Mariano Albano

Originally from Phoenix, Mariano is in his seventh season with Louisville Ballet, previously dancing with Texas Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Arizona and Oklahoma Festival Ballet. Major roles include The Moor in Moor’s Pavane; Fredrick and Renfield in Dracula; Tybalt, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet; and Oberon and Puck in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. Highlights of his contemporary repertoire include Troy Game, Death and the Maiden, Prawn Watching, Mare Nostrum, Carmina Burana, The Green Table, Jardi Tancat and Going for Baroque. He has danced ballets by Adam Hougland, Twyla Tharp, Helen Pickett, Val Caniparoli, Choo-San Goh and Paul Taylor.

Natalia Ashikhmina

Born in Bratsk, Russia, Natalia graduated from the world-renowned Novosibirsk Ballet Academy. She was a prima ballerina at Russia State Ballet in Moscow and Ballet Internationale. Natalia won the Audience Award at 1998 International Competition Arabesque and a gold medal at the 1999 Competition of Professional Ballet Academies. She performed at the 2004 Gala des Etoiles Montreal and has toured three continents. Her repertoire includes over 100 performances of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle in Giselle, Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Zabeida in Scheherezade. This is Natalia’s fourth season with the Louisville Ballet.

Mikelle Bruzina

A native of Lexington, Mikelle is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.  This marks her fifteenth year with the Louisville Ballet and her sixth season as a Principal dancer.  Mikelle is known for her diversity in classical ballet as well as modern and contemporary ballets.  Her classical repertoire includes, Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Anna Karenina, Three Musketeers, The Nutcracker, The Great Gatsby, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. She has also been featured in works by Mark Godden, Adam Hougland, David Parsons, Choo-San Gogh, Helen Pickett, Paul Taylor and Anthony Tudor.  Mikelle is active as a choreographer having created four works for the Company and is the recipient of the Choo-San Gogh Award for Choreography.   As of this season, Mikelle has also been named as a Rehearsal Assistant to the Louisville Ballet.

Joseph Nygren Cox

Joseph began his training and professional career with Ballet Austin under Eugene Slavin and Alexandra Nadal. He has danced and choreographed for the Cincinnati and Dayton Ballets. This is Joseph’s thirteenth season with the Louisville Ballet. Favorite roles include Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Vronsky in Anna Karenina and George Balanchine’s Who Cares? Last season, Joseph performed Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, Pring Charming in Cinderella, in Bruce Marks’ Lark Ascending and Val Caniparoli’s Vivace. He serves on faculty with the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. The Kentucky Arts Council recently awarded Joseph the 2009 Al Smith Fellowship for Choreography.

Phillip Velinov

A Bulgarian native, Phillip trained at the Sofia State Choreographic School, graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and joined the Alabama Ballet. He won the first full performing arts scholarship in the 150-year history of Birmingham-Southern College, receiving a B.A. in dance with honors. Phillip won the 1998 Birmingham Fine Arts Society Award for Excellence in Dance. Prior to joining the Louisville Ballet, he was a soloist with Ballet Internationale. Phillip’s repertoire includes lead roles performed on three continents in Paquita, Esmeralda, Le Corsaire, Romeo and Juliet, 1001 Nights, Don Quixote, Carmen, Giselle and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Helen Daigle

A native of Louisiana, Helen returns for her twelfth season with the Louisville Ballet. She has trained with the Decatur School of Ballet, the Dancer’s Workshop, The Joffrey Ballet School and The School of American Ballet. Prior to turning professional, she danced with the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre for eight years. Helen began her professional career with Feld Ballets/New York and has performed with Ballet Hispanico and the Miami City Ballet. She has performed featured roles in a range of works including Lark Ascending, In the Glow of the Night, Cold Virtues, Who Cares?, Scheherazade, Company B and The Magic Flute.

Erica De La O

Born in Los Angeles, Erica studied at Le Studio in Pasadena, Calif., and danced with Columbia City Ballet prior to joining the Louisville Ballet in 2003. Repertoire highlights include Giselle, Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Paquita, Gamonet’s Nous Sommes, Stevenson’s Four Last Songs, Dying Swan, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Milady in Prokovsky’s The Three Musketeers, Hougland’s Freeflow and Fragile Stasis, McDowney’s Group Therapy and Taylor’s Company B. Erica was awarded second place at the 1997 Spotlight Awards, was the 1999 John Orr Award recipient and was invited to perform in the 2003 New York International Ballet Competition Gala.

