1111 Central, Wilmette, IL 60091 | (847)787-7200
OUR VALUES
01 / INNOVATIVE
CURRENT
LEADERSHIP
One of our main goals at Skunkworks is to always be on the forefront of dance and education, exploring what is new and how we can bring the most current dance styles, exciting choreographic trends, groundbreaking performance structures and effective teaching approaches to best serve our community of dance artists!
Currently this means that we are offering a variety of popular dance styles while taking an innovative and unprecedented approach to how we train. Additionally, our youth performance opportunities have been groundbreaking and include dance film to site-specific venues, among others.
02 / POSITIVE
HIGH ENERGY
ENGAGING
A highlight of our studio that makes our programming one-of-a-kind is the proprietary Skunkworks Teaching Method. This unprecedented curriculum is an original teaching approach developed by Founder Jana Bennett that centers around positive reinforcement, clear feedback and student engagement.
All staff are extensively trained within this teaching method, where they are taught to engage students physically, visually and verbally to provide the most comprehensive and captivating class experience possible!
03 / COMMUNITY
PRE-PROFESSIONAL
HOME
When imagining Skunkworks, we knew we wanted to build a dance organization where professionalism was prominent within the training, AND we wanted to create an inclusive space that young artists could call home.
To us, being a pre-professional dance studio is about redefining industry norms about youth professional training. Our world-class programming allows our students to achieve their dance dreams, and at the same time - feel welcome and included. We invest in our dancers and take pride in their individuality while developing a dance family of art-loving peers.
OUR STORY
RADICALLY INNOVATIVE DANCE
Skunkworks is an immersive learning experience unlike any other where pre-professional dance is approached with innovation and inclusivity. Our dancers enjoy the rigor of the program while feeling supported and praised for their individuality. The Skunkworks Dancer is thoughtful, free from judgement and encouraged to take risks discovering internal confidence and their best self.
Skunkworks Dance was founded in August of 2018 by Jana Bennett. Prior to Skunkworks as a professional dancer, teacher, choreographer and studio director, Jana noticed there were discrepancies between what was being asked of dancers within the professional dance world and what was offered within dance studios. Particularly, Jana found that the styles, choreography and performance structures in most youth dance training were very different from what she and her friends were experiencing within their professional careers.
Additionally, she felt there was a lot of room for industry change in how dance training could be approached to be more engaging and holistic physically, mentally and emotionally for students.
It was on these ideas that Skunkworks was created. Jana envisioned a studio that would always be exploring, developing and constantly working to bring the day's most current styles, choreography, performance and teaching approaches to the students.