Summer Intensive Staff & Faculty

The Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensive program is proud to feature an outstanding international faculty including Artistic Director Michael Pink, MBII Artistic Director Mireille Favarel, Company Rehearsal Directors Luz San Miguel and Denis Malinkine, Milwaukee Ballet Company dancers, MBSA Faculty, Roxy Fair and Yaya Kambaye, and several other special guest artists.

Artistic Staff

Mireille Favarel

Sponsored by Catherine L. Davies

Mireille Favarel was born in Toulon, France. After studying with Rosella Hightower at the Centre de Danse International in Cannes, Lydia Menchova from the Bolshoi, Robert Bestonso from the Royal Ballet and Raymond Franchetti from the Paris Opera, Favarel began her professional career at 17 with Ballet du Rhin in Strasbourg (now the Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin). She subsequently joined Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium as a soloist, where she performed her first principal role as Swanhilda in August Bournonville’s Coppélia at 19. Favarel later joined Ballet der Deutsch Oper am Rhein in Du?sseldorf, Germany as a soloist, under the direction of Paolo Bortoluzzi as well as Ballet du Nord in Roubaix, France, under the direction of Alphonso Cata as a principal dancer.

In addition to appearing with the Ballet du Nord during many of its international tours, Favarel represented France in the first New York International Ballet Competition. She was invited to perform in the gala performance for the next competition, and later returned as a coach and teacher for the NYIBC.

Favarel joined Milwaukee Ballet as a principal dancer in 1989, where she performed all of the major roles in the company repertoire. The most memorable are her interpretations of Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Coppélia, and Giselle. In 1990, dance critic Tom Strini named her “Dancer of the Year” for her work in Swan Lake, Serenade, and Coppélia . During her time with Milwaukee Ballet, many choreographers created works for her, including Kathryn Posin’s Tehillim and Bach’s Lunch, as well as Simon Dow’s Spartacus. In May 2000, Favarel gave her farewell performance and became Ballet Mistress for the Company.

Mireille Favarel is currently Artistic Director of Milwaukee Ballet II (MBII). She also teaches and coaches Milwaukee Ballet Company and MBII. Favarel is a frequent guest teacher at major ballet schools and companies in Bulgaria, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, and in her native country of France. In March of 2012, Favarel staged Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade for the National Ballet of Bulgaria, in Sofia. She staged Scheherazade again for Milwaukee Ballet in 2016. She continues to perform character roles for Milwaukee Ballet, most recently as James’ mother in La Sylphide and the Queen in Swan Lake.

Email: mfavarel@milwaukeeballet.org

Davit Hovhannisyan

Davit Hovhannisyan began dancing at age six in his home country of Armenia. At age 10, he was accepted into the National Ballet School of Armenia on full scholarship, and by 16, he began his professional career with the Armenian National Ballet Company. Hovhannisyan then moved to the United States where he has received critical acclaim with numerous companies throughout the country.

Hovhannisyan joined Milwaukee Ballet in 2004, where he has danced principal roles in many Michael Pink ballets, including Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, Basilio in Don Quixote, the title role in Dracula, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Josef in Mirror Mirror, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Franz in Coppélia, Captain Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Esmeralda and The Prince in Beauty and the Beast

He has also had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Lila York, Stephen Mills, Bruce Wells, Trey McIntyre, Margo Sappington, Kathryn Posin and Mark Godden. These collaborations have led to him dancing in various contemporary works, and principal roles such as Prince Solor in La Bayadère, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Moon Prince in Scheherazade and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Denis Malinkine

A native Russian, Denis Malinkine graduated from the esteemed Bolshoi Ballet Academy. He soon joined the Moscow Classical Ballet in 1985 and participated in many of the Company’s tours, including: the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, among others. In 1990 he joined the National Ballet of Portugal.

In 1993, Malinkine was invited by Christopher Gable to join England’s Northern Ballet Theatre. As a principal, he created the title role in the landmark production of Dracula by Michael Pink and Christopher Gable, and the roles of Captain Phoebus in Pink’s Hunchback of Notre Dame and Albrecht in Northern Ballet Theatre’s Giselle. He expanded this experience in the genre of Dance Drama in productions of Romeo & Juliet, Christmas Carol, Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Brontes, and Carmen.

Malinkine has worked with Atlanta Ballet since 1999, where he created the role of Romeo in Michael Pink’s Romeo & Juliet. During his career, he has appeared in classical ballet performances, and in productions by George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Lila York, and many others.

Malinkine has acted as guest artist and assistant to Mr. Pink in performing and remounting these works for Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Internationale and the Norwegian National Ballet. He also assisted John McFall in his work for Peter Pan with Ballet Internationale.

Luz San Miguel

Born in Madrid, Spain, Luz San Miguel received her training at Carmina Ocana Ballet School and on a scholarship at the Municipal Institute of Ballet in Antwerp, Belgium. Prior to joining Milwaukee Ballet, she danced with BalletMet Columbus, Charleston Ballet Theater, Tulsa Ballet, and in Germany’s Dresdner Ballet and Leipziger Ballet. She also performed as a guest artist in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, and several cities in the United States. San Miguel has performed leading roles in ballets by John Cranko, George Balanchine, John Neumeier, Nacho Duato, Anthony Tudor, Stanton Welch, Uwe Scholz, Glen Tetley, Paul Taylor, Lila York, and Jerome Robbins, among others. During her time with Milwaukee Ballet, San Miguel has performed roles such as Lucy in Dracula, Clara and Marie in The Nutcracker, Odile and Odette in Swan Lake, Kitri and Matador Lady in Don Quixote, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Swanhilda in Coppélia, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Mimi in La Bohème, Snow White in Mirror Mirror, and the title roles in Cinderella, Esmeralda, and Giselle.

