CityDance DREAM

Chandini Darby is a Washington, DC native where she began her dance training with the DC Youth Ensemble. She continued her formal training at Spirit Wings Dance Company & Studio through high school, and is presently on faculty at their training school. Chandini is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Towson University with a BFA in Dance Performance. She is also the recipient of the Washington Post Music & Arts Award in Dance Scholarship and is the 2015 recipient of The Kennedy Center’s Local Dance Commissioning Project. Professional credits include: Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (Chicago, Il), Washington Reflections Dance Company, Lula Washington Dance Theater (Los Angeles, CA) and DC Contemporary Dance Theater. Chandini is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Beauty For Ashes Project, a multi-layered arts organization that commits to communicating unpopular and unheard stories using dance and other performing arts genres.  Chandini has been a part of the CityDance family since 2009 and serves as the Community Programs Manager for DREAM Middle & High School. Being able to give young people dance as a part of their journey gives her true joy. She is the proud wife of Kenny and mother to Josiah and Jazz.

Rachel DiLeo is the Community Programs Manager for CityDance DREAM. A member of the Senior Teaching Faculty for both the CityDance Community and Studio Programs for many years, Rachel has focused her energy on youth development through the arts in DC. Throughout her work in CityDance DREAM’s community programs, Rachel has seen the transformative power of the Advancing Youth Development (AYD), strengths-based curriculum that CityDance employs. The recipient of the 2016 Segal-Seashore Fellowship Award, Rachel is in her second year of studies at American University where she will graduate with her Masters of Science in Organizational Development (MSOD). Taking a strengths-based approach to organizational change and development, Rachel has consulted organizations locally and internationally. Rachel combines her love of dance and organizational development to help people connect to who they are and what they want to accomplish at an individual, group or community level. She holds a BA degree in Dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2007), an AA degree in Dance from Dean College (2005) and is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Yoga Teacher.  

Jacquie has been dancing since the age of 4 with her home studio in New Jersey. She was the captain of her national championship high school dance team and performed yearly in Orlando with the National Dance Alliance. She continued dancing in college with Wittenberg University. She graduated with her Early and Special Education degree as well as with a minor in dance. At Wittenberg she was awarded a dance scholarship, performed and led the Wittenberg Student Dance Company, and choreographed and danced in every Fall and Spring dance concert over her four years. She has danced and led her home congregation’s dance troupe, and enjoys going home to perform and teach on special occasions. She is a member of the Fueled and Aflame Dance Company, as well as a former teacher with the Fueled and Aflame Dance Studio. She enjoys choreographing for the Illuminate Dance Company and musical opportunities, as she is able to share her love of teaching and dance intermixed. Jacquie is the administrative director for Project Dance Detroit, which is an annual dance conference held in cities all over the world. Jacquie is thrilled to begin her dance journey with the CityDance DREAM program, and looks forward to an exciting year!  

Lauren DeVera is a professional teaching and performance artist in the DMV area. She received her Bachelor's in Dance Performance from Old Dominion University and Teaching Artist certification from Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts. She recently was named a RAW artist for Washington D.C. and debuted as a solo artist at the renowned Howard Theatre. Her credits include BET, CW Network and various shows including World of Dance, Carnival "Choreographers Ball" and Mad Expressions. Outside of teaching and performing, she is the production manager for DMV DIGGS DEEPER, a community based freestyle dance event.  Lauren has a genuine desire to inspire and share her passion for the arts. 

Lesley Adjetey Klufio , a native of Ghana, began dancing hip-hop at the age of 11. Adjetey studied under his uncle, a winner of the World Dance Championship, until age 18, when he decided to branch out and add Ghanaian traditional dance to his repertoire.

With his new goals in mind, Adjetey became a principal dancer for Ghana’s National Dance Company, the Ghana Dance Ensemble, in record time. He was awarded Best Dancer, 2007-2008, for his work in hip-hop and traditional dance. Adjetey danced with the Ghana Dance Ensemble for over nine years, working with some of Ghana’s most elite dance pioneers and professionals including:  F. Nii Yartey (Director, Noyam Dance Institute); Professor Ofosu Adinku (School of Performing Arts, Legon); David Amoo (Director of National Theater Dance Company of Ghana); and Choreographer Bright Terry Ofosu.

Adjetey has also worked with international choreographers like Sheron Wray University of Irvine, California), Brain Jeffery (University of Alaska), Ammadu Sulamana (Dance company of Senegal), Chuck Davis (Director Dance Africa), and H Patton( Director, Inspired Africa, UK). Adjetey has worked as an assistant choreographer to the All African cup of nations in Ghana, also as (2008) ,Co-Director of the Creative Team for Ecowas Games Opening Ceremony (GADEC)  (2012) and Art Consultant/Choreographer for the World Vision Organization (NGO) (2011). He has been toSouth Africa, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Botswana and Guinea, to learn and participate in some of their dance festivals.