Christy Corbitt Miller

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Christy is returning for her seventh season with the Company. Since joining the Louisville Ballet, she has danced principal and soloist roles in Who Cares?, Agon, Lambarena, Serenade, Four Last Songs and Les Sylphides. Previously, she danced with Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis, and most recently, Texas Ballet Theater, where she performed title roles in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella and Giselle. Christy has enjoyed more contemporary roles in Paul Taylor’s Company B; Stanton Welch’s Fingerprints; Lila York’s Rapture; Trey McIntyre’s Aliss in Wonderland; and Adam Hougland’s Devolve, Made to Be Broken and Fragile Stasis.

Kristopher Wojtera

Born in Poland, Kristopher graduated from National Ballet School in Gdansk. He danced with Polish National Theatre, where he portrayed roles in a variety of classical and contemporary ballets throughout Europe. Upon moving to the United States, he became a soloist with Columbia City Ballet and joined the Louisville Ballet in 2003. In 2007 Kristopher was invited to perform as a guest artist with Ballet Theatre Midwest, San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet and Cordina Ballet, among others. He recently completed his fourth summer participating in the National Choreographers Initiative held in Irvine, Calif.

Amanda Diehl

A native of Spokane, Wash., Amanda graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts. She joined the Louisville Ballet in 2000 and was promoted to 2nd Soloist in 2007. Amanda’s repertoire includes Going for Baroque; Romeo and Juliet; In the Glow of the Night; Anna Karenina; several Balanchine ballets including Rubies, Agon, Who Cares?, Serenade; and a variety of roles in Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. She has most recently danced in Mark Godden’s The Magic Flute, Twyla Tharp’s Golden Section and Paul Taylor’s Company B and has worked with choreographers including Helen Pickett, Graham Lustig, Val Caniparoli and Adam Hougland.

Robert Dunbar

A native of High Point, N.C., Robert returns for his eighth season with the company. In recent years, he has performed a variety of roles including Bugle Boy in Paul Taylor’s Company B, Beast in Domy Reiter-Soffer’s Beauty and the Beast, Papagano in Mark Godden’s The Magic Flute, and numerous soloist and corps roles in both classical and contemporary works. Robert attended school at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied under the late Melissa Hayden and the late Duncan Noble.

Kathleen Dwyer

Originally from Philadelphia, Pa., Kathleen began her training under Olga Kresin. She graduated from Mercyhurst College with a B.A. in dance and arts administration. Kathleen has danced with Lake Erie Ballet, Channel Islands Ballet and Charleston Ballet Theatre, performing in a variety of ballets such as Don Quixote, The House of Bernarda Alba and Balanchine’s Apollo and Valse Fantasie. Now in her fifth season with the Louisville Ballet, she has been featured here in various classical and contemporary works like Four Last Songs, Lambarena, Agon, The Sleeping Beauty, Vespri and The Magic Flute.

Eduard Forehand

Eduard Forehand began training at the age of nine with Thomas Armour in Miami FL. Upon graduation, he continued his studies at Nutmeg Conservatory before accepting his first contract with The Richmond Ballet. While there, Eduard enjoyed performing in Nuevo Tango and a lead role in Gershwin by George. After leaving Richmond, he ventured to Charleston Ballet Theatre where he performed in Jill Bahr’s Rite of Spring and Seven Deadly Sins among others. Following Charleston, Eduard joined Augusta Ballet then on to Dayton Ballet where he performed leading roles in Carmina Burana, Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Thresholds II.  This is Eduard’s first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Brian Grant

Brian Grant received his B.F.A. in theatre arts with an emphasis in dance performance from Northern Illinois University (NIU). Raised in Rockford, Ill., he was a member of the Rockford Dance Company from 1999 to 2001 and also danced with Northern Dance Theater during his tenure with NIU. Brian has performed a varied repertoire, including roles in Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Le Corsaire, Paquita, Raymonda, Troy Game, Vivace by Val Caniparoli and the world premiere of Adam Hougland‘s Rite of Spring. Brian has also performed pieces choreographed by emerging choreographers such as Lee-Wei Chao and David Ingram.

Morgan Hulen

Morgan began his ballet training in his hometown of Columbia, Mo. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts as a ballet major and studied with the Hungarian National Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Minnesota Ballet. He previously danced in the Corps de Ballet of the Louisville Ballet and as a principal dancer with the multi-form dance company Tapestry in Austin, Texas. Morgan danced as a guest artist with companies around the country prior to returning to Louisville in 2007. He is also a dance instructor and choreographer who has won top choreographic honors for several pieces.

