Meet The Team
Sameea Patel
Co-Founder + Teacher
Hi! My name is Sameea Patel, and I’m a senior at Hinsdale Central High School. I have been dancing since I was three years old. I’ve performed jazz, tap, lyrical, ballet, hip hop, and kathak (Indian classical dance) dances. Currently, I am on the Hinsdale Central Varsity Poms Team, and I am also training for my Rangmach Pravesh, my kathak graduation performance. I am so excited to grow The Movement Project to continue spreading joy and sharing my love of dance with residents and teachers!
Esha Patel
Co-Founder + Teacher
Hi! My name is Esha Patel, and I’m currently a sophomore at Hinsdale Central High School. I have experience in many different types of dance. I danced competitively for 9 years, and I’m trained in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, and hip hop. I am a member of the Junior Varsity Poms Team at Hinsdale Central. I am also training to complete my Kathak graduation performance (classical Indian dance). I’ve learned so much from residents who dance with The Movement Project including how they grew up, what their interests are and what kind of jobs they had.
Teachers
Eliana D’Arco
Teacher
Hi! My name is Eliana D’Arco, and I’m a rising senior at Saint Ignatius College Prep. I have been dancing since I was three years old, and was a competitive dancer for seven years. I currently dance on my school’s competitive poms team, and am also a part of the Orchesis recital performance club. I have been trained in ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, and hip hop, but my favorite style is probably jazz. I joined The Movement Project to use my love for dance to give back to the senior community!
Lauren Walsh
Teacher
Hi! I’m Lauren Walsh, and I’m a senior at Hinsdale Central High School. I have been dancing for as long as I can remember. My favorite styles are tap and lyrical, but I have also trained in ballet, musical theatre, jazz, hiphop, and more! I currently dance at Hinsdale Central as a Varsity Pommer. I am also preparing to perform a tap routine at the State Finals for the Distinguished Young Women Program of Illinois. I am so thrilled to be a part of the Movement Project and spread my love for dance with all members of our community!
Sadie Rogero
Teacher
Hi! I’m Sadie Rogero, and I’m a rising senior at Benet Academy. I have been dancing since I was 2 years old, and have been competing since I was in second grade. Currently, I am on my school’s competitive dance team, and we just won 7th in the state! I also am a part of our Orchesis Dance Company at my school. I have been trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and modern, with my favorite being contemporary. I am so beyond excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization like The Movement Project and get to help share my love for dance!
Samantha Douglass
Teacher
Hi! I’m Samantha Douglass and I’m a junior at Hinsdale Central High School. I have been dancing since I was 3 years old and I was a competitive dancer for about nine years. I am currently dancing as a Varsity Pommer at Central! My favorite styles of dance are hip hop, jazz, and contemporary but I also have experience in ballet, tap, musical theater, lyrical, and ballroom. I am super excited to be a part of the Movement Project and to inspire others through dance!
Sarah Zuo
Teacher
Hi! I’m Sarah Zuo and I am a junior at Hinsdale Central High School. I have been dancing since I was 5 years old, and I did competitive dance for 5 years. I am currently on the Hinsdale Central Varsity Poms team. I also lead the Chinese fan dance at our school’s cultural fair. I have trained in jazz, contemporary, tap, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, and a little bit of ballroom and Chinese dance. I am very excited to be a part of The Movement Project and share my love for dance with others!
Isabell Singler
Teacher
Hi! I’m Isabell Singler and I am a senior at Benet Academy. I started dancing when I was 9 years old and started competing when I was 10 years old. I am currently on my school’s competitive dance team. This past season we won sectionals and got 7th in the state! I am also in another dance company at Benet called Orchesis. I have trained in jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. My favorite style is jazz. I am so excited to be a part of The Movement Project and share my love for dance with those around me!
Aria Bhagwakar
Teacher
Hi! I’m Aria Bhagwakar, and I’m a rising freshman at Glenbard West High School. I have been dancing since as long as I can remember, and have been competing since fourth grade. I am trained in jazz, contemporary, tap, ballet, musical theatre, hip hop, and bollywood. I am currently dancing as a member of the Varsity Dance Team at Glenbard West. I am beyond excited to join The Movement Project and spread my love and passion for dance to others.
