About

Our Story

Steadfast Dance Center is a dance studio that began at New Life Community Church, soon after we branched out to the Archer Park field house. We are now solely located in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen.

Our Team

Sarah A. Lozano

Owner/ Artistic Director

Sarah A. Lozano, a Chicago native, fell in love with dance and expression through movement at the age of 5. Now, 33 and mother of 3, she continues to develop her craft as the Owner/Artistic Director of Steadfast Dance Center located in Pilsen. Sarah grew up training and competing in dance competitions at her neighborhood dance studio, originally known as Kathleen’s Dance Asylum, later named Visual Rhythm Dance Academy, primarily in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical dance. She was later introduced to modern while studying dance at Columbia College Chicago where she received her BA in Dance with a concentration in dance making. While in college she continued to perform, choreograph, and teach dance.

Sarah has extensive experience teaching in conventional and unconventional dance environments such as classrooms, hallways, outdoor concrete parking lots and grassy fields. The ability to adapt to her given teaching space partnered with her experience teaching a variety of dance styles to ages ranging from toddlers to adults speaks to her level of professionalism and competence no matter the circumstance. She served as Ballet Mistress and assisted with dance curriculum development at Matli Dance Academy. Sarah has also worked as lead instructor for school based extracurricular dance and fitness programs as well as choreographed for school musicals while working for Chicago Public Schools.

Sarah has a strong passion for spreading the love for dance to Chicago youth. Her and her staff strive to give their students at Steadfast Dance Center the tools needed for a healthy dance career. Her studio, or as she refers to it as a dance home for all, is located in Pilsen and has a mission to provide quality dance classes at affordable rates.

Jessica Romero

Assistant Artistic Director

Jessica Romero(Jay) was born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago. She is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago, where she received her bachelors in Dance. She started dancing at Linda’s Dance Studio at the age of four. From 1996 - 2005 Jay performed with the well-known Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago, which is where her passion of dance began. Within her training with MFDC she trained under Pepe Ovalle and Matie Ovalle. After her time with MFDC she went on to train in Latin and Ballroom under Tommye Giacchino and other instructors at Chicago Dance. In 2010, Jay began dancing at Vaughan Dance Academy where she then was recommended to advance to their company. From 2010-2012 Jay performed and competed as a member of Innovation Dance Company hip hop troupe. She performed at various Chicagoland festivals, such as Dance Chicago, Dance Live, Chicago Choreographer's Ball with Movement Revolution under the direction of Monternez Rezell. She returned to Latin with Chicago Bachata- Allstars where she was a 3 year member training under Zeke Ruvalcaba. She had the opportunity to perform both locally and internationally at various salsa and bachata events where she has met and taken class with other world renowned Latin champions. Currently, she is the Assistant Artistic Director at Steadfast Dance Center, the head coach for the Plainfield East High School Dance Team and a teaching artist for Joffrey’s Community Engagement Program. Her versatile experience in dance helps her create well-rounded dancers that can become adaptable to any genre. Jay enjoys fusing different dance styles to create choreography that is unique. Aside from dance, Jay loves spending time with her family and dog Kalea, eating poke bowls and enjoys working on her amateur video editing skills.

Jackie Gaytan

Dance Instructor

Jackie Gaytan is a 29 year old Latina, born and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago. Growing up she loved spending time with her family, socializing with friends, and of course, DANCING. Jackie has been dancing since she was 4 years old, starting in ballet and jazz, and later finding her passion in the Hip-Hop style. After training with Xtreme Dance Force in Naperville, IL and winning 3 national cups, Jackie went on to study Fashion Merchandising at Illinois State University. Now currently residing in Pilsen, Jackie has been teaching the Mini and Teen division at Steadfast Dance Center since 2018. She has never felt more at home teaching at SDC and loves the impact she has on her students! Aside from teaching children, she is an aspiring community activist, hoping to bring change and love to Pilsen and her students.

Marangelique Noguez

Dance Instructor

Marangelique Noguez is a recent BA graduate of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. At Columbia, she received rigorous training with the foundation of dance history and theory from renowned faculty such as Darrell Jones, Dardi McGinley-Gullivan, Lisa Gonzalez, Jeffrey Hancock, Kelsa Robinson, as well as many others. Mara started her commitment to dance at the age of 8. She studied jazz and hip hop through the ARCC Ballet after school program as well as studying different genres of dance throughout high school. She then went on to become a member of Forward Momentum Chicago at the age of 16. To further develop her discipline and training, she studied Ballet, Modern, West African, and Hip Hop at Columbia College Chicago. Mara is currently a performer/competitor in Latin dance and is researching what it means to be a Dance Scholar.