Yuki Komazaki

Originally from Saitama, Japan, Yuki began her ballet training at age four with the Kaori Tokoi Ballet Academy in Japan. In 1993, she was accepted to the Tachibana Ballet School in Tokyo and also attended the Asami Maki ballet training program. In 1999, she joined the Asami Maki Ballet under the directorship of Kyozo Mitani. Yuki won a silver medal at the 59th Tokyo National Ballet Competition in 2001 and was a semi-finalist in the Asia-Pacific International Ballet Competition. Yuki joined the Orlando Ballet in 2005 under the artistic direction of Fernando Bujones and, later, Bruce Marks. This is her second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Pete Lay

Now in his third season with the Louisville Ballet, Pete has been featured as Tom in Andre Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby and as Tico in Paul Taylor’s Company B. Before joining the Louisville Ballet, he graduated with a B.A. in dance pedagogy from Butler University.  Pete has numerous theatrical credits with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Music Theatre of Wichita and, most recently, with Music Theatre of Louisville as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain.

Emily Reinking O’Dell

Originally from Ft. Wayne, Ind., Emily trained and danced with the Ft. Wayne Ballet under the direction of Michael Tevlin, Judy Jacob and Robert Kelley. She earned her B.S. in ballet and arts administration from Indiana University in 2000, joining the Louisville Ballet that same year. Emily has enjoyed working with Adam Hougland on Cold Virtues, Devolve, Made to Be Broken and Fragile Stasis. Other favorite roles include Company B, Fairy of Charm (The Sleeping Beauty), Pas de Trois (Agon and Raymonda), Red Girls (Les Patineurs) and Domani (Nine Sinatra Songs). Emily welcomed her first child, Maya Kennedy, in 2008.

Nobuyoshi Okada

Originally from Okayama, Japan, Nobuyoshi began his ballet training at the Yukimo Tsutsumi Ballet. In 1998, he was accepted at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (RWB), graduating in 2000. While at the RWB School, he received the Prince Edward Award in 1999. Nobuyoshi joined the Orlando Ballet in 2001, first under the direction of Fernando Bujones and then Bruce Marks. This is his second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Douglas Ruiz

A native of Puerto Rico, Douglas began his training with Roberto Rodriguez. In 2004, he graduated from Virginia School of the Arts and later joined Milwaukee Ballet II. While there, he performed roles in ballets such as Michael Pink’s Dracula and Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade. In 2006, he joined the Louisville Ballet.  During his tenure, he has danced in a wide variety of ballets including Adam Hougland’s Fragile Stasis and Rite of Spring, Mark Godden’s Magic Flute, Helen Pickett’s upon your held out hand, Lila York’s Celts, Andre Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby, Bruce Marks’ Lark Ascending and Val Caniparoli’s Vivace. This is Douglas fourth season with the Louisville Ballet.

Kateryna Sellers

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Kateryna returns for her fifth season with the Louisville Ballet. She began her training in Toronto at Sean Boutilier Academy of Dance under Glenn Gilmour and Dance Teq under Kevin Pugh. In 2005, Kateryna graduated from Butler University with a B.F.A. in dance performance. While at the Louisville Ballet, Kateryna has danced roles such as “Autumn Fairy” in Cinderella, “Pas de Trois” in The Sleeping Beauty and Raymonda and “One For my Baby” from Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs. She has also enjoyed performing ballets such as Adam Hougland’s Fragile Stasis and Rite of Spring, Company B, Agon, Lambarena, Celts, Vivace and Etesian. In June, Kateryna married fellow dancer Pete Lay.

Tawnee Thompson

Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Tawnee trained at the North Star Ballet School under the direction of Norman Shelburne and Sue Perry. She returns for her fifth season with the Louisville Ballet. While with the Company, she has performed in such ballets as Paquita, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Graham Lustig’s Between Stillness, Lila York’s Celts, Val Caniparoli’s Vivace, and Adam Hougland’s Right of Spring. Tawnee is also a choreographer who’s latest work, Fly Trapped in a Jar, has been performed several times in promotion of the Louisville Ballet.

Rachel Cahayla-Wynne

Originally from Ringwood, N.J., Rachel returns for her fourth season with Louisville Ballet. She began her training with Irine Fokine at the Irine Fokine School of Ballet and continued on to study at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. While dancing with Louisville Ballet, Rachel completed her B.F.A and graduated with honors. She has danced lead roles in ballets such as Serenade, Paquita, La Bayadere, and The Nutcracker. Rachel has also performed with Dayton Ballet, Staten Island Ballet, and Dance China New York.

