Co-Founder/Artistic Director

Krissie Odegard Geye is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Expand Community Arts Alliance, a group of nationally recognized arts organizations committed to sparking community dialogue through the lens of art. Within this alliance, Krissie oversees four organizations: The Dance and Music Academy, The Trifecta Dance Collective, the Metamorphosis; Fearless Evolution experience, and Phosphorescent Theatrical Productions.

Her accomplishments include being chosen as a Conference Presenter and Master Clinical at the International Dance Pedagogy Conference and Performance Festival, Peridance in NYC, the Big River Dance Festival in West Virginia, the CRU Dance Nationals, and the United States Tournament of Dance National Finals in Atlantic City.

Krissie's choreography has been recognized and featured at various esteemed events and festivals, including the Spring Choreography Showcase at Peridance in NYC, Jennifer Mueller's "Hatch" series in NYC, the Detroit Dance Festival, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Big River Dance Festival, and the Exchange Choreography Festival in Tulsa, OK. She has conceptualized and produced three full-length works in Anita's Way in Times Square and was honored as one of three winners of the National Choreography Competition sponsored by Ovation TV.

Krissie is a five-time recipient of a space in the "Choreographer's Showcase" performance at Dance Chicago. She served as the co-director of three National Youth Companies, providing valuable opportunities for hundreds of students each summer: The CRU Dance Heart and Soul National Company, the United States Tournament of Dance National Contemporary Team, and the Metamorphosis Performance Ensemble.

Krissie's contributions extend beyond performance and choreography, as she has also lent her expertise to institutions such as Goliard Concerts in New York City, the Ethnic Dance Theatre in St. Paul, MN, the ATDI “Spirit of Tap” conference, and as a faculty member for the New York City Public School System.

Co-Founder/Artistic Director

Carrie Muntz, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, began her training with the Atlanta Ballet, and continued training in the summers with Houston Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Luna Negra Dance Theater. In 2011, Carrie graduated cum laude from Butler University with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology. After graduation, Carrie spent the 2011-2012 season dancing as a trainee with the Louisville Ballet.. In the summer of 2012, Carrie moved to Chicago where she spent 2012-2013 season as a trainee with Thodos Dance Chicago. Carrie has also danced in Chicago with Rephrase Dance Collective and Project606 Dance. She choreographed works for the Louisville Ballet in their New Works show of 2012, Thodos Dance Chicago’s New Dances, and Nomi Dance Company’s Instrumental. She has also assistant directed the Heart and Soul and Elite Petite National Dance Companies at Cathy Roe Ultimate Dance.  Along with being the co-artistic director of Trifecta, Carrie is currently is also a dancer with Nomi Dance Company and Co-Company Director with Dance and Music Academy.

Dancer/Choreographer

Andi Fitzgerald was born and raised in Woodstock, Illinois. She went on to earn a degree in Dance Business at Anderson University. While there, she worked with artists such as Earl Mosley, Eddy Ocampo and Gregory Hancock. Following her time at Anderson, Andi went off to train with Hubbard Street's Professional Program under the direction of Alexandra Wells. Andi has had the opportunity to perform at the American College Dance Festival's National Gala, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's winter series and New Dance's 2020 Virtual Performance. She has performed in various projects around the Chicagoland area, such as guesting in multiple films with Purus Motus. She has recently been diving into her choreographic career. Her work has been shown at many festivals over the past few years, such as Trifecta Dance Festival, Elpis Dance Festival and Iowa Dance Festival. Andi has also been teaching for over seven years, sharing her love for dance to students of all ages. She is currently working with Trifecta Dance Collective and Solarium Dance Company.  Andi believes deeply in the transformative impact of movement and the countless values that dance offers. She is grateful to continue on in her career, blending together her passion for teaching, choreographing and performing! 

Dancer/Choreographer

Anna Wetoska is a Chicago-based dance artist, choreographer, and educator. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Health and Physiology. She has had the incredible privilege of working with established choreographers such as Stephanie Miracle, Melinda Jean Myers, Marc Macaranas, Urban Bush Women, Shannon Alvis, Alice Klock, and more throughout her collegiate training.

Currently, Anna performs as a founding company member of Solarium Dance Company and as a dancer and choreographer for Trifecta Dance Collective. Previously, she was a member of Alluvion Dance Chicago and has participated in freelance projects such as film projects for Purus Motus and performing at the Iowa Dance Festival, Detroit City Dance Festival, and the Trifecta Dance Festival. Her choreographic commissions include works that have been presented at Alluvion’s Emergence, TDC’s New Light, and the Take Up Space Dance Festival. From 2018 to 2023, Anna served as a coach and choreographer for the nationally ranked Loyola Academy Dance Team at the JV and Varsity levels, and has also choreographed and worked with competitive dance teams and studios around the country.  

