Dance Staff
Becky grew up dancing in Fenton, MO
and scuffed up her parents' kitchen with
her tap shoes at a very early age.
(Mom didn't get angry because she was
tapping too!) Becky trained with the
Metropolitan Ballet of St. Louis, Dance Art,
Jim Miller, Judith Chitwood, and Jere Tulk.
Becky holds a BA in Theatre from the
University of Missouri-Columbia, and
has been performing in, teaching and choreographing shows from Arizona to New York. In Chicagoland, she's been teaching tap, jazz, ballet, pointe and creative movement for many years in such places as Moraine Valley Community College and the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center. She also enjoys dancing in her living room with her wonderful husband, Steven, and spends a good deal of time with her puppy, Mulan.
Miss Becky Lugovsky
Dance Manager • Instructor
Miss Katherine Siegle
Assistant Dance Manager • Instructor
Katherine has proven to be tremendous
asset to the Palatine Dance Program
since 2008. Katherine began dancing
when she was three at the Mundelein
Park District. During high school she
was also a member of Footprints Tap
Ensemble at Talent Forum in Libertyville,
tapping in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade. Katherine graduated from St.
Norbert College with a BA in Sociology and Communications and has taught dance classes on campus
as well as at the Green Bay Park District while in school. She has attended master classes with many tap icons including Jimmy Slyde, Mike Minery, Ayodele Casel and Mark Yonally. Katherine loves to dance with children and adults and is thrilled to have the opportunity to hear feet tapping away in class!
Miss Madeline Shahinian
Instructor
Madeline is a 2014 graduate of
Northwestern University with a bachelor’s
degree in mathematics. She currently
teaches 7th grade math in Arlington
Heights. As a graduate of Palatine High
School, she was a member of the Senior
Orchesis Dance Troupe for four years.
During her fifteen years of dance training,
she has had instruction in ballet, tap, jazz,
lyrical, and pointe and was a member of the Palatine Dance Company for ten years. Madeline became a dance instructor for the Palatine Park District Dance Program in 2007 and currently teaches for both the dance program and the early childhood dance program.
Miss Leah Kaplan
Company Choreographer
Leah is very excited to be a part of the Palatine Park District! She grew up dancing in Mundelein and began dancing at the age of three. She continued through high school and into college, and was an EIU dancer at Eastern Illinois University, where she graduated with a Bachelors in Special Education. Upon receiving a masters in Bilingual Education, Leah became a full time Bilingual Special Educator in Wheeling. Leah has teaching experience in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern, poms and pointe, and is looking forward to combining two of her passions at the Palatine Park District~working with children and dancing! We are very excited to add Miss Leah to the Palatine Dance Company teaching staff this year!
Miss Nataly Panczyk
Instructor
Nataly Panczyk has been a member of Palatine Dance Company for the past 3 years and was most recently in their senior company. Starting her career in figure skating, she discovered her passion for art and creative movement by a different medium. After deciding that skating wasn't right for her, Nataly tried out dance and instantly fell in love. She has since studied primarily at Palatine, but also has taken classes at Dancewerks and Gus Giordano dance studios. She is currently a member of the Varsity Poms Team at Palatine High School and is thrilled to be coming full circle and teaching at the studio where she first learned to love dance.
Miss Bryanna Fujino
Instructor
Miss Marlena Osterhues
Instructor
Miss Leah Daly
Instructor
Miss Clarissa Wienckowski
Instructor
Bryanna is a 2015 graduate of Carthage
College with a bachelor’s degree in
Exercise and Sports Science with a
Dance Minor. While studying at
Carthage, she helped form a chapter of
a dance fraternity called National Dance
Education Organization (NDEO).
Bryanna started dancing at 2.5 years old.
She danced at Dorothy’s Dancing
Unlimited and at Judy Forsberg studios before she joined Palatine Dance in 1999. She has trained in several styles of dance over the years which include: Lyrical, Tap, Ballet, Pointe, Modern and Jazz and has experienced many others including Hawaiian, Brazilian, African and Bharatanatyam. This is her second year as a full time dance teacher but has worked with Palatine Dance since 2011. She is excited to continue sharing her passion for dance!
