Company Members          

Cayleigh Blake - from the south suburbs of Chicago, started training at an early age.  Dance has always lived within her.  Watching the passion and grace of bodies moving through music sparked a fire for her.  By the age of 17, she had worked her way into the pre-professional company at the School of the Salt Creek Ballet.  While there, she performed in full-length ballets such as Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and the Nutcracker.  Immediately after graduating high school, Cayleigh joined RASA Dance Chicago.  She has been in the company for four years and now also teaches at the RASA Dance Studio in Willow Springs, IL.  Dance is not what I do, it is who I am.  It has given me passion, inspiration, motivation, self-discipline, and the strength to do what is in my heart.  I would like to thank Van Collins for all the opportunities he has provided me with through RASA.

Jill C. Raycraft -  is a native of St. Louis.  She received her BFA in Dance Performance and minor in French from Webster University.  While in St. Louis she danced for four years with Webster Ensemble and two years with Webster Dance Theatre.  After moving to Chicago, Jill danced with the Joel Hall Dancers before finding RASA Dance Chicago.  Disregard the credential.  Training, sweat, tears, even heart don’t make a dancer.  It’s not a career you choose, dancing chooses you.  I find more often than not, it’s more what I take from each experience and there is always something to take, than what I put into it.  This is not to discredit what I put into it.  I put that which defines me, my deepest push, my most sacred and guarded, I might not have the strength or desire to do anything else but there is always a way to dance.  It chose me.  There is nothing I would rather be doing and this I never doubt.  My words often fail me, but my voice is my movement and I leave nothing left unsaid.

Jeanette Richardson -  danced professionally for two years with the Swallow Cliff Dance Company before she shifted her focus to teaching. She has taught at studios throughout the Midwest and has directed and choreographed for several national award winning dance companies. She currently has her own studio in Plano, Illinois. Jeanette is happy to be back onstage again and is looking forward to dancing with RASA for her second season.

Lesley Bezdek - grew up northwest of Chicago and graduated from Butler University with high honors, receiving a B.F.A. in dance performance and a minor in mathematics.  Her training took place at Judith Svalander School of Ballet and intermittent periods with Ballet Chicago under the direction of Daniel Duell.   She spent summers at North Carolina School of the Arts, Boston Ballet, Marek Cholewa and Rosanna Ruffo workshops at Butler University, Paul Taylor in New York City, and the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Lesley has performed professionally with Nashville Ballet, David Taylor Dance Theatre, 7dancers, and Madison Ballet.  She has taught at various studios across the country, and is a certified yoga teacher.  She is excited to be back performing in the city where her love for dance began!

Caitlin Glavan -  started her training with Rockford Dance Company performing featured roles in ballets such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sleeping Beauty.  She graduated from Northern Illinois University in May of this year where she earned her B.F.A. in dance performance as well as her B.S. in biological sciences.  There she performed the Pas from Les Sylphides, Yvonne in L’Histoire du Soldat, Gulnara in Le Corsaire and also performed as a featured dancer in Giselle, Silly Love Songs, and Bailes Mal Criados.  She performed with the butoh company, Dairakudakan, at American Dance Festival last summer and has also performed Saints and Sinners in Dance Chicago.  Additionally, she performs with DanszLoop Chicago and Without Shoes Modern Dance Company.

Apprentices

Jesus Aguilera - Jesus Aguilera from Houston Texas, Jesus has danced as a principal dancer in the internationally known Descarga Caribe dance company specializing in Latin dance with a jazz flair under the direction of Sekou McMiller. Jesus's teaching style reflects his passion for Latin dance.  Jesus is currently pursuing a degree expanding his studies to all forms of dance. Be on the look out for his outstanding choreography as he is forming his own dance company, Modern Clave'.

Amanda Newman - Amanda Newman received her B.A in Musical Theater Performance from Columbia College Chicago where she studied with Anna Paskevska, Natalie Rast, Erica Wilson-Perkins, and Nana Shineflug. In 2007-2009 she danced with From The Hip Dance Project in Dance Chicago as well as self-produced concerts. Recently, she performed the Chicago premiere of “Seven” with Tikvah Company of Artists. She is excited to now be performing with RASA Dance Chicago.

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