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Solarium Dance Company
Solarium is a 501c3 non-profit dance company dedicated to exploring the complexities of the human experience. Our performances are untethered from convention, weaving together narratives from past and present with dynamic movement to create immersive and emotive experiences addressing themes related to mental health, relationships, and the human condition. We value ingenuity, integrity, and openness, and are committed to pushing boundaries to present pure authenticity. Our mission is to foster empathy and connection by creating a safe and inclusive space for audiences to confront challenging ideas surrounding different psychological health challenges and critical social issues. The nature of our work is person-centered and seeks to inspire individual change, destigmatize mental health issues, and contribute to the betterment of humanity within and beyond our communities. The glass walls of Solarium stand as a metaphorical barrier, inviting reflection upon the boundaries existing between performer and observer. Akin to a sunlit sanctuary, we open a window into the profound beauty and complexity of the mind. These glimpses of vulnerability and captivation act as motivators for expression and compassion.
Tori Cartee
Artistic Director of Solarium Dance Company
Tori Cartee is the founder and director of Solarium Dance Company, a nonprofit company dedicated to inspiring individual change, destigmatizing mental health, and contributing to the betterment of humanity within and beyond its communities. She received a B.A. in Dance with a focus on Dance Performance, Choreography, and Theory from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 2019-2023, she danced with Trifecta Dance Collective, ultimately landing as a Principal Dancer and Choreographer for the company and artistic director of the second and youth companies.
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As a choreographer, her works have been performed across stages in the greater Chicagoland area as well as at festivals and showcases across the nation including Charlotte Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, Wake Forest Dance Festival, Loose Leaves Showcase, Trifecta Dance Festival, Peridance Spring Choreographers’ Showcase, Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Emergence, Detroit Dance City Festival, Noumenon Dance Ensemble’s “In this Neck of the Woods,” as well as at the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival of Orlando, FL. In February 2024, she premiered the evening-length work, "Thumbs Up." as the culminating work of Solarium Dance Company's first season. The work was re-staged in July at Steel Beam Theatre as part of a collaboration between the company, Ecker Center for Behavioral Health, and Kane County Health Department where audience members were provided with crucial information and resources regarding overdose awareness as well as free Narcan and training. Tori utilizes contemporary techniques and improvisational practices for movement generation, resulting in thoughtful, athletic, expansive, and experimental choreographic works.
KYLE AYERS
Guest Artist and Master Class Teacher
Kyle Ayers is a multi-disciplinary body-based artist originally hailing from Champaign, Illinois who holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa and a BA in Theatre from Illinois State University. He is currently employed as an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and was previously an Instructional Assistant Professor of Dance at Illinois State University. Prior to entering higher education, Kyle served as the Director of the Dance Arts Conservatory for the Champaign Park District, a public dance program that offers training in various genres and styles. As a driven pedagogue, he pays particular attention to healthy anatomical function and longevity of the dancing body. His work and research are primarily situated within classical contemporary techniques. He is deeply invested in the principles of Limón Technique and has taught
masterclasses around the country. He has been privileged to attend the Limón Teachers Workshop which allowed him space to explore the technique with master teachers Kurt Douglas and Kristen Foote through the Limón Foundation in New York City. He also offers instruction in Cunningham technique. Additionally, Kyle is certified to teach Giordano Jazz technique at the Intermediate level and endeavors to blend the vocabularies and stylings of classical and vernacular jazz with the Africanist aesthetics that lie at the heart of the Jazz movement tradition.
Kyle was selected as one of the inaugural Emerging Choreographers for NewDANCEfest in 2017, an intensive sponsored by Eisenhower Dance Detroit where he was invited to devise and stage his original choreographic work “Tremor” on the participants. Utilizing his background in theatre performance, Kyle's choreographic style often uses character work, idiosyncratic patterns, and exaggerated pedestrianisms to devise dances that combine abstract compositional structures with emotive movement vocabularies. In October 2023, he was invited to perform his original solo “Things I Wish I Knew” at the Champaign-Urbana Dance Festival. As a performer, he has had the opportunity to work with many choreographers across the country including Sara Semonis, Darby Wilde, Gregory Merriman, Jennifer Harge, Michael Richman, Tiffanee Arnold, Brian McGinnis, BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY, Jim
Moore, Greg Lagola, and Carol Abohatab.
Recently, Kyle has presented research and led workshops at the 8th Annual Somatic Dance Conference and Performance Festival in Geneva, NY and the 9th and 10th Annual Somatic Dance Conferences in Port Townsend, WA, all hosted by renowned pedagogue Bill Evans. In September 2022, he was invited to New Orleans for WGIcon, the official convention of Winter Guard International. There he gave a presentation titled “Feedback as a Tool for Empowerment and Motivation” which discussed practices of self-reflexivity in teaching and considerations for providing students with corrections and critique in ways that leave them feeling ready to succeed.
