Meet Our Faculty

ELIZABETH BENDER

Owner, Dance Instructor & Choreographer

Elizabeth is so excited for the opportunity to be working with the students at Beyond the Stars. Before opening Beyond the Stars, Elizabeth was the studio director of Steps Dance Center in Aurora. Elizabeth started her dance training in 1984 and has been trained in ballet, pointe, lyrical, tap and jazz. She has studied under Joyce Lang and Julie Carson and has held dance roles in the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and West Side Story. Elizabeth has also had the honor of taking classes from Gregg Russell, Anthony Morigerato, Tyce Diorio, Judy Rice, Homer Bryant & Joel Hall to name a few. Elizabeth started teaching in 2000 and has taught all over the country including Illinois, Arizona, Ohio & Florida. She attended University of Illinois and obtained a degree in Industrial Engineering. After working as an engineer for 3 years, she decided to pursue her dream of starting a performing arts academy and could not be more happy for the opportunity. In her years of teaching dance, her biggest inspiration is "watching her students become unique individuals and blossom into beautiful people. Thank you dancers!"

ELLENA CHAPLIN

Guest Choreographer

Ellena started dancing at the age of three and has been dancing ever since. She started at Spotlight Dance Studio studying ballet, tap, jazz and clog. As she started to explore the dance world, she found a real passion in the art of ballet and pointe and decided to spend her teen years studying at The Midwest Ballet Academy and performing with the Midwest Ballet Pre-Professional Ballet Company. She danced as many roles in The Nutcracker every year as well as ballets such as, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonferland and more. Mim Eichmann was her mentor all of those years. She also danced on the state champion dance team coached by Dawn Jovic, at Downers Grove South high school. In her time with the team, she won multiple state titles, choreography awards, artistic excellence awards and was elected a team captain. Ellena was a Universal Dance Association All America Dancer. She attended several hip hop classes taught by Ian Eastwood, Jun Quemado, Lee Daniel and Patrick Chen. She also attended a River North Dance intensive, studying ballet, contemporary and Jazz. She is also a certified IHSA dance instructor.

AMBER CAREY-GITTER

Theater Director & Instructor

In 1985 and at the age of 14, Ms. Carey-Gitter began studying theater at Piven Theater Workshop Summer Program in Evanston, Illinois under the auspices of Shira Piven and Joan Cusack. In the early 1990’s, Amber attended Columbia College Stage Directing Program, under the guidance of one of the founding fathers of Second City and former department chair of Columbia College Chicago, Sheldon Patinkin. Ms. Carey-Gitter then became an ensemble member of Mary Arrchie Theatre Company where she developed Cabaret Freakeque! showcasing upcoming Chicagoland fringe theatrical ideas of various theater groups in 93-94. Since then, Ms. Carey-Gitter continues to build her diverse repertoire in producing, writing and stage-directing plays for the last twenty-five years; which includes taking classes and workshops at Second City Training Center, The Annoyance Theatre and even attending Boston University Theatre Institute in the summer of 1988. While living in Israel, Ms. Carey-Gitter stage-directed: Hauptmann and Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and led the summer workshops for The Stage TLV, and English-speaking theater company, in Tel-Aviv, Israel. As a result of Ms. Carey-Gitter’s twenty-five years of theatrical experience, The State of Israel’s Ministry of Immigration awarded her with two artistic grants. She is also currently writing her first multimedia drama piece based on the concept of Middle Eastern identity, as it relates to her political and personal life experiences as an American-Israeli. In 2018, Ms. Carey-Gitter just been accepted to the Directors Lab Chicago at Victory Gardens; finished a four-day workshop with the former artistic director of Red Moon Theatre, Blair Thomas, and Manual Cinema, and taught theatre workshop for The Lion King Jr. production at the Theatre of Western Springs. Ms. Carey-Gitter graduated with her BS in economics and business administration from DePaul University in Chicago, and has her MA in political science & political communication from Tel-Aviv University. For Beyond the Stars Performing Arts Academy’s 2018-2019 theatrical season, Ms. Carey-Gitter will lead two theatrical workshops and stage-direct for young performing artists starting this fall with Aladdin for Kids in Willowbrook, Illinois.

ALEXA KRUCHTEN

Dance Instructor & Choreographer

Alexa Kruchten is from Chicago, Illinois. She began her dance training at Stage Door Dance Academy, and continues her training at professional dance studios in Chicago including Visceral, Lou Conte, Joel Hall, Giordano Dance, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and Rast Ballet. Growing up attending dance conventions, Alexa has received numerous scholarships and titles throughout the years. She has learned from teachers including, Justin Giles, Liz Imperio, Erica Sobol, Kevin Maher and Hannah Wintrode, to name a few. Alexa is a proud graduate from Point Park University with a BA in Jazz and a minor in business. While at Point Park, she was privileged to learn from her mentors, Kiesha Lalama, Garfield Lemonius, Jason McDole, Matthew Powell, Kiki Lucas, and Kimberly Anderson. She had the opportunity to perform works by Joshua Manculich, Colleen Hooper, Vanessa Figueroa, Callie Luckenbach, Nikki Morath, Alan James Libert, and understudy for Kiesha Lalama and Jose Limon’s Missa Brevis at the Byham Theater. Alexa had the honor of staging her own choreographic piece “find and seek” for Point Park University's student showcase. She was the president of Point Park's Hip Hop Club, Impluse, where she organized weekly classes and performance opportunities throughout the community. She has a passion for teaching and is looking forward to what's to come!

