Logan Square Neighbors Mourn Death Of Beloved Dance Teacher: ‘She Meant The World To Me’

LOGAN SQUARE — Neighbors in Logan Square are mourning the sudden death of youth dance teacher Deborah Byczkowski, who they say was a kind mentor to a tight-knit community of dancers and their families. 

Byczkowski, owner of VOLTA Performing Arts in Logan Square, passed away from an unexpected medical emergency June 22 at age 37. Known to her students as Miss Dee, the native Northwest Sider earned her bachelor’s degree in dance pedagogy from Columbia College Chicago, loved ones said. 

Byczkowski taught at dance studios throughout the city — including The Chicago Ballet Center and River North Dance Chicago, as well as in Chicago Public Schools — before opening her studio, VOLTA, at 2142 N. Milwaukee Ave. in 2017.

Following her death, VOLTA families and Logan Square neighbors organized a fundraiser to support her family in covering funeral costs and honoring her. The GoFundMe has raised over $16,000 from more than 160 donors as of Thursday, just under its $18,000 goal. Parents of VOLTA dancers have also been discussing plans to set up a memorial bench for Byczkowski in the Garfield Park Conservatory, near where she grew up.

“Miss Dee poured her heart into building VOLTA into a vibrant, welcoming community where dancers felt supported, inspired and seen,” the GoFundMe reads. “She was a mentor, a leader and a constant source of encouragement and light in the lives of her students. She shaped the lives of many dancers and families and has left a lasting impact on the community she built.”

Byczkowski’s students and their families said she had a magnetic energy by which she forged a close and supportive network at her studio. She ran VOLTA almost completely on her own, they said, both teaching dozens of classes weekly and performing financial and administrative duties. 

In December 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Byczkowski poured all of her money into the business to keep providing affordable and accessible dance classes to neighborhood kids, and even gave up her apartment to keep the studio afloat. VOLTA was still at risk of being evicted — and then hundreds of Logan Square neighbors raised more than $28,000 in donations for Byczkowski. 

“She’s been an absolute treasure for Logan Square and the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Jessica Thorne, whose daughter has danced at VOLTA for more than seven years.

Byczkowski was like a second mom to Thorne’s daughter, Melody. She said when their family was going through a divorce and learning to navigate co-parenting in separate households, Byczkowski readjusted class schedules to ensure Melody could always attend. 

“That was something that was just extraordinary, and she didn’t have to do that,” Thorne said. “She didn’t have to do the amount of work that she did for us.”

Melody, 12, who started dancing at VOLTA when she was 4 years old, said Miss Dee called her students her “homegrown tomatoes” because many of them started dancing with her when they were little. Miss Dee taught them to become “amazing dancers,” she said. 

“She meant the world to me,” Melody said.

Byczkowski also worked to break down barriers in the dance world, students and their families said. She pushed back against the idea that dancers must fit a certain body type and challenged claims that dance isn’t a sport simply because it’s female‑dominated.

“She always made it so that everybody felt good in their bodies,” said 13‑year‑old Dahlia Hoosein, one of Byczkowski’s first students who began dancing with her at age 4. “She was always trying to spread positivity.” 

Earlier this year, ahead of a recital, Hoosein said she and another dancer felt uncomfortable in their assigned costumes. They planned to wear them anyway, assuming they had no alternative. But instead of letting them perform while feeling self‑conscious, Byczkowski bought them brand-new outfits.

“They were beautiful leotards with like shorts attached to them, and they were great, and they were bedazzled, and they were probably one of the most beautiful costumes I’ve seen in my life,” Hoosein said. “And she just bought those for us, because we would feel comfortable in what we were wearing, and that meant so much.”

Hoosein’s mother, Tatiana Gomez, said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when an in-person recital wasn’t possible, Byczkowski drove to each student’s home, delivered costumes, filmed them dancing their individual parts and then edited all the footage together into a recital video to share with the VOLTA families.

“Dance was her thing, and it’s been her thing her whole life, and she really wanted to instill that joy and technique in her students, no matter their abilities or capabilities, be it super advanced or novice,” Gomez said. “She was happy to share that with them, and you could see it.”

Sylvia Guadalupe, whose 13-year-old daughter has danced for Byczkowski since she was 4, said she met Byczkowski by chance when Byczkowski let her daughter use the restroom in the studio shortly after she opened VOLTA. Byczkowski was so welcoming, she said, and Guadalupe’s daughter has been attending classes since then. 

Guadalupe said when her family faced hard times and struggled to make tuition payments, Byczkowski “always worked out a way” so her daughter could keep going to class.

“She just was family, like she was way more than a teacher,” Guadalupe said.

Brianna Navarro, whose daughter had danced at VOLTA for eight years, said she and the other parents of VOLTA students have built “really strong relationships” centered around the studio, which she said speaks to Byczkowski’s efforts to create a space of community and collaboration, both among parents and students.

“Miss Dee facilitated a place and a space for dancers and their families, where everybody felt like they had a spot at the table, and the you-can-sit-with-us culture is very strong,” Navarro said. 

Kara Fromme, whose daughter has danced at VOLTA since 2018, said that after learning of Byczkowski’s passing, VOLTA families planted flowers outside the studio and decorated the space to resemble a fairy garden — a tribute to Byczkowski’s whimsical style. She said she and other families have gone back every day and night to water the flowers, determined to keep them alive through the summer heat so the memorial endures.

“I know that my daughter will always remember Miss Dee, and all of the confidence that she helped my daughter build, that’s here to stay,” Fromme said. “We didn’t have her around for long enough, for sure, but we’ll always remember her, and value the time that we did have with her.”

Daveed Holmes, a Chicago-area photographer who frequently worked with VOLTA, said Byczkowski placed tremendous value on supporting fellow artists. Years ago, during a period when he was struggling and unsure whether he would continue with photography, she encouraged him to keep going, reaching out with opportunities that pushed him beyond his usual scope of work, he said.

“I was so grateful,” Holmes said. “She is truly going to be missed.” 

It is unclear what will happen to VOLTA in light of Byczkowski’s passing. Most of the VOLTA dancers are unsure of what’s next in their dancing journeys, but many said they know Miss Dee would want them to keep dancing. 

“I feel lost without her, but I know she would want me to continue dancing,” Melody said. “She always told me I belonged on the stage, and that I had a gift to wow the audience. It’ll be hard to start over someplace new, but I know she’ll always be with me.”