Natalie Rast

Natalie began her study of ballet in Columbus, Ohio at the age of ten. She continued her studies in Chicago at the Ellis-Duboulay School of Ballet when her family relocated to DeKalb, IL. She attended Northern Illinois University as a dance major for three years at which point she transferred to Barat College to complete her studies. At Barat, she was introduced to jazz for the first time and auditioned for Joel Hall Dancers ending her college studies but beginning her professional dance career. She was principal dancer with Joel Hall Dancers from January 1981-December 1986, touring extensively with the company to Great Britain and Europe. She furthered her studies of ballet and modern technique at the Ruth Page Foundation, Chicago City Ballet, Joseph Holmes Dance Theater London Contemporary Dance Theater, and Pineapple located in London, England. She began teaching her teaching career in ballet at the Joel Hall Dance Studio as well as Chicago City Ballet, Golden’s School of Dance, Hyde Park School of Ballet, Second City Ballet, Joseph Holmes Dance Theater and Columbia College Dance Center, where she has been part-time faculty since 1988. She has served as ballet mistress for Zephyr Dance and Winifred Haun and Dancers. She has been a participant in the Urban Gateways Program as an artist and also as a co-coordinator for the Joseph Holmes Dance Theater. She founded Rast Ballet; a school focused on the study of ballet for the adult student, in December 1993. In March of 2006 she opened Rast Ballet and Dance Studio offering classes for adults in ballet, pointe, yoga, NIA and hip-hop. In the fall of 2007 she joined the faculty of the nationally renowned Chicago Academy for the Arts. Beginning September 2009, she joined the faculty of Joffrey Academy, the training school for the Joffrey Ballet.