The Staff

Kristen Sheridan has over 20 years of dance experience and has danced under the direction of Denise Sabala, Joel Hall, Desire Robbins and many others in the Chicagoland area. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and hip hop. A captain and choreographer of the Fremd Varsity Poms, she was a part of the 1998 Double State Championship Team in Pom and Kick. She also was the Showstopper of the Week her junior and senior year, and then won the National Showstopper of the Year Scholarship during her senior year.

Kristen went on to dance in college with the University of Wisconsin Dance Team, a consistent top ten team at Nationals. A varsity staff member of Showstopper Camps of America for 7 years, she became their Associate Camp Director and Featured Choreographer in 2004. Kristen has worked with and choreographed competition routines for high schools in Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. She has danced professionally as an Adrenaline Rush dancer for the Chicago Rush Arena Football Team and in the NBA as a Chicago Luvabull for the Chicago Bulls. Kristen danced for the Bulls for three seasons and was a captain her third season. She currently resides in Tampa and is the Assistant Coach for the nationally ranked University of South Florida Dance Team, the SunDolls.

Jenny Anderson's love for dance started at an early age. Now with over 20 years of experience in jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, theater and a few years of swing and salsa, she is excited to share her talents with Star Performance Company. Jenny is from Minnesota where she spent her early years in dance studio performance and competition. She was a member and two-year captain of her high school dance team, Centennial, performing jazz/funk and high kick. Jenny went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was a member and captain of the nationally ranked dance team in both jazz and hip-hop. After college, Jenny pursued her passion as a dancer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She traveled the world and performed in the Broadway evening production shows for nearly two years.

Jenny now resides in Southern California where she is a member of DDO Dance Agency. She has done several performances for Nike and was also a Summer Pro League Dancer. Outside of auditioning and performing for industrial/commercial work, she takes class at the EDGE Performing Arts Center from well known dancers/choreographers such as Blake McGrath, Bobby Newberry and Eddie Garcia. Jenny cannot wait to work with all of the dancers this summer at camp!

Lauren Bilbrey is excited to be an instructor again for Star Performance Company. She has studied with the St. Charles School of Dance and the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance in Chicago, Illinois. Her extensive background in dance includes 20 years of formal training in the areas of ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, and hip hop. Lauren started performing at age ten, when she was cast in the Chicago Tribune Charities production of The Nutcracker. She has received numerous scholarships, including one from Dimitri Roudnev's Ballet Intensive from Moscow.

Lauren was also a member of the State Champion Fremd Varsity Poms. In 1998, the team gained Double State Championship titles in Pom and Kick. She was co-captain her sophomore and junior years and captain senior year. She was voted Showstopper of the Week and Year in 2000. Lauren continued to dance throughout her college career at The University of Iowa, while gaining a Bachelor of Arts in English. Lauren currently teaches at L.E.A.P. (Life Skills and Educational Alternative Program) and choreographs for/coaches the Fremd Junior Varsity Poms.

Heather Bilbrey has over 16 years of dance experience, including training in ballet, jazz, hip hop, modern, Pointe, tap, musical theatre, and lyrical. She studied at St. Charles School of Dance and Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance in Chicago, Illinois. Heather also traveled to New York to study at the Broadway Dance Center. She started performing at age six when she was in numerous dance competitions and also cast in the Chicago Tribune Charities production of The Nutcracker. She received multiple scholarships, including several from the CNADM convention.

Heather was on Fremd Varsity Poms for four years. She was co-captain her junior year and captain/choreographer her senior year. Heather currently continues to dance throughout her college career at the University of Kansas. She is studying with a major in Psychology and a minor in Dance. Heather is excited to share her passion for dance and hopes to pass it on to all of the teams this summer!

Katie Evans is very excited to join her friend and former teammate Kristen as an instructor at Star Performance Company. Katie has been a dancer since the age of 3 and loves to share her passion for dance with others. She started off with studio training in ballet, jazz, and tap, and continued training with lyrical, hip hop and musical theater through high school. The summer after graduating from DeForest High School in Wisconsin, she began instructing for UDA summer camps and eventually went on to become a Head Instructor as well as a judge for UDA High School Nationals.

As for college, Katie began dancing at The University of Kansas and then after a year transferred to The University of Wisconsin – Madison. During her tenure at Wisconsin, the UW Dance Team went from placing in the top 15 to placing 2nd her senior year when she was captain of the team. She continued her career with the team as the Head Coach for one year after college and then moved to New York City to take a Marketing position with Turner Broadcasting. In New York, she continued dancing by taking classes at Broadway Dance Center and acting as an assistant coach and choreographer for the Columbia University Dance Team.

Katie is now back to her Midwestern roots, living in Chicago and recreationally taking jazz classes as well as choreographing for high school teams in the area. She is looking forward to meeting and working with all of the campers this summer!!

Kate Koenig’s passion for dance began 16 years ago when she started training at studios throughout the Chicagoland area. Her background includes jazz, ballet, modern, pointe, lyrical, tap, hip-hop, social dance and musical theater. During high school, Kate was a member of the Fremd High School Orchesis dance team. Kate enjoyed choreographing and leading as Vice President and then President of Orchesis.

Kate graduated in 2006 from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. While attending UB, Kate was a member of Zodiaque Studio Dance Ensemble, performed in Dancer’s Workshop Productions, choreographed for Young Choreographers Showcase and interned at the American College Dance Festival. Here she took master classes with the Martha Graham Company, Limon Company, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Fosse, Randy Duncan and Doug Varone.