Michael Pink

Michael Pink is the longest serving artistic director in Milwaukee Ballet history. Since joining the Company in December of 2002, he has established himself as a prominent member of the Milwaukee arts community, demonstrating his commitment to the future of dance through new work, education and collaboration.

His artistic vision for Milwaukee Ballet continues to be exciting and challenging. His long-awaited production of Peter Pan signified a major landmark in the Company’s history and was broadcast nationally by PBS in Spring of 2014. His production of Romeo & Juliet has also been broadcast by MPBS. In 2008, the Wisconsin Dance Council presented Pink with the Choreography/Performance Award. In 2014, the Milwaukee Press Club honored him with the Headliner Award for service to the arts. He received the Civic Music Association’s award for Distinguished Citizen – Professional in the Arts in 2015. He recently accepted the Educational Excellence Award from the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts which recognizes organizational achievement of a nonprofit that exemplifies collaboration in the arts.

Pink is an international choreographer whose theatrical productions of Dracula, Esmeralda, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, La Bohème, Don Quixote, Mirror Mirror, Dorian Gray and Beauty and the Beast have been hailed as ‘Classical Ballet for the 21st Century’. His first professional work, 1914, was nominated for a West End Theatre Award, London.

His early choreographic work won him first place in the Frederick Ashton and the Royal Society of Arts Choreographic Competitions. He worked as a répétiteur for Rudolf Nureyev at the Paris Opera and La Scala Milan. He trained as a classical dancer at The Royal Ballet School and danced with English National Ballet 1975 to 1985.

Pink was the founding director of Ballet Central in London; he also served as associate artistic director of Northern Ballet.

He continues to build strong working relationships with other Milwaukee Arts groups, where his credits include A Christmas Carol, Assassins, Cabaret and Next to Normal for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Matilda for First Stage.

Company Dancers

Parker Brasser-Vos

New York City native Parker Brasser-Vos trained at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, where he was coached by Edward Ellison, Lupe Serrano, Susan Jaffe and Ethan Stiefel. As a student there, he created the lead roles in Jessica Lange’s Inspired By and Kirk Peterson’s Renaissance Suite, as well as Leslie Browne’s Breakthrough and Doubleplay.

As a member of the Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II Program, he danced principal repertoire, including the title role in Othello and George Balanchine’s Who Cares?. He also appeared in Thom Dancy’s To Venture from the Norm, which won the silver medal at the 15th McCallum Theater Choreographic Festival.

As an Artist in Milwaukee Ballet’s Company, Brasser-Vos has had the honor of dancing in numerous Michael Pink productions and world premieres, notably as Franz in Coppélia, Prince Gustav in Mirror Mirror, Shaunard in La Bohème, Quincy in Dracula, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, as well as both Fritz and Karl in The Nutcracker.

He has also been featured in works by esteemed guest choreographers including Trey McIntyre’s A Day in the Life and Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena. Additionally he danced the roles of the White Rabbit in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), the Genie of Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade, Gurn in La Sylphide as staged by Dinna Bjørn, and King Oberon in Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Eric Figueredo

Eric Figueredo was born in Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro. He began his dance training at age ten with the Escola de Dança Fundação Porto Real in Brazil. He had the opportunity to participate in several national and international competitions, including the 2015 Prix de Lausanne Preselection in Buenos Aires. Upon winning, he had the opportunity to represent Brazil in the 2016 Prix de Lausanne Competition in Switzerland. He received a scholarship to continue his training at Houston Ballet Academy for the 2017-2018 season under the direction of Vicki Attard.

Figueredo joined Texas Ballet Theater in 2018 as an Apprentice, during which time he performed works by choreographers including Ben Stevenson, William Tuckett, William Forsythe, and Christopher Bruce. He then joined The Sarasota Ballet as Corps de Ballet in 2020, where he performed works such as Sir Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering, Valse Nobles Et Sentimentales, and Façade; George Balanchine’s Serenade and Donizetti Variations; the world premiere of Comedy of Errors by Sir David Bintley; and Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations.

Since joining Milwaukee Ballet in 2022, Figueredo has performed in Michael Pink’s Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Peter Pan, and was featured in a new choreographic work by Timothy O’Donnell. He performed the titular role in Michael Pink's Dracula in 2023. He is an emerging choreographer whose works have been performed by the Milwaukee Ballet Company and Milwaukee Ballet II.

Resident Faculty

Sejain Bastidas

Community Engagement Lead Faculty

Sejain Bastidas was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She started her ballet training at the age of seven, at the Freddy Reyna Ballet and Music School and finished her training and graduated as a professional ballet dancer at Fundación Gustavo Franklin Ballet Arte School. She has been part of many professional ballet companies, including Ballet Contemporaneo de Caracas (2009), The Metropolitan Ballet in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2010-2011), the Nina Novak Ballet (2011), Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas (2012-2013), and the Compania de Ballet del Teatro Teresa Carreño de Caracas (2013-2016). She has also danced as a soloist dancer with the National Ballet of Ecuador (2016-2017) and The National Ballet of Peru (2017-2022). Sejain participated in the opening gala of the 2019 PanAmerican Games, the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida, and she has been featured in dance history books in her home country of Venezuela. She was involved in a social media campaign with the United Nations about arts and immigration in Latin America and also had a mini documentary made about her story as an immigrant artist on the Ecuadorian television show “Cara a Cara con Rosalía.”

