Dancers - Alabama Ballet

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Gauen Rhys Alexander began his ballet training at the age of four in Marin County, California. He continued his ballet training at Ballet Pacifica in Orange County, California; at the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Seattle, Washington; and at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied with many notable teachers such as Alaine Haubert, Janek Schergen, Molly Lynch, Charles Maple, Dennis Marshall, Marjorie Grundvig, Janet Popeleski, Marianna Tcherkassky, and Dana Arey. He also attended summer intensive programs at San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and Colorado Ballet. This is his second season with the Alabama Ballet.

Lindsey Sara Barber, a native of Buffalo, New York, received her early training from Maris Battaglia and continued her training at the Miami City Ballet School. While at MCBS, Lindsey performed principal and soloist roles in the school’s Ballet for Young People series. With the Alabama Ballet, Lindsey’s performances include Amour in Don Quixote, principal Marzipan, Dewdrop, and Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Spring Waters pas de deux, Flames of Paris pas de deux, and the Fouette Girl in Graduation Ball. She has also performed soloist roles in the Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Paquita, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, Giselle, Dracula, Van Fleteren’s unRAVELed and Alan Hineline’s Twist. She has also performed in Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, Serenade and Stars & Stripes. Lindsey is also a member of the Gorham’s Bluff Residency and is a full-time faculty member at the Alabama Ballet School.

David Bauser a native of Williamsville, New York, began his training at the American Academy of Buffalo under the direction of Maris Battagia. David has also trained with Lockport City Ballet, Chautauqua Institution, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, North Carolina School of the Arts and The Harid Conservatory. David has been seen in productions of The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Mark Diamonds Gentlemen of the Empire and Their Ladies, Michelle Vernon's Au bade and Dream Waltz, and Mary Hudetz's Not the End, but the Means. With Alabama Ballet David has been seen as the Lead Sequidilla in Don Quixote, as the Soldier Doll, Candy Cane and Tea in George Balanchine's^® The Nutcracker, and in Roger Van Fleteren's The Firebird, Carousel and Leslie Browne's Brahm's Trio.

Amy Cole, a native of New Jersey, Amy began dancing with the Alabama Ballet as an Apprentice in 1997, and was promoted to the company in 1999. Amy has performed soloist roles in Don Quixote, Dracula, Swan Lake, Divertimento #15, Serenade, A Ballroom Competition, UnRAVELed, Tickling the Ivories as well as the principal roles of Lady Capulet in Romeo & Juliet, DewDrop Fairy in Van Fleteren's The Nutcracker, Queen of the Dryads and Mercedes in Don Quixote, DewDrop and Hot Chocolate in Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty and Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. Amy spent the 2003-2004 with Suzanne Farrell Ballet, a project of the Kennedy Center where she had the opportunity to perform an exclusively Balanchine repertoire of Serenade, Tempo de Valse, Stars and Stripes, Divertimento #15, Tzigane and Mozartina.

Alana Czernobil, a Chicago native, has trained with the San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet of Budapest, Hungary, American Ballet Theatre and Suzanne Farrell. Alana is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied under the tutelage of the legendary Balanchine Ballerina, Melissa Hayden, and has performed roles in Giselle, Coppelia, George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Symphonie Concertante and Symphony in C. Before joining the Alabama Balletin 2006, she danced professionally with the contemporary ballet company Cedar Lake Ensemble II, where she performed works by many contemporary choreographers including Bradley Shelver, Jeff Gribbler, Brian Carey Chung and Greg Sample.Since joining theAlabama Ballet, Alana has performed featured rolesin Graduation Ball, Coppelia and George Balanchine's The Nutcrackeri; and hasdanced inRomeo & Juliet,Swan Lake, Dracula, and Song and Dance.Alana is a member of the Alabama Ballet's Gorham's Bluff Residency and is currently attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Jennifer Ferrigno, is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her training from First State Ballet Theatre under the direction of Pasha Kambalov and Lev Assaouliak. Since joining the Alabama Ballet in 2006, Jennifer has been seen in Dracula, Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Stars & Stipes, Van Fleteren’s Romeo & Juliet, Coppelia, and Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are. Her feature roles include Good Girl in Graduation Ball and the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Ms. Ferrigno performed two original works choreographed by Kyle Seguin in the Panolply Choreography Competition in 2008, winning the ballet category and best overall award. Jennifer has also been seen as a guest artist with Arova Contemporary Company as well as a performer with the Gorham’s Bluff Residency.

