantage point of her multi-heritage identity, have inspired connections to many astonishing people and fields of study, taken her around the world for solo performances, instigated a life-long devotion to learning, and inspired her efforts towards upliftment of others through education. Although she has enjoyed strong artistic success, she is most proud of how her community talks, writings, performances, and advocacy work in TcFD created a cascade of decolonization actions and language in the genre. As a Crown Institute faculty fellow, she serves as Faculty Director of research programs focusing on embodiment and trauma-informed somatic additions to programming, cultural retentions and innovations, intersectionality, anti-bias and anti-racism efforts, gender equity, healing and well-being through the arts. [bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#0000ff” expand_text=”Click for More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ] She was awarded a 2021 Legends of Dance Award by the Carson Brierly Dance Library. Her contributions to curriculum, faculty and student development, and intervention work garnered her the 2021 CU Graduate Student Mentor Award, and 2022 CU President’s DEI award for Faculty. Donna’s scholarship merging the study of cultural retention, colonial imperialism, gender representation, and digital globalization received the 2011 Selma Jean Cohen Fulbright Honor for International Dance Scholarship. Donna’s projects include directing the Gather at the Delta Initiative, collaborating with her research partner Dr. Valerie Joseph, developing her instructional knowledge of somatics, yoga and mindfulness, contributing to world heritage preservation projects through UNESCO affiliated Council for International Dance,  collaborating with the Denver Art Museum, bringing cultural dimensionality to clinical medical research with collaborator Dr. Yoni Ashar, designing electronic music, sewing, curating art-infused works and environments, and writing. [/bg_collapse]

M. Sheron Trotman is a tutor, choreographer, and professional artiste and is the founder, Artistic Director and Principal of Dance Strides Barbados. She was trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, New York. In her teenage years, she worked with Dr. Pearl Primus and started studying the Primus technique. In 1993 she worked with Dr. Sherrill Berryman-Johnson developing the dance program at Howard University and performed with Dr. Johnson’s company, Images of Cultural Artistry Inc. Also, in 1993, she started teaching the Primus technique to students at Howard University and American University. Her classes extended to dance artists and community groups in the DC area and surrounding districts. She was co-administrator on the Pearl E. Primus Video Documentation with Dr. Johnson. Ms. Trotman continues to teach the Primus technique to this day. [bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#0000ff” expand_text=”Click for More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ] She has performed in South Africa, England, the USA, and throughout the Caribbean. In the summer of 2018, she was an international guest teacher/choreographer for the dance camp at the annual Beijing Dance Festival in China. Most recently, she taught the Primus technique at the 2020 International Association of Blacks in Dance conference in Philadelphia, USA. Ms. Trotman has done research on dance and culture in Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Timbuktu, and Gorée Island. [/bg_collapse]

Elizabeth “Liza” Yntema, the Founder & President of Dance Data Project™, has been an advocate for women for decades. From Michigan Law School, where she received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Social Justice, to Volunteer of the Year at the Junior League of Chicago’s 75th Anniversary for bi partisan passage of a resolution in the Illinois General Assembly recognizing homelessness as a family issue disproportionately affecting women and children,  Ms. Yntema has devoted herself to making the lives of women & girls better. [bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#0000ff” expand_text=”Click for More” collapse_text=”Show Less” ] Through the lens of education (establishing a first in the country college visiting program), or sports (advocating for girls of color joining crew teams), Ms. Yntema has spent decades in every aspect of volunteerism & philanthropy. A student of ballet, and then a long time supporter of choreographers both at the Joffrey Ballet Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago, Liza founded Dance Data Project from her kitchen table in 201 to advocate for parity in pay and leadership opportunities for female Artistic and Executive leadership, set, lighting, costume designers as well as choreographers and composers. A 1984 graduate of Michigan Law, with an undergraduate degree from University of Virginia, Ms. Yntema has become a nationally known advocate for her metrics/research based advocacy for increased women’s voices at large ballet companies in the US and globally. A 2018-2019 member of the Philanthropy Workshop, a global philanthropic network, Ms. Yntema has used  the October through May intensive, to establish a Listening Tour, which will eventually extend to the 50 largest ballet companies in the US, while speaking out nationally on gender bias in ballet. An enthusiastic financial supporter of in depth multi year efforts to promote women, Ms. Yntema is Lead Individual Sponsor of the Boston Ballet’s ChoreogapHER program, as well as a Sponsor of the American Ballet Theatre’s Movement initiative to promote more female choreographers. [/bg_collapse]

Tracy’s unconventional career as a long-time business journalist and former anchor and reporter for FOX News and FOX Business Network serendipitously led her to her current role as a financial advisor. The diversity of people she has met over the years has provided her with insight, experience and a true ability to translate complex concepts into straightforward advice. By helping her clients build a solid financial infrastructure, Tracy can help her clients pursue their goals and plan confidently for the future.