Now, Anna’s passion lies in teaching the next generation of young dancers as she serves as the founder, director, and choreographer of the Jr. Ramblerette All Star program and Co-Director of Competition companies at Karisma Dance Company. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in proper technical foundations and functional movement principles. As a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer and Progressing Ballet Technique instructor, she has developed cross-conditioning practices that make her dancers strong, versatile, and resilient against injuries as well as explosive, engaging performers. On top of this, Anna travels across the country as a dance competition judge and has the incredible privilege to interact with and adjudicate incredible dancers nationwide. 

Dancer/Choreographer

Born and raised in Papillion Nebraska, Annalee Larsen grew up dancing with American Midwest Ballet’s second company and competing with Bellevue Dance Academy. She spent breaks training with Dance West, American Dance Festival, Next Generation Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Chicago, as well as Ballet Nebraska, and Oklahoma City Ballet on scholarship. She performed with the Live Entertainment Company at Kansas City theme park, Worlds of Fun. In 2022, Annalee graduated with honors from The University of Kansas with a BFA in dance performance and pre-physical therapy. She received the dance and theatre program’s jump start award, Loren Kennedy scholarship, and Lee Family scholarship. Aside from her own dancing, she also has developed a love for teaching from her work at numerous studios in Kansas, Nebraska, and now Chicagoland, as well as a passion for choreography from work in studios, competition teams, and live theatre. Since moving to the Chicago area, she has been grateful to dance for Trifecta Dance Collective as a principal dancer, a guest artist for Ballet Legere, numerous independent projects, and recently as a company dancer for Solarium Dance Company.

Dancer

Auburn grew up in Naperville, IL and began her dance training at The School of Performing Arts. Throughout high school she spent her summers training in the Chicago area participating in summer intensives such as with Hubbard Street Dance and River North Dance Chicago. She also earned the MVP award her freshman year of high school on the Varsity Dance Team at Naperville North High School. Auburn went on to graduate from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, English, and Elementary Education. During her time at Grand Valley, she had the opportunity to work with a variety of faculty and guest artists including Amy Cova, Kristi Faulkner, Zelma Badu-Young, Melissa Barak, and Brian Enos. She was also given the opportunity to perform at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) regional conferences in 2019 and 2020. In May of 2020, Auburn was the recipient of the Alexander Calder Honors Scholarship after being nominated by her professors and undergoing an interview process with a committee. 

After graduating, Auburn moved back to the Chicagoland area and currently holds her Professional Educator License as a certified elementary school teacher in Illinois and Michigan. Auburn spends her time substitute teaching in local elementary schools, as well as teaching a variety of dance styles at studios in the area. She is thrilled to continue her professional dance career with Trifecta Dance Collective for her second season!

Dancer/Choreographer

Haley Stevens began her dance training at the Edgebrook Dance and Music Academy under the direction and support of Krissie Odegard Geye. Haley then had the privilege of continuing her dance education with the Visceral Studio Company directed by Nick Pupillo. There, she was fortunate to receive training from some of the finest teaching professionals of the Chicago Dance Community. In May of 2020, Haley earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the University of Iowa along with a BA in Entrepreneurial Leadership. At Iowa, she studied and performed under an accomplished Dance Faculty. She collaborated with and performed works of Charlotte Adams, Eloy Barragan, Armando Duarte, Kristin Marrs, Jennifer Kayle and noted guest choreographers Shannon Alvis and Brian Enos.  Haley is happy to be home in Chicago coming full circle to where it all began at DMA. Beginning her fifth season as a member of Trifecta Dance Collective, she is grateful to share the stage with a group of artists who embrace the TDC mission. Haley also feels fortunate to give back to a new generation of dancers as part of the DMA faculty.

