ATTA Connection

Big congratulations to all of our scholarship recipients for Bloom Dance Competition, 360 Dance Festival, and Attas 2nd Chance To Dance 🩰✨ Keep dancing, dreaming, and shining!

Our 3rd and final judge for the 2nd Chance to Dance competition coming TOMORROW is Richard Smith🕺

Richard Smith is the proud owner and executive director of 360° Dance Festival. Richard’s approach to teaching and directing dance is focused on alignment, strength, coordination, manipulation of the body, and the origination of movement. He believes that the only way to grow as a dancer is to understand the fundamentals of movement and to constantly work on mastering technique. Only by working on fundamentals and technique, can the dancer begin to tap into the personal connection of the movement and the music. Only after making that connection, can the dancer generate a performance from a vulnerable place of truth, making the dancer’s connection to the audience real and pure. It is this philosophy of finding truth through personal connection that keeps Richard passionate about teaching and helping dancers, dance teachers and choreographers reach their highest artistic potential. Richard has expertise in classical, lyrical and contemporary jazz, classical ballet and modern dance to dancers of all ages. He shares a special connection with pre-teen/youth dancers. He believes he learns the most about his teaching methods in the pre-teen/youth age group because they are very receptive to learning new concepts and they enjoy being exposed to new ideas.

Richard attended East Carolina University in North Carolina, where he earned a BFA in Dance Performance, with a concentration in Jazz Dance and Dance Education in 2000. After college, he moved to Chicago to train with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Richard’s former students can be found in dance programs around the country. Smith is the technique expert for More Than Just Great Dancing Affiliate Studios and serves on the advisory board for Youth Advocates Protection in Dance (YPAD). Richard is excited to be leader in the movement to promote the health and wellness of the whole dancer.

We are glad to have him back for our 2026 2nd Chance to Dance competition and can't wait to hear the valuable feedback he has for our dancers 💪

Introducing our next judge for the 2nd Chance to Dance competition coming THIS SATURDAY!!! Meet Edson Barbosa 🕺

Edson Barbosa, raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began his training in ballet, jazz, and tap at age 10 with Patricia Marques at Grupo Cultural de Dança, Ilha. He was named Best Male Dancer at the 2012 Festival de Dança de Joinville. A decorated competitor, Barbosa was a two-time Top 12 finalist at Youth America Grand Prix, a Top 6 finalist at the Beijing International Ballet Invitational. In 2012, he won a top prize at the Prix de Lausanne, where he was named Best Male Dancer of the competition’s 40th edition.

Barbosa joined The Joffrey Ballet in 2014 and has since performed an expansive range of soloist and principal roles across classical and contemporary repertory. Beyond his work as a performer, Barbosa has established himself as a choreographer and educator. His choreography has been featured in the Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet's Winning Works (On the Same Boat), Embarc (Heart Asks for Pleasure, Moody Rhapsody), and International Ballet Greenville (Moody Rhapsody) and the Grand Rapids Summer Festival (Indifferent). He has performed as a guest artist with Grand Rapids Ballet, Michigan Ballet Theater, and Monarch Dance Academy, Westside Ballet and Danzamérica Opening Ceremony in Argentina. He served as a Guest Judge at the Prix de Lausanne in 2024. His choreographic voice continues to develop alongside a celebrated performance career spanning over a decade with The Joffrey Ballet.

We are glad to have him join in for our 2026 2nd Chance to Dance competition and can't wait to hear the valuable feedback he has for our dancers 💪

Introducing our first judge for 2nd Chance to Dance coming THIS SATURDAY!!! 🕺
Meet Jacqueline Burnett:
JACQUELINE BURNETT (she/her, Pocatello, ID) received her formative classical ballet training in her hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, from Romanian Ballet Master Marius Zirra. She moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue the Ailey School/Fordham University joint BFA degree, graduating magna cm laude with departmental honors in 2009. She joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in January 2008 as a Center Apprentice while completing her degree and became a member of the main company in August 2009. She received a 2011 Princess Grace Honorarium for Dance and was a member of the HSDC contingent for DanceMotion USA 2013, a U.S. State Department/Brooklyn Academy of Music cultural diplomacy tour in Algeria, Morocco, and Spain. In addition to dancing with HSDC, she also teaches company class, has choreographed for the Create Summer Intensive, serves as a repetiteur for choreographies by Penny Saunders (Ballet Idaho, Grand Rapids Ballet, Seattle Dance Collective, Royal New Zealand Ballet), and is a freelance dancer with Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists. Her choreography has been commissioned by Chicago Movement Collective for the Claire Bataille Legacy Program, Danza Visual in Mexico City, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s production of Murder on the Orient Express under the direction of Annika Boras.

We are super excited to have her on board for our 2026 2nd Chance to Dance competition and can't wait to see how she helps our dancers improve 💪

We are LIVE!!!! Check out the livestream of our 2nd Chance To Dance!

Livestream – Atta Connection

Warming up our bodies and getting in the VISION mindset 💪
V - Visualize, then conquer
I - Iron sharpens iron
S - Steadfastness. Sculpt your success
I - Impossible until done
O - Obstacles vanish with focus
N - Never give up

Introducing the 2025 ATTA Connection Faculty! Meet our one last surprise guest, Jordan Machnick! Here's how she's going to take this year's Vision tour to the Next Level:

Jordan Machnick has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She has studied Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and has focused in her recent years on ballet. In 2022 she was accepted to Point Park University and received a dance scholarship. She just completed her second year at Point Park University where she is on the Dean’s list and is working towards her BFA in dance. To further her education she has attended a summer intensive with Ballet 5:8. She has a passion for teaching young children and has taught classes to young students in the areas of ballet, Jazz and contemporary.

Learn more about ATTA Connection at attaconnection.com