Company | Trainees

Leigh Anne Albrechta Originally from Fremont, Ohio, Leigh Anne trained at Fremont Ballet under the direction of Ernst Hillenbrand and at Ballet Theatre of Toledo with Nigel Burgoine and Anne Marie Getz. She attended The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts as a scholarship recipient and graduated in 2007. She danced with North Carolina Dance Theatre for two years as a trainee and apprentice where she performed in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Romeo and Juliet and Dwight Rhoden’s world premiere of Othello. This is Leigh Anne’s third season with the Louisville Ballet. Since joining the Company she has especially enjoyed performing roles in Swan Lake, Smiling Underneath, Giselle and Rite of Spring. Additionally, she teaches Yoga for the Louisville Ballet School’s Adult Division.

Natalia Ashikhmina Born in Bratsk, Russia, Natalia graduated from the world-renowned Novosibirsk Ballet Academy studying under Tatiana Sulimova and Tatiana Kapustina. She accepted Vyacheslav Gordeyev's invitation and became the youngest prima ballerina of the Russian National Ballet in Moscow where she worked with Andrey Kudeline and partnered with Yuri Burlaka. Five years later, Eldar Aliev offered Natalia a principal position with Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis where she worked with legends Irina Kolpakova and Vladilen Simeonov. Natalia joined the Louisville Ballet as a principal dancer in 2006. Here, she has the privilege of working with Bruce Simpson, Helen Starr, Alun Jones, Harald Uwe Kern and a multitude of wonderful choreographers and stagers. Her repertoire includes Princess Aurora in (The Sleeping Beauty), Giselle (Giselle), Nikiya (La Bayadere), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Zabeida (Scheherazade), The Sylph (La Sylphide), Kitri (Don Quixote), Daisy (Andre Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby), The Dying Swan, Helen Picket’s Etisian, Val Caniparoli’s Vivacé and over 100 performances as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake). Natalia won the Audience Award at the 1998 International Ballet Competition Arabesque, a gold medal at the 1999 Competition of Professional Ballet Academies in Russia, performed at the 2004 Gala des Etoiles in Montreal and holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Novosibirsk Choreographic College. She and her family now call Louisville home.

Caroline Betancourt Originally from Miami, FL, Caroline began her training with the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet under the direction of Mariana Alvarez-Brake and Ruth Wiesen. She attended New World School of the Arts High School where she continued to study ballet and modern. In June 2010, she received her BFA in ballet from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Under the diligent guidance of her instructors she has been able to participate in numerous ballet competitions. Caroline won her first competition, the American Ballet Competition, at age fifteen. At seventeen, she was honored to participate in the VIII USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. In 2009, she was privileged to compete in the Tenth New York International Ballet Competition with Ben Needham-Wood – being one of twenty-four couples from around the world chosen to compete. She was also privileged to compete in the first Boston International Ballet Competition with Evgeni Dokoukine in May of 2011 and in the World Ballet Competition in June 2011. Caroline joined the Louisville Ballet as a trainee in 2010 and performed roles in ballets such as Giselle, Raymonda, Four Seasons, The Brown-Forman Nutcracker, Coppelia, La Bayadere and Rite of Spring. Prior to joining the company she was also privileged to dance roles from the ballets Paquita, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris, Diana and Acteon, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. This is Caroline’s second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Rachel Cahayla-Wynne Originally from Ringwood, NJ, Rachel returns for her sixth 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 previously performed with Dayton Ballet, Staten Island Ballet and Dance China New York. Her repertoire includes dancing lead roles in ballets such as Serenade, Paquita, La Bayadere and The Nutcracker and has most recently been seen performing the Pas de Trois in Raymonda, one of the three Shades in La Bayadere, a Friend in Coppelia, one of the four Cygnets in Swan Lake and also in Adam Hougland's Rite of Spring.

Helen Daigle A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Helen is pleased to return for her fourteenth season with the Louisville Ballet. She received her training at the Decatur School of Ballet, the Dancer’s Workshop, The Joffrey Ballet School and The School of American Ballet. She began performing with the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre and has danced professionally with Feld Ballets/New York, Ballet Hispanico and the Miami City Ballet. Helen has performed featured roles in a range of works including Lark Ascending, In the Glow of the Night, Who Cares?, Serenade, Lamberena, Scheherazade, Company B, Etesian and Beyond. Helen has performed principal roles in such full length ballets as The Magic Flute, Don Quixote, Giselle, Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. She has originated roles in Adam Hougland’s Cold Virtues, Made to Be Broken, Fragile Stasis, Devolve and Rite of Spring. Helen has also had the pleasure of staging Cold Virtues and Rite of Spring for the Louisville Ballet. In 2009, with the launch of the new Brown-Forman Nutcracker, Helen took on the role of the Rehearsal Assistant for The Nutcracker children’s cast and has enjoyed taking care of the children every year since.