Tatiana Jouravel-Malinkine

Head of Training for Academy and Pre-Professional Divisions

A native of Ukraine, Tatiana Jouravel-Malinkine is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Ukraine and is Russian/Vaganova trained.

After working as a professional dancer with Hartford Ballet 1992-1994 and Boston Ballet 1994-2001, Tatiana joined Milwaukee Ballet as a principal dancer in 2003 and danced for 8 seasons.

Tatiana’s repertoire includes Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Marie and Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette in Swan Lake, Lucy in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Titania in Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kingdom of Shades in La Bayadere, Carmen in Carmen, Divertissement in Raymonda, Cinderella in Michael Pink’s Cinderella, and Tiger Lily in Michaels Pink’s Peter Pan. She has danced in Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles, George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Rubies, Serenade, and Symphony in C, Allegro Briliante, the lead in Agon, Paul Taylor’s Company B and Lila York’s Celts and Coronach. She has also danced in works by Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Mark Godden, Trey McIntyre, Christopher Wheeldon, Adam Hougland, Petr Zahradnicek, Michael Corder, and Kirk Peterson.

Tatiana was awarded the Grand Prix Prize at the Competition of the Soviet Union Ballet Schools in Minsk, Belarussia in 1992. In 1996, she won a silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.

Tatiana has taught ballet classes at Boston Ballet School, Chautauqua Ballet (New York), Atlanta Ballet School, and many other schools and, since 2003, at Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy part-time and, after her retirement in 2010, full-time. Tatiana also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and for Milwaukee Ballet II for five years.

Tatiana is a Pilates Certified Instructor since 2003.

Pedro Lapetra Miñana

Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Pedro Lapetra began his training at Escuela Municipal de Danza under the direction of Cristina Miñana. From there he continued his training at Bartholin International Ballet Seminar in Copenhagen where he was awarded a scholarship to study Bournonville technique and work with master teachers such as Vivi Flindt, Johnny Eliasen, Robert Denvers, Laura Alonso, Lloyd Riggins, Nicolaj Hubbe, and David Howard, among others.

In 2001, Lapetra joined the European Ballet as a principal dancer to perform the role of Franz in Coppelia. He then went on to join the Norwegian National Ballet for the 2001/02 season where he performed pieces by Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot, Michael Pink, and George Balanchine. In 2003, he joined the English National Ballet where he remained for 19 years performing principal and soloist roles in ballets such as Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet, Macmillan’s Sleeping Beauty, Skeaping’s Giselle, Eagling’s The Nutcracker, Dean’s Alice in Wonderland, Dean’s Swan Lake, Macmillan’s Manon, and Pina Bauch’s Le Sacre du Printemps. He has also worked with major choreographers like John Neumeire, Russell Maliphant, Akram Khan, Christopher Wheeldon, and Tamara Rojo and performed on prestigious stages like Palais Garnier in Paris, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, and Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Lapetra appeared in several international ballet galas, including the Genzano Flower Festival in Italy, and performed pas de deux from Don Quixote, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Flames of Paris, Le Corsaire, Coppelia, Satanella, Diana & Acteon, and La Sylphide.

Since Lapetra completed his Diploma of Dance Teaching from The Royal Ballet School in 2018, he has been a guest teacher with the English National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet II, Rambert School of Dance, English National Ballet School, Escuela de Francisca Tomas (Palma de Mallorca), and Los Angeles Ballet Academy. Most recently, in 2022, Lapetra was Assistant of Choreography for Tamara Rojo’s Cinderella at Royal Swedish Ballet.

Sloan Logsdon

Sloan Logsdon began her dance training in Overland Park, KS, where she studied multiple disciplines including jazz, contemporary, modern, ballet, tap and hip hop. At the age of 13 she was invited to join the Tremaine Performance Company, giving her the opportunity to travel with Tremaine Dance Conventions, assisting and performing across the country. She was a Tremaine assistant for 8 years, becoming a Pre-Pro assistant in 2018.

In 2022, Sloan traveled to Paris with the USF Dance in Paris program, where she had the opportunity to work with various international choreographers and perform in the Paris Pride Show. Sloan has been fortunate to work with and perform works by a plethora of choreographers, including Jennifer Archibald, Michael Foley, Bliss Kohlmyer, Erik Swanger and Morgan Williams.

In the 2023, Sloan graduated summa cumme laude from the University of South Florida with a BFA in Dance as well as a minor in Mass Communications. Her collegiate achievements and recognitions include receiving the USF Green and Gold scholarship, the William Hug Dance Scholarship, the Miriam and Charles Fessler Endowed Dance Scholarship, and various talent grants.

With a passion for teaching the next generation of dancers, Sloan is grateful for every opportunity she has teaching and choreographing at studios and schools in the Kansas City area, and she looks forward to expanding these relations.

In January of 2024, Sloan joined Water Street Dance Milwaukee. She is excited to start her journey with the company and become part of the Milwaukee dance community.

Bri Lucey

Bri Lucey began her early training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary for 11 years. During her training at CPYB she performed in over 12 Balanchine Ballets including Serenade, Raymonda Variations, Stars and Stripes, Divertimento 15, Who Cares, and La Source, as well as classical ballets like Paquita, and La Bayadere.