Kyle’s other interests include instruction and visual design for marching band. He has worked extensively as a color guard director and designer, coaching several rural teams in central Illinois to multiple winning titles. His choreography has been seen at Unity High School, Hoopeston Area High School, St. Joseph-Ogden High School, and Illinois State University. He has participated with Drum Corps International in the Open Class division in 2011, and most recently was a cast member with the Bluecoats Indoor winter guard in 2018, who performed in the WGI World Championship Finals in Dayton, Ohio.
ELOY BARRAGÁN
Guest Artist and Master Class Teacher
Barragán is an internationally acclaimed ballet instructor, choreographer, and filmmaker from Mexico City. Celebrated for his innovative blend of traditional ballet with contemporary concepts, he has received prestigious awards, including a Choreographer Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
As a student, Eloy trained at the Escuela Nacional de Danza in Mexicó, Royal Academy of Dance in London, Boston Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet in
New York. His professional career began with Joffrey II and the Washington Ballet before he became a soloist for Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexicó City. His career led him to Europe where he was a soloist for the Ballet Royal de Wallonie, Mainz Stattheater, and Dortmundt Stattheater. He then returned to Mexico to perform as a soloist for Ballet de Monterey and Compañía Nacional de Danza. Upon returning to the United States, he danced for Rebecca Kelly Dance Co. and New York Theater Ballet before he finally became a principal dancer, regisseur, and Ballet Master from 1996-2002 for Eugene Ballet and Ballet Idaho. His repertoire work as a solo and principal dancer includes choreography by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Lynn-Taylor Corbett, Toni Pimble, Charles Bennett, Anne Marie De Angelo, Youry Vamos, Jorge Lefebre, and Vicente Nevrada.
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Eloy has served as a teacher for many prestigious institutions including Fiorello H. Laguardia High School of Music, National Conservatory Superior de Paris, University of California, Irvine, Compania Nacional de Danza, the Jose Limon Dance Company, and American Collegiate Dance Festivals.
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In April 2006, five solos he choreographed competed in New York City for the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix. In June 2006, Barragán was invited to present En Tí, En Mí (In You, In Me) for the 50th Anniversary Gala of the American Dance Guild with dancers from the Richmond Ballet. In July 2006, he was invited to present the world premiere of Retratos (Portraits) a collaborative, interdisciplinary, multicultural project with author, James McPherson, and painter, Steven Erickson, at the 5th International Dance Festival in New York City.
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His choreography has been showcased at renowned venues such as the Bolshoi Theatre and Finnish National Opera. He has created works for companies such as the National Ballet of Mexico and Richmond Ballet.
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Eloy has been honored to receive an Arts and Humanities Initiative grant for the work on Retratos, the Iowa Old Gold Fellowship for his research Latin American Choreographers, and the Iowa Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant for his mentorship and collaboration with an undergraduate dance student. Eloy has also made it possible to bring Professor Donald McKayle to the University of Iowa to restage his 1951 dance Games for the 26th Dance Gala at Hancher Auditorium through the Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorships Program, and the National Endowment for the Arts program: American Masterpieces/Dance USA Foundation.
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An esteemed educator, Barragán has taught worldwide, including at Beijing Dance Academy and Conservatoire de Paris. He founded the International ScreenDance Festival and E-DANZA, a non-profit expanding inclusivity in the arts. His visionary approach continues to inspire dancers and choreographers globally.
URBANA FINE ARTS CENTER
Directed by Luciana Rezende
A former professional ballet dancer, Luciana Rezende studied under the tutelage of internationally respected teachers, as Sulamith Messerer, Elena Kunikova, Martin Putke, Giselle Santoro and Eugenia Feudorova. After finishing her degree at the University of Brasilia (Brazil), Ms. Rezende came to the US on a full scholarship granted by the Joffrey Ballet School (NY).
As a dancer, she has performed principal roles for several professional ballet companies in Brazil and in the US, including Ballet of Brasilia, Brazil; Garden State Ballet, NJ; Mid-Illinois Ballet, IL and Chicago Festival Ballet, IL.
Ms. Rezende has been teaching classical ballet for over twenty years in the Champaign-Urbana area, and guesting with dance schools in the Midwest. As a ballet director, she has staged full-length ballets and conducted ballet classes for students age 2 to adult, levels beginner to professional.
​Ms. Rezende has privately coached students to successfully medal at international ballet competitions.
Luciana Rezende also was the Director for the ballet program at the Montessori School of Champaign-Urbana and is as guest teacher for the Faubourg Ballet Theatre (Chicago, IL) and Central Illinois Ballet (Peoria, IL).