Dancer

Katherine (Kate) Moorhouse was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She began her dance training with the Dance and Music Academy under the direction of Krissie Odegard Geye. Kate supplemented her year-round training with summer intensives at the Cecchetti Council of America, Fort Wayne Ballet, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Orlando Ballet School, and UNCSA Professional Studies Intensive. She continued her dance education by attending The Chicago High School for the Arts as a dance major, where she worked with Kim Sagami, Ted Seymour, Sarah Ford Thompson, and Maan Almodovar. In 2018, Kate was invited to join Trifecta Dance Collective as a Student Apprentice and performed with the company across the Chicagoland area and in New York City. Following graduation, Kate moved away from Chicago to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She recently obtained her BFA in Contemporary Dance and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship in May 2023. While at UNCSA, she trained with Brenda Daniels, Sean Sullivan, Kira Blazek Ziaii, Ming-Lung Yang, Ashley Lindsey, and Abigail Yager. Her performance highlights include works by Igal Perry, Shen Wei, José Limón, Juel Lane, Gaspard Louis, Kira Blazek-Ziaii, Wesley Williams, Mariana Oliveira, and Ashley Lindsey. Kate also had the pleasure of collaborating with Garen Scribner and Danielle Rowe in their dance parodies, “Swan Lake: Cancelled” and “Shellbreaker.” In 2021, she was invited to become a member of Trifecta Dance Collective’s second company, TDC2, for their inaugural season. She made her debut with TDC2 at Trifecta Dance Festival in March of 2022. Following graduation from UNCSA, Kate moved back to Chicago in 2023 to become a performing apprentice with TDC. She is currently on faculty at Dance and Music Academy and serves as the emcee for Shine Your Light Dance Competition. She is excited to be back with TDC as a company member for her third season!

Dancer

Marialena Tamvakis was born in Athens, Greece, where she began dancing at “Χορός Κίνηση Ρυθμός”. After moving to Chicago as a teenager, she continued her dance training at Dance and Music Academy under the direction of Krissie Odegard Geye. She pursued higher education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earning a bachelor’s in English and Secondary education. She continued to grow in her love for dance by founding the first ballet student organization on campus, alongside her fellow dancers. Although she didn’t pursue dance as her degree, she continued to be a part of performances, taught classes, and choreographed through the student organization. She is now a dance and Greek teacher while also working towards her Master’s at Northwestern University. Marialena is excited to continue dancing with TDC for her second season and is grateful for the opportunity to keep dancing and sharing her passion with her community!

Dancer/Choreographer

Sawyer McNamara, originally from Alpena, MI, is a dancer, choreographer, and instructor currently based in Chicago, IL. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University, as well as a Certificate in Dance Studio Management in spring of 2023. Throughout her time at Western, Sawyer received the opportunity to perform works by Seyong Kim, Monique Haley, Jeremy Blair, Kaitlyn Pollock, Kiki Lucas, Katy Copeland, and Kimberly Cooper of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. In addition to notable performances, Sawyer also served as a company member of Western Dance Project (2022-2023) under the direction of Kelsey Paschich. Upon graduation, Sawyer served as an apprentice for ConteXture Dance Detroit and a guest artist for Alluvion Dance Chicago. Currently, Sawyer serves as a guest artist for The Rooted Space Company, and a company member for Trifecta Dance Collective. 

In addition to performing and life as a company member, Sawyer has also found creative expression through choreography. Her work has been showcased in WMU’s 2022 Student Dance Concert, WMU’s 2023 Winter Gala Dance Concert, Modern American Dance Company’s 2024 Dare to Dance Festival, Alluvion Dance Chicago’s 2024 Emergence Festival, Trifecta Dance Festival 2025, and as Western Dance Project repertoire. Her choreography, as well as her effort as a movement educator, has also been shared with younger generations of dancers across Michigan, Illinois, and Panama.

Dancer

Shannon Brodie began her dance training at age four in Downers Grove, IL. Her passion for dance took her to Northern Illinois University where she received her B.F.A. in dance performance. In 2007 she began her professional career by joining Chicago based Nomi Dance Company as a founding member. While performing with them, she received a positive review in the Chicago Tribune of her contemporary pointe solo and was honored to perform in the 2018 Dance for Life show at the Auditorium Theatre.

Shannon went on to perform with Winifred Haun and Dancers and work with Purus Motus before joining Trifecta in 2018. Shannon is excited to continue performing in Trifecta's community based and inspired works for this upcoming season.

Dancer

Taylor Danan grew up in Elk Grove Village, IL. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Dance Education at Illinois State University. Through her studies, she earned her endorsement in Physical Education and a minor in Sociology. She worked closely with and performed works for School of Theatre and Dance faculty Darby Wilde, Laina Reese Carney-Powell, Gregory Merriman, and Kaley Pruitt. As a 4-year company member, she collaborated and performed works created by guest artists Elijah Gibson, Alexandra Beller, Morgan Williams, and Dr. Dara Milovanovic. She was referred to train at the Gus Giordano Dance School where she performed works by Jimmy Locust, Elizabeth Parkinson, Matt Pospeshil, Cornelius Carter, Marcus Alford, Eileen Mallary, and Kirby Reed. As elected Campus Outreach for RSO Dance Association, Taylor enjoyed collaborating with fine arts students along with choreographing for a variety of campus-wide charity events, dance concerts, and musicals. In 2023, she was selected to perform her self-choreographed solo at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) regional conference in 2023. She also performed group works - choreographed by Laina Reese Carney-Powell and Dani Rink - at ACDA in 2022 and 2023. 

