Faculty
Our Professional Dance Faculty have performed with many well-respected Dance Companies such as: Alvin Ailey 2, Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Australian Ballet, National Ballet of Ireland, Sao Paulo Comphania de Danca, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, River North Dance Chicago, Dance 2XS, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Atlanta Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, Especially Tap Company, Chi-Town Jazz Dance Company, Inaside Chicago Dance, Thodos Dance Chicago, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, Piel Morena Contemporary Dance, and Chicago Repertory Ballet.
Scroll below and click to read more about our Professional Dance Faculty!
Lisa Gold
Lisa Gold, Director of North Shore School of Dance, holds a B.A. in Dance from Barat College. The foundation of her dance training was at the Carol Walker Dance Studio, Rory Foster Dance Studio, Joseph Holmes, Gus Giordano Dance Center, and Barat Conservatory of Dance. She performed with the Mesa Community Dance Theatre, Zephyr Dance Ensemble, Emergence Dance Theatre, Rockford Ballet, and the Barat Repertory Dance Company. Lisa taught ballet and modern dance at the Barat Conservatory of Dance for sixteen years.
In more recent years, Lisa received a Professional Award from the Royal Academy of Dance for Adult Dance Teaching Practice, and, in 2025, the Highland Park Arts Award for Time to Dance, a non-profit she co-founded that offers classes to senior citizens and cancer survivors. NSSD became a recognized member of the National Dance Education Organization through Lisa’s continued efforts to maintain the highest quality of dance education for her school.
Sören M. Niewelt
Soren Niewelt, Assistant Director at North Shore School of Dance and Director of North Shore Performance Companies
as well as Director of the NSSD Ballet Theatre.
He is a German born national and graduated from the Australian Ballet School in 1999.
His international career as a dancer took him all over the world performing soloist parts in many classics like Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, e.o. as well as in new works by Nacho Duarte, Alessio Silvestrin, e.o. He founded his own neoclassical dance company, JSLN Dance Company in Berlin in 2012 and his pieces have been performed in Europe and Asia.
He loves to challenge his staff and students and enjoys sharing his experience with inspiration, determination and professionalism.
Greg Begley
Originally from Flint, Michigan, Greg Begley began performing professionally while still in high school. He went on to become a soloist with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and earned a business degree on a full dance scholarship. Greg trained with legendary Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. He studied with many artists, including Leonide Massine, Ruth Page, and Frederic Franklin, and performed in classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Romeo & Juliet.
He later became a principal dancer with Chicago Ballet under Ruth Page and was invited by Lou Conte to join Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as an original member, featured performer, and ballet master. Greg’s versatility in ballet, modern, jazz, and musical theatre contributed to a career that included national and international touring.
As a respected teacher and choreographer, Greg has worked with professional companies, restaged major ballets, and taught worldwide—including in China and Cuba. He remains dedicated to inspiring dancers of all ages with his deep passion for the art of dance.
Victoria Dutton
Victoria Dutton received a B.S. in Dance from Texas Woman’s University and a M.F.A from Boston Conservatory. She is a former company member of Atlanta Ballet and has also danced with Portland Ballet Company, Houston Ballet and Moving Theater Images of Sean Murphy. She has taught at Loyola University, Walnut Hill, Festival Ballet of N.C. Texas and Boston Conservatory. She is also a recipient of the Leaman Award for Artistic Excellence.
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Caroline Kuhl
Caroline Kuhl graduated from Illinois State University, and has performed with Zephyr Dance Ensemble, The Funny Firm, Pheasant Run Dinner Theatre, Flamingo Hilton Boardwalk Casino (Las Vegas), a tour of Tokyo with magician Luna Shemada, Ameba, and Motivity. She currently takes classes with Julie Cartier.
Ted Ely Photography
Kesha Milenkovic
Kesha Milenkovic is originally from Gaithersburg Maryland. She started dancing at the age of nine at Motion Mania Dance Center. For many summers she attended Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive, Bates Dance Festival and many more. She also got the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Debbie Allen in two productions called “Dreams & Pearl”. Kesha attended Columbia College Chicago and got her Bachelor of Arts in Dance. After graduation, Kesha got a scholarship at Gus Giordano Dance school and later on accepted into Giordano second company. In 2010 Kesha got hired as a dancer/vocalist for the Broadway musical Chicago on the largest cruise ship in the world “Allure of The Seas”. Kesha passion has always been to perform but now she would like to expand her knowledge and start teaching/choreographing. She would like to thank her friends, family and husband for always supporting her dream.
Wes Owens
Wesley “Wesside” Owens is a dancer, choreographer, and MC. He began his dance career at an early age, and continued it throughout college and beyond. Wes graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Informatics, a cognate in Telecommunications Management, and a minor in Spanish. During his college years, he was the lead choreographer and artistic director of Hip Hop Connexion (Indiana Branch).