KARISSA NIEDZWIECKI

Dance Instructor & Choreographer

Karissa is excited to bring her love and passion for dance to Beyond the Stars. Born and bred in the Chicagoland area, she has been dancing since the age of 4 and performing competitively since age 10. She was extensively trained in a variety of styles including Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Tap, Hip-Hop and Pom. She served 4 years as a member of the Indiana University RedStepper dance team performing for professional football games, Big Ten University halftimes and the Super Bowl XLVI pregame show. Other highlights include performances at Disney and 1st place competition awards. She has been teaching dance for the past 3 years and can not wait to inspire the students at Beyond the Stars with positive, encouraging and upbeat attitude!

NATHAN ROMMEL

Guest Choreographer

As a Kansas City native, Nathan received his early dance training at the Miller Marley School of Dance and Voice, under the direction of Brian McGinness and Shirley Marley. Here, he was privileged to perform original works by Francie Huber, Christopher Barksdale, and Roy Lightner. After graduating in 2012, Nathan continued his studies at Hope College, performing pieces created by Sharon Wong, Steven Iannacone, and Anne-René Petrarca. As a member of H2, the resident Hope College performance company, He was given the opportunity to perform locally and at various regional festivals, including MI5 and the Big Rapids Dance Festival. Nathan graduated from Hope College in 2016 with a B.A. in Dance Performance and a B.A. in Spanish Linguistics. Nathan is currently dancing with Giordano Dance Chicago as a Junior Performing Associate.

OLGA SAAD

Vocal Director & Instructor

Olga Saad is originally from Wichita, Ks; where she received her B.M. in vocal performance from Friends University, under the instruction of Dr. David Weber. She went on to receive her M.M. and study Opera performance at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln where she studied with Donna Harler-Smith. Olga’s past performances include Grease! (Sandy), Big River (Miss Watson), Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Queen), The Secret Garden (Lily), Titanic (Mrs. Astor), Madama Butterfly (Mother), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Belle), The Magic Flute (Pamina), Sweeney Todd (Johanna) and Tina / Lo lo in the Chicago Folks Operetta translation / production of Mitislav the Modern. As a Wichita Grand Opera 2006-2007 young artist she covered Liu (Turandot), Stephano (Romeo et Juliette) and Violetta (La Traviata), and had the pleasure to share the stage with Sam Ramey, Annalisa Raspagliosi, Kirsten Chavez, Christina Nassif, and Gaston Rivero. In the 2007 summer, she was invited to debut Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in Rome, Italy. More recently Olga debuted Adina with Bowen Park Opera in Illinois for their production of The Elixir of Love. Olga has appeared with the UNL Symphony and Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. With many years of dance training, she choreographed productions of Grease!, The Music Man, West Side Story, The Sound of Music and Bye Bye Birdie. Considered a “go-to girl” by previous directors and colleagues, Olga is a versatile performer who is not afraid of a challenge or a new concept. Olga has been reviewed as a performer who plays her roles “with consummate grace” on stage (Larry L. Kubert / For the Lincoln Journal Star, Sep 09, 2005). She is an adventurous, energetic actress and a well-rounded singer who always strives to bring her characters to life. Presently, Olga is performing regularly with Chicago Chamber Opera.

JESSICA SANIIE

Dance Instructor & Choreographer

Jessica Saniie earned her BA in Dance from the University of Akron in 2007 and has been teaching for over a decade in Ohio and Illinois. In Chicago she studied with Yvonne Brown, Dmitri Roudnev and Avnun Yakubov. As a student she traveled to Europe with the Chestnut Street Dancers where she took Master Classes and performed at the Cafe de la Dans and EuroDisney. Locally she danced in Light Opera Works' production of Oklahoma and in Chamber Opera Chicago's Man of LaMancha. Jessica loves to teach and she believes that Dance is for everyone. It not only builds your agility, coordination, balance and strength; it also develops your ability to process information, teaches you to work with others, challenges you to try new things and generates confidence and self esteem.

ALYSSA SMITH

Dance Instructor & Choreographer

Alyssa Smith studied at Western Michigan University where she recently graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in dance and a minor in event management. While attending WMU, Alyssa furthered her technical training in a tri-focused Ballet, Modern, and Jazz program. She was a company member of the Western Dance Project from 2017-18, and taught and performed numerously throughout the Chicagoland and West Michigan areas. Alyssa was an active member of Movement Exchange, which allowed her to teach internationally in Panama City, Panama to children in orphanages, elementary schools, and at the University level. Alyssa has also been an instructor with the Universal Dance Association for the past four years, and has traveled throughout the Midwest instructing and heading summer camps specifying in Pom, Jazz, and Hip-hop. She has worked UDA competitions at the regional and national level, and will continue to work and travel abroad for the company this upcoming year.