Tye Chua Dance is made up of our trio of Artistic Directors, Aimee Tye, Gene Chua, and Angi Polderman.
Aimee Tye
founding artistic director
Ms. Tye began her training with the Bullard School in Kalamazoo. After just one year as an apprentice with the Kalamazoo Ballet she graduated to company member, and soon thereafter attained the position of soloist. Her training continued with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet School for two years, in addition to studies with Paul Sanasardo and Joel Hall.
With Kalamazoo Ballet, Ms. Tye danced the roles of Odette/Odile in Swan lake and Cinderella in Cinderella. The role of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland was set on her by the Bullard/Tye team. Ms. Tye graduated from Western Michigan University with an emphasis on sculpture. She danced with Detroit Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and has performed in Chicago with Winifred Hawn Dancers, Second City Ballet, Salt Creek Ballet and Joel Hall Dancers.
Before coming home to found Tye Chua Dance, Ms. Tye served as Associate Director and faculty member of Hyde Park School of Dance in Chicago for nineteen years.
Eugene Chua
founding artistic director
Mr. Chua began his early training at the age of nineteen with David Shields, former soloist with Sadler Wells Royal Ballet. After several years of intensive training, Gene auditioned for and was accepted to Boston Ballet where his performances included: Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Nureyev's Don Quixote. He joined Omaha Ballet as Principal and danced as Franz in Coppelia, the Cavalier in Nutcracker and also peformed Bournonville's Konservatoriet, Kermesse en Bruges, Napoli, Ramonda Pas de Dix, and Paquita. Contemporary works include Balanchine's Allegro Brilliante, the thief in Lew Christensen's Con Amore, Puck in Bruce Wells' Midsummer Night's Dream, Loyce Houlton in Carmina Burana, Ze'eva Cohen's Out of Wilderness and Sal Aiello's Clowns.
Mr. Chua has a BS and MS in Plasma Physics from MIT and an MBA from Washington University. He has wide experience in the business world. This includes consulting with Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche. He was also Director of Program Management at US Cellular. His team managed a complex multi-year, multi-million dollar plan culminating in the launch of US Cellular's easyedge suite of wireless data services. These services continue to comprise an ever-increasing percentage of the company's revenues and earnings.
Mr. Chua has taught master classes, coached principal dancers and conducted workshops throughout the US and abroad.
Angi Polderman
artistic director
Ms. Polderman began her serious dance training with the Bullard School under Therese Bullard. As she progressed, she was promoted through the Kalamazoo Ballet Company and achieved the position of principal and earned her Solo Seal from the Royal Academy of Dance. She continued her training at the University of Michigan with Judy Rice, Peter Sparling, Gay Delanghe and Twyla Tharp among others. While living in Maine, she studied with the Portland Ballet and upon moving to Miami, regularly attended classes given by Edward Villella at Miami City Ballet.
While at Kalamazoo Ballet, Ms. Polderman performed the rolls of Lucy in Dracula, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, as well as several rolls in the Nutcracker. At the University of Michigan, she performed under the tutelage of Mary Cochran of the Paul Taylor Company. Ms. Polderman danced professionally in Miami both with Miami City Ballet and independently. Upon returning to the Kalamazoo area, she was pleased to once again perform with the Kalamazoo Ballet.
Ms. Polderman has taught for the Bullard School, Kalamazoo Ballet and for Carrabassett Valley Academy, where she worked with young professional athletes on fine muscle development.
AUGUST TYE
FACULTY INSTRUCTOR
Ms. Tye began her dance training with former Royal Winnipeg Ballet member Therese Bullard in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she studied ballet, modern, highland dance, and Irish dance, in addition to performing with the Kalamazoo Ballet Company, for which she danced lead roles in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. At the age of 15, Tye was awarded Best Young Choreographer through Regional Dance America, and later went on to become a two-time recipient of the Monticello Choreographers Award. Her renown in this arena has garnered Tye invitations to choreograph for companies throughout the country.
Ms. Tye accepted a position as a dance instructor at Maria Tallchief's School of Chicago Ballet in Chicago in 1991, and began training at Joel Hall Dance Center. In addition to dancing with the Joel Hall Dancers, Tye has danced with a myriad of reputable Chicago dance companies, including Salt Creek Ballet, Second City Ballet, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, an organization for which Tye has frequently choreographed and, since 2005, serves as Ballet Mistress.
In 1993 Tye became the Founding Artistic Director of Hyde Park School of Ballet - renamed Hyde Park School of Dance in 2006 when offerings expanded. Tye continues to serve as a principal instructor of ballet for the school in addition to serving the organization as visionary and Artistic Director. In 2017 Tye completed the Royal Academy of Dance Teachers Course, a two year program to become a Registered Teacher at the Royal Academy of Dance. She is currently a registered teacher and is certified to offer the RAD Silver Swans Program.
DAVID CURWEN
GUEST FACULTY INSTRUCTOR
David Curwen is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Dance at Western Michigan University, having taught and choreographed there from 1995-2020. From 2000-2014, he served as the founding director of The Western Dance Project (WDP), the department’s performance ensemble. David’s professional career spanned over 12 years, dancing for Maryland Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Dallas Ballet, while performing soloist and principal roles in ballets by Petipa, Balanchine, Ashton, Ailey, Lubovitch, Flindt and Uthoff. David’s other teaching credits include: Point Park University's International Summer Dance program, Interlochen Arts Academy, Paul Mitchell’s International evenings of dance (Vail, CO), Sichuan University Dance Department (Chengdu, PRC), along with company classes for South Chicago Dance Theatre, Deos Contemporary Ballet and Eisenhower Dance Detroit (Nov. 2023).
