Alice Williams

Alice Williams, Owner and Artistic Director of the Dance Program, has been performing dance & theatre since she was 5 yrs. old. She began here in St. Charles with her mom in Children’s Theatre Workshop and continued with dance and theatre through high school. Alice went on to Butler University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance. During and after college she studied and performed with the Maine State Music Theatre, where she performed in various shows. Alice continued on to perform all over the country. She is delighted to have the opportunity to have this studio and help children and adults cultivate a love for dance and theatre like her mom and teachers did for her.

Carly Brandl

Carly Brandl has been dancing since the age of 2. She has trained extensively in jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, hip hop and acro/dance. Growing up Carly competed and choreographed for the award winning Steppin' Out Dance Company. She has also trained with Ted Jackson and Alvin Ramirez from Xtreme Dance Force.

Carly has been teaching since the age of 17 and specializes in teaching kids 9-18 years of age. She has been teaching a competitive dance company for 3 years and has won many awards for choreography. Most recently at the 2010 Starquest Nationals Carly won 1st Place for her hip hop production number "The Future of Hip Hop." This dance also won the Teen/Senior Production award, which means the judges thought it was the most entertaining/memorable production. She also won the Teen/Senior Odyssey award (Most Entertaining Award) for her hip hop large group "Diva Night." She is well-rounded, innovative and cutting edge.

Carly is very excited to work with the dancers here at 3rd Street Dance & Theatre Academy.

Nora Buchler

Nora Buchler (B.A. in Dance, Columbia College Chicago) was raised in Downers Grove, IL and began her training with Yvonne Brown Collodi.  After performing in England and France, Nora continued her training at Lou Conte Dance Studio, Western Michigan University, and Columbia College Chicago, where she studied with Anna Paskevska, Eduardo Vilaro, Jan Erkert, and Shirley Mordine. 

She has performed in works created by David Gordon, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Derrick Evans, Jan Erkert, and Eduardo Vilaro, while also appearing in the Strauss opera Die Flerdermaus, Balachine’s Serenade, Jazz Dance World Congress, and American College Dance Festival.  Also, Nora has apprenticed with Luna Negra Dance Company and has taught at numerous schools in the Chicago area. Currently, she is teaching at 3rd Street Dance Academy in St. Charles, IL. 

Bio coming soon...

Susan Sanders took her first ballet class at the age of eight in a small dance studio in Wheaton, IL. As a teenager, she studied ballet in Chicago with Stone-Camryn and later at Lou Conte. Susan was accepted as a Dance Major at Butler University where she received her BA in Dance and where most of her performing experience was with the Butler Ballet.

After graduation, Susan apprenticed with Dance Kaleidoscope, a professional modern dance company in Indianapolis. After returning to the Chicago area, Susan began teaching dance in Wheaton, Downers Grove and Elburn, while earning a teaching certificate in Elementary Physical Education and a Masters in Education. She taught one year of Physical Education at the elementary level in Buffalo Grove, then moved on to teaching Physical Education and Dance to high school students at Niles North High School in Skokie. There, she created and developed a dance program and directed the high schools dance company Auroris. After five years, she decided to stay home to raise her three children.

Seven years after leaving dance, Susan decided to get involved again, which led her to 3rd Street Dance and Theatre! It feels great to be teaching dance again!

Kelly Strothman

Kelly Strothman is a 2006 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northern Illinois University, with a B.F.A. in Theatre and Dance, with an emphasis on Dance Performance. She began her dance training in Virginia Beach, Virginia and continued the study of ballet, jazz and lyrical at the Beth Fowler School of Dance in Genoa, Illinois. At thirteen, Kelly was a Principal Company Member in the Beth Fowler Dance Company, performing lead roles in The Firebird, Cinderella, and West Side Story, and was also featured as the Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker Suite. At the age of seventeen, Kelly was selected to attend the Milwaukee Ballet summer intensive program.

She appeared as a guest artist for Tammy Newquist and the Pastiche Dance Ensemble of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was featured in the Rock Opera production of Purple Rain-Prince and the Revolution.

While attending Northern Illinois University, Kelly was on a Talented Student Scholarship studying Classical Ballet, Horton modern technique, Graham modern technique, Release modern technique, and Jazz under the professional instruction of Judith Chitwood, Paula Frasz (Dance Loop Chicago), Randall Newsom, and Karen Williamson. She performed as a Corps de Ballet member of Sleeping Beauty, and as a soloist in Pas De Quatre and Paquita, restaged by Randall Newsom, as well as various modern pieces.

In 2006 Kelly studied as an intern for Ballet Concerto, Fort Worth, Texas, produced by Margo and Webster Dean where she worked with choreographer and Flamenco dancer Luis Montero, as well as former members of the Kirov Ballet. Finishing her studies at NIU, Kelly was cast in a Dance Chicago Premiere, Saints and Sinners, choreographed by Dmitri Peskov, a former member of Dance Loop Chicago. She was also featured in Paula Fraszs, Silly Love Songs, in a duet role.

While attending school, Kelly also taught dance classes at Northern Illinois University for the Community Education Program. She continues to teach in Rochelle as well as here in St. Charles at 3rd Street Dance and Theatre Academy. Throughout her dance training, Kelly has found time to share her love of dance with young girls, just as all of Kellys instructors shared with her.

Jessica van Dusen

Jessica van Dusen has studied dance for 24 years, beginning her training at the Gould Academy of Dance Arts in Elgin, Illinois, and extended her training as a scholarship student at Lou Conte Dance in Chicago, the Ruth Page Foundation, a variety of national dance camps and Steps on Broadway in New York. Her extensive background in dance includes formal training in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, modern, tap, musical theatre, tumbling, hip hop, and break-dance. Jessica began her performing debut in yearly dance recitals, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and many musical theatre performances, such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Chicago Theatre. She was captain and choreographer of the State Champion St. Charles Varsity Drill Team, and chosen as Showstopper of the Week in 1998 for the Showstoppers Camp of America.

Jessica continued her dance training and performance as she continued into college at The University of Iowa with a scholarship in dance. She was a member of the Iowa Dance Team, performing and competing as a nationally ranked team. She also was a member of the Iowa Dance Company, performing in the Annual Dance Gala, and touring with the company throughout the Midwest. Her junior year she studied abroad for dance at the Laban Centre in London, England. Jessica graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation.

Her post-collegiate career in dance continued as a dance instructor and choreographer for various workshops and master classes nationwide. Jessica was a soloist in Rasa Dance Theatre in Chicago, an industrial dance performer for pharmaceutical companies and corporate shows, as well as a Chicago Luvabull for two years. She is a faculty member of Star Performance Dance Company Camp staff, as well as, a technical dance judge for Team Dance Illinois. She is currently the Artistic Director for the 3rd Street Dance Company, and has the pleasure of taking her talented students to perform all around the local community.