Chair - Dance

Randy Duncan, a native Chicagoan, has the unique privilege to be a three-time recipient of Chicago’s prestigious Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Choreographer of the year. He teaches worldwide and for the past twenty-two years has been on the Academy faculty.

Assistant Chair of the Dance Department

Patrick Simoniello began his professional career as a dancer with The Joffrey II Dancers in New York City in 1993. He was soon promoted to the main company of The Joffrey in 1994. 

Olga Meyer graduated from Azerbajian State College in Baku and earned her Masters in Music from the State Conservatory. She taught and concertized before coming to the United States in 1981. She has been at The Academy since 1985. 

Dance Faculty

Ethan Kirschbaum graduated summa cum laude with Departmental Honors in Dance from The Ailey School/Fordham University.

He has danced professionally with Hubbard Street 2, Saarländisches Staatstheater, River North Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Santa Fe Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Dance Faculty

Robyn Mineko Williams is a director and artist from Chicago, IL. She is drawn to embodiments of memory, time, lineage and our relationships with the traces left in us of the people we encounter. Robyn is the founder and director of Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists (RMW&A), which houses and shares a body of interdisciplinary performance created in collaboration with an evolving roster of dynamic artists and designers.