After attending summer training in 2007 at the School of American Ballet, she was offered a scholarship to Boston Ballet as a trainee where she performed in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker with the company.

In 2008, she joined Orlando Ballet’s second company under Bruce Marks and Peter Stark. During her time with OBII she placed in top 12 for classical at YAGP, and 2nd in contemporary in Florida Regionals.

In 2009, Lucey was asked to join Orlando Ballet’s professional company by current director Robert Hill. During her six seasons with Orlando Ballet she performed many leading roles such as Odette from Swan Lake, Sugar Plum, Dew Drop, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Witch from Snow White, Diane and Acteon variation, and Zulma from Giselle. She has also appeared in Touching Drops by Peter Chu, Again for the First Time by Abdur Rahim Jackson, and was featured in many new works from director Robert Hill.

In 2015, she joined Ballet Arizona under Ib Anderson. She performed in Balanchine’s Rubies, Walpurgisnacht, Symphony in 3, and original work by Ib Anderson.

From 2018-2020 she joined Madison Ballet as a guest artist. She performed Sugar Plum, Dew Drop, Snow Queen and Russian in The Nutcracker, Giselle act II pas de deux, the principle in Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, she also performed in original works by W. Earle Smith, Restless Hours by Malichi Squires, and Spring by Sara Schumann.

She has also been a guest artist with Milwaukee Ballet for their 2018 production of Swan Lake, Hammond Ballet, Lake Arts Project, and Envision Ballet Theatre. Other career highlights include performing alongside Mariah Carey in Disney’s Christmas Parade and choreographing with Cirque Du Soleil for A Choreographer’s Workshop.

This is Bri’s 6th season teaching with Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy and the Pre-Professional Program.

Aisling Nussear

Aisling Nussear is native of Florida and started her ballet training at Mount Dora School of Ballet. In 2009, she began training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington D.C. under the direction of Marat Daukayev and Martin Freedmann. From there she moved on to train at Ellison Ballet in New York City under the direction of Edward Ellison and Erin Forrest. She preformed in various roles such as Swan Lake, la Bayadere, Coppelia, Don Quixote, and Le Conservatoire. Upon graduation, she pursed her degree in Business Administration through Ave Maria University and obtained her teachers certification through The Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She began teaching at Milwaukee Ballet in 2020.

Catey Ott Thompson

Catey Ott Thompson, director of Catey Ott Dance Collective (CODC) since 2005, has a BFA and MFA in dance from UWM under the direction of Ed Burgess, Marcia Parsons, Janet Lilly, and Simone Ferro. Catey now resides in Milwaukee after dancing in NYC for 14 years for Soundance, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Sean Curran, Bill Young, Li Chiao-Ping, Eun Jung Choi, Aviva Geismar, Chris Ferris, Shannon Hummel, Carrie Ahern, and many others. She toured to Slovakia and Budapest with Allyson Green and to France with Carrie Ahern. Catey studied ballet with Christine Wright for 12 years at Gibney Dance Center in NYC. In Milwaukee, she danced for Danceworks Performance Company, Wild Space, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and others. Her company, CODC, has performed at a variety of prestigious venues in NYC and also throughout Wisconsin. She has been a personal trainer (AFAA), yogi, and Pilates (Kane School of Core Integration) instructor since 2000, and worked for Park Slope Yoga Center/Devi, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Brouk Moves in NYC for many years. Since 2012, Catey has been teaching contemporary modern, adult ballet, dance history, composition and choreography, improvisation, and repertory at Marquette University, Milwaukee Ballet, and Danceworks, while also directing MKE Dance Theatre Network.

Garret Volpendesta

Garrett stepped into his first dance class at the age of six and never looked back. Dance has been his biggest passion ever since and when he started choreographing and teaching back when he was in high school and knew that it was his calling. Since then Garrett is going into his 20th year of teaching dance and molding young artists. During these 20 years he has spent teaching/coaching, directing, choreographing and outsourcing his services to several studios and companies throughout Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Receiving most of his training from a local Wisconsin studio located in Delavan Wisconsin, working with several artistic minds with a range of professional achievements. He has also received training from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and theater performance training under Barbara DelMastro.

Garrett’s performance career started as soon as he started dancing and has performed in thousands of shows. Most of those shows have been through the corporate entertainment scene including the Six Flags Corporation where he has been a dance captain of four international award-winning shows that he also co-wrote and co-choreographed. Garrett was also nominated for the IAAPA for the best male entertainment performer back in 2017. During his years with the Six Flags Corporation he has also choreographed, produced, directed and written over a dozen shows for the corporation. Outside of corporate entertainment Garrett has been blessed with opportunities too with Neil Berg in his traveling Broadway review show “100 Years of Broadway'', sharing the stage with multiple Broadway stars such as Brad Little and Tony Nominated Carter Calvert.

Currently Garrett is the competitive teams director at The Academy of Performing Arts out of Oak Creek, Wi, serving his 4th season as the team's director. Prior he worked with multiple studios throughout the seasons introducing new programs that have been excelling at each facility, coached multiple competition teams, and has served as a judge for multiple dance competitions based out of Canada. Garrett used to run a young performance group called HYPE (acronym for Helping Young Performers Entertain). Although due to scheduling conflicts, Covid and direction changes he has discontinued this group, he hopes to revive it in the near future. His work and dancers he has trained have performed all around the nation and appeared on television throughout the years. His competitive work continues to get recognition for its choreography and creative concepts.

