Current instructors
Our Founder Rebecca
Rebecca Bombard, a native of Batavia, Illinois, is the Owner and Artistic Director of R & B Dance Center. She has had a true passion for dance her whole life, beginning her dance training at age three. This passion led Rebecca to earn her B.A. in Dance Performance & Psychology from Hope College, where she received the four-year Distinguished Artist Award. While at Hope she studied at Le Centre de Danse du Marais in Paris, France, and was also co-founder & choreographer for Hip Hop Anonymous. She has performed, choreographed & taught professionally in Europe and the Chicago/ Midwest area; including company member of Inaside Chicago Dance, BAM! and InSync Dance Theatre. She was also a staff member of Universal Dance Association (UDA) for five years and the Junior Varsity Dance Team Coach at Batavia High School, winning five State Championship titles during that time. Rebecca’s goal is to bring her passion and joy for dance to young people in a unique, family-oriented atmosphere, with professional instructors who work with students to develop their own individual talents.
Hollie
Hollie began her dance training at Bonnie Ardelean Dance Studio in Aurora, IL at the age of four. There she began dancing all styles of dance, including tap, ballet and jazz and later danced competitively at that studio. As a young dancer, Hollie earned dance scholarships to dance conventions all over Chicago. When she wasn’t taking classes, she was assisting classes at the studio. At the age of 15 she was chosen as a Dance America V.I.P, where she traveled all over the country assisting and dancing with the convention. Hollie later attended Western Illinois University where she danced and choreographed for the University Dance Theater. As a freshman she was selected to perform in the piece that represented Western Illinois at the American College Dance Festival. She also was a member of the dance team at Western. Hollie continued to pursue her love of dance by teaching at dance studios in and surrounding the Macomb area. When she returned to Aurora she continued to teach and choreograph for studios and dance teams in the Chicagoland area. Her award winning choreography reveals her passion for dance. Hollie’s true joy is in creating a love of dance in all her students.
Andrea
Andrea Cerniglia began dancing at an early age while growing up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Dance has always been a large part of her life and her training ultimately led to a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Much of Andrea’s exposure to modern dance came during her collegiate years; she quickly fell in love with the form for its endless freedom and ability to give the audience such a powerful and visceral experience.
Currently a contemporary artist based in Chicago, IL, she is a performer, choreographer and seasoned educator. Andrea’s work has been shown internationally in Vancouver, BC as well as locally at Links Hall, The Hairpin Arts Center, I AM Logan Square Gallery, The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, Produce Music and Dance Festival, Hamlin Park and Holstein Park, Chicago, IL. Andrea has also performed at such Chicago venues as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Dance Center of Columbia College, Harold Washington Library Theater, the Athenaeum Theater, and the Ruth Page Center for the Performing Arts. She has also performed in New York City at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Dance Space, the Cunningham Studio Theater, Mulberry Street Theater, Triskelion Arts, and The Ailey Cititgroup Theater.
Andrea has been a part of residency and master class work within the elementary grade levels as well as at such colleges as Columbia College Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan University. She has also taught and designed arts integrated curriculum in the Chicago Public schools through Zephyr’s arts integrated education programs uniting classroom curriculum with dance.
Zada
Zada Cheeks, a native of Aurora, IL, began his dance training at the age of 10. He became a member of The Cartier Collective and Chicago Human Rhythm Project's "BAM!" while graduating from West Aurora High School. Since then, Mr. Cheeks has also performed with dance companies such as: Chicago Dance Crash, Civic Ballet of Chicago, Corpo Dance company, Inaside Chicago Dance, Kanopy Dance Company, River North Chicago Dance Company, Winifred Haun and Company, and The Tapmen. He has toured nationally and internationally to China, Italy, Spain, and Venezuela. In addition, Zada also teaches at many dance studios around the Chicagoland area, as well as workshops and master classes helping students to express their feelings and creativity through dance.
Madison
Madison began her dance training at the age of three in her hometown Upland, California. She trained at Adage Dance Center under the direction of Allison Gladney and Richard Elszy, studying jazz and the Paula Morgan technique. In 2015, Madison accepted a scholarship to further her dance education at the University of Arizona. During her time at the U of A, she performed various works choreographed by Tammy Dyke-Compton, Michael Williams, Larry Keigwin, and Martha Graham. Madison and her classmates were given the opportunity to open for the Graham Company in “The Eve Project.” Madison also assisted her professor Sam Watson in Bolzano, Italy for the Tanz Bozen-International Contemporary Dance Festival. She was a participant at the Exchange Choreography festival where she performed Tammy Dyke-Compton’s piece Dead in a Shell. Madison was a performer in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Series, where the performers were accompanied by the live orchestra. In 2019, Madison graduated from the University of Arizona summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance and a BA in Political Science. Madison is thrilled to be living in Chicago and embark on her first year as a GII with Giordano Dance Chicago.
Allie
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Allie Meyer began dancing at the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance and continued her training with Visceral Dance Chicago's Studio Company under the direction of Nick Pupillo. A recent Point Park University graduate, Allie performed in works by Keisha Lalama, Ernie Tolentino, and Staycee Pearl among others. She also had the opportunity to audition, cast, and choreograph an original work on her peers as a part of Point Park’s Student Choreography Project. Allie has attended summer intensives at Milwaukee Ballet, Interlochen Arts Academy, Point Park University, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. In the summer of 2018, Allie worked as an apprentice for Dance in the Parks where she rehearsed as an understudy for the company members, promoted the company on social media, and worked the tech booth during performances. This upcoming season she is attending Northwestern University to receive her Masters in Education and performing with Trifecta Dance Collective. Allie is incredibly excited to be working with the students at R&B Dance Center!
Olivia
Olivia Hull, originally from Iowa, has been training since she was five years old. She began competing in Jazz, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, Ballet, Contemporary and Tap for Studio A Dance Company at the age of seven. She danced on her high school dance team, earning the position of co-captain her Senior year. At the age of 16 she had also gained the opportunity to start assisting and teaching dance classes. Since she started teaching, she has gone on to choreograph award winning routines. After graduation, she was invited to come train and teach in Chicago by one of her mentors Rachelle Ochsner. Since moving to Chicago, she has performed on The Jam morning show, Flash-mobs, Short films, and co-choreographs for Inside Out Dance Crew and Matix Dance Crew. She’s an energetic, edgy, versatile dancer/choreographer excited to share her passion of dance with the Chicago dance community and all over the world.
Arianna
Arianna Lawson grew up in Las Vegas, NV and lives in Chicago, IL. She attended Cornish College of the Arts and graduated Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance in 2013. She is trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, tap, jazz and improvisational dance techniques. Prior to her higher education, Arianna attended Las Vegas Academy of the Arts where she focused in dance. In 2012, Arianna partook in the José Limón West Coast Residency and also attended La Bella Vita Arts Summer Dance Intensive in 2011. Arianna performed with J. Lindsay Brown Dance (Chicago, IL) from 2013-2015. She has performed works by Camille A. Brown, Kristen Legg, Jason Olhberg, Iyun Harrison, and José Limón. Currently, Arianna is an independent dance artist, choreographer, and teacher. She is a founding member of Jamm'n Honey Dance Collective.
