Lamaiya Lancaster has over twenty years of experience in multiple dance disciplines.  Production highlights include "Wizard of Oz", The Terrible Tales of Ringmaster Twigg", "The Dancing Man of Echoville", "Cabaret", and the CLC Prairie Spirits Dance Troupe.  In addition to her performing experience, Lamaiya has been choreographing for over ten years.  She was the assistant choreographer for CLC’s production of "West Side Story" and is currently the dance assistant for the Prairie Spirits Dance Troupe. Her teaching credentials include Stars Program, Tiffany & Co. Studio of Dance.  Currently she is performing with VADCO/Valerie Alpert Dance Company.

Phil Wackerfuss has been a denizen of Chicago’s northwest suburbia since birth. He follows in his mother’s footsteps as a dancer and hopes to accrue as much experience (although it will be hard to catch up to the 40yr mark!). Phil studied theatre and dance at Illinois Wesleyan U. under the indomitable Jean Kerr, and also had the opportunity to work on dance pieces with Otis Cook of Pilobolus and Li Chiao-Ping of the University of Madison, WI. After performing with the Cherokee National Assoc. in "Unto These Hills" for a summer, he completed studies in massage therapy at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy and is now a licensed practitioner. Over the past few years, Phil has danced several times in the annual Dance Chicago Festival, acted for Rogue Theatre in Chicago, and is a company member of First Folio Shakespeare Festival. This is his first year as a Valerie Alpert Dance Company member.

Jeannine Potter received all of her early dance experience in Dayton, Ohio where she was born and raised. Later, she was awarded degrees in ballet and dance performance from Indiana University and The Ohio State University. Between degrees, Jeannine danced with Island Moving Company of Newport, RI and Cadence Dance Project of Providence, RI. She has also taught dance extensively throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Ohio and Indiana. Most recently she has been on the faculty of Ballet Metropolitan Dance Academy in Columbus, OH and Ohio University’s School of Dance in Athens, OH. Jeannine is currently teaching at the College of Lake County and is participating in her first full season with VADCO.

Matthew Kinney was born in Tucson, Arizona, but raised in Round Lake, Illinois. He graduated from Round Lake Senior High School, where he first started to take an interest in the performing arts. It was there that Mr. Kinney performed leading roles . Additionally, Matt has had extensive training in tumbling and currently coaches kids at a local gym. As a student at the College of Lake County, Matt began taking dance and theater classes. Soon after, he began performing in several productions including the leading role in Our Town, The King and I, as well as several dance productions for the Prairie Spirits Dance Troupe. He recently received his Assoicates in Science from CLC and is unsure on what he will be doing next. Whatever it is, he will be performing every opportunity that comes his way. This is his debut performance with VADCO.

Megan Michelle Simmons recently graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater and a Dance Minor from UW — Stevens Point. Since graduation she has had the opportunity of performing with Chicago Dance Crash and Rebound Dance Productions in addition to studying with Christopher McCray, Jeff Hancock, Birute Barodicaite, Maliwan Diemer, Dionna Pridgeon, Jessica Hendricks, and Wade Madsen. When Megan is not performing or training, she can be found studying for her personal training certification or teaching at the Deforest Dance Academy in Elmhurst, IL. Megan is excited to be apprenticing with VADCO.

André Santiago began dancing Puertorican folkoric dance at a young age. In addition he has learned many styles of Latin dance including Salsa, Merengue, and Samba among others. Despite his love for dance, he has never taken formal dance lessons. However, he has trained in Capoeira and was recently baptized into the Omulu Guanabara Group. André has performed in various shows at the College of Lake County, including the Annual Fear No Art Festivals and recently in the musical Guys and Dolls. This is André's second performance with VADCO.

Sherese Mays (Resident Poet) is a 2006 CLC Graduate with an Associates Degree in English. Sherese has been published in CLC’s Prairie Voices Spring 2006 edition. She is currently attending Northeastern University, Chicago as a continuing English major and a minor in Communications. Sherese is a Customer Service Trainer and the proud mother of three children. She hopes to begin her first book within the next year.