Click on name to view biography.
 |
|
Kaleena Burks
Kaleena Burks was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ms. Burks was trained by Magda Aunon and Magaly Suarez, spending summers at the School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin, Miami City Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 2005, she was awarded first place in the pre-professional division of the American Ballet Competition and has been invited to perform in many galas, including the International Ballet Festival of Miami. Ms. Burks has danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, and the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. With Kansas City Ballet, Ms. Burks has been featured as Myrtha in Giselle, Elegy Girl in Serenade, and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. This is Ms. Burks' third season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Sarah Chun
Sarah Chun was raised in Chicago, Illinois. She began her training at the Northwest Dance Academy in Chicago and later trained at Faubourg School of Ballet for five years. She has won awards placing 1st and 2nd in the Youth American Grand Prix in Chicago. Ms. Chun received scholarships from Houston Ballet and while attending Houston Ballet for three consecutive summers, she enjoyed performing soloist roles in La Sylphide and Raymonda. She was accepted to Chicago’s Joffrey Academy of Dance on scholarship where she enjoyed performing the principal role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty as well as performing and touring with the Joffrey Ballet Company. During her time with The Joffrey, she received a scholarship to attend the Ballet Program at Jacob’s Pillow, where she performed Flames of Paris. In 2011, she joined Oklahoma City Ballet, under the direction of Robert Mills, where she performed the principal role of “The Firebird”, a soloist in Coppelia, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and in Alan Hineline’s Junctures. This is Ms. Chun’s first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Rachel Coats
Ms. Coats, a native of Miami, Florida, received her primary instruction from Tony Catanzaro, as well as at the Mencia-Pikieris School of Dance and New World School of the Arts. She spent her summers studying on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and Boston Ballet. Ms. Coats has performed with both Nashville Ballet and Boston Ballet. She has received awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters and ARTS–NFAA Foundations. Since joining the Company, Ms. Coats has enjoyed dancing in Afternoon of a Faun, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Dark Elegies, Brahms Paganini, and End of Time, among many others. Some of her favorite roles have included Desdemona in The Moors Pavane, the title role in Firebird, the Stripper in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. This is her 11th season with Kansas City Ballet. She is married to fellow dancer Logan Pachciarz.
 |
|
Marty Davis
Mr. Davis began his dancing career at the age of 7 with Meredith Baylis in Los Angeles, California. When he was 13 he began studying at Le Studio in Pasadena, California with Charles and Philip Fuller on full merit scholarship, while attending Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. While there he received a Dance Achievement Award and was also named a semi-finalist for the Annual Spotlight Awards. Mr. Davis studied summers on merit scholarship with the San Francisco Ballet and two years with the Boston Ballet. He has spent the last two years in the Trainee Program at the Boston Ballet on full merit scholarship. Some of the ballets Mr. Davis has performed include: La Sylphide, Allegro Brillante, Divertimento #15, La Fille mal gardee, and Don Quixote. He has had featured roles as Trepak in The Nutcracker and Salute. This is his sixth season with the Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Michael Davis
Michael Davis began his ballet training at the Marya Kennett Dance Centre in Goshen, NY, at the age of 10. After attending summer courses at The Rock School for Dance Education in Pennsylvania, he was accepted into their year-round residency program on a merit scholarship. Upon graduating from The Rock School, he joined Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2007 and danced for two years under the direction of Christopher Stowell and Damara Bennett. He has performed in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Serenade, Allegro Brillante and Symphony in C, as well as Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena. This is his fourth season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Arielle Espie
Arielle Espie is originally from Fort Myers, Florida, where she trained with the Gulfshore Ballet School. At age 14, she was invited to attend the winter term at the School of American Ballet in New York City. There, she received four years of training with instructors such as Kay Mazzo, Susan Pilare, and Suki Schorer. Ms. Espie's repertoire includes many ballets such as Serenade, Stars and Stripes, Bourrée Fantasque, Giselle, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Mozartiana. Ms. Espie originated a role in William Whitener's Mercy of the Elements. She has performed featured roles in Paquita and Le baiser de la fée. Ms. Espie was one of 10 students honored with the privilege to train exclusively with Ethan Stiefel at the Stiefel and Stars program. She was also named the Lisa and Perry Scholarship Recipient from 2009-2010 during her final year at the School of American Ballet. This is Ms. Espie's third season with the Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Travis Guerin
Travis Guerin started dancing at the age of 8 in Spokane, Washington, taking tap and jazz classes at a local studio. At age 14, his focus shifted to ballet. He was accepted to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Graduate Program at age 17. In 2009, he was asked to study at the San Francisco Ballet School. The next year, he became part of the first season of Cincinnati Ballet's Second Company. Along with his passion for dance and performance, Mr. Guerin loves to choreograph and has had works premiered for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Graduate Program, the San Francisco Ballet School and the Cincinnati Ballet's Second Company. This is Mr. Guerin's second season with the Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Craig Hall
