THE FACULTY
Meet Ms. Julie
Julie Matolo (She/Her) is an accomplished dancer, acrobat, aerialist, stunt performer, actor, choreographer, and teaching artist. She is based out of California and Chicago. Her artistic goals have led her to travel, tour and perform in the majority of our fifty states, in addition to Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and throughout Europe. Julie toured with the largest touring stunt show, “MARVEL Universe Live”, where she played Agent Maria Hill and Black Cat, in addition to multiple other tracks in the show. This world traveler has also performed on Royal Caribbean as a
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dancer and as a featured aerialist. She considers The Joel Hall Dancers her longtime home dance company. Favorite Joel pieces Julie has performed in include “El Gato Negro” and “Y2 Day”.
Additional concert dance companies Julie has performed with are, Andrea Kelly Dance Theater, Aerial Dance Chicago, Dance Avondale Collective, The Willingham Project, Corpo Dance, The Kirby Reed Project, Duwane Pendarvis and Company, Dereque Withurs, and Innervation Dance Cooperative.
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As a Teaching Artist, Julie has taught a diverse range of students and has worked with many children in Chicago and surrounding areas, California, Tennessee, and Iowa. Inspiring artistic growth, imagination, self-confidence, community and discipline, are class staples. Julie enjoys being inspired by all the youth she has instructed over the years!
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A few notable companies she has worked with include Dhar Mann Studios, FELD Entertainment, On the Fly Productions, Royal Caribbean, Jockey, Sutter Health, 20th Century Fox, The Black Dance Legacy Project, The Actor’s Gymnasium, BIPOC Circus Alliance and more. Julie can be seen performing in film, television, music videos, large arenas, theaters, stages, corporate venues, festivals and beyond!
Julie looks to continue to grow everyday as an artist, a performer, a teaching artist, and a mentor!
MEET MS. GIANNA
Gianna Curless is a professional dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. She was adopted from Hunan, China and has moved over twenty times with her family across the U.S. and internationally. During her travels she has had the privilege of training in all styles with instructors from the Royal Danish Ballet, Idaho Ballet, Tap Dogs, Turkish National Ballet Company, Ballet West, Bloc Talent Agency, Hedwig Dances, and many more. She has been teaching for over ten years for ages two - adult. Gianna is certified in Mat Pilates and has completed ballet exams for the Cecchetti Council of America. She has choreographed for dance productions including an original ballet called Variations on Spring.
In 2016, Gianna co-founded Bravura Dansu, a dance production company offering performance opportunities and private lessons for dancers who need coaching for dance competitions, auditions, and personal training. She has performed as a freelance dancer for The Dance Project-Austin, Alamo City Dance Company, Bartlesville Civic Ballet, Dancing with the Stars-Bartlesville, ConocoPhillips, Bravura Dansu, Dance Company of St. Charles, OKM Music Festival, and The Muny.
Most recently, Gianna attended the Ruth Page Professional Dance Training Program where she had the opportunity to perform in Spain as part of the Contrapunto Festival de Danza. She is also working as a freelance photographer and model in the Chicago area.
MEET MS. MIKALA
Mikala Curless began dancing at age 10 and became a teaching assistant at age 13. In a three-year time period, she completed seven levels of exams for Cecchetti Council of North America and finished high school at age 16. At age 18, she co-founded Bravura Dansu with her sister to create choreography and full-productions for regional dance academies. She has studied all dance styles and taught all ages. Her training has included working under the direction of Buddy & Susan Trevino, Roxanne Pena, Scott Conway, Steven Rooks, Desmond Richardson, Bruce Stegmann, Debbie & Tracy Davenport, Michael & Lucy Fitzgerald, Victor Alexander & Maray Gutierrez; on scholarship with Joffrey Ballet-New York and with Nashville Ballet; and as part of the Professional Trainee Program of Ruth Page (Chicago). As a contract dancer, she has worked in productions by Moscow Ballet, The Messiah Project, Missouri Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispanico de San Antonio, and with regional companies and festivals located in Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and Chicago. Her career has included dancing internationally in Spain, Colombia and China; and working with artists from Mexico, Lithuania, Brazil, and Cuba. In addition to dance, she is a model and has served as Development Director for a music festival in Oklahoma.
MEET MR. HUNTER
Hunter Gibson is a lifelong song and dance artist. Hunter's earliest memories include falling in love with showtunes and being captivated by storytelling in the performing arts. Loving dance, music, and theatre since early childhood, Hunter began teaching dance in February 2021, graduating from Elmhurst University with a Bachelor of the Arts in Musical Theatre and minor in dance education later that semester.
Currently, Hunter mentors 175+ dance students citywide in Chicago Public Schools during the academic year through in-school residencies and afterschool programs with multiple organizations. Previously, Hunter facilitated high school show choir and speech contestants in Iowa, as well as operating dance programs in parks and early childhood education centers throughout the Chicago area. As an academic, Hunter held leadership positions in fine arts departments, earned all-state titles in choir, acting, musical theatre; and presented choreographic research at collegiate showcases.
As a dancer, Hunter celebrates individuality by studying Waacking, Vogue; and other freestyle dances formulated by necessity to reclaim space and facilitate identity. Hunter's best creative processes occur in public spaces such as nightclubs and street festivals.
As a teacher and scholar, Hunter pays homage in class to the original practices and traditions that characterize a style, designating space for dancers to move in a more embodied and powerful way.
Meet Ms. Layne
Chicago native, Layne Yancey Patchett has always been a performer. She started her journey as a competitive gymnast at age 4, and continued for 11 years. There she learned discipline, hard work, and most of all she learned of her love to perform. In high school she started theatre and voice training. Along with theatre, she also took dance classes and performed in dance recitals. She went on to Belhaven University where she majored in theatre and continued with voice training and dance classes. She began her study of jazz dance at the Joel Hall Dancers & Center in 2014. She continued her dance training and career with Noumenon Dance Ensemble under Artistic Director, Alia Simon Montijo. She has taught at Dance Avondale since its inception in 2017 and continues at the school as its primary substitute teacher. Layne is also a certified Doula and the founder of Birth Moves, gentle dance and movement to guide and assist the birthing process.