EDE Staff

Teia has trained studio-style since the age of 3, and grew up as a competitive dancer, later becoming a choreographer. She is trained in Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, and Tap. She has earned her BA in Dance and Marketing from Columbia College Chicago.  Teia has trained with companies across Chicago in workshops and intensives, as well as has earned national accreditations for her choreography. Teia loves to share her knowledge and love of dance, and watch her students safely explore what movement and creative possibilities they can uncover through dance.  

Mallory has been a competitive dancer since she was 3 years old. She danced at Aspire Dance Company in Bloomingdale, Illinois. She was also on the dance team at Illinois State University. Mallory has taught for several studios. Mallory has over 15 years of experience in every style, but her personal favorites are Contemporary, Lyrical & Jazz. Growing up, anything fast, sassy, and jazzy was right up her alley but she grew to also love the art of lyrical and contemporary. Her favorite thing about dance is, “simply the emotional rush you get, there is nothing like it!  Stepping onto the stage with the lights directly on you, the music loud, and those 2 minutes of forgetting everything but dancing your heart out will forever be my favorite feeling!"

 Sara Zgonina is elated to share her 15 years of dance training and experience in Ballet/Pointe, Jazz, and Tap with Evolution Dance Experience students! As a company member of DuPage Dance Academy’s Elmhurst Dance Theatre, a dance instructor/choreographer, and a musical theatre performer, she has trained not only at her company’s studio, where she has assisted and taught, but with Ballet North, Aerial Dance Chicago, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, On the FLY Productions, and Lou Conte Dance Studio. Her credits include many ballets, jazz /tap concerts, and musicals including Choreographer for Elmhurst Children’s Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella in Elmhurst Dance Theatre’s Cinderella, Dancer/Aerialist with On the FLY Productions, Dying Swan in Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra’s Carnival of the Animals, Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian Dancer, and Clara in Elmhurst Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker Highlights, Little Lamb in Surging Films and Theatrics’ Big Fish, Tiger Lily in North Central College Summer Music Theatre’s Peter Pan, and Glinda in CYT Chicago’s Wizard of Oz. 

 Pliéing and tapping since the age of four, she currently teaches dance, choreographs, performs in musicals, and dances as a company member of Elmhurst Dance Theatre. Her 19 years of dance training and stage experience include mastery of ballet, jazz, tap, and pointe through DuPage Dance Academy and Ballet North, along with additional studies in musical theatre, aerial, and dance via Lou Conte, On the FLY Productions, College of DuPage, and North Central College. She has both performed in and/or contributed choreography to ballets, musicals, and jazz/tap shows, with credits such as Nutcracker Highlights (Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian), The Sleeping Beauty (Carabosse, Enchanted Garden Fairy, Little Red Riding Hood), Peter and the Wolf (Wolf), Carnival of the Animals (Elephant), Cinderella (Stepmother), Honk! (Choreographer), Seussical (Mayzie, Choreographer), Evita (Tango Dancer), Big Fish (Little Lamb), An Enchanted Evening (Dancer/Aerialist), and Peter Pan (Tiger Lily). Motivated by her great joy in performing, Amanda is delighted to instruct and encourage dancers of all ages. 

Jackie is a graduate of Triton College with an Associate degree in Arts (Political/Social Science) and a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of  Science (Business Management). Her full-time position is in Construction – Project Engineer in the Civil Division. She has studied Ballet, Tap, Acrobatics, and Pointe.  She performed in Trinity High School’s productions in dance roles in the “Wizard of Oz” and “The King and I”. She also assisted Helen Hurley with dance classes while she was in high school. Jackie danced with Memorial Park since the age of three. She eventually took on the challenge of Dance Director and hired a staff that would help her revitalize the dance program. Over five years, she was able to train the dancers to take on pointe, which had not been accomplished in over fifteen years at the park district.  She also figure skated, advancing through the levels rapidly because of her dance training. She skated in the performance of “Beauty and The Beast”. She also skated competitively, choreographing her routines for competitions.

Ruby started dancing on her Jr high poms team. From there, she joined gymnastics and orchesis (high school dance team) in high school. She was the gymnastics choreographer and also choreographed a couple of numbers in the orchesis show. She continued to teach throughout her college years at the Summer Academy of Dance in Lake Zurich, followed by various studios and park districts in the northwest suburbs. She continues to teach her competitive dance team and teaches here at Evolution as well. She love inspiring young dancers and hopes to continue to teach for as long as she can!