Craig Hall started dancing at the age of 5 at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. After training there for 13 years he trained at the School of American Ballet. Before joining Kansas City Ballet, Mr. Hall danced with the Los Angeles Ballet and the Cincinnati Ballet. He has enjoyed dancing in Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Serenade, Kammermusik No. 2, Western Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 2 and Val Caniparoli’s Vivace. This is Mr. Hall's ’s first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Aisling Hill-Connor
Ms. Hill-Connor is in her 14th season with Kansas City Ballet. After training for 11 years with Ballet Austin Academy in her hometown of Austin, Texas, she continued on to North Carolina School of the Arts where she trained with such teachers as Melissa Hayden, Warren Conover and Nina Danilova. She performed in a variety of ballets including George Balanchine's Western Symphony, Ton Simon's Fractal Course, The Nutcracker and her personal favorite, Intermezzo by Eliot Feld. With Kansas City Ballet, Ms. Hill-Connor has performed principal roles in George Balanchine's Agon, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Val Caniparoli's Lambarena, and Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, as well as soloist roles in Handel Trio by Alonzo King and The Dying Swan solo.
 |
|
Nadia Iozzo
Nadia Iozzo, originally from Toronto, Ontario, received the RAD Solo Seal Award before moving on to spend four years at Alberta Ballet. Now in her sixth season with Kansas City Ballet, Ms. Iozzo has performed leading roles in George Balanchine's Serenade and Who Cares?, Trey McIntyre’s The Naughty Boy, and Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird; along with soloist roles in Jerome Robbin's Moves, Paul Taylor's Company B, and Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle. She can be found on Bravo TV in the Joni Mitchell/Jean Grand Maître production The Fiddle and the Drum and in the CBC TV special The Secret of the Nutcracker. In 2008, she hosted the first Creating Dance for a Cure fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Ms. Iozzo also teaches for the Kansas City Ballet School.
 |
|
Geoffrey Kropp
Geoffrey Kropp began his ballet training in his hometown of Bakersfield, California. After dancing at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia for a year, he joined Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) School's Professional Division. At PNB, he performed several ballets with the company including Prodigal Son, The Merry Widow, Carmina Burana, and he danced the lead in Paquita in the annual school performance. Since joining Kansas City Ballet, Mr. Kropp has danced featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Todd Bolender, Yuri Possokhov, Bruce Marks, Jerome Robbins, and Anthony Tudor, among others. His favorite roles include Albrecht in Giselle and the leads in Balanchine's Who Cares?, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Serenade. Mr. Kropp has also performed with the National Choreographers Initiative, ARC Dance, Owen Cox Dance Group, and UMKC's Conservatory of Music and Dance. This is Mr. Kropp’s eighth season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Anthony Krutzkamp
Anthony Krutzkamp was born in Alexandria, Kentucky. He began his formal training with Petrus Bosman and David Keener. Mr. Krutzkamp joined Kansas City Ballet where he was cast as the Cat in Balanchine's Renard that was restaged by Todd Bolender. At the completion of that season, he joined Cincinnati Ballet where he was promoted every season until he reached the rank of principal. He has performed such roles as Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Shakrier in 1001 Nights, and Romeo in Romeo & Juliet. He has also had the lead in works by George Balanchine including Emeralds in Jewels, Theme and Variation, Chaconne. Contemporary works include ballets by Twyla Tharp, Jorma Elo, Adam Houghland, and Darrell Grand Maultrie. Internationally, Mr. Krutzkamp has been a guest artist in Flames of Paris, Don Jose in Carmen, Solar in La Bayadere, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Franz in Coppelia, and Don Q Suite in Fukuoka, Japan. This is his second season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Caitlin (Cooney) Mack
Ms. Mack, a native of Seattle, trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School for 11 years on full scholarship. She performed with the company in a variety of ballets including The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Don Quixote. Ms. Mack spent summers at the School of American Ballet and the Rock School of Pennsylvania. Since joining Kansas City Ballet, some of Ms. Mack's most memorable performances have been in Lambarena, Nine Sinatra Songs, As Time Goes By, Change of Heart, Paquita, Deuce Coupe, Great Galloping Gottschalk, The Moor's Pavane, Company B, Brahms Paganini, The Catherine Wheel Suite, Who Cares?, and the Cowgirl in Rodeo. Ms. Mack has also been a guest artist with Ballet Bellevue where she danced as Swanhilda in Coppelia. This is her 11th season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Jill Marlow
Jill Marlow began her training at the Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York, under the direction of Timothy Draper. Additionally, Ms. Marlow spent time studying at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet and Indiana University. She started out her professional career with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre before heading to Cincinnati Ballet, and now this will be her second season with Kansas City Ballet. Ms. Marlow has enjoyed dancing in La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake, Who Cares?, Lambarena, Concerto Barocco, and particularly Chaconne which was performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Some of her most notable roles have included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet's balcony pas de deux, Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Stomper in Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room, Waltz Girl in Balanchine's Serenade, Marie in Val Caniparoli's The Nutcracker, as well as featured roles in Adam Hougland's Mozart's Requiem and K281. Ms. Marlow holds a B.S. in Health Promotion/Education with a focus in Community Health from the University of Cincinnati.
