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Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts

4.5 (2 reviews)

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Civic Dance Center

Civic Dance Center

5.0
(1 review)
5.4 mi

Can't find a better studio around here. The studio is nice and clean. Offers a variety of classes…read morefrom ballet to yoga for a variety of levels. Four teachers work/teach there and one of them is the owner. The owner is Natalie Kolosci. She is extremely experienced and great with kids. I have danced with Natalie for eleven years almost twelve. Ms. Natalie's ballet beginnings were with Elisa Stigler at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Through Miss Stigler, Natalie was introduced to Miss Ann Barzel, dance critic for the Chicago Tribune and Dance Magazine, who would later become a central figure in launching many acquaintances in the dance field during the next several years. Natalie made her ballet debut at age 8, dancing with the Bolshoi Ballet Company from Moscow, Russia. For the following six years, she continued to perform, alternating each year with the Kirov Ballet Company from Leningrad. She received a Medal of the Bolshoi Theatre from Asaf Messerer, Artistic Director of the Bolshoi, and was asked to be the assistant coach for the children's roles, while on tour in Chicago. Her professional debut was at age 15, dancing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy with the Allegro Company, Directed by Robert Lunnon and Doreen Tempest of London.  Richard Ellis (of Ellis-DuBoulay Ballet School in Chicago) was another great inspiration for Natalie, dancing roles in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Giselle.  For eight years she also performed in Ruth Page's production of The Nutcracker in Chicago, progressing yearly to more advanced roles. While studying on scholarship in NYC with the Joffrey Ballet, she became friends with company member Charthel Arthur, where they later both studied under the direction of Wynn Shaw in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Charthel later became Ballet Mistress of Joffrey Chicago. Besides her expanded career in ballet, she also directed the Flag Corps for the Lake Station High School Band; did special choreographic selections for the Purdue Drama Club; directed and judged the local Jr. Miss Pageant; was Indiana State Floor Ex Champion for four consecutive years, as well as the National USTA Strutting Champion for Baton Twirling, where she had the opportunity to meet astronaut Ed Mitchell. As studio owner of Natalie's School of Dance for over 20 years in Lake Station, she traveled throughout the U.S. with her dance troop, "Fabulous Feet", participating in regional and national competitions, conventions, lectures, and performances, accumulating over 500 awards.  After 20 years of marriage, raising two sons, and directing her own dance school, she decided to put her dancing and teaching on hold and pursued a career in the business world. She later became the associate director of the Indiana Ballet Theatre NW, choreographing, rehearsing, and staging full-length ballets including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, along with several original pieces for the company. She has choreographed and staged several pieces for local dance centers, as well as worked with local park departments and South Suburban College. Natalie has now been in Portage for over 10 years and continues with expanding her technical classes, choreography, and encouraging students in the dance field, who would otherwise have chosen a different arena. Civic Dance Center's annual Nutcracker and Winter Showcase has become a holiday tradition in the community. Her challenge has been to re-stage some musical theatre pieces, which would generate audience appeal as well as produce energy and vigor from her students in every annual Summer Showcase- including scenes from West Side Story, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Grease, Cabaret, and Burlesque. Unafraid of new styles, but holding true to the classics, Ms. Natalie continues to amaze even herself sometimes with creative opportunities that enhance her students and their performances. Ms. Natalie works diligently at pulling everything she can out of her students to make them the best they can possibly be! Civic Dance Center 6341 Central Avenue - Portage, IN 46368 Peach Tree Central Plaza dancewithnataliek@gmail.com 708.417.7129

Party People Entertainment

Party People Entertainment

1.0
(4 reviews)
4.1 mi

dont do it!!! this guy barely played the music he was told to play not to mention he sits down at…read morethe table with family and takes his sweet time eating a meal that we didnt tell him to eat we prepared a meal for him and he decided to eat a 3 course meal for an hour.... and decides to talk shit about the bride and groom to their own family!!!!!! we had family coming up to us saying how rude he was!!!! we had a specific plan about not playing songs with cursing and than he gets a request and plays "back that ass up" at a wedding like are your crazy!!!! than the father of the groom ask to play a slow song and he tells him no.... however plays back that ass up smh!!!! brides and grooms dont do it!!!!!! he is not worth the money or the stress. the company didnt tell me my dj was the owner whom i didnt want until 3 weeks before the wedding!!!! they are so disorganized and as the bride i was throughly disappointed!!!!!! they remixed songs that were not asked to be remixed like hotline bling drake and backstreet boys everybody which are normal songs!!!!! he didnt interact with the crowd at all!!!! he hounded us to guve him a review after our wedding after we already told him no one time....please take my advice !!!!you guys have been warned!!!! dont do it!!!!!

Honestly, the only reason this company got one star is because the lighting they provided for our…read morewedding was decent. To say that Chris is unprofessional would be an understatement. We spent over $3000 for lighting and a DJ and I honestly could have had a better experience by making a playlist on my iPhone and hooking it up to a speaker. Chris was rude to one of my guests who was helping my videographer set up a slow motion video booth. He was most likely bitter that I had not chosen his ridiculously expensive photo booth option. My friend, who helped me hire the videographers, essentially gave me the slow motion video booth as a wedding gift, and Chris acted like he stole money from him. The worst part of the night wasn't the fact that he was rude to a guest, nor was it his lack of enthusiasm when doing any sort of announcement, and it honestly wasn't even that he couldn't follow rules that he specifically outlined with regards to the playlist (why would you play a song that I specifically requested to NOT to play)...it was the fact that the dj that I spent a good portion of my budget on LEFT the dj booth WITH HIS ASSISTANT to go outside and smoke! Now Chris will claim that he "set up a playlist" but I can tell you, and my guests can confirm, that whatever "playlist" he created was just a loop of Whitney Huston "I wanna dance with somebody". After the second time it played, (mind you, he or his assistant have not come back to check on their dj booth) one of my guests tried to simply hit "next" on his computer. Then the song started skipping. All the while, Chris and his assistant were nowhere to be found. I couldn't believe it. To make matters worse, Chris continued to screw things up for the rest of the night, replaying not songs that had already played, playing songs that weren't even on our list, etc. Do not give this man your money! You will not be satisfied. Horrible horrible horrible.

Photos
Make your prom a Party People Prom!
Make your prom a Party People Prom!
Twinkle Backdrop, Elite DJ Package, Uplighting
Twinkle Backdrop, Elite DJ Package, Uplighting
Blue uplighting as the wedding guests dance to the DJ's music in the reception room of the Inns Brook Country Club.

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Blue uplighting as the wedding guests dance to the DJ's music in the reception room of the Inns Brook Country Club.

Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts - theater - Updated July 2026

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