DCF PROUDLY PRESENTS A SERIES OF MASTER CLASSES, TAUGHT BY ACCOMPLISHED CHICAGO LOCAL PRACTITIONERS IN DIVERSE FIELDS OF DANCE. OUR CLASSES ARE LED BY THE SAME EXCEPTIONAL INSTRUCTORS, ARTISTS, AND CHOREOGRAPHERS WHO PERFORM AND PRESENT THEIR WORK AT THE FESTIVAL. FOR ALL DANCERS AGES 13 AND UP, OUR MASTER CLASS SERIES PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR DANCERS TO LEARN FROM THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE!
Noelle Kayser
Noelle Kayser is an award-winning choreographer, director, and multi-disciplinary performer based in Chicago. She is the inaugural resident choreographer for Open Space, a Whim W’him Choreographic Shindig winner, a BalletX Choreographic Fellow, a Jacob’s Pillow Ann and Weston Hick’s Choreography Fellow and a Ballet Collective Commission for Developing Choreographers recipient. Noelle has created work for companies including Dance Aspen, Visceral Dance Chicago, and SALT among many others. She has served as a Ballet Mistress at the Lyric Opera and is currently the Artistic Liaison for South Chicago Dance Theatre. Noelle was named one of NewCity Magazines, “The 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago”. Noelle’s short dance film “dust”—produced by Open Space—has been screened in Germany, Sweden, Greece, South Korea, Mexico, Italy, London, and throughout the US.
In addition to her choreographic work, Noelle has performed works by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Danielle Agami, Robyn Mineko Williams, and Alice Klock, among others. She has had the privilege of dancing with companies such as NW Dance Project and Visceral Dance Chicago among others. As an actor, Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Audible, appeared in advertising campaigns, and performed in numerous stage productions. Most recently, she won the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble for her performance as Selene in The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre, and starred in Anna Long’s short film Death in the Desert (Best Actress in a Short at the Idyllwild Film Festival & Best Short Drama at the Breckenridge Film Festival).
Contemporary
Noelle Kayser
3:00-4:00 PM
Seyong Kim
Seyong Kim, an Associate Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI) and an International Visiting Professor at Sung-shin Women's University (Seoul, Republic of Korea), holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU Steinhardt and an MAin Dance from Sung-Kyun-Kwan University (Seoul, ROK). He is a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) from Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, a RSDE (Registered Somatic Dance Educator), and a PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) Certified Teacher. Seyong is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. Furthermore, he earned the Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University. Seyong is the recipient of the 2023 Maggie Allessee Choreography Award and the 2025 Higher Education Educator of the Year Award from Michigan Dance Council.
Seyong has taught for Rutgers University, Kent State University, The University of Georgia, The University of New Mexico, Randolph College, John Hopkins University, Lindenwood University, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Peridance, Steps on Broadway, Libera University in Italy, World Dance Alliance-America (WDAA), American College Dance Association (ACDA), Cecchetti Council of America, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, ConteXture, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Alabama Dance Festival, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, West Hawaii Dance Theatre, Ohio Contemporary Ballet, East Coast Contemporary Ballet, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Ballet 5:8, South Chicago Dance Theatre, CPR Dance: Inhale Movement, Charlottesville Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Dance Center, Seoul Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Preljocaj.
As a professional dancer, Seyong has danced with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Baltimore Ballet, Traverse City Dance Project, Neglia Ballet, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. In addition, his choreographic works have been internationally invited at Landestheater Coburg in Germany, Florence Dance on Screen Festival in Italy, International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City, Taiwan JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival, ProArteDanza in Canada, Seoul Ballet Festival, Lebanon International Dance Festival, Battery Dance Festival, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, Cleveland Dance Festival, Richmond Dance Festival, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Orlando Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival, Oklahoma International Dance Festival, Breaking Ground Contemporary Dance Festival, Washington International Dance Festival, 92NY Future Dance Festival, CrossCurrent Asian-American Dance Festival, and Movement Research at the Judson Church. Currently, Seyong is a resident choreographer with Wise Ballet Theater in Seoul, South Korea
Ballet
Seyong Kim
4:00-5:00 PM
Kara Brody
KARA BRODY (any pronoun) is a Bessie nominated, Korean-American movement artist based in Chicago. Her work is an embodied social connection using dance as a site of queer belonging and collaborative inquiry. Approaching movement with a deep sense of tenderness and humility, she imbues a range of nuance with an explosive form of power. An “emotionally committed performer who commands the room” (NewCity), her practice spans genres exploring contemporary, commercial, and experimental dance forms. Select credits include contributions to the works of Faye Driscoll, Lucky Plush Productions, Kimberly Bartosik, Carlo Antonio Villanueva, Melinda Jean Myers, Alex Grelle, and has performed with The Fly Honey Show, The Paramount Theater, [producingbody], and The Cambrians. She teaches frequently throughout the Midwest and is a Lecturer at University of Chicago. Brody interacts with Chicago’s diverse arts ecosystem as a freelance performing artist, educator, space-maker, and devoted collaborator. www.karabrody.dance
Release Based Contemporary
Kara Brody
5:00-6:00 PM