 |
|
Charles Martin
Charles Martin received his primary ballet training from Penny Askew at the Western Oklahoma Ballet Academy in Clinton, Oklahoma. He also studied intensively at the American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School in New York, and the Glenda Brown Choreography Project in Austin and Kansas City. He has performed extensively with the Western Oklahoma Ballet Theatre in addition to guest performances with Allegro Ballet of Houston, Texas, and Remix Dance Group touring Austria. Mr. Martin has also had 11 choreographic works selected for the Regional Dance America/Southwest Festival concerts, two receiving special recognition from the Monticello Foundation. With Kansas City Ballet, he has been featured in soloist roles in Brahms Paganini, Piano Concerto #2, Lambarena, Concerto Grosso, As Time Goes By, Nine Sinatra Songs, A Solo in Nine Parts, The Moor's Pavane, the Friar in Romeo & Juliet, and Huck Finn in William Whitener's Tom Sawyer - A Ballet in 3 Acts. This is his sixth season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Taryn Mejia
Taryn Mejia was born in Kansas City, Missouri and began her training at the age of 3 at the Ballet Conservatory. At the age of 11, she began training at the Kansas City Ballet School and was lead Bon Bon in The Nutcracker and originated a role in William Whitener's A Midsummer Night's Dream. At the age of 16, Ms. Mejia trained at the School of American Ballet in New York City. She performed the lead role of Waltz Girl in Serenade for the School's workshop and was invited to be an apprentice with the New York City Ballet. After a short three-month apprenticeship, Ms. Mejia was given her Corps de Ballet contract and performed many roles including a principal in Goldberg Variations and soloist in Brahms-Schoenterg Quartet.
 |
|
Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye
Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye is a native of Waterville, Maine. He began his training at the age of 15 under the instruction of Andrei Bossov. In 2003, Mr. Nye joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division where he received the prestigious Arnold Spohr Scholarship. While attending the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, he had the pleasure of working with such teachers as Jorden Morris, David Maroni, Stephan Leonard, and Andrei Lewis. Upon graduation in 2005, Mr. Nye was asked to participate in the Banff Summer Arts Festival in Banff, Alberta. There, he originated roles in Sabrina Matthews' Losing Ground and Peter Quanzs' Quanz by Quanz, and performed the leading role in Fernand Knaughs' Carmina Burana. Mr. Nye began his professional career with Festival Ballet of Providence and then in 2006 joined the Eugene Ballet Company where he performed soloist roles in several works by Artistic Director Toni Pimble. In 2007, he joined Director Peter Anastos at Ballet Idaho and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2011. Mr. Nye is an award-winning choreographer and has had three world premieres with Ballet Idaho, including Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and City Symphony with music by Phillip Glass. This is his first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Tempe Ostergren
Tempe Ostergren studied on full scholarship at The School of American Ballet in New York City. After graduating, she went on to join the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle where she danced numerous solo and principal roles. Among some of her favorites were Sugar Plum in Stowell's Nutcracker, Balanchine's Divertimento #15, Martin's Fearful Symmetries, Stowell's Quaternary, and Caniparoli's Torque. She then joined Boston Ballet where some of her repertoire included Dew Drop and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Stepsister in Kudelka's Cinderella, Effy in La Sylphide, Jumping Girl in Balanchine's Who Cares?, Wheeldon's Polyphonia, soloist ballerina in Tharp's In the Upper Room, Kylian's Falling Angels and Six Dances as well as numerous roles in the classics such as pas de trois in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, and Amour in Don Quioxte. With Kansas City Ballet, Ms. Ostergren was thrilled to perform the title role in Giselle, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Waltz Girl in Serenade. This is her third season with Kansas City Ballet .
