Bio

photo by: Daniel R. James

Melissa Pillarella grew up in Chicago and started dancing at Whitney Young Magnet High School under the direction of Lisa Willingham-Johnson, Jeanette Gordon and Sarita Smith-Childs. While in Chicago Melissa was a member of student performance ensembles associated with Thodos Dance Chicago, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and Mordine and Company. Melissa completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Champaign in 2010. At U of I, she performed in works by Jan Erkert, Linda Lehovic, Rebbecca Nettl-Foil, Cynthia Oliver, Philip Johnston, and Claudio Ribeiro. In the summer of 2007 Melissa was fortunate to travel to Indonesia and perform a traditional Balinese Dance as well as a contemporary piece co-choreographed with Laura Chiaramonte at an art festival in Denpasar, Bali. Last summer Melissa participated in the Trisha Brown company's summer intensive in New York City.

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