2021-2022 Members
Zoë Goldstein- Founder and Director
Zoë is a Jewish-Canadian getting her doctorate in clinical psychology. She is also the founder and director of Echo! She grew up outside of Toronto and spent 5 years living in Montreal. While there, she co-founded and directed Alegria Contemporary Ballet Company, another grassroots dance community that she has since passed on to other leaders.
So far this season, Zoë has loved learning the rich and exciting movement styles of Echo’s new members! She is looking forward to choreographing as much as she can, and to making more film art with her new camera.
Tara Johns- Rehearsal Director
Tara is a dancer, choreographer, yoga teacher, and bridal stylist based in Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 2017, Tara moved to Chicago to pursue dance and other career opportunities. Prior to joining Echo Modern Dance Collective in 2021, she danced with Noumenon Dance Ensemble for three years. Tara loves to collaborate with other artists and looks forward to continuing her journey within the Chicago Dance Community.
Emma Elsmo- Vice President of Fundraising
A Chicago native, Emma Elsmo’s passion for dance was sparked at the mere age of two and a half. She graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts concentrating in dance performance and choreography in May of 2019, but her formal dance training began at the Academy of Movement and Music in Oak Park, IL. Elsmo has participated in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's professional programs and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater’s summer intensives, and she has worked with several artists in the greater Philadelphia area. Since relocating to Chicago in the fall of 2019, she enjoys performing and choreographing with Echo Modern Dance Collective, reviewing performances for See Chicago Dance, and doing restorative justice work as an Ally with Public Allies Chicago. She looks forward to moving to New York City this July!
Masha Bandouil- Co-VP of Community Engagement
Masha is the Co-VP of Community Engagement and a 1st year member with Echo! They grew up in Dallas and moved to Chicago to study Dance and Biology at Loyola University of Chicago. Masha has a passion for interdisciplinary work and has received several research fellowships that have allowed them to explore the use of dance film in making science more accessible. Masha is passionate about empowering people through movement which led them to becoming a collaborator in Rush Medical Center’s Dance with a Doc program. Masha is currently the work study at The Rooted Space and is looking forward to seeing Echo's live show come together in their beautiful space!
Hayley Delaney- VP of Operations
Hayley is the Vice President of Operations and a founding member of Echo Modern Dance Collective. She was born and raised in Southern California and moved to Chicago to study business and hospitality at DePaul University. After graduating in 2018, Hayley spent her first year out of college missing the dance community she had found in school and was delighted at the opportunity to audition for Echo in 2019. She works as the Office Manager for Inrush Broadcast Services , a broadcast integration firm located in Chicago.
Amelia Harris
Amelia discovered dance through her middle school drama club. At the age of 16 she moved away from home to attend the Joffrey Ballet School of New York City. There she studied classical Vaganova technique as well as Arpino/Joffrey repertoire. She attended summer programs at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and the Parsons Dance Company.
Amelia then attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she received a BFA in Ballet and a certificate in Global Health. She also has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies through Cornell. She is passionate about public health, yoga, music, environmental sustainability, and social justice.
Alyson Dressman
Alyson started dancing when she was young and was quickly absorbed into the world of competition dance for most of her life. After several years, Alyson discovered that her love for dance did not lie in competing, but in simple performance and communal creativity. A proud Cincinnatian, Alyson moved to Chicago for college at DePaul where she found a dance community that eventually led her to Echo. These days, she spends time pursuing her masters in urban planning, exploring various parks across the city, and perfecting her green thumb. Alyson is so excited to be a new member of Echo for season two. So far, she has most loved the inclusive creative culture of the group, and taking in all of the beautiful and unique movement ideas of fellow collective members. She is thrilled to continue exploring her own movement within the space Echo provides.
Cheyenne Blakley
Cheyenne (also known as Chey) is a Chicago native who loves to choreograph, collab with others and try different styles of movement. When Chey is not in the studio, she is working at an ad agency managing paid media for her clients and co-leading a team of analysts.
Chey is excited to be back in the studio for her second season of Echo. She is looking forward to growing the community and the friendships made along the way.
Jenny Liu
Jenny Liu is a dancer, choreographer, and undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, where she is currently pursuing a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy/Art History. Jenny first began dancing at the age of 5 and trained in classical ballet with Indiana Ballet Theatre for many years. In high school, she transitioned to focus primarily on modern dance. During this time, she was a dancer and assistant director with the Hotchkiss Dance Company and had the opportunity to perform works by choreographers, such as Yin Yue and Liliana Candotti. Currently, in addition to Echo Modern Dance Collective, Jenny dances and choreographs for Maya Dance Company, a modern and contemporary dance group at UChicago.
Kailey Phan Mitchell
Kailey has been moving and grooving since the age of 2 and is super excited to continue her journey with Echo. She moved to Chicago to study video game development and animation at DePaul University. After graduation in 2020, she spent the rest of quarantine trying to live a life without dance but was ecstatic at the opportunity to audition for Echo. Outside of dance, she works as a Technical Project Manager and Indie Game Developer.
Nadine Mauricio
Ileana Nadine is a first generation Mexican-American originally from Aurora, Illinois. Growing up in a culturally rich family, she had already developed a strong connection to dance. As a competitive dancer, she has won several awards and recognitions throughout her youth. In 2011 Nadine moved to Chicago to pursue her passion in dance; training at Lou Conte Dance Studio in Modern under Winifred Haun while also teaching youth classes at Xtreme Dance Force, Dynamic Force Dance, and Malti Dance Academy. After taking a break to earn her Bachelors of Art in Advertising Art Direction at Columbia College Chicago 2017, Ileana Nadine returned to the dance world as a performer and choreographer.
Shannon Shahinian
Shannon Shahinian is a dancer, choreographer, and pediatric social worker working in Chicago, IL. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance as well as her Master of Social Work specializing in Children and Families. While training under Sandra Kaufmann, Sarah Fuller, and Amy Wilkinson at Loyola, Shannon performed in four Mainstage dance concerts including Dances of Death and Light, Voces Gratia, Artifacts of Self, and Ecstatic Earth. As the recipient of two Provost Fellowships, she traveled to Rome, Italy to learn from and perform with Mandala Dance Company and conduct research on human communities through the Pivot Arts Festival in Chicago. Shannon has a great passion for choreographing and presenting new works and has previously done so at Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Emergence, Trifecta Dance Collective’s choreographer showcase, and Simantikos Dance Chicago’s Chi Dance Fest. Currently, Shannon serves as Echo Modern Dance’s Co-VP of Community Engagement, a teaching artist at Rise Up Dance Academy, and a pediatric social worker at an intensive therapy clinic in Chicago. Shannon is a believer in the transformative powers of movement and loves sharing her passion with dancers and audiences across the Chicagoland area!