After relocating to the United States in 2012, Adjetey has become a sought after performer and teacher. The New York Times mentioned him as “both spectacular and subtle” for his performances with Dance Africa, (NYC , Texas and Carlifonia). Adejety is currently an Adjunct faculty at the Ann Arundel community college and a choreographer for the Soul In Motion Dance and drummers company. Adjetey owns a dance company located in the DMV area (Rythmswithin). Adejetey also teaches in the DC public schools as well as multiple studious and two dance schools with City Dance Conservatory and the Madeira dance company.

Adjetey has taught many master classes across the country at schools like the University of North Texas, The Brokport University In New York, Ann Arundel community College and has toured with multiple dance companies.  Adejety has also performed at some of the prominent theaters in the states like; The Kennedy Center, The Appolo theater, The Bam In New York. In 2012 The New York Times mention Adjetey klufio as being spectacular

Crishon Landers’s dancing experience dates back to the early 1990’s when as a child he would freestyle battle for respect and bragging rights at the Underground, located in downtown Atlanta where he grew up. However, his dance career began to take shape and evolve in the fall of 2005 when he joined Georgetown University’s hip hop dance team, Groove Theory, as a freshman. Since then he has had several opportunities to choreograph and perform as a member of multiple professional and pre-professional dance companies. Among these companies are Capitol Movement Dance Company, Culture Shock Dance Troupe, Joy of Motion’s DCypher Dance, and GU’s Black Movements Dance Theater. Notable credits include DJ Unk’s “Walk it Out” video, Cool & the Gang, Cirque du Soleil, BET, Audi, Soulful Symphony, MTVs 2012 VMAs, CMTs 2013 OMAs, and most recently the Live & Loud Tour with Rascal Flatts and The Band Perry as a part of the crew “Dance Y’all”. When Crishon is not working on fine-tuning his dance abilities, he explores his interests in acting, aerobics, and martial arts. He is blessed and grateful for the opportunity to pursue his passion for dance and share his talent with others. He hopes to educate, empower, and inspire new generations of individuals to follow their dreams, bravely, unapologetically, and with a sense of purpose.

Rian Matthews began dancing at the age of 5. It was then that she discovered her love for dance as a member of Spirit Wings Dance Company & Studio in Maryland, where she began her training in various dance styles. A recent graduate of Denison University, Rian received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Communication with minors in both Dance and Women’s Studies in 2016.  There, she studied under Stafford C. Berry, Jr. and performed with the Berry & Nance Dance Project. She also attended improvisational workshops under modern dance pioneer, BeBe Miller of the Ohio State University. Dance has enabled Rian numerous opportunities to travel to cities across the country and around the world.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Briana Ashley Stuart received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance and Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 2013. Briana has performed and taught, nationally and internationally with StepAfrika!, the worlds first dance company dedicated to the art form of stepping, and contemporary dance company SJEwing & Dancers at numerous colleges/universities,  Washington DC's City Rhythms Festival, Catholic Universities Hartke Theater, the Velocity DC Festival, the Capital Fringe Festival, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base as well as many others.  She has performed in Dance Place's 2014 and 2016 New Releases Choreographers Showcase, Joy of Motions 2014 Dance Project Showcase and the 2016 Hip Hop Theater Festival Jack Ya Body Showcase. In 2015, she served as the assistant choreographer on the American Theater’s Company’s production of The Project(s) in Chicago, IL, rated 4 stars by the Chicago Tribune.  Most recently, she collaborated with Hard Soles Dance Company on a new piece titled “Re:set” for the 2016 March on Washington Film Festival in honor of the 70th anniversary of the integration of the NFL and was chosen as Dance Place's 2016 New Releases Commission Recipient in support her new work to be premiered the summer of 2017. 

Rian Matthews (MA, BA) is the Center Manager for the DREAM Center for Dance. A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 2016, Rian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Dance. Shortly after receiving her BA, she began pursuing a Master’s Degree in Communication Management at the George Washington University’s Columbian School of Arts and Sciences, which she received in May of 2018.

While actively pursuing her Master’s degree, Rian was introduced to the CityDance DREAM program and served as a member of its Youth Development Senior Dance Faculty for two years. Rian also serves as a member of the Leadership Team at Spirit Wings Dance Company & Studio, where she received formal training in the art of dance starting at the age of five. Her passion and dedication to impacting her community in positive and creative ways is a constant goal and driving force in her professional career.