Currently Kate is living in Las Vegas where she is perusing her dance career on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Kate is a passionate dancer, choreographer and teacher. She hopes to instill in her students the enthusiasm, joy, and love she has for the amazing art that is dance.

Kenya Patterson has been dancing all of her life. She began to take it very seriously once she made the Morris High School Pom Squad as a sophomore. Kenya danced with the team for three years, won 3 of the team's many state titles, and developed a passion for choreography. She went off to college at the University of Tennessee where she took a break from performance and continued to improve on her technique by studying ballet, jazz, and modern.

For the past five years, Kenya has been dancing in the NBA. She started out with the Chicago Luvabulls, the dance team for the Chicago Bulls. During her second year, she accepted a captainship position with the team. That experience not only brought her dance ability to a new level, but also allowed her to take class from some of the hottest choreographers and dancers in the industry like Brian Friedman and Barry Youngblood.

She now dances with the Miami Heat Dancers, voted the #1 dance team in the NBA. The Miami Heat Dancers are notorious for their high energy, latin infused, and cutting edge choreography and style. This experience has added a new flare to her personal style and she is excited to bring it back with her. Kenya is thrilled to return to Star Performance Company and challenge the girls with a new level of hip hop!

Jessica van Dusen has studied dance for 24 years, beginning her training at the Gould Academy of Dance Arts in Elgin, Illinois, and extended her training as a scholarship student at Lou Conte Dance in Chicago, the Ruth Page Foundation, a variety of national dance camps and Steps on Broadway in New York. Her extensive background in dance includes formal training in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, modern, tap, musical theatre, tumbling, hip hop, and break-dance. Jessica began her performing debut in yearly dance recitals, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and many musical theatre performances, such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Chicago Theatre. She was captain and choreographer of the State Champion St. Charles Varsity Drill Team, and chosen as Showstopper of the Week in 1998.

Jessica continued her dance training and performance as she continued into college at The University of Iowa with a scholarship in dance. She was a member of the Iowa Dance Team, performing and competing as a nationally ranked team. She also was a member of the Iowa Dance Company, performing in the Annual Dance Gala, and touring with the company throughout the Midwest. Her junior year she studied abroad for dance at the Laban Centre in London, England. Jessica graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation.

Her post-collegiate career in dance continued as a dance instructor at Gould Academy of Dance Arts and 3rd Street Dance and Theatre Academy. Jessica was a soloist in Rasa Dance Theatre in Chicago, an industrial dance performer for pharmaceutical companies and corporate shows, as well as a Chicago Luvabull for two years. She is currently the Artistic Director for the 3rd Street Dance Company as well as a judge for Team Dance Illinois.

Dinna Yap has studied dance for over twelve years in the areas of hip hop, jazz, footwork, house, pom, and cultural. She was a member of the Buffalo Grove High School Pom Squad. She also has performed Indian, Cambodian, Filipino and Latin cultural dancing. Dinna continued to study dance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began her dancing career with Dance 2XS, an international hip hop dance troupe, at U of I. She was the President/Director of Dance2XS for 3 years and also the VP for a year.

After college, Dinna co-founded the Dance2XS Chicago troupe in 2003. Dinna has choreographed for college groups, Dance 2XS, Hip-hop classes for Bally’s, and various high-school teams. She also danced professionally for the Chicago Luvabulls for three seasons.

Dinna currently resides in Boston and is dancing in the NFL for the New England Patriots. In November, she performed overseas to support our troops as a part of the Operation Seasons Greetings Tour 2007 with the Air Force visiting Turkey, Iraq, England, and Germany. Then in January, she traveled to China with the Patriots Cheerleaders to perform and promote the NFL.

Matthew Perez has been involved with color guard activity for the last several years. Learning to spin flag, rifle, and sabre at a young age has allowed him several opportunities to train and perform with the best. He is very excited to share his knowledge and championship training with Star Performance Company. His background includes performing with the Americanos Drum and Bugle corps during the height of their success, achieving a silver medal in Division III (2000).

The last five years have been spent performing with the Cavaliers drum and bugle corps. Accolades include winning Drum Corps International (DCI) Division I World Championships in 2001, 2002, and 2004, as well as silvering in 2005. He has also competed in the DCI sponsored Individual and Ensemble Competition and won the Individual Flag Championship in 2004 and the Auxiliary Ensemble (rifle, flag, and sabre) in 2005.

Matthew is the current color guard designer and choreographer for the Prospect Marching Knights.

Dustin Caromano has been involved in marching band and color guard activity since 1999. While in high school, he was a member of the Marian Catholic Marching Band where he performed in the 2000 inaugural parade as well as countless Bands of America competitions which ultimately led to winning a national title in 2000. He continued performing after high school with the Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corp, the corps premier season in Division 1. He later marched with the Cavalier Drum and Bugle Corp from 2004-2006 receiving a gold medal in ‘04 and ‘06, and a silver medal in ‘05. Final performances were shown live in IMAX theatres and later on ESPN2.

Dustin performed with fellow Star Performance instructor Matt Perez in the Drum Corp International sponsored Individual and Ensemble competition. Together they competed in the auxiliary ensemble caption (flag, rifle, sabre) where they were awarded a gold medal.In addition to his drum corp and marching band experience, Dustin has also competed with the Velocity Winterguard. In 2004, they were named Independent A Class Champions of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit.

The last 4 years he has dedicated his time to choreographing and designing for the Lake Central High School Color Guard Program from St. John, Indiana, who were ranked 4th in the world in 2004 in Scholastic A Class at the Winter Guard International Competition.