 |
|
Logan Pachciarz
Mr. Pachciarz began his professional career at the age of 15 with Twyla Tharp's dance ensemble Tharp!. He toured across the United States premiering three new works entitled Sweet Fields, Heroes, and Route 66. He then continued his formal dance education at the North Carolina School of the Arts under the tutelage of Ton Siman, Fernando Bujanes, and Warren Conover. At age 18, he joined the Boston Ballet II and was then promoted to the main company where he enjoyed working with such choreographers as Rudi Van Dantzig, Christopher Wheeldon, and Ben Stevenson. Mr. Pachciarz joined Kansas City Ballet in 2001. In his 12 years with the Company, he has enjoyed dancing in numerous works including Jardi Tancat, Dark Elegies, The Catherine Wheel Suite, and Flower Festival pas de deux. Some of his favorite roles have included Albrecht in Giselle, the title role in Romeo & Juliet, Blue in Green solo in Jaywalk, the solo man in Brahms Paganini, and Iago in The Moor's Pavane. He is married to fellow dancer Rachel Coats.
 |
|
Ian Poulis
Originally from Long Island, New York, Ian Poulis comes to Kansas City Ballet for his first season after performing with Louisville Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Met and Ballet Internationale. He studied at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC primarily under Vladimir Djouloukhadze, Anatoli Kucheruk and Adrienne Dellas-Thorton. Notable Balanchine roles Mr. Poulis has performed are Death in La Valse, 2nd Theme in The Four Temperaments, and a soloist in Rubies and Allegro Brilliante. In Bournonville and classical repertoire, he performed the Pas de Six in Napoli and a lead student in Le Conservatorie, Espada in Don Quixote, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rothbart in Swan Lake, the Wolf and Puss-n-Boots in The Sleeping Beauty, the Forban soloist in Le Corsaire, Frollo and Clopin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Drosselmeyer and the Snow King in The Nutcracker, King Louis XIII in The Three Musketeers, Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia amongst other soloist and principal roles during his career. Mr. Poulis has worked with choreographers such as Ib Andersen, Val Caniparoli, Adam Hougland, Margo Sappington, Stanton Welch and many others. He has also performed in Ballet Across America in 2010 with Ballet Arizona at the Kennedy Center and has been a guest artist across the United States.
 |
|
Yoshiya Sakurai
Yoshiya Sakurai began his training with his mother in his hometown of Niigata City in Japan. At age 14, he took fifth place in All JAPAN Junior Competition, Japan Grand Prix, received scholarships for Royal Ballet School and John Cranko Ballet School, and attended Canada's National Ballet School. There, he danced in several ballets including Jiri Kylian's Sinfonietta and Evening Songs, Four Last Songs, Ein von rie by S. Matthews. In 2007, he received Peter Dwyer Scholarships from Canada Council for the Art and was a semi-finalist in Prix de Lausanne. At American Repertory Ballet, Mr. Sakurai performed several soloist roles, including the Prince in The Nutcracker. In 2008, he joined the Boston Ballet II and danced in Balanchine's Rubies, the Spanish Dance in The Nutcracker, and numerous works by Jorma Elo. With Kansas City Ballet, he has performed in The Nutcracker, Peasant Pas De Deux in Giselle, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and the lead role in Peter Martins' Les Gentilhommes. This is Mr. Sakurai's third season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Angelina Sansone
Having lived in numerous locations, Ms. Sansone most recently hails from Charlotte, North Carolina. She left home at age 14 to attend the Harid Conservatory with a full tuition scholarship. After completing her education at Harid, she spent two seasons with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago where she appeared in Robert Altman's 2003 film The Company. Following her stay with Joffrey, Ms. Sansone worked toward her B.S. in ballet at Indiana University before she joined KCB in 2005. In her seasons with KCB, she has been featured in End of Time, Apollo, The Concert , Great Galloping Gottschalk, Dark Elegies, Splendid Isolations III, Mozartiana, Giselle and as Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. She had the opportunity to perform Ben Stevenson's End of Time at the International Dance Festival of Colombia. Last season, Ms. Sansone performed her first evening-length title role in Romeo & Juliet. This is her eighth season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Josh Spell
Josh Spell is from Beaumont, Texas. He trained at the School of American Ballet and attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2001 and danced with the company for 10 years. Mr. Spell danced leading roles in George Balanchine's Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, and A Midsummer Night's Dream; Todd Bolender's Souvenirs; Val Caniparoli's The Bridge and The Seasons; Nacho Duato's Rassemblement; William Forsythe's One Flat Thing; Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow and The Sleeping Beauty; Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort and Sechs Tanze (Six Dances); Jean-Christophe Maillot's Romeo et Juliette; Mark Morris' A Garden and Pacific; Brian Reeder's Lost Language of the Flight Attendant; Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free and In the Night; Kent Stowell's Hail to the Conquering Hero; Twyla Tharps's Nine Sinatra Songs and Opus 111; and Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia. He originated leading roles in Paul Gibson's The Piano Dance and Sense of Doubt, and Olivier Wevers' Shindig, and he originated a featured role in Christopher Stowell's Quick Time. This is Mr. Spells' first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Molly Wagner