Catherine Garratt - Bio to come

Kathryn Gebler, a native of Vestal, NY, joined the Alabama Ballet in 1999 after graduating from the Boston Ballet School. She received her early training from Tina Christina-Price, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. Kathryn has performed the principal role of Kitri in Don Quixote as well as principal and soloist roles in The Sleeping Beauty, An American in Paris, Cinderella, Giselle, Swan Lake, Paquita, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, Spring Waters Pas de Deux, Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, Leslie Browne’s Brahm’s Trio, Van Fleteren’s A Ballroom Competition, The Nutcracker and unRAVELed, Margi Cole’s Tymeless Notions, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Donizetti Variations, Serenade and Tarantella. Kathryn is also a member of the Gorham’s Bluff Residency, and is on faculty with the Alabama Ballet School. Kathryn married Mikey Spitzer in August 2006.

Noah Hart, a Georgia native, began his training with the Houston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet Theatre, Ballet Met, South Carolina Dance Conservatory and Atlanta Ballet. Noah is a graduate of the Houston Ballet Academy and a former company member of Houston Ballet where he performed in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker, Five Poems, Dusk, Cleopatra, Don Quixote, Alice in Wonderland, Paul Taylor’s In the Beginning, and Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan. With the Alabama Ballet Noah has performed the Principal roles in Paquita, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, and the Balcony Pas de Deux from Van Fleteren’s Romeo & Juliet. He has also been seen in The Sleeping Beauty, Concert Fantasy, Giselle, and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

Luke Joiner is delighted to return to the Alabama Ballet for his sixth season. With the Alabama Ballet, Luke has been seen in An American in Paris as Jerry along with other featured roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Don Quixote, George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, Serenade, and The Nutcracker, Teri Weksler’s Quixotic, Leslie Browne’s Brahm’s Trio, Marius Petipa’s Carnival In Venice, and Concert Fantasy, unRAVELed, Shostakovich Opus 102, Swan Lake, Flames of Paris pas de deux, Le Corsaire pas de deux, Romeo & Juliet, Giselle, Firebird, Dracula, Graduation Ball, Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are, Coppelia, Le Corsaire as Conrad, George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, and Jordan Morris’ Verdi.

David Kiyak a native of Athens, Alabama, is excited to join the Alabama Ballet for his first season. David began his early training at the age of seven with Susan Fisher of the Dance Factory. At fourteen , he joined the Huntsville Ballet Company under the direction of Clinton Rothwell. While with the Huntsville Ballet, he danced leading roles in The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf, as well as performing in Clinton Rothwell’s Pathos, Plus-one, Comedians and Liason. In April of 2007, David won the Joshua Bridger Carlino Award for best male performer at the Regional Dance America’s National Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has had the opportunity to perform as a guest artist with the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, as well as perform Twyla Tharpe’s Tarelli in Chico, California. David gives all glory to God for the gift of dance in his life.

Tatiana Ledovskikh comes to the company from the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia. A native of Vornez, Russia, she trained at the Vornez Ballet School. Tatiana has performed principal roles in the major classical ballets with the Bolshoi, and performed as a guest artist throughout Europe. In 1986 she was awarded the Glinki State Award for outstanding achievement in the fine arts. Since joining the Alabama Ballet in 1997, Tatiana has performed as The Firebird, Giselle, Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty. She has also performed the Principal roles in Bolero, The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Oh, Sweet Sebastian, Be Major, Coppelia, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Romeo & Juliet, Balanchine's Serenade and Leslie Browne's Brahm's Trio. Ms. Ledovskikh has also staged Marius Petipa's Carnival in Venice and Yuri Grigorvich's Raymonda, Gluck Pas de Deux and Tango for the Alabama Ballet.

Benjamin Linn, an Ohio native, began his ballet training with Richard Early of Cincinnati Ballet and later continued his training at the University of Cincinnati with Robert Cole and Jade Adams. He has performed with Nashville Ballet, Alabama Dance Theatre, Red Mountain Theatre Company, Santa Barbara Ballet and Hosanna Sacred Arts. Ben began working as a guest artist with the Alabama Ballet in 2001 and joined the Company in 2003. Since then, Ben has appeared with the Company in Don Quixote, Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, An American in Paris, Carousel, The Firebird, Song & Dance, Van Fleteren’s unRAVELed, Shostakovich Opus 102, Concert Fantasy, Alan Hineline’s Twist, Teri Weksler’s Quixotic, Leslie Browne’s Brahm’s Trio, Kenneth Tolle’s Thorns and Images of Faith, Trey McIntire’s Aliss in Wonderland and George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, The Nutcracker, Serenade and Stars and Stripes. His featured roles include Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Cavalier in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Sea Creature in Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are, Von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Van Helsing in Dracula, Hilarion in Giselle, Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Lilac Cavalier in The Sleeping Beauty. Ben is also a member of the Gorham’s Bluff residency.

