ryanne abraham
owner, Co-artistic director

Ryanne has 27 years of dance experience with a strong background of training and performance in ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary. She began her training and competitive dance exposure at Susan's School of Dance winning numerous top, overall awards and bids to national competitions each season. In addition to studio dance, she competed on Munster High School's dance team for 4 years winning several IHSDTA State Championships at the JV and Varsity Elite level. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Mass Communications with a minor in Performing Arts at Iowa State University, she joined Orchesis II Dance Company and found her niche for choreography and leadership.

After college, Ryanne continued training at renowned Chicago dance studios including Joel Hall Dance Center, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Visceral Dance Center and Beyond Words Dance Center. Ryanne has been teaching and creating competitive choreography for 10 years and has won numerous top, overall and choreography awards. She absolutely loves to see her students push themselves to new heights in regular classes and through competitive training experiences. She has taught at various studios across the Chicagoland area since 2013 and has choreographed for several studio and high school competitive dance teams. In 2022, Ryanne traveled to Sibenik, Croatia with the project-based professional company, The Kate Jablonski Statement, to perform in the Sibenik Dance Festival, under the direction of Kate Jablonski. Ryanne also has an Acrobatic Arts Module 1 certification and travels annually as a competitive judge for ID Dance Competition.

She finds true joy in entering her 5th year as a Co-Owner & Co-Artistic Director of Activ8 Dance Company journey and aims to continue building a strong, supportive community for ambitious dancers. 

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kimmy ehlke
owner, ​Co-Artistic director

Kimberly (Kimmy) Ehlke has 28 years of dance experience and began her training in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical, and musical theater in the Metro Detroit area at several national award-winning studios. Growing up, Kimmy had the opportunity to train with SYTYCD choreographer, Sonya Tayeh, for two years in the styles of modern, contemporary, and jazz, and participated in several professional performance opportunities, such as opening for the premiere of a Jeff Daniels film and performing for the Detroit Pistons’ halftime show. Kimmy was also part of Walled Lake Western High School’s nationally ranked, three-time State Champion Varsity dance team, where she discovered her passion for choreography and began to develop her leadership skills as a team Captain.

After graduating high school, in addition to setting choreography for her former dance team, Kimmy continued to dance and choreograph in college, where she graduated with a degree in business, dance, and leadership from Central Michigan University. She’s been teaching in the Chicagoland area for 8 years, and during that time, Kimmy built and directed an award-winning competitive team, earning numerous top and overall awards. Her accolades include a Choreography Award, the Industry Dance Awards’ People’s Choice Award in Chicago, and a local Video of the Year Award and national nomination. Kimmy is beyond ecstatic to continue sharing her passion and her extensive experience to Activ8 Dance Company as a Co-Artistic Director.

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mackenzi BOLYARD-PIZAÑA
InstRuctoR & competitive choreographer

Starting out as "just a kid from Akron" Mackenzi began her technical dance and acrobatics training with Bourn Academy of Dance in Green, Ohio under the direction of Judy Bourn and her family Jamie Weisel, Missy Stertzbach, and Megan Brosey. She is trained in jazz, jazz funk, musical theatre, acrobatics, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, tap, and various latin styles. Alongside dancing with the renowned competition team, she was a national soloist winner with Rising Star Talent, Showstopper Dance, Nexstar Dance, and countless other competitions winning many overall titles and awards for technique, performance, and execution. After graduating high school she began furthering her dance training across the country. In 2019 Mackenzi moved to Los Angeles and began working and training with the industry’s top choreographers and dancers in companies and projects such as IAF (I Am Force) Jazz Project, IMMABreathe (currently Lume Dance), Academy of Villains, MusEffect, Shade Productions, Lucent Dossier, and Six Flags Magic Mountain. Mackenzi currently is a full time company member with The Chicago Honey Bear Dancers and trains regularly in Chicagoland.
 
For the past 13 years, Mackenzi has also been refining her work as a choreographer and teacher. She specializes in (technical and stylized) jazz, jazz funk, musical theatre, contemporary, lyrical, and acrobatics where she has been recognized and awarded nationally teaching award-winning competitive teams and earning numerous top and overall awards. As a choreographer her style has stemmed from her love of older music and the use of instruments which allows for her artistry and movement quality to be influenced by the soulful music and the singers' voices. This stems from her lengthy, technical background and has evolved through her love of intricate and rhythmic movement. Mackenzi is incredibly passionate about traveling to share her love and passion for dance with others and feels fortunate to do so regularly across the country. Currently, Mackenzi is a judge and faculty member with Activate Your Artistry Convention traveling and teaching jazz, musical theatre, and contemporary. She also works and travels with the internationally recognized Showstopper Dance as an ambassador and awards presenter. ​

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katy anderson
SUmmer Instructor & competitive choreographer

Katy Anderson is a dancer and choreographer born and raised in Des Plaines, IL where she started dancing at the age of 5. She has a strong background in contemporary, jazz, ballet, tap, and hip hop, and danced competitively for 6 years. She began her choreography journey at Activ8 Dance Company where she worked as an apprentice choreographing her senior solo and a teen contemporary duet. Since then, she has taught master classes, worked as a teacher and summer dance instructor, and choreographed a wide variety of competitive pieces. 

Currently, she is a Senior studying at Michigan State University with Majors in English Secondary Education and Psychology Neuroscience with a Minor in Dance. She also is a co-caption of Michigan States Impulse Dance team where she has been able to choreograph and dance for events throughout the state of Michigan. Additionally, she works at Spartan Dance Studio in East Lansing during the school year teaching all levels of dance classes. She is super honored to be a part of the history of Activ8 and looks forward to her future with the company. ​