Erica De La O Born in Los Angeles, California, Erica De La O trained at Le Studio under the direction of Cynthia Young, Phillip and Charles Fuller and continued studies with Stephan Wenta, Alicia Head and Daylena Ruiz. Erica danced with Columbia City Ballet before joining the Louisville Ballet as a First Soloist in 2003. She has performed the lead roles in works such as Simpson’s Giselle and Swan Lake; Jones’s Cinderella, Coppelia and Nutcracker; Balanchine’s Theme and Variations; Prokovsky’s The Three Musketeers; Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker and Four Seasons; and Heather Maloy’s Vampire. De La O’s repertory includes Hougland’s Cold Virtues, Fragile Stasis, Fleeflow, and Rite of Spring; Gamonet’s Nous Sommes; Stevenson’s Four Last Songs; McDowney‘s Group Therapy and Por El Fuego; Ashton’s Les Patineus; Cipolla’s Breathless; Picket’s Etesian; Choo-San Goh‘s In the Glow of Night; Taylor's Company B among others. De La O was awarded 2nd place at the Music Center Spotlight Awards of Los Angeles and is a recipient of the 1999 John Orr Award from the Pasadena Arts Council. She was a finalist at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2003 and was invited to perform in the NYIBC Gala Performance at Lincoln Center receiving a favorable review from The New York Times.

Amanda Diehl A native of Spokane, WA, 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? and Serenade and a variety of roles in Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. A few of her favorites have been Mark Godden’s The Magic Flute, Twyla Tharp’s Golden Section and Nine Sinatra Songs and Paul Taylor’s Company B. She has most recently been seen in Giselle, Raymonda and Four Seasons by Val Caniparoli and has worked with choreographers including Helen Pickett, Graham Lustig, Val Caniparoli and Adam Hougland. In April, Amanda welcomed her new daughter, Corinne, to the world.

Evgeni Dokoukine Born in Moscow, Evgeni Dokoukine began his classical ballet training at age nine with teacher Yuri Vrazhkin. In 2003, he attended Canada’s National Ballet School and then in 2005, the School of Canadian Ballet Theatre under Artistic Director Nadia Veselova-Tencer. Evgeni has performed with The National Ballet of Canada, Canadian Ballet Theatre, Ballet Espressivo and Israel National Ballet. His classical repertoire includes Prince Seigfried and Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Prince Desiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Pas De Trois and Arabian Doll in The Nutcracker, Solor in La Bayadère and Basil in Don Quixote. Evgeni has also performed works by various contemporary choreographers including: Val Caniparoli, Adam Hougland and Vladimir Ivanov. In 2009, Evgeni was the silver medal winner in the Pas De Deux category at the Youth American Grand Prix Finals in New York. The same year he also performed in the Young Medalists Ballet Gala at the Miami International Ballet Festival. This is his second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Robert Dunbar A native of High Point, N.C., Robert returns for his ninth 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.

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 and recently dance the role of Solar from La Baydere. This is Eduard’s third 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 varied repertoire includes roles in Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Le Corsaire, Paquita, Raymonda, Troy Game, Vivacé 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. This is his seventh season with the Louisville Ballet.

Shannon Hokanson Born and raised in Columbia, SC, 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 fourth season with Louisville Ballet.

Kazuki Ichihashi Born in Nagoya City, Japan, Kazuki studied ballet at Reiko Matsuoka Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Miami City Ballet School, and has danced with Orlando Ballet. His repertoire includes Golden Idol in La Bayadère, Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese diverts among other roles in The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Who Cares?, Borelo, and many other contemporary roles. Kazuki received a gold medal in the Kobe All Japan Competition, a gold medal in the Nagoya All Japan Competition and a bronze medal in the Saitama All Japan Competition. This is Kazuki’s second season with Louisville Ballet.

Christy Corbitt Miller Originally from Atlanta, Christy returns for her ninth season with the Louisville Ballet. Some favorite classical roles with the Company include principal roles in Giselle, La Bayadere and Les Sylphides. She has also enjoyed dancing a wide variety of more contemporary and neo-classical work including ballets by Helen Pickett, Val Caniparoli, Paul Taylor, Adam Hougland, Ben Stevenson, OBE. and George Balanchine. Prior to joining the Louisville Ballet, she danced with the Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Memphis and the Texas Ballet Theater where she performed title roles in Giselle and Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, as well as the role of Graziella in a collaborative production of West Side Story with Fort Worth's renowned Casa Manana theater company. Additionally, Christy teaches for the Louisville Ballet School in the Intermediate Division.