John Cartwright

John Cartwright is originally from Madisonville, KY and began his dance training in Evansville, IN. He has trained with the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Austin, National Taiwan University of the Arts and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. John is a graduate of Butler University where he received a B.S. in Dance-Arts Administration. He has also worked with Ballet Arkansas, the Indianapolis Opera, and Louisville’s Moving Collective. This is his second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Mónica Muñoz

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mónica trained with Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, dancing roles in Serenade, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia, Don Quixote and Les Sylphides among others. In 2005, she joined Milwaukee Ballet II, performing in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Swan Lake, and Kathryn Posin’s Sheherazade. Since joining the Louisville Ballet, Mónica has danced in such ballets as Domy Reiter-Soffer’s Beauty and the Beast, Raymonda, The Sleeping Beauty, Paul Taylor’s Company B, André Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby, and Val Caniparoli’s Vivace. Her teachers include Carlota Carrera, Sylvia Marichal, Maria Carrera and Lourdes Gómez.

Benjamin Needham-Wood

Ben returns to the Louisville Ballet for his second season with the Company. He received his early training with such companies as Dance Prism, St. Paul’s School Ballet Company, Boston Ballet, and the American Ballet Theater. He has performed professionally with Dance China New York, Dance Prism, Dayton Ballet, and the Marion Ballet Theater. Recently, Ben competed in the 10th New York International Ballet Competition where he performed in the Gala, receiving a favorable review from The New York Times. Ben is also currently a full time student at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he will be earning a BFA in Ballet at the end of 2009.

Edward Urwin

Raised in Doylestown, PA, Edward trained at American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School and attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre – New York and Oregon Ballet Theater. As a student, he appeared with American Repertory Ballet in Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella. Edward has danced with Opera New Jersey and Boheme Opera (NJ), performing in West SIde Story as A-rab and Dream Ballet Tony. As a trainee with Ballet Florida, Edward performed in Marie Hale’s The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and Vicente Nebrada’s Cinderella. Edward is joining the Louisville Ballet for his first season.

Leigh Anne Albrechta

Raised in Fremont, Ohio, Leigh Anne began her training at Fremont Ballet and Ballet Theatre of Toledo. At sixteen she attended The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts as a scholarship recipient. She then joined North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT) as a trainee under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. In her second season at NCDT, Leigh Anne was appointed an apprentice and danced as a member of NCDT2 under Mark Diamond. She has attended summer programs at BalletMet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Austin, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Richmond Ballet (scholarship) and Chautauqua Ballet (scholarship). This is Leigh Anne’s first season with Louisville Ballet.

Kirsten Allman

Kirsten Allman is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She received her training from NAYB

(New American Youth Ballet) and studied under Mrs. Beth McLeish. She continued her training on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet in the Professional Division, where she performed in The Nutcracker and La Source and understudied roles in Swan Lake and Symphony in C. Kirsten has attended summer programs at the The Rock School, Miami City Ballet, Orlando Ballet. She has attended four summer sessions with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pittsburg Ballet, where she has performed Theme and Variations and Raymonda. This is Kirsten’s first season with Louisville Ballet.

Elizabeth Ashbaugh

Elizabeth began her formal dance training at the Kansas City Ballet School, under Karen P. Brown and William Whitener. She was tutored by the late Todd Bolender and selected to be a Student Apprentice. Elizabeth continued her training at Butler University where she graduated with honors receiving a BFA in dance performance. Last year, she attended the Graduate Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. She has also attended summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Lines Ballet with Alonzo King, and Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet. This is Elizabeth’s first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Allison Healy

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Allison received her training from the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre and Tupelo Academy of Dance Arts. After high school, she was accepted into the dance program at Butler University where she was a member of the Butler Ballet and Butler Chamber Dance. There she obtained her B.F.A. in dance performance. She has attended summer programs at the Alabama Ballet and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet in addition to studying and performing in Poland. This is Allison’s first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Shannon Hokanson

Born and raised in Columbia, S.C., Shannon trained at the Columbia Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Mariclare Miranda and William Starrett. There, she received the Serge Lavoie Award for Achievement in Dance, created in memory of her late teacher and mentor. At sixteen, she joined Columbia City Ballet before moving to Pittsburgh to continue her training in the Graduate Program at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. She has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Washington Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theater. This is Shannon’s second season with Louisville Ballet.