Molly Wagner originally from Denver, Colorado, began her training with Christina Noel-Adcock, spending summers with Jillana, Joffrey Ballet South, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Austin. She graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a B.F.A. While there, she was awarded the first place winner of National Society for Arts and Letters, as well as dancing Waltz Girl in Balanchine's Serenade. Ms. Wagner went on to dance professionally with Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Montgomery Ballet, and Charleston Ballet Theatre. With these companies, she danced featured roles in Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Graduation Ball, and Balanchine's Who Cares? and Allegro Brillante. This is Ms. Wagner's first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Sarah Walborn
Sarah Walborn of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania began her training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. In 2007, Ms. Walborn was asked to be an apprentice with the San Francisco Ballet. She performed in many ballets with the company, including George Balanchine's Diamonds and Helgi Tomasson's The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty. Since joining The Washington Ballet in 2009, Ms. Walborn has originated many roles including one of the twins in Septime Webre's The Great Gatsby, and various roles in Webre's Alice (In Wonderland). She has performed with the company in George Balanchine's The F our Temperaments, Christopher Bruce's Rooster and the staging of Anna-Marie Holmes' Le Corsaire and Don Quixote, as well as Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove, and the duet Strangers in the Night from Nine Sinatra Songs, among many others. This is Ms. Walborn's first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Laura Wolfe
Laura Wolfe, originally from Montgomery, AL, began studying ballet at Montgomery Ballet and furthered her training at the Alabama Dance Theatre. She attended and received scholarships to Joffrey Ballet School, Ballet Academy East, School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. From 2007 to 2008, she trained at Ballet Academy East, under direction of Darla Hoover, where she took classes with remarkable teachers from New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. In the summer of 2010, she attended the ballet program at Jacob's Pillow and performed in the season opening Gala. Ms. Wolfe's favorite roles include Kitri and Amour in Don Quixote, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Mirliton in The Nutcracker, and Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle. She had the delight of originating the role of Becky Thatcher in William Whitener's Tom Sawyer - A Ballet in 3 Acts. This is her fifth season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Caroline Arnold (apprentice)
Caroline Arnold began her training at the Ballet Academy of Texas under the direction of Lisa Slagle. She continued her training with Fiona Fairrie, and at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy. Most recently, Ms. Arnold has been working toward her Bachelor of Science in Ballet at Indiana University where she has trained with Michael Vernon, chair of IU's Ballet Department, and Distinguished Professor of Ballet Violette Verdy. Ms. Arnold enjoyed dancing principal and soloist roles at IU including the Lilac Fairy, Arabian pas de deux, Waltz of the Flowers soloist, and as a soloist in George Balanchine's Who Cares? and Concerto Barocco. While at IU, Ms. Arnold was the recipient of a Music Dean Scholarship, a Music Faculty Award, and the Kenneth C. Whitener Award for Ballet Excellence. Her academic honors include National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Alpha Lambda Delta's National Academic Honors Fraternity. This is Ms. Arnold's first season with Kansas City Ballet.
 |
|
Eric Mazzie
(apprentice)
Eric Mazzie first began dancing ballet, jazz and modern at the age of 7 in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the first three years of his dance education, he trained at a local studio called Lana's School of Dance. He later moved on to study for five years at The Dance Theatre of the Southwest, home of the New Mexico Ballet Company. During the summers, Mr. Mazzie trained at Ballet Chicago, The School of American Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. At 15 years old, he moved to New York City to begin training at The School of American Ballet. In June 2012, he completed his fourth year of training at SAB on full scholarship. This is Mr. Mazzie's first season with Kansas City Ballet.