Robert Morrow Rob Morrow began his ballet training in New Orleans, Louisiana with Delta Festival Ballet and went on to train at renowned schools such as Virginia School of the Arts and The Joffrey Ballet School of NYC. Professionally, he’s danced for Nashville Ballet, Delta Festival Ballet, and Dayton Ballet. Some of his favorite roles include ‘Smee’ in Septime Webre’s Peter Pan, ’Renfield’ in Stuart Sebastion’s Dracula, as well as being featured in Alan Hineline’s Thresholds II. This is Rob’s second season with the Louisville Ballet.

Ben Needham-Wood Ben is in his fourth season with the Louisville Ballet. While his dance education focused primarily on classical ballet technique, Ben has studied a variety of dance forms including modern, jazz, tap, hip hop, character dance and acrobatics. Since joining the Company, he has appeared in such classical ballets as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Giselle and Cinderella, and has performed principal and featured roles in contemporary works by Val Caniparoli, Adam Hougland, Matthew Neenan, Helen Pickett and Amy Seiwert. As a choreographer, Ben has created works for the Louisville Ballet’s Choreographers’ Showcase, the Louisville Ballet School Youth Ensemble, Fort Wayne Ballet and the Impact Dance Project. In June 2009, Ben competed in the 10th New York International Ballet Competition where he was invited to perform Paul Taylor’s Aureole pas de deux in the Gala performance, receiving a favorable review from The New York Times. Ben also competed in the first ever Boston International Ballet Competition. Ben graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, earning his BFA in Ballet.

Ian Poulis Originally from Long Island, New York, Ian returns for his second season with the Louisville Ballet. He has performed with Ballet Arizona, Ballet Met and Ballet Internationale-Indianapolis. Ian studied at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC primarily under Vladimir Djouloukhadze, Anatoli Kucheruk and Adrienne Dellas-Thorton. Notable Balanchine roles he has performed are Death in La Valse, 2nd Theme in The Four Temperaments, and a soloist in Rubies and Allegro Brilliante. In Bournonville and classical repertoire he performed the Pas de Six in Napoli and a lead student in Le Conservatorie, Espada in Don Quixote, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rothbart in Swan Lake, the Wolf and Puss-n-Boots in The Sleeping Beauty, the Forban soloist in Le Corsaire, Clopin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Drosselmeyer and the Snow King in The Nutcracker. Most notably last season with the Louisville Ballet, Ian mystified the Louisville audience with his interpretation as Drosselmeyer in Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker and later as the old Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia, as well as the lead character dancer in Raymonda. Ian has performed internationally and fulfilled a lifelong dream performing at the Kennedy Center in 2010 with Ballet Arizona.

Brandon Ragland A native of Birmingham, Alabama, received his early training from Jacqueline Crenshaw Lockhart and continued his dance training at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He graduated from Butler University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Dance-Arts Administration. He danced with Alabama Ballet for three seasons, where his roles included Jekyll in Roger Van Fleteren’s Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Benvolio in Van Fleteren’s Romeo & Juliet, Cavalier and Hot Chocolate in Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Prince Charming in Cinderella, and Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs. Since joining the Louisville Ballet, Brandon has performed Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker and The Seasons, Jorg Mannes’s contemporary Pas de Deux Marz as well as other classical and contemporary works. He also serves as a faculty member for the Louisville Ballet School. This is Brandon’s second season with the company.

Emily Reinking-O’Dell Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Emily trained and danced at the Fort Wayne Ballet under the direction of Michael Tevlin, Judy Jacob and Robert Kelley. She earned her BSOF in Ballet and Arts Administration from Indiana University in 2000, studying with Leslie Peck, Jacques Cesbron and Violette Verdy. She joined the Louisville Ballet that same year. Emily has enjoyed working with Adam Hougland on Cold Virtues, Devolve, Made to Be Broken, Fragile Stasis and Rite of Spring. Her favorite classical roles include Fairy of Charm in The Sleeping Beauty, Pas de Trois in Raymonda, Red Girls in Les Patineurs, Winter Fairy in Cinderella, Fairy Godmother in Beauty and the Beast, Juanita in Don Quixote and Two Swans in Swan Lake. Some of her favorite contemporary roles have been in Company B, Nine Sinatra Songs, Vivacé, Going for Baroque, Variations Serieuses, In the Glow of the Night, Agon, Rubies and Etesian. The highlight of last season was dancing the role of the Chosen One in Rite of Spring.

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, Douglas joined the Louisville Ballet. During his tenure, he has danced in a wide variety of ballets including Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Adam Hougland’s Fragile Stasis, Cold Virtues and Rite of Spring, Mark Godden’s Magic Flute, Helen Pickett’s upon your held out hand, André Prokovsky’s The Great Gatsby, Bruce Marks’ Lark Ascending, Val Caniparoli’s Vivacé and Robert Hill’s Troy Game. This is Douglas’s sixth season with the Louisville Ballet.