Claire Laine

Claire trained at the Saint Paul City Ballet in her native Saint Paul, Minn., where she studied under Wilor Bluege, Karen Paulson Rivet, Barbara Christian and Ted Sothern. While there, she performed in excerpts from Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Raymonda, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Les Sylphides as well as the original productions of A Christmas Carol and The Golden Bough. Claire has also performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Ballet under the direction of Phillip Carman and attended summer programs at Louisville Ballet and The Royal Ballet School. This is her second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Jennifer LaWall

Jennifer began her training at Monona Academy of Dance in Monona, Wisconsin under the direction of Jo Jean Retrum, Jason Cisler, and Nicole Cisler.  She continued her training at Butler University where she recently received a BFA in Dance Performance.  While at Butler, Jennifer had the opportunity to dance principle roles inCinderella, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Serenade, and Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom. She has attended summer programs at Ballet Austin, Orlando Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Ballet West.  This is Jennifer’s first season with Louisville Ballet.

Jarrin Overholt

Born in Bulgaria and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Jarrin started his dance training at the age of seven at the North Star Ballet under the direction of Norman Shelbourne and Sue Perry. There, he trained in the Cecchetti and Bournonville techniques. Jarrin has attended summer programs with Alonazo King’s Lines Ballet and Kansas City Ballet. This is Jarrin’s first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Emily Scott

Emily Scott, a native of Ft. Thomas Kentucky, has studied at the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet. A graduate of Butler University as a Dance Pedagogy major, she performed in many featured roles in The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Serenade, Cinderella and roles in the classics The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, and Giselle. She had the privilege to perform “Kitri” from Don Quixote with Northern Illinois University for their 30^th Anniversary Gala. She joins the Louisville Ballet for this her first season.

Kate Simpson

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Kate trained at the Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Gilbert Rome and Victoria Vittum. There, she was granted the Daisy Rome Scholarship by Clara Cravey. She has attended numerous summer programs including Joffrey San Antonio Workshop, Boston Summer Dance Program, as well as the Atlanta Ballet summer program for four summers, two of them in the professional division. Additionally, Kate trained with Barbara LeGault and Naomi Glass, former Houston Ballet soloist. This is Kate’s first season with Louisville Ballet.

Ashley Thursby

Originally from Richmond, MO., Ashley trained with the Kansas City Ballet School, where she spent her senior year as a student apprentice. She has attended summer programs at Jillana, San Francisco Ballet, School of American Ballet and Alonzo King’s LINES Pre-Professional Program. Ashley graduated from Indiana University with a BSOF in ballet and journalism. While at IU, she performed numerous roles, including Clara and The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Principal role in Walpurgisnacht and the White Pas de Deux in Les Patineurs. Last year, she was featured in Val Caniparoli’s Vivace. Ashley returns for her second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Jason Wang

Raised in Ames, IA, Jason began his journey through dance as a break-dancer with the Floor Spiders Crew to later find his love for classical ballet. At 19, he enrolled at the Robert Thomas Dancenter under the guidance of Bob and Miyoko Kato Thomas and Michael Fothergill. Jason continued his training at the University of Iowa, while there he trained and worked with Deanna Carter, George de la Pena, Donald McKayle, Alan Sener, and Eloy Barragan. Jason has also attended summer programs at Milwaukee Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. This will be Jason’s first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Jessica Wheeler

An Ohio native, Jessica trained in Dayton with Barbara Pontecorvo. She has attended summer programs at Virginia School of the Arts, School of Ballet Chicago and Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where at sixteen, she accepted a scholarship for their year-round program. She trained there for two years with Claudio Munoz, performing in various pieces, including Stanton Welch’s Bruiser. Jessica then danced in the Graduate Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre performing with the Company in The Nutcracker. This is Jessica’s second season with the Louisville Ballet having performed last season with the Company in Celts, The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Vivace’.

Brienne Wiltsie

Brienne was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She trained with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School throughout high school before joining Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for two seasons. Some of the ballets she had the opportunity to perform while with that company include Swan Lake, Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs. Brienne also enjoyed teaching ballet classes while studying as a history major at the University of Pittsburgh. This is her first season with the Louisville Ballet.

Emily Woods

Born and raised in Louisville, Ky., Emily is a graduate of the Louisville Ballet School and the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble. She has spent the last two years studying in New York City with Edward Ellison at the Ellison Ballet-Professional Training Program. Emily has also attended summer programs with American Ballet Theatre and Orlando Ballet on scholarship. This is Emily second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Anna Young

Raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Anna trained at the Columbia Ballet School under Anita Ashley, Ann Kent, and McCree O’Kelley. At 15, she began attending high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), where she trained under Nina Danilova, and Nigel Burley. She graduated from UNCSA in 2009. Anna has attended summer programs at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Kaatsbaan, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Atlanta Ballet. This is her first season with the Louisville Ballet.