Tori Cartee

Tori Cartee is the founder and director of Solarium Dance Company, a nonprofit company dedicated to inspiring individual change, destigmatizing mental health, and contributing to the betterment of humanity within and beyond its communities. She received a B.A. in Dance with a focus on Dance Performance, Choreography, and Theory from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 2019-2023, she danced with Trifecta Dance Collective, ultimately landing as a Principal Dancer and Choreographer for the company and artistic director of the second and youth companies.

As a choreographer, her works have been performed across stages in the greater Chicagoland area as well as at festivals and showcases across the nation including Charlotte Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, Wake Forest Dance Festival, Loose Leaves Showcase, Trifecta Dance Festival, Peridance Spring Choreographers’ Showcase, Alluvion Dance Chicago’s Emergence, Detroit Dance City Festival, Noumenon Dance Ensemble’s “In this Neck of the Woods,” as well as at the Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival of Orlando, FL. In February 2024, she premiered "Thumbs Up." as the culminating evening-length work of Solarium Dance Company's first season. The work was re-staged in July at Steel Beam Theatre as part of a collaboration between the company, Ecker Center for Behavioral Health, and Kane County Health Department where audience members were provided with crucial information and resources regarding overdose awareness as well as free Narcan and training. Tori utilizes contemporary techniques and improvisational practices for movement generation, resulting in thoughtful, athletic, expansive, and experimental choreographic works.