Kelli Murdock, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, received her early training from Angela Tower Walker. After graduating from the Alabama Ballet School, Kelli was invited to join the company in 2005. Kelli’s featured roles with the Alabama Ballet include Marzipan, Tea and Harlequin Doll in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Other perfomances include Dracula, Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Paquita, Giselle and the Sleeping Beauty. In 2007, Kelli was a guest artist with the New Orleans Ballet Theatre, performing roles in Les Sylphide and Balanchine’s Concerto BaRocco.

Chinatsu Owada was born in Tokyo and raised in Sapporo, Japan where she studied under Noriko Koizumi, Tadao Ueda, Elena Lelenkova and Jan Nuitz, and is a graduate of the Houston Ballet Academy. Chinatsu performs every summer in Japan, she has danced the principal roles in Cinderella, La Sylphide, The Sleeping Beauty, and Raymonda, as well as Le Corsaire pas de deux as a guest for a charity performance in Sapporo. Chinatsu joined the Alabama Ballet in 2002. With the company she has danced Cygnets in Swan Lake, Dawn in Coppelia, Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Generosity and White Cat in The Sleeping Beauty, Fouette Girl in Graduation Ball, as well as soloist roles in Giselle, Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet. Chinatsu has also been seen in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Serenade, Donizetti Variations and Stars & Stripes, Teri Weksler’s Quixotic, Alan Hineline’s Twist, Roger Van Fleteren’s Be Major , as a Vampiress in Dracula and as Sea Creature in Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are. She attended the RAD teacher’s training course this past summer and is a faculty member at the Alabama Ballet Center for Dance.

Brandon Ragland, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, received his early training from Jacqueline Crenshaw Lockhart. He continued his dance training at the Alabama School of Fine Arts under Therese Laegar, Mimi Twyman, Hedi Khursandi, Mary Jo Misra and Thaddeus Davis. Upon graduating from ASFA, Brandon attended the University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa and under Butler University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Dance-Arts Administration. While at Butler University he had the opportunity to perform soloist and principal roles in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty, and Torelli choreographed by Twyla Tharp. Brandon is very excited to be dancing with the Alabama Ballet this season and would like to thank his family for their support.

Jamorris Rivers began his early training with the Lynn Curtis Academy of Arts and on scholarship with the Alabama School of Fine Arts Summer Intensive. In 2004 Jamorris was featured in Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s Work in Progress during the Complexions Contemporary Dance Company’s Summer Residency. Jamorris is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he was seen in Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake Pas de Deux. With Alabama Ballet he has been seen in Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Van Fleteren’s Concert Fantasy and Weksler’s Quixotic. Jamorris was most recently seen in Europe performing with Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s contemporary dance company Complexions.

Justin Matthew Segura, a native of Southern California, returns to Alabama Ballet for his 3rd season. He began his training at Riverside Ballet Arts where he received scholarships to attend Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and the Joffrey Ballet School of New York. After concluding his training with Prima Ballerina Maniya Barredo's Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, he continues to work in numerous productions including principal roles in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Since joining Alabama Ballet, Justin has performed Pas de Deux in Brahm's Trio, Dracula, & An American in Paris. Other favorites include, Van Fleteran's Shostakovich, UnRAVELed, and Concert Fantasy. Justin has performed at the Gorham's Bluff Summer Residency for the past 2 years.

Kelly Walsh - Bio to come

Jenna McKerrow Wilson, a native of Gaithersburg, MD, began her training at the Washington School of Ballet and continued at Houston Ballet Academy. She has performance experience with The Washington Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Since joining the Alabama Ballet in 2001, Jenna has danced principal and soloist roles in Paquita, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Swan Lake, Flames of Paris, and Flower Festival. She has worked with Leslie Browne in Brahm’s Trio and with Roger Van Fleteren in unRAVELed, Concert Fantasy, and Tickling the Ivories. She has performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Principal Marzipan in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™, as well as roles in Donizetti Variations and Serenade. Jenna was priveledged to appear in Eliot Field’s Mr. XYZ with Mikhail Baryshnikov, is a member of the Gorham's Bluff Residency, and is on faculty with the Alabama Ballet School. She is also a representative of the Alabama Dance Council.