Lucia Aschinberg
Teacher
Hi everyone! My name is Lucia Aschinberg and I am a sophomore at Hinsdale central. I have been dancing for 13 years. I am currently a part of the Hinsdale Central Poms team.I am trained in jazz, hip hop, lyrical, ballet, tap, ballroom, and contemporary. I am so excited to be a part of the Movement project and spread my love for dance throughout my community!
Laila Malik
Teacher
Hi! I’m Laila Malik and I will be a sophomore at Hinsdale South in the fall. I have done competitive dance since I was 8 and expect to continue throughout high school. I am also a part of my Poms team. I am trained in jazz, lyrical, ballroom, hip hop, ballroom, tap, and contemporary. I am delighted to spread joy through dance and share my passion for it with the Movement Project!
Anika Amin
Teacher
Hey everyone! My name is Anika Amin and I am going to be a sophomore at Hinsdale Central High School this fall. I have danced for 10 years at a competitive dance studio and I am on the Hinsdale Central Poms Team. I have trained in Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Ballroom, Tap, and many other styles of dance. I am so excited to be a part of the movement project so I can spread my love for dance throughout the community!
Maya Bylsma
Teacher
Hi! My name is Maya Bylsma, and I’m a senior at Lyons Township High School. I trained in classical ballet starting when I was 3 years old until high school, when I began dancing with my school. I currently dance on Lyons Township’s Varsity Poms team and Eurythmic Dance Company, while also taking recreational dance classes outside of school. I have experience in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and pom. I cannot wait to help grow the Movement Project by sharing my passion for dance with my community!
Eva Scharkey
Teacher
Hi! My name is Eva Scharkey and I’ve danced competitively for 3 years, but I was a figure skater for 8 years before that. Now, I am a dancer at Exhibit 3 Dance Club company, and have been trained in the styles jazz, contemporary, and ballet. I’m so excited to keep growing as a dancer and to share my passion with others!
Neha Singh
Teacher
Hi! My name is Neha Singh, and I am a rising freshman at Saint Ignatius. I have been practicing a form of Indian classical dance at Natya dance company for about 8 years. I am so excited to share what I know and learn as well by interacting with others in the community!
Darlene Chen
Teacher
Layla Gallegos
Teacher
Hi! My name is Layla Gallegos and I’m a rising senior at Hinsdale South High School. I have been dancing all my life and competed with a studio for 4 years! I’m trained in jazz, lyrical, ballet, contemporary, tap, and currently dance on my school’s varsity pom team! I love being a part of The Movement Project and having the ability to share my passion with the community!
Maisy Hindman
Teacher
Hi! My name is Maisy Hindman and I’m 14 years old going into my freshman year at Glenbard West high school. I have been dancing my whole life but I started competing in 4th grade. I’m a current member of the Sunshine Dance dance team and I and trained in jazz, hip hop, contemporary, tap, musical theater, ballet and more. I am so excited to be a part of the movement project and be able to make others happy with what I can do.
Madelyn Schaffnit
Teacher
Hi! I’m Madelyn Schaffnit and I am about to start my freshman year at Glenbard West High School. For over 10 years of my life, I have been a dancer. I have been dancing since I was three and have been on the competition stage for almost 9 years!! After doing it for such a long time, i’ve been trained in ballet, tap, contemporary, musical theatre, jazz, hiphop and heels. As a rising freshman, I will also been participating in the Glenbard West Varsity dance team and will soon be joining the Dupree Dance Collective program. I am very excited to join the movement project because it gives me a chance to show how much I love dance to people who find joy in it too!!
Talia Weinberg
Teacher
Hi, I’m Talia Weinberg and I am an incoming freshman in high school at Glenbard West. I have been dancing for longer than I can remember and have spent the last 7 years doing competitive dance at Sunshine Dance. Over those years I have been trained in countless versatile styles, and I am so excited to be a part of the movement project team!
Lauren Lynch
Teacher
Hello! My name is Lauren Lynch and I am going to be a Freshman at Glenbard West High school. I began competing competitively in fourth grade and have been ever since. I am trained in the styles of jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hiphop, jazz funk, ballet, musical theatre, and bollywood. I am currently a member of Glenbard Wests Varsity Dance Team. I am so honored and excited to join The Movement Project and express my passion and enthusiasm for dance even more!
Julia Bertani
Teacher
Hello, my name is Julia Bertani! I’m going into my freshman year at Glenbard West and I’m on the dance team there. I’ve been dancing at Sunshine Dance since I was 4 and have been competitively dancing for 5 years. I’m so excited to share my love for dance with everyone!