Jordan Dimmitt
Instructor
Jordan is thrilled to be teaching a class for Tye Chua! Jordan is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University, where she graduated with a BA in theatre arts, and a minor in dance. She grew up studying tap, ballet, and jazz, and began pursuing musical theater at age twelve. Some of her favorite dance credits include West Side Story (ensemble) with Kentucky Shakespeare Company, Lil' Abner (ensemble/Phoghorn) with Kincaid Regional Theater, and 9 to 5 (Margaret) with Clarksville Little Theater.
In her free time, she likes to hike, and watch the food network. She can't wait to meet everyone, and get to movin and groovin!
Seyong Kim
GUEST ARTIST & INSTRUCTOR
Seyong Kim, Assistant Professor of Dance at Western Michigan University, holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University and an MA and BA in Dance from Sung-Kyun-Kwan University in South Korea as well as a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) from Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City and a RSME (Registered Somatic Movement Educator) at ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association).
Seyong is a member of ROKMC (Republic of Korea Marine Corps) and AGMA (American Guild of Musical Artists). Also, Seyong is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 of the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. He has taught for Rutgers University, Kent State University, Randolph College, Texas A&M International University, Peridance Center, Middlesex County College, Libera University in Italy, American College Dance Association (ACDA), Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, National High School Dance Festival, Alabama Dance Festival, Brighton Dance Festival, Michigan Youth Arts Festival, Kit Modus, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Hamilton Ballet Theater, and Charlottesville Ballet Company.
As a professional dancer, Seyong Kim was awarded First Prizes in both the Korean Dance Association Competition and Sung-Kyun-Kwan Dance Competition, and he has performed in diverse professional venues across Asia, Europe, and the United States. He has danced with Metropolitan Opera Ballet at Lincoln Center, Albania Opera Ballet Theatre, Korean National Ballet Theater, Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Staten Island Ballet, Baltimore Ballet, Traverse City Dance Project, Neglia Ballet, Roxey Contemporary Ballet, TAKE Dance, and Oakland Ballet Company. In addition, his choreographic works have been internationally performed at Landes Theater Coburg in Germany, Dance in ITALY Festival, Dzul International Dance Festival in Mexico, JueDai Taipei International Dance Festival in Taiwan, Lebanon International Contemporary Dance Festival, Seoul International Dance Festival in TANK, Korea-Japan Dance Festival, Goyang International Dance Festival, Daegu International Dance Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, Battery Dance Festival, Koresh Artist Showcase, Lindenwood University, Cleveland Dance Festival, RAD (Midwest Regional Alternative Dance) Festival, Mid-Atlantic Choreographers Showcase, Chicago International Dance Forum, Detroit Dance City Festival, Michigan Dance Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Central Virginia Ballet, KYL/D Inhale on Camera, Booking Dance Festival at Jazz in Lincoln Center, and Nimbus OFFLINE+ at the BAM Fisher.
Kelsey Paschich is a multi-disciplinary dance artist whose work integrates traditional dance with emerging technologies, blending physicality with digital innovation to explore new performance modes. With over 20 years of professional performance experience, Paschich has performed internationally with Moscow State Classical Ballet, DCDC2, Thodos Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance Company, ARCOS Dance, and Lawine Torrèn (Austria). She has performed works by renowned choreographers including Robert Battle, José Limón, Ann Reinking, Lar Lubovitch, Lucas Crandall, Tamir Ginz, Margo Sappington, Kevin O'Day, Robert Moses, and many others. Holding an MFA from the University of New Mexico and a BFA (Cum Laude) from Point Park University, Paschich is also a certified Countertechnique® teacher and serves as Associate Professor of Innovation in Dance at Western Michigan University. Paschich has been a guest teacher for companies such as: Ballet Preljocaj (France), South Chicago Dance Theatre, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, ARCOS Dance (Austin), Adaptations Dance (Maui). She has also taught master classes and workshops in South Korea, The Netherlands, Costa Rica and across the United States. Her pedagogical approach merges extensive professional experience with progressive methodology, integrating traditional dance foundations and technological innovation to nurture holistic artistic development. As a choreographer, Paschich challenges the boundary between real and surreal through transdisciplinary work that harmonizes dance with digital innovation, exploring the moving body's relationship to technology while amplifying human presence across realms. She delves into the synergy of dance with AI, motion capture, and film, presenting her interdisciplinary works globally at festivals in Asia, Canada, Europe, and across the U.S. Her innovative contributions have earned her the WMU Presidential Innovation Professorship Award, invitations to the Choreographic Coding Lab in Cologne and as an international “Distant Digital Dance Maker” for Tanz mit dem Tiger in Ulm, Germany, as well as the Creative Living for Dancers Award in Brussels and the NCCAkron Dancing Lab: Art Speaks 2.0 Residency. Additionally, she has received the National Dizzy Feet Foundation Gene Kelly Legacy Scholarship and shared her insights at conferences in Bandung, Indonesia, and Seoul, Korea. Her most recent multimedia live/digital solo “Trio of Duality” was premiered at the Seoul International Dance Festival in Tank in Seoul, Korea.