After graduation, Taylor moved back to the Chicagoland area and holds her Professional Educator License as a certified teacher in Illinois. She earned her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification and Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator Certification through Breathe for Change. She spends her time working in a variety of early childhood education centers, elementary schools, high schools, park districts, and dance studios. She loves working with students of all ages from infants to adults. 

Taylor has continued following her life-long passion for dance performance. The past two years, she had the honor of performing in the Chicago Dance Health Fund’s Dance for Life Finale choreographed by Jonathon Alsberry. She also had the privilege of performing at The Carnival Choreographers Ball with Andrew Tamez Hull's Drew’s Crew. Taylor continues to compete and perform with The PieceMakers in her second season - bringing home 1st Place at Indy Open and 3rd Place at Prelude South this year. Taylor is thrilled to continue her second season with Trifecta Dance Collective!

Apprentice

Dani Johnson is a dancer and choreographer from Ramsey, MN. She earned her BFA in Dance from Western Michigan University in 2023, along with a certificate in Dance Studio Management. While at WMU, Dani was a member of Western Dance Project and performed works by renowned choreographers including Kim Cooper, Kiki Lukas, Monique Haley, Katy Copeland, Sara Kausch, and Kaitlyn Pollock. She was honored to be the featured performer in Ten/10, choreographed by Sara Kausch, which won the 2021 Maggie Allesee Choreography Competition.

Dani has danced with Crash Dance Productions’ pre-professional company in Minneapolis, Alluvion Dance Chicago, and currently performs with Trifecta Dance Collective in Chicago. In addition to her performance career, Dani is passionate about choreography. Her collaborative work Ascendancy, created with Sawyer McNamara, premiered at WMU's Winter Dance Concert in 2023 and was later performed at the Dare to Dance Festival in St. Louis. That same year, she was nominated for an Industry Dance Award for her choreography Don’t Leave Me. Dani continues to explore and grow her voice as both a performer and choreographer, and is looking forward to her first season with Trifecta Dance Collective.

Apprentice

Katie Scuderi is from the south suburbs of Chicago where she grew up dancing at the American Dance Center. In 2024 she graduated from the University of Iowa with a BFA in dance, where she was apart of the University of Iowa dance company in 2023 under the direction of Melinda Myers and Todd Rhoades. During her time at Iowa, Katie performed works by Jennifer Kayle, Eloy Barragan, Armando Duarte, Kieron Sargeant, and guest choreographers Flock. During Katie’s final year of college, she was a member of TDC2, performing a work by Tori Cartee at the Trifecta Dance Festival. After graduating, Katie began training with Visceral as a trainee under the direction of Cait Cucchiara. There she was privileged enough to perform works by Nick Pupillo, Braeden Barnes, Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, Megan Rhodes, Erika Shi, and Aden Hurst. She continues to share her passion for dance through teaching, and loves passing along her knowledge to the next generation of dancers. Katie is very excited to be joining Trifecta Dance Collective for her first season and is grateful for this opportunity to continue dancing!

Apprentice

Madeline Douglas, originally from North Carolina, is a Chicago-based dancer and choreographer. In 2022, she graduated summa cum laude from East Carolina University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship. While at ECU, Madeline was chosen as student choreographer and selected to present work in a faculty show. Additionally, she received an ECU Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Grant, for which she choreographed and presented a 22-minute piece called “As It Goes On,” which was selected as a finalist at the Washington International Dance Festival in 2023. Madeline has received additional training from the Nova Linea professional intensive, Staib Dance Root Theory, Visceral Dance professional intensive, and the UNCSA choreographic residency summer intensive. After graduation, Madeline taught and choreographed for Ballet and Performing Arts Centre in North Carolina for two years, including choreography for their annual Nutcracker Performances. In 2024, Madeline choreographed and performed in a music video for Cashavelly Morrison’s album, “Meditation Through Gunfire.” Most recently, Madeline has performed as a guest with Nova Linea at Dance City Festival Detroit and Midwest Arts Expo. Additionally, Madeline owns and runs her own dancewear business, Alinement Dancewear. Madeline has received an Accelerate Rural NC summer grant, ECU I-corps summer grant, and Innovation Design Lab summer grant for her business. She was also a finalist in East Carolina University's Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge. Madeline is very excited about joining Trifecta Dance Collective for her first season and continuing to delve into the Chicago dance community.