ryanne abraham
owner, Co-artistic director

Ryanne has over 30 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 over 30 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 over 10 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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Mara Noguez
INSTRUCTOR

Marangelique Noguez is a 2020 BA graduate of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. At Columbia, she received rigorous training with the foundation of dance history and theory from renowned faculty such as Darrell Jones, Dardi McGinley-Gullivan, Lisa Gonzalez, Jeffrey Hancock, Kelsa Robinson, as well as many others. Mara started her commitment to dance at the age of 8. She studied jazz and hip hop through the ARCC Ballet after school program as well as studying different genres of dance throughout high school. She then went on to become a member of Forward Momentum Chicago at the age of 16. To further develop her discipline and training, she studied Ballet, Modern, West African, and Hip Hop at Columbia College Chicago. Mara is currently a performer/competitor in Latin dance and a recent UIC Dance Team Alum. She is furthering her research of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago Masters Program. ​

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Lauren Ciccolini
INSTRUCTOR

Lauren holds a BFA in Dance with a minor in Public Policy and Management from George Mason University. She previously trained at Interlochen Arts Academy, where she worked with and performed works by Yoshito Sakuraba, Megan Williams, and Loni Landon. She has also performed repertory by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and George Balanchine. At George Mason, she danced in works by Susan Shields, Christopher d’Amboise, and Rafael Bonachela, also assisting in restaging Visions and Miracles by Shields. Lauren also danced with Cerqua Rivera, working with Shannon Alvis, Wilfredo Rivera, and Monique Haley

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OLIVIA BAUSO
SUMMER INSTRUcTor

Olivia Bauso is a Chicago-based dance educator, choreographer, and NASM Certified Corrective Exercise Specialist. She began her pre-professional training with the Absolute Dance Company in Upstate New York, where she developed a passion for concert dance and musical theatre. She attended the CAP21 (NYU TISCH) Artists In Residence Program before earning her BA in Communications and Media & Dance Studies from Nazareth University in Rochester, NY. She has performed with contemporary choreographers (Heather Roffe, Heather Acomb, Paige Cummings) and regional theatre companies (APT, REV), and choreographed a variety of works from full-length productions to competitive routines. She works full-time as a Dance Educator and is passionate about providing a physically and emotionally safe environment for her students to cultivate their love for dance.

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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. 

Katy is a 2024 graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in English Secondary Education, Psychology Neuroscience, and Dance. She is currently completing her student teaching in Grand Rapids, MI. While at MSU, she was a co-caption of Michigan State's Impulse Dance team where she was a choreographer for the team's performances throughout the state of Michigan. Additionally, she taught 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. ​

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Karissa chirbas
​SUMMER INSTRUCTOR & Competitive choreographer

Karissa Chirbas has been dancing for the past 18 years with a background in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, and pom. Growing up she trained and competed under the instruction of Activ8 Directors, Kimmy Ehlke and Ryanne Abraham, and continued her training and competing at Dance Xplosion throughout high school. In addition, Karissa furthered her ballet technique during her summers through intensives and classes at Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She attended Elk Grove High School where she was President of Orchesis, the concert dance program, choreographing all 4 years for her teammates and acting as Captain of the competitive team her senior year.

Karissa recently graduated fromm Marquette University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Health Studies. She is a former member of the Marquette Dance Team where she continued her training in pom, jazz, and hip hop, cheering and dancing at all the men’s/women’s basketball games, and traveling to dance at tournament games. Karissa has been able to expand her leadership skills through choreographing routines and sidelines for her teammates. She began working as a UDA instructor in summer 2023, traveling to camps around the Midwest, working with middle schoolers and high schoolers. She has had the opportunity to choreograph and work with several high school dance teams in Illinois and is beyond excited to continue sharing her love for dance!

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Macaroni
Chief Pup Officer

Meet Miss Kimmy’s adopted rescue pup, and our Activ8 mascot, MACARONI!

Mac is a hypoallergenic poodle mix breed. He can be vocal, especially if he’s feeling nervous around new people, but he loves kids and is very sweet and excited to play once he gets to know you a bit! Mac will spend his days at the studio with Miss Kimmy, behind a gate at the desk, in the back office, and sometimes exploring in her class (as long as he’s not being disruptive!) We take our time to gently introduce him to our studio community and make sure everyone is comfortable.

If you have a dancer who may be nervous around Mac, allergic, or you have any other concerns, please let us know!