Lauren Martinez (CEO)

Lauren Martinez is a dancer from Chicago, IL. She began studying tap at the age of 7. Her love for dance grew into a passion by her teenage years and she expanded her studies at Columbia College in 2003. There, she studied Ballet, Hip-Hop, African and Latin dance. For the past 18 years, Lauren has had the opportunity to study and teach in such respected dance cities as New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Orlando. Workshops with Debbie Allen, Laurianne Gibson, Dave Scott, Mr. Wiggles and "Crazy Leg" have helped enhance her skill to be able to teach a wide demographic of dance students. She has taught over 7000 students throughout the course of her dance career.

Ms. Martinez has worked with an extensive list of artists: Janet Jackson and Jon Bon Jovi for the Oprah Show, Mya, Twista, Beenie Man, Usher to name a few. Professionally, Lauren has toured as a dancer/choreographer and has been embedded in the majority of Chicago's professional dance scene. Her goal is to pass on her love and her knowledge of dance to Chicago's youth. 

Austin Lo’ren Dance Academy was a longtime dream for Lauren Martinez  (Choreographer and Dance Instructor ) who wanted to bring the artistry of dance to South loop and the Chicagoland surrounding communities.  Opening Austin Lo’ren Dance Academy has been an exciting endeavor as she shares her love and passion of artful dance with children as young as 1 year old and adults alike emphasizing technique, discipline, and commitment.  They specialize in Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop, Yoga, including adult Fitness for those students who want to advance their technique and/or just to get in shape.  As they begin their six season having served over 1500 families and hosting 20-25 classes per week in the South Loop. 

MANIFESTO:Through Austin Lo'ren Dance Academy, our desire is to foster a learning environment for dancers ages 1 through adults. We believe that dance is an important tool for expression and growth. Dance is a transcendent outlet-a language that all people can speak. Austin Lo'ren intends to give back to the community through free performances at local nursing homes, hospitals and community outreach events, while also providing dancers frequent opportunities to perform for both large and small audiences.

Austin Lo'ren Dance Academy is a premier dance facility in Chicago, providing the best in skilled instruction to prepare our dancers for top competition and a life enhanced by dance!

Hope has always been a creative, free spirited person. Living in her own world, with a vision of exceeding in everything God has and not settling for anything less, especially, with growing up in Chicago. 

Hope Sophia started her career as a professional dancer/choreographer when she was 15 years old. She has danced in fashion shows, music videos, performed with artists like Gorgon City, Kanye West, Twista, Ann Marie, the list goes on. Over the years her resume has expanded tremendously. From modeling and doing commercials for brands like ‘New Balance’ & ‘AKIRA” to acting in tv shows like “The Chi” & “Empire”. 

Hope's goal is to inspire the world and dominate in everything that she does! Everyday is one step closer to creating the life she's always envisioned. 

Lawrence is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Chicago. Since 2009, he has trained in various genres of dance, including ballet, hip-hop, contemporary, tap, modern, African, jazz, and Latin. After attending ChiArts, he began his journey into street dance while also teaching and performing with Chicagoland studios, companies, and events. Additionally to being an Eagle Scout, he’s a photographer, musician, producer, and founder of The Kinetic Collective. He strives to push himself and others around him in new, innovative, and creative ways to further the growth of the Chicago dance community!

Sylvia Love, more known as Love, is a choreographer, dancer and freelance hair stylist originally from the south side of Chicago. Love has been dancing since the age of 3 and is rooted in ballet and technical training from Russell Talbert Dance Studio. She started her hip hop journey in 2017 with a program formerly known as Hi Def Dance Ensemble run by instructor Tanji Harper, her still current instructor/mentor. She attended Whitney M Younng Magnet High school where she participated briefly in poms, and graduated being in the dance department, receiving competition, contemporary, African and jazz training. Love choreographed her first piece her sophomore year of high school and has since choreographed multiple pieces. After high school, she went to Coe College for two years and there she revamped the schools dance team and was their head choreographer. Since returning back home in 2022, Love has been training in hip hop, choreographing, teaching children, and began building her gig resume. 

KaiLisha is a dedicated dance instructor and performer with a deep passion for movement and self-expression. Trained in ballet, contemporary, and heels, she brings a unique blend of classical precision and modern artistry to every class she teaches. With a foundation rooted in ballet technique, KaiLisha emphasizes alignment, strength, and musicality, helping dancers build a strong technical base. Her contemporary classes invite creativity and emotional connection, while her heels sessions empower students to move with confidence, grace, and authenticity. KaiLisha’s teaching philosophy centers on creating an inclusive, supportive environment where dancers of all levels can explore their potential, refine their craft, and discover their unique voice through movement. Her goal is to inspire every student to not only grow as a dancer but also to connect more deeply with themselves and their artistry. KaiLisha is a dynamic dance instructor and performer known for her versatility and expressive artistry across ballet, heels, and contemporary styles. Drawing from a foundation in classical ballet, she emphasizes technique, body awareness, and musicality while encouraging dancers to explore their individuality and emotional expression through movement. Her contemporary classes focus on fluidity, storytelling, and connection to the music, while her heels sessions empower dancers to embrace confidence, balance, and precision. Through her teaching, KaiLisha creates an inclusive, inspiring environment where students of all levels can grow both technically and creatively 

Taneya Ball is Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher and performer From the westside of Chicago Illinois who attended Northern Illinois University and received her bachelor's degree in fine arts in visual & performing arts
dance performance. Her dance journey began at the age of three years old beginning at Panda Dance studio located in Oak Park Illinois. Shortly after, she started praising dance at Progressive Life-Giving word
cathedral, around 2012 she continued ministering dance at new life covenant southeast with Yielded Vessels Dance ministry. As Taneya started preparing for High school, she started back training in Ballet, Modern, Jazz,
Drumming, African Dance and Personal Development skills with AileyCamp Chicago to begin her time at the Chicago High School for the Arts, this process has helped her excel more as a performer by taking summer dance intensives to build up muscle memory and endurance in the mind and body to be prepared for other training dance programs such as Deeply Rooted dance theatre 2017-2018, Debbie Allen Dance Academy 2019, and many after school matter programs such as Forward Momentum Dance Pierre Lockett, The Movement
within Alitra Cartman, Rhythm Works Dance Yahkirah Beard. Being a part of Northern Illinois University School Of Theatre And Dance and Final Warning Dance Team has been a tremendous outlet to her career and life goals as she has explored how to become an artistically creative dancer, performer, choreographer, Director and entrepreneur by the help of all of her professors and in loving memory her founder Terrance Mitchell who has spoken so much into her intelligence as an artist. This has driven Taneya to have a loving passion for kids, her plans after college are to open her own non-profit creative arts center for the youth because she loves how she gets to teach youth about different aspects of life as they grow and become young adults/leaders and learners and artist in the world. Kids in the world are highly intelligent, and if we as adults and learners visually see that we should add to their progress & intelligence. Taneya added progress to her skills daily to become the best version of herself as she developed her leadership and creative skills as an artist. Lastly, Taneya would like to give a special thank-you to God, Her Family, Friends, and every Leader, Mentor, Teacher, and Professor who has helped her come this far in life to be able to make a change for our next generation...The Future Ahead.