Sara is a musician, dancer, and educator with a lifelong passion for the performing arts. She holds a B.A. from Elmhurst University (summa cum laude) where she studied voice, piano, guitar, percussion, musical theatre, music theory and dance. In continuing her arts education, she was privileged to study voice under Jeffrey Skouson in Las Vegas, and to study dance on a scholarship at both Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago and Broadway Dance Center in New York. Sara has performed with professional ensembles, theaters, and entertainment companies across Chicago and beyond, with credits spanning stage, concert, cruise lines, and recording studios.

As the founder of Beyond Center Stage, Sara has built a thriving program where she teaches Vaganova ballet, voice, piano, and guitar. She is also a sought-after arranger, composer, and clinician, working with nationally recognized show choirs for over two decades.

In addition to owning & teaching at BCS, Sara co-owns Villa Perk Coffee Co. in Villa Park with her husband, Brandon, and twin sister, Carrie. She loves coffee, accounting, and sharing her love of the arts with her son, Desmond.​

Ms. Jen has been dancing for over twenty-five years and is an experienced student, teacher, choreographer, and performer. Growing up in Elmhurst, Jen competed with local dance studios in jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and musical theater for nearly ten years. In addition to competing regionally and nationally, Jen also became captain of her state finalist high school dance team. Jen has had the opportunity to train with Emmy-winning choreographers Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, and Travis Wall, among others. She has also performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and with the American Ballet Theatre, and had the opportunity to train with New York City’s Broadway Dance Center. Jen attended Western Michigan University where she was a dancer and choreographer for their dance team for three years, receiving the “Most Valuable Dancer” award her sophomore year for her talent, hard work, and dedication.

Jen received her B.S. in Special Education and M.S.Ed in Literacy and ESL. She recently left the classroom to raise her two children, Elouise (2) and Nathan (1), and to focus on BCS full time. She is entering her 10th season at BCS as the Director, where she takes on many roles including marketing, event planning, scheduling, and choreography. Jen also developed and directs the Beyond Barriers program, an inclusive dance initiative for students of all abilities. She has received numerous awards for her choreography, including a National Championship and Highest Overall Score. Jen loves to share her passion for dance and looks forward to working with and meeting new students!

Kat been dancing for 20+ years. She trained and competed with Beyond Center Stage in jazz, hip hop, ballet, contemporary, and lyrical. She was awarded first place awards, convention scholarships, and the highest score of an entire competition. In high school, Kat was a four year member of York High School Varsity Dance Team, winning the IHSA Competitive Dance Class 3A State Champion title her senior year. In college, Kat was a four year member of and choreographer for the Illinettes Dance Team, the official dance team of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, holding squad leader her senior year. Kat was nominated by the Big Ten Spirit Program staff for the Big Ten All Conference Dance Team. Kat was also a member, club officer, and choreographer of a dance club on campus.

Ms. Kat works as an occupational therapist at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab during the day, but is so happy to continue her passion through teaching. Ms. Kat returned to BCS as an instructor in 2022 and is now thrilled to be in her role of assistant director of the BCS competition teams!

Ms. Bella has been dancing since she was 3! She trained in various styles including jazz, lyrical, contemporary, ballet, and hip hop, though her favorites are jazz, lyrical, and contemporary! Ms. Bella was a member of Lake Park High School’s varsity dance team, where she was named captain her senior year. She led her team to a 3rd place finish in IHSA’s Dance Finals. She also received the IHSA All-Conference award for her junior and senior seasons. During her high school dance career, she also was a member and choreographer of her school’s Dance Ensemble.

Ms. Bella’s love for teaching and helping others began as she started teaching dance at her local park district. Ms. Bella received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was a member of the Illinettes Dance Team. Some of Ms. Bella’s most memorable performances as an Illinette were the Dublin Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and the Reliaquest Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Ms. Bella was also a member, choreographer, and officer of Mindful Movement, a student-led dance program, in which dancers could creatively express themselves in a non-performative environment.

Ms. Bella is currently a fourth grade teacher, assists a high school dance team, and is happy to continue taking teaching beyond the classroom, as she instructs at BCS. Ms. Bella is super excited to be able to give back to the dance community, as she is grateful for all it has done for her!

Janae is an experienced dance instructor, choreographer, performer, and BCS alum! She grew up dancing competitively in jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop styles, although she also trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, tap, pom, and pilates. Graduating from Hope College, she has degrees in dance performance, business, and dance pedagogy. Janae's training comes from Sharon Wong, former co-chair of the Jazz Department of the Alvin Ailey School, Matthew Farmer, Crystal Frazier, and Tracy Dunbar to name a few. Her professional dancing career includes being a member of StrikeTime Dance Company and H2 Dance Company. Most recently Janae was an ensemble dancer in the Christmas Show Brand New Hallelujah. Outside of performing, Janae has worked on the administrative team at The Joffrey Ballet School and as a dance competition judge. If you’d like to connect, follow her on Instagram @movement.by.janae!

