CORBIN PHILLIPS
CO-FOUNDER
Corbin is a Dancer and Choreographer from Champaign, IL. He graduated from The University of Iowa with a BFA in dance and a focus on Choreography. He grew up training locally and then spending time with schools such as Ballet Chicago, Tampa Ballet, Next Generation Ballet, Joffrey Chicago, and Dance Theater of Harlem. Through college he trained in various modern and contemporary styles while continuing his ballet training. His choreographic works explore the contrast between classical ballet lines and idiosyncratic movements while creating a fluidity between the technique and natural movements of gravity and transformation. His works have been presented at the University of Iowa, the YAGP Chicago Regional Competition, and various performances throughout the greater Chicago area.
In fall of 2024 he began as a choreographer for the Dance Theater of Illinois.
TANYA PICARD
CO-FOUNDER
Tanya Picard is a teacher and choreographer from the Chicago area who has studied jazz in New York with Luigi, modern at the Martha Graham Dance Center, and tap with Bob Audy and Charles “Cookie” Cook. A lifelong student of Gus Giordano in Chicago, she has been awarded scholarships for several of her students at the Giordano studios. Tanya is currently an active participant in Chicago Human Rhythm Project and studies Isadora Duncan technique with Jennifer Sprowl.
Tanya did her graduate work at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where she served as the Artistic Director of Pasticcio Dance Ensemble, a regional contemporary company. While in Minneapolis, she also worked as the choreographer for the Renaissance Faires in Chicago and Boston, creating the original “Gypsy Dancers,” and choreographing more musicals than she cares to count. Returning to Chicago, in addition to teaching technique classes, serving as a movement specialist for an early childhood program, and directing a tap company, she received grants to produce two original works: Amelia and Leonardo and Elements. In 2009, she organized a two-day Luigi workshop taught by Luigi’s assistant, Francis Roach, and produced Never Stop Moving – a performance honoring Luigi's legacy. Since 2011, Tanya has created unique pieces that fuse text, music, tap, modern, and jazz dance that have been presented at the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois. Most recently, as the Artistic Director of Impulse Arts in Champaign, IL, she and Corbin Phillips have collaborated to create Harmonic Conversion for CU Wise TV, and Tapestry for Urbana Fine Arts Center.