In his spare time Garrett is supporting local artists and helping them book work as well as supporting his communities local performing art programs and opportunities.

Maddie Westreich

Maddie Westreich is a choreographer, teacher, and performer attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance and choreography at UWM, Maddie has received training in Jazz, Modern, African, ballet, improvisation, applied anatomy, composition, Dance History, and more as well as performing and collaborating in several student choreographies and the faculty choreographies of Maria Gillespie, Deb Lowen, Mair Culbreth, and Simone Ferro and the guest artist works of Marina Magalhães and Kia Smith. Maddie is also a student research assistant at UWM, where she engages with the community through site-specific dance performances throughout the Sherman Park neighborhood with her team of fellow students led by Professor Simone Ferro. Through her teaching, Maddie utilizes her comprehensive dance education amongst a wide variety of techniques and movement traditions to demonstrate the versatility of movement in her students.

Guest Faculty

Kerensa DeMars

Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working in Flamenco dance. She has performed internationally at venues like the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Tivoli in Barcelona, Madrid's Teatro Calderón and the Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

The founding director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company, Kerensa lived in Spain from 1997-2004 where she trained intensively with Spain’s foremost Flamenco artists. Kerensa is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer's Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation and the Teatro Pradillo of Madrid. She has choreographed Flamenco productions both for and with young people including the critically acclaimed ‘¿Dónde está Don Quixote?’ which played at the SF International Arts Festival in 2018 and 2019.

Kerensa is currently the director of Studio K Flamenco, Milwaukee’s home for the Flamenco arts. With programs like the annual Flamenco Nutcracker, the Compás Youth Project and the Studio K Presents performance series, Studio K is committed to furthering the art of Flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond.

Meredith Dincolo

Meredith Dincolo has been dancing and teaching professionally for the past 30 years, having begun her professional career as a free-lance dancer in Chicago. In the years following, Ms. Dincolo pursued project work both in Chicago and abroad, and joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as a full company member in 1996. During her nearly 14 years with the company, Meredith performed and created works with choreographers and artists from around the world. Between 2000-2004, Meredith danced in Europe with Lyon Opera Ballet (direction, Yorgos Loukos) and Nationaltheater Mannheim (direction, Kevin O’Day) before returning to Hubbard Street in late 2004. Most recently, Meredith performed with Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists in the premiere of Echo Mine, a full evening collaboration with the band Califone at the Harris Theater, Chicago.

Ms. Dincolo joined the artistic staff of Hubbard Street as a company teacher and guest instructor at Lou Conte Dance Studio in 2009, while still dancing with the main company. From May 2014-May 2017, Meredith developed and directed the Pre-Professional programs at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, serving as principal teacher and mentor. She has also taught for companies such as Lyon Opera Ballet, Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, Ballett Basel, Alvin Ailey American Dance Company, Abraham.In.Motion, Jessica Lange Dance, Ballet Preljocaj, Ballett Hagen, GöteborgsOperan Danskompani, and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. At the university level, Meredith has created works with West Virginia University and Marygrove College, and has taught master classes at George Mason University, University of Michigan, Western Michigan University and Florida State University. She has also served as rehearsal assistant to Kyle Abraham and William Forsythe for works with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and has set the work of Alejandro Cerrudo both domestically and internationally. Ms. Dincolo currently teaches on faculty at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, teaching the main company, and was an active member of the Lou Conte Dance Studio faculty from 2014-2020. Meredith is also on faculty at COMMON Conservatory in Chicago, is a founding member of the Chicago Movement Collective, and continues to teach and set works at the professional level in the US and abroad.

Imani English

A native of Madison, WI, Imani credits her early training to Karen Smith-English, Monona Academy of Dance, and the Madison Professional Dance Center’s performing company. She is a 2014 graduate and Valedictorian of the Chicago High School for the Arts. There, she performed repertoire from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Muntu Dance Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, and performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Memoria. Upon graduation from ChiArts, Imani joined DanceWorks Chicago in 2014 and in 2016 joined Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s DBDT: Encore! where she spent two seasons. During that time, she also performed with the Dallas Opera in Samson & Dalila as well as with the Tony Award winning Dallas Theater Center in their production of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Throughout her career, Imani has performed works by renowned choreographers such as Harrison McEldowney, Kristofer Storey, Demis Volpi, Christopher Huggins, Jennifer Archibald, Tahehiro Ueyama, among others. Ms. English and has been on the faculty of the Chicago Movement Collective, COMMON Conservatory, and other various training programs. She has also taught for prestigious summer intensives in the midwest including The River North Chicago summer program, The Milwaukee Ballet School Summer Intensive, DanceWorks Chicago’s Dance360 program, and the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Summer Dance Intensive. Imani joined the faculty at the Chicago High School for the Arts in 2019 as a ballet instructor and has since served as a Horton instructor, Body Conditioning instructor, production assistant, and lead choreographer for the dance conservatory. As a choreographer, Imani’s work has been recognized and awarded at many leading dance conventions including Artists Simply Human and New York City Dance Alliance. She has commissioned work for some of Chicago’s leading dance companies, including Visceral Dance Chicago and was a 2023 NEW Dances Choreographer in collaboration with Thodos Dance Chicago and DanceWorks Chicago. That same year, Imani’s work created for Dance Wisconsin was presented at the Midstates Festival of Regional Dance America. Most recently, Imani’s work “Healing the Healers,” was selected for the Black Choreographers Festival in Baltimore, MD where her work was performed by her own collective in October of 2023.

