Dancing with the stars

ALMAS DEL RITMO AND PACK DANCE

Consuming Kinetics Dance Company and Almas Del Ritmo Dance Company for the second year in a row bring an exciting twist on Dancing with the Stars. Join us as three St. Louis influencers flex their dance skills in an amazing showcase supporting the causes both organizations.

CKDC’s mission is to create dance spaces that are accessible to all and expose the healing art of movement to the community. Almas Del Ritmo Dance Company is an Afro-Latin Dance Company that educates on the history, life, and culture of Latin/AFRO- Latin music and dance. The dance company also uses its platform to educate the community about human trafficking, what it looks like, what are the red flags, and what we can do to make our community and dance spaces safer.

This event will help raise awareness so both organizations can continue to use their platforms to tackle the pressing issues that face our community.

As we plan our 15th season, your investment ensures that CKDC/Pack Dance will continue to produce thought-provoking works for the stage and share the love of dance with all who wish to discover it. We appreciate your support today and every day. Together, we are a catalyst for life in motion.

Meet the Contestants: LATIN

Izzy, a versatile professional, blends her passions for strategic storytelling, fashion, personal styling, arts, community, and activism. With over a decade in the fashion industry, personal styling, and marketing, she ventured into the eclectic Cherokee district, opening "Restyled By Izzy," a modern, vintage, and consignment boutique.
In 2019, Izzy earned the title of St. Louis city's Best Dressed person, gracing Design STL Magazine's cover. She's hosted fashion reality TV show "Fashion Anarchy" and the Latin entertainment program "Botaneando" on the local St. Louis AH Network.
As a prominent figure in St. Louis' fashion and Latinx arts community, Izzy leverages her love for fashion to foster meaningful connections, spark important conversations, champion female empowerment, and advocate for abuse survivors. Proudly embracing her Latina identity in St. Louis, she showcases the city's potential, hoping to attract Latinx talent, nurturing their careers and encouraging them to call St. Louis home.
Izzy's values revolve around unity and community, as exemplified by her role on the board of the Latinx Arts Network Organization, dedicated to supporting and promoting Hispanic/Latinx arts throughout Greater St. Louis.

Dr. Alexander Ocasio is the Coordinator of Academic Support for University Writing Services
and Adjunct Professor of Composition, Rhetoric, U101, Women's and Gender Studies at St. Louis University. He is a Professional Latin Dance Instructor with over 10 years experience, and the Coach of Sazón, Saint Louis University's Premiere Acrobatic Salsa Team. He is also a licensed Zumba Instructor with over 31 Licenses, Certificates, Boosts , a Pound Instructor and
Makeup Artist Senior Consultant.

Vote for Izzy and Alexander

Meet the Contestants: Contemporary

Vander Corliss, after getting his master’s from the NYU Stern School of Business, has spent his career in St. Louis and prior to that in Hartford, CT, helping not for profits (five of them in total) do what they do as efficiently and effectively as they can. While definitely a numbers guy, as demonstrated by his current role as CFO at United Way of Greater St. Louis, his joy comes either from working or volunteering as part of a missions’ driven team in efforts to help others and help the community be just a bit better off. From Philadelphia PA originally, he and his Belleville born wife, Kimberly, moved to the St. Louis area in 1993 twelve years after meeting at college in Connecticut. Significant volunteer activities over recent years include at Crossroads College Prep, including a stint as Board chair, at Trinity Episcopal Church in the CWE, and currently at the Mental Health Board of St. Louis City (MHB). The Corliss’s have been proud city residents since 1999 and are currently loft dwellers downtown. Besides spending time with their two great, now adult children, Vander and Kim enjoy travel, cooking and eating. This is true with their children, their extended families, or their “second” family, the supper club of a dozen folks they helped found and have been a part of for the past twenty years. Vander says dancing has always been outside of his comfort zone which “seems like a good reason to do it now”. Retirement is not too far around the bend.

Bio Coming Soon

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Michael Bender was born and raised here in St. Louis. He is an Occupational Therapist by training and currently provides medical equipment and related services to patients here in the St. Louis area. Michael has been married for 35 years to his partner in life, Ellyn and he has two adult children.

Arica has a Bachelor of Art in Dance from University of Missouri - St. Louis where she studied under the direction of Alicia Okouchi-Guy, Robert Scoggins and Todd Weeks. She also holds a certificate in Somatic studies from Washington University where she studied under the direction of David Marchant. Arica is the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of Consuming Kinetics Dance Company. CKDC has worked with dancers in and around the St. Louis area and abroad, extending all the way to France, Korea, Italy, Russia and Poland.

Read more about Arica here.