Meet The faculty

Artistic Director of THE COLONY & DCA

Seth Robinson

A native of Indiana, Seth Robinson is a passionate educator, choreographer, and visionary whose work continues to shape the next generation of dancers across the country. A graduate of Ball State University with a Bachelor of Science in Dance, Seth's journey has been defined by a tireless pursuit of artistic excellence and a commitment to authentic storytelling through movement. In 2011, Seth founded TRIBE Dance, a touring intensive built for dancers seeking not just training, but transfor-mation. Since then, he has traveled nationwide, inspiring artists of all levels with his dynamic teaching style and grounded approach to dance. After college, Seth made his mark in Chicago’s vibrant dance scene, performing with Elements Contemporary Ballet, guesting with Chicago Dance Crash, and honing his craft training at Visceral Dance Center. Seth has spent over a decade on the national convention circuit, joining faculties of both REVEL Dance Convention and The Streetz Dance Convention, where he is now celebrating his 11th season. His work continues to resonate with pre-professional and competitive companies, who seek his fresh movement vocabulary and deep understanding of performance artistry. In 2019, Seth co-founded THE HIVE—a Chicago-based creative dance hub offering drop-in training for adults along with THE COLONY, a pre-professional program designed to develop young artists through rigorous training and artistic exploration. Seth’s most recent performance credits include Netflix’s Soundtrack (choreographer, James Alsop) and dancing in Kanye West’s DONDA Listening Experience at Soldier Field. Now stepping into a new chapter with DC+A, Seth brings his signature energy, depth, and artistic clarity to the role of Artistic Director. He is thrilled to lead a team of passionate, skilled artists, and is eager to continue building work that moves—literally and emotionally.

Owner of DCS & Executive Director of DCA

Jeff Wolfe

Jeff Wolfe is an accomplished dancer, educator, and studio owner whose versatile career spans ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, and aerial performance. Originally from Clearwater, Florida, he began formal ballet training at the Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg and went on to train with the Houston Ballet Academy, where he was joined into Houston Ballet’s second company. He danced four seasons with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, and then joined River North Dance Chicago for a season before embarking on years of freelance work across the United States and Canada. Over the course of his freelance period, Jeff held leading and principal roles with companies such as Montgomery Ballet, Eugene Ballet Company, Ron De Jesus Dance, Jose Navas / Compagnie Flak, Owen/Cox Dance Group, and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. In addition to performance, Jeff has built a strong reputation as a master educator. Since around 2013 he has led technique-focused instruction — in ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern — at conventions and intensives including EPIC Dance Weekend, Dance Fever, The Streetz Dance Convention, among others. He also co-directs the in-studio intensives TRIBE Dance and Ballet Matters, which aim to support dancers’ technical growth and artistic expression. Jeff prides himself in being a multi-studio owner with his husband. Together they run the Chicago- based studios THE HIVE (an adult-focused creative dance hub) and DANCE COLONY Studios (youth-focused training, geared toward beginner to elite-level dancers).

DCS Office Manager & Core Faculty

Tiffany Mccord

Collapsible text is great for longer section titles and descriptions. It gives people access to all the info they need, while keeping your layout clean. Link your text to anything, or set your text box to expand on click. Write your text here...

DCA Administrator & Core Faculty

Mia Barnett

Mia Barnett is an expressive performer, versatile teaching artist, and curious choreographer based out of Chicago, IL. She grew up dancing on competitive stages across the Midwest and furthered her dance education at The Ohio State University (OSU), graduating summa cum laude with a BFA in dance and a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Throughout her time at OSU, Mia performed abroad, in Denmark & Brazil, and had the privilege of dancing for Crystal-Michele Perkins, Daniel Roberts, Ann Sofie Clemmensen, Eddie Taketa, Momar Ndiaye, Lexi Clark-Stilianos and Gina Hoch-Stall. Post graduation, Mia performed in projects with Stilgo dance + tech. Since moving to Chicago in 2022, she has performed works by Alysia Johnson, Stefany Cotton, Steven Innacone, Seth Robinson, Carrie Hanson, and NDT’s Luca Andrea Tessarini and presented work in JELLO’s Performance Series, The Ooze. Mia is a faculty member at THE HIVE and a teaching artist with TRIBE Dance. Mia is an administrator and company artist for DANCE COLONY + Artists and a core faculty member and choreographer at THE COLONY.

THE COLONY Administrator & Core Faculty

Lacy SLaats

Lacy Slaats is originally from northeast Wisconsin where she began her training by dancing competitively. She graduated with BFA in Dance and a minor in Business from The Ohio State University in 2023, where she worked closely with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and BalletMet. From her time at OSU, Lacy's international performance repertoire includes works by Bebe Miller, Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Crystal Michelle Perkins, and Abby Zbikowski, receiving an invitation to perform at Jacob’s Pillow. With a focus in choreography, Lacy’s undergraduate thesis ‘Praxis’ was selected by faculty to be restaged and performed abroad. In 2022, she assisted Dr. Valarie Williams and Mara Frazier in the reconstruction and documentation of Balanchine’s 1957 Agon for the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center. Now based in Chicago, Lacy is currently performing with Winifred Haun & Dancers. In addition to performing, she travels throughout the United States as a choreographer and dance educator. Lacy is a core faculty member and choreographer at THE COLONY and is a company artist with DANCE COLONY + Artists.