Roxanne Fair

Roxy is the Dance Instructor and Choreographer of Xalaat, with an MFA in dance from UW-Milwaukee. She has studied with artists from Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Africa. She is currently on staff at Marquette University Dept. of Performing Arts and Milwaukee High School of the Arts.

Jennifer Hackbarth

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Yaya Kambaye

Yaya Kambaye is the Founder /Director and Drum Master of Xaalat. He is a native of Senegal, West Africa where he was reared in the traditions of dance, drumming, and Kora music. He is currently on staff at Marquette University Dept. of Performing Arts and works extensively throughout Milwaukee Public Schools.

Autumn Powless

Autumn Powless is a Milwaukee-born artist, educator creator and performer graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Psychology with a certificate in Childhood and Adolescent Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In her time there, she has worked alongside faculty and students in multiple performances such as: Maria Gillespie, Demar Walker, and guest artist Marina Magalhães of Los Angeles, for her residency work with UWM Spring Dances 2022. Trained in many styles of dance such as hip-hop, modern, jazz, ballet and African dance she finds opportunities for performance and teaching by using dance as a tool for community building and serving for the Milwaukee area.

Autumn has performance experience with S.A.I.N.T.S Dance Crew (Milwaukee, WI.) competing at the World of Dance Competition in Los Angeles and Chicago for two seasons, the band Generation Z (Milwaukee, WI.) at Milwaukee events such as Summerfest and Club Jeté in LA. She is recently named a Galen Hooks Method Alumni (GHM 2024) and is currently training under Kolanie Marks with “theRoomLA” and Alexander Chung’s HILA Company.

Autumn prioritizes serving others and finding a way to cultivate equal opportunities for those in the Milwaukee community to have access to the arts. She believes dance can serve as a means for wellness education while pursuing her creative ideas and choreographic works centered around her personal experiences of navigating this world.

Alvon Reed

Alvon Reed is an Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at The University of Alabama. Mr. Reed holds a degree in Spanish from Coe College and an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa. As a professional artist, Alvon’s performance credits include Nike, PUMA, Levi’s Jeans, Microsoft, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Inland Pacific Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Opus Dance Theatre, and Jennifer Muller/The Works. Alvon performed in Arena Stages' first multi-ethnic production of Oklahoma under the direction of Molly Smith. Additional performance credits include Iphegenia with Marion Schoevaert and Othello with Eloy Barragán. As an instructor, Mr. Reed has taught at prestigious dance institutions nationally and internationally. Institutions include The Milwaukee Ballet School, The Ailey School, Butler Ballet, Tanzprokjekt München, and Theatreakademie Prinzregenten in Munich, Germany. He has choreographed musicals for the University of Alabama, Theatre Cedar Rapids, The Department of Theatre Arts at Coe College, Revival Theatre Company, the Department of Theatre at the University of Iowa, and the Department of Theatre and Dance at Cornell College. Productions include Pippin, Pirates of Penzance, Shrek The Musical, The Little Mermaid (Awarded Best Choreography in 2016), Sister Act, Peter Pan, Newsies, American Idiot, Big Love, Hattie Mae’s Juke Joint, EVITA, Ragtime, 9 to 5, Rent and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Alvon is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association (AEA).

Accompanists

Dan Boudewyns

Daniel Boudewyns, pianist, holds a bachelor’s degree from the Arizona State University School of Music. He has served as company pianist for Ballet Arizona, Colorado Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the River North Dance Company. From 1989 through 1997, Boudewyns was on the music staff of the Dance Aspen Summer Festival. In 1998 he joined the staff of Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Johnson, Vermont, and was personally invited by former New York City Ballet star, Jillana, to be part of the inaugural season of the Jillana school in Taos, New Mexico, where he worked for four subsequent seasons. He currently guests each June with the Alwin School of The Dance in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Boudewyns is founder and sole proprietor of “Sky’s the Limit Recordings for Dance” through which he markets his compact discs of beautiful music for ballet class. In 2005, he made his debut as a composer with a score for a children’s ballet, The Princess and The Pea, which was performed by Ballet Pensacola. This was followed in May of 2007 by his second collaborative effort with Bobby Ball and Ballet Pensacola, The Reluctant Pirate. As a music educator, Boudewyns has taught on the faculties of the Barat College Conservatory of Dance, and the University of Wisconsin Dance Department. Boudewyns joined the music staff of the Milwaukee Ballet in 2001 where he has served as pianist for the company and school, and has worked to develop a uniquely creative music curriculum for the students of Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy.

Grace Chesak

Christina trained at the Hartt School Dance Department in Connecticut, where she was honored with the Francine Goldfarb Scholarship Award in 2015, and more recently at the Washington School of Ballet (TWSB) and Indiana University Ballet Theater. She was invited by Xiomara Reyes and Rinat Imaev to attend the IBstage Summer Program in Barcelona on scholarship for two consecutive summers, and has attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, and the Chautauqua Institution. In 2018, Christina won 2nd place in the senior classical category at the Youth America Grand Prix in Boston and was awarded a gold medal at the Connecticut Classic Ballet Scholarship Competition. In 2020, she decided to attend Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and graduated early with high distinction in May 2023, earning a Bachelor of Science in Music (Ballet Emphasis) and an Outside Field in Business Studies. Christina joined Grand Rapids Ballet as an Apprentice for the 2023/24 season and is excited to be joining Milwaukee Ballet II for the 2024/25 season.