Ms. Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts in Worship Arts with a minor in Communication Studies from Judson University. She hopes to continue her studies in Community Music after taking a year post-graduation to work and continue teaching voice lessons.

Grace is an experienced singer and musician; she has been singing in school choirs since the age of 8. Grace has participated in several OMEA solo and ensemble competitions and has helped her students prepare for similar events. Grace has participated in a number of choral and band ensembles including chamber choirs, university choir, and a women's barbershop quartet. She also has a background in musical theater, and loves incorporating musical theater into her lessons.

Grace loves to share her passion for music with others, especially kids, and loves helping others grow a love and appreciation for music.

Bio coming soon!

Tatyana Mazur was trained at the world famous Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg. Following her graduation from the Vaganova Academy she danced with the Odessa Opera in Ukraine and the Moscow Ballet where she enjoyed international touring to India, Ceylon, Jordan and Egypt.

After the termination of the Kiev Theatrical University and Kiyevo-Mogilyansky Academy of dance, Tatyana became the head of the choreography department of the Kiev’s School of The Arts, where she staged many classical ballets as well as her own choreography for the classical ensemble or the “Yaroslavna” ensemble. She served as Artistic Director for 10 years where she led tours to Germany, Israel, France and Poland.

After relocating to the USA, Tatyana worked for 5 years as a professor at Akron University, teaching their highest-level students. She moved to Chicago on 2002 forwork as the Ballet Mistress of Faubourg Ballet. From 2017-2019 she served as a key ballet teacher at Salt Creek Ballet.

Tatyana’s students have gone on to countless ballet companies across the United States, Canada and Europe.
Tatyana has prepared many students for participation in the prestigious competition Youth America Grand Prix where her students in 2005 and 2011 became winners in the Ensemble category and in 2011 one of her students was a winner at the New York finals. Tatyana was awarded the prestigious honor of “Best Ballet Teacher” in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 by YAGP.

Tatyana has staged and set various classical ballet’s and variations including Swan Lake, Snow Maden, Snow Queen, Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, Cippolini, Coppelius, Shopeniana.

Bio coming soon!

Alexa Petrando is super excited to be a part of the BCS staff. Alexa developed a love for the performing arts when she was two years old at her mother’s summer show choir camp, Rising Stars. Alexa is proud to have trained with Ms. Sara at BCS for over 9 years (voice and piano). She also took a variety of dance classes at BCS through the years, and she is now a proud staff member since summer 2021. Alexa is currently studying Choral Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she enjoys singing in the choir, participating in student musicals, and having fun in social activities through her sorority and on campus. Alexa is grateful for the opportunity to continue her BCS journey and can’t wait to meet new students and families along the way!

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Bio coming soon!

Emma Simmons began her dance training at the age of 2 at Dorothy’s Dance Unlimited in Schaumburg. She has been dancing for 20 years, having trained in numerous styles such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Ballroom, Modern, Hip Hop, and Lyrical. Out of all of styles that she had been trained in, her favorite styles to dance and teach are Contemporary, Ballroom, Hip Hop, and Lyrical. She became involved with Christian Youth Theater company at the age of 5 and has been with the company for 17 years. She was in a total of 19 productions, but her favorites were Les Miserables, Singing in the Rain, and Hairspray. After she graduated high school, she began to choreograph full length productions and teach dance classes with CYT. Throughout her dance career, she started training at Joel Hall Dance Center in Chicago, where she got to work and learn from amazing instructors such as Rosetta Fair and David Leaf. Emma has been teaching dance for 7 years and is currently working towards earning her degree in Sports Medicine, with a Minor in Dance Therapy. She is so beyond thrilled to be working with this amazing company and hopes to inspire and have a positive impact on her students.

Bio coming soon!

Marissa is a long-time dancer who grew up in Bloomingdale. Marissa danced at her local park district and dance studio studying many styles of dance, but specializing in lyrical and jazz. Marissa has experience dancing competitively and recreationally. She competed with her high school dance team, the Lake Park Lancettes, throughout her high school career. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Marissa was a member of a student-run organization on campus called Velocity Dance Team. Through Velocity, Marissa gained leadership experience as fundraising chair her junior year, and co-president her senior year. In addition to her dance experience, Marissa also has three years of experience coaching cheerleaders.

When Marissa is not dancing, she is teaching math to elementary and middle schoolers. No matter what she is teaching, Marissa has a passion for working with children. She enjoys connecting with her students and building relationships with them. Marissa is beyond excited to continue her lifelong passion of dance, and hopes to make a positive impact on her students.

Laura is a performer and teacher who loves to help children grow and thrive in the arts. She is a Chicago native and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She has been teaching for the past several years and has worked with students of all ages. When she’s not teaching, she serves as a Speech and Debate coach at York High School in Elmhurst. Laura is thrilled to be joining the BCS family!

Bio coming soon!