Wes has performed and taught across America. He has performed with Big Boi of Outkast, Mike Posner, Jason Derulo, the Cataracts, LMFAO, and Ludacris. He is known for a variety of hip hop styles, such as: Gliding, waving, bugaloo, krumping, footwork, locking, bucking, and popping. Currently he is a featured dancer, choreographer and MC for Monster Entertainment.
Lauren Scheurich
Lauren Scheurich began dancing at 2 ½ years old and has had a passion for dance ever since, taking every opportunity she can to share the love of dance with others. She enjoyed most of her early dance years at the Northbrook Dance Center, where she began studying Cecchetti. She is trained as both a student and instructor in the Cecchetti method. She began assisting dance classes at age 10. She progressed from there to teach a variety of classes ranging from ballet, pointe, hip hop, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical, and ballroom. She has worked with ages 2 years through adult. In the classroom, she strongly emphasizes proper technique as well as body awareness to prevent injuries while in a fun and nurturing environment. She received her B.A. from Northern Illinois University. While there, she studied under Judith Chitwood, Paula Frasz, and Dr. Jay as well as performed and choreographed for NIU Orchises.
Rachel Schmidt
Originally from Santa Cruz, California, Rachel Schmidt received her early dance training from Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher of Santa Cruz Ballet Theater. After earning her BFA in dance from Butler University she moved to San Francisco to dance as a trainee with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, performing in works by Alonzo King, Sidra Bell, Maurya Kerr, and Greg Dawson before joining dawsondanceSF. In 2019 she moved to New York and performed with Brooklyn Ballet, Dance Lab New York, and Visions Contemporary Ballet. She moved to Chicago in 2022 to join Chicago Repertory Ballet under the direction of Wade Schaaf.
MissG
MissG is a street dance artist that is currently living in Chicago. She was born and raised in New York City. Her dance training is not limited to street styles, although these styles are her focus and main forms of artistic expression. She studied in NYCs prestigious Broadway Dance Center and Steps, Peridance and LA’s notable Debbie Reynolds dance studio and other respected schools in South Florida, where she lived for 16 years.
MissG has practiced and trained in multiple street dance styles throughout her career such as hip hop, popping, locking, and house but her dominant style is the 70’s era, disco-influenced style of dance called Waacking. She trained with one of the last living pioneers who was the only one teaching the dance, Soul Train dance legend Tyrone "The Bone" Proctor, and has also trained with his prodigies, Princess Lockeroo and Adisa Steele.
MissG is certified to teach Vinyasa and Yin yoga, and she specializes in children's yoga, Yoga for seniors and Yoga for beginners.
MissG has practiced her craft for more than 20 years, and her unique approach to teaching has allowed her to reach a wide range of student clientele.
Sarah Sterling
Sarah Sterling is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher from the Boston area. She graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis with a double major in Dance and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and a minor in Spanish. She was awarded the Annelise Mertz Memorial Prize in Modern Dance upon graduation, and soon after, was accepted into the Visceral Dance Chicago trainee program where she trained and performed under the direction of Nick Pupillo and Cait Cucchiara. During this program, she performed works by Nick Pupillo, Braeden Barnes, Mónica Cervantes, and Mike Tyus. She has danced professionally with Niko8 under the direction of Sean Roschman, 773 Dance Project under the direction of Tyler Thomspon and Pauline Mosley, and Alluvion Dance Chicago under the direction of Johnny Huntoon. Sarah has also danced with Dance Colony + Artists under the direction of Seth Robinson and Jeff Wolfe, where she has performed works by Talia Favia, Luca Tessarini, Jeff Wolfe and Seth Robinson. She is currently on the adjudication panel for Elite Performance Challenge and has been judging competitions and instructing convention master classes for them for over three years. She has recently stepped into the role of Director for the company and is overseeing events nationwide. Sarah is the Performance Company Director at North Shore School of Dance where she has taught for the last three years. She currently resides in Chicago, IL where she continues to perform, teach, and choreograph throughout the city.
Jessica Desens
Jessica Desens is excited to join the staff at the North Shore School of Dance. She brings 26 years of teaching experience and studio administration to our organization. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Barat College, where she performed as both a soloist and ensemble member with the Barat Repertory Dance Company. Dedicated to fostering continuous professional development in the field of dance, she actively participates in conferences and workshops organized by the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters (CNADM). Jessica has been a member of CNADM since July 2004 and has served on its board of directors since 2010. Recently, she completed her Master Dance Educator Certification (MDE) in 2023. In addition to her dance qualifications, Jessica has also obtained certifications in Linux Administration, Security+, and Ethical Hacking from the College of Lake County. At NSSD, Jessica will be involved in administrative tasks and teaching dance classes as needed.
Cara Wedeking
Coming soon
Briaunna Coleman
For Briaunna Coleman, dance has always been more than movement—it is a space for expression, growth, and connection. Raised in Plainfield, Illinois, she is an African American dancer, choreographer, and aspiring medical professional who graduated from Loyola University Chicago with degrees in Dance and Biology. During her time there, she performed and choreographed extensively, including presenting original work in Student Composition and performing in Primitive Mysteries by Martha Graham