During her time at TWSB, Christina performed Snow and Flowers with the Washington Ballet in Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker. Her repertoire at Indiana University Ballet Theater includes principal roles in George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations and Serenade, which she performed under the direction of Kyra Nichols and Christian Claessens, as well as the Sugarplum Fairy in Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker and Odette in an excerpt of Swan Lake, coached by Carla Körbes. With Grand Rapids Ballet, she performed in George Balanchine’s Who Cares and as a Russian Demi Soloist in Serenade. Her performance credits last season also include Aurora’s Friends, Lilac Fairy Attendant, and Garland Waltz in Sleeping Beauty, and Snow, Flowers, and Marzipan in The Nutcracker.

Simone Gheller

Dr. Simone Gheller was born in Padua (Italy) in I978. After graduation from high school, he received four Master’s Degrees in Piano, Organ Performance & Organ Composition, Music Education, and Choral Music & Choral Conducting. He also received a Doctorate in Organ Performance and Organ Composition, Magna cum laude. He has participated in many sacred music seminars and organ master classes of M-L Langlais, W. Matesic, K. Schnorr, J. Artigas Pina, Marie-Claire Alain and others, and studied at Vienna University with Michael Radulescu and Roman Summereder. In 2007 and 2008 he received two “Medaille d’Or en Superieur d’Interpretation” with Eric Lebrun at the Conservatoire National de Paris. Dr. Gheller studied also at Oberlin College (Ohio, USA) with Professor James David Christie and Olivier Latry, where he finished a prestigious program (the Artist Diploma- a great distinction in music).

He started to play the piano at 5 and the organ at 9. He became a Liturgical Organist at the age of 9 and Music Director at 13 playing the organ and conducting the choir at his parish. He was also organist at First Church in Oberlin (OH) from 2009 to 2011. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Gheller was Music Director and Organist at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette (Chicago). Currently, Dr. Simone Gheller is Music Director and Organist at St. Jerome Church in Oconomowoc, WI, USA. At this parish he’s leading the music ministry playing all masses, organ concerts and conducting four choirs: adult choir, children’s choir, handbells choir and the school choir. He’s also the accompanist of Waukesha Choral Union. From September 2019 was appointed organist at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists since 2009. From April 2020 he was appointed Music Director and Conductor of Sacra Nova Cathedral.

Dr. Gheller has an extensive performing history spanning the last 30 years, with concerts in prestigious locations in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and America among others. He had a concert tour in Brazil in 2001 conducting the G.E.S. male choir. He performed in concert the complete organ works of Percy Whitlock, Cesar Franck, Julius Reubke and Felix Mendelssohn. He has garnered many prizes, including first prize at the National Italian Organ competition “Citta’ di Viterbo” in four of the six years between 1995 and 2000, first prize and gold medal from the President of Italian Republic at the Giarda National Organ Competition, first prize at the International Organ Competition Vegezzi Bossi in 2000, first prize at the Korschenbroich International Organ Competition (Germany), first prize, audience prize and two special prizes at the International Organ Competition “Grand Prix Andrè Marchal” in Biarritz (2007).

Mr. Gheller has recorded four CDs: Fiori Musicali by Girolamo Frescobaldi, The Complete Choral Works with Organ by Alessandro Scarlatti for the Tactus label, the Orgelbuchlein by J.S. Bach and music by Liszt and Reubke for the Onclassical Label.

Christina Henares

Jessi Kolberg

Jessi Kolberg is a well-known musician in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. She graduated with honors from Wisconsin Lutheran College with a music degree in Piano Performance, Vocal Performance, and Church Music. She teaches piano, voice, and violin at Wisconsin Lutheran High School and Sound Check Studios and voice at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School. She has been an accompanist for the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy since 2003, the staff accompanist at Alverno College since 2011, the accompanist for the Ozaukee Chorus since 2019 and the Wisconsin Gospellers since 2022, and serves as the full-time organist at Loving Shepherd Lutheran in Brown Deer. A highly in-demand collaborator, Jessi frequently plays for choir concerts, studio recitals, and competitions, and performs with Symphony 847, the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, and the Kettle Moraine Symphony Orchestra. As a professional soprano, Jessi has sung with the Bel Canto Chorus and Choral Artists, the Milwaukee Chamber Choir, and Canticum Novum, and is a soloist for the National Anthem at local sporting events. Jessi can also be seen playing violin with the acoustic rock duo, The Nightinjails.

Peggy Lozier

Peggy Lozier has worked as a professional pianist and music director in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas since she graduated with masters’ degrees in piano and choral conducting from UW-Milwaukee. She has directed many musical productions, is a church musician, has taught music and dance privately and in the public system, and has served as an accompanist for many dance companies. She first played for Milwaukee Ballet Co. and School in the 1990’s. Since she is also a ballet dancer, she has enjoyed performing on both sides of the piano and is happy to, at this time, be able to spend more time back at Milwaukee Ballet.

Hikari Nakamura

Hikari Nakamura is a versatile artist who performs across the United States, Japan, Poland, France and the United Kingdom. Hikari gave her solo debut performance in Poland when she was 12 performing a series of piano concertos, and was featured as a soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the Leonard Slatkin Piano Award. A passionate collaborative pianist, Hikari has been an active collaborator/ chamber musician since a young age. In the past two seasons, Hikari was invited to perform chamber music with world-renowned musicians at the Kent Blossom Music Festival in cooperation with the Cleveland Orchestra. In recent years, she has been involved in projects with new music ensemble groups in the United States, with featured performances including Tehillim by Steve Reich at the Toledo Museum of Art, The Pieces That Fall to Earth by Christopher Cerrone, and Sure baby, mañana by Sarah
Gibson.

With Hikari’s growing passion for dance with live music, she continuously creates and premieres new works with dancers. Most recently, she appeared at the Interlochen Center for the Arts Alumni Recital with her collaborative work Piano Folio … to a Disappeared Pleiad. With her expertise in accompanying various styles, she worked with prestigious companies and institutions such as the Mark Morris Dance Company, the Tulsa Ballet, the Northern Ballet, the University of Michigan, and many others. Besides her performance career, Hikari serves as a Co-Artistic Director and Electronic Music Composer of the non-profit organization called heARTists where they create original artworks from the stories of painful experiences and then gift them as a symbol of empowerment and healing.

Hikari was a full- scholarship recipient for a Bachelor’s degree from Lynn University Conservatory of Music and holds a Masters of Music degree from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance. Her instructors include Christopher Harding, Dr. Roberta Rust, Dr. Thomas Lymenstull, Tomoko Mack, Kazimierz Brzozowski,Peter Otto, Richard Weiss, Joela Jones the principal keyboardist of the Cleveland Orchestra and David Halen the concertmaster of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and many more.

Vera Pawlak

Vera began her piano studies at the age of 9. Her teachers have included Samuel Randlett, Robert Silverman,Rebecca Pennys and Jeffry Peterson. She has a BA in Spanish language and literature from UWM and an MM from Manhattan School of Music (MSM) in piano performance. At MSM, where she was a scholarship student, she studied with Solomon Mikowsky, and later, Phillip Kawin.

Vera is an Ida Schroeder Scholarship recipient and an O’Connor Foundation Recital winner. She previously played with Music for Youth. She lived in Spain for several years where she was a church music director and performed chamber music with members of the Orquesta Nacional. She was a pianist for various churches in NYC , played chamber music in Kyiv, Ukraine and various musicals in different cities. She previously taught piano at Mt Mary College and has performed recitals with singers from the Florentine Opera as a vocal coach.

Vera was a bilingual teacher (now retired) in Milwaukee Public Schools. During that time, she played for and conducted large student choirs. She is also a cellist. In 2019, Vera returned to play for Milwaukee Ballet, in all, having played there for 17 years. She has also played for the Dance Dept of UWM and for Danceworks. During her free time, Vera enjoys travelling, reading, gardening and spending time with friends and family and their beloved Samoyed, Fuzzy. As a breast cancer survivor, Vera encourages others to approach their illness without fear and by being well-informed.

Michael Wininsky

Michael Wininsky’s wide musical background started at the age of six with 12 years of Suzuki method classical training. His freshman year he placed third out of 26 high school students in competition at Cardinal Stritch University. As a senior, he received an Exemplary Soloist Award for his Solo Ensemble piece before accepting a scholarship to the UW La Crosse music department. There, he continued his classical training as well as four years in the jazz band, accompanying his peers, and playing keyboard in the pit orchestra for the university’s musical productions. On the side, he participated in two professional productions for Viterbo University – A Chorus Line and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Michael also has a deeply-rooted passion for church music which began at age 14 playing piano in his home church’s praise band. From there, he progressed to being the summer pianist for Ozaukee Congregational church throughout college. He is still invited back periodically as a guest performer to both churches.

Michael currently holds a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance. He is the pianist at Calvary Presbyterian Church for their weekly services. You can also spot him with various bands regularly in the Milwaukee area.

Since his introduction into the world of ballet accompanying in 2021, his favorite aspect of being part of the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy is being able to combine his newly found passion of site reading and improvisation with his old love of classical music into the new genre of dance.

Housing Staff

Applications are closed for the 2025 Summer Intensive Program. If you are interested in being a resident assistant during the 2026 Summer Intensive Program, application packets will be available here next winter. Resident Assistants cannot be enrolled in the program but may have access to take classes as health and safety policies as their schedule allows.

Tali Grubor

Tali Grubor has been dancing since she was three years old, and she fell in love with the art form. Tali danced competitively at Accent On Dance Studio for 8 years and was trained ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary/lyrical, hip hop, and musical theater. She attended Pius XI Catholic High School and was a part of their dance program all four years studying underneath Kristin Dimmer, Tina Coe, and many guest artists. In addition, she was on the Pius XI pom pons team for one year.

During college, Ms. Grubor choreographed three musical theater productions for Merely Players Community Theater: Matilda, Cabaret, and Oklahoma in Mankato, Minnesota. Also, she created a tap piece called “Feel It All Over” that made it to the spring faculty showcase in 2023 at the Minnesota State University – Mankato where she completed her studies. Ms. Grubor holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance from MSU-Mankato. After graduation, Tali returned to Milwaukee to share her love for dance in the community and began her work with Milwaukee Ballet Community Engagement programs and MBSA in 2024. Ms. Grubor recently returned to Pius XI High School and choreographed the production of The Little Mermaid.

This is Tali's fourth summer on the Summer Intensive Housing Staff team, and her second as Housing Manager.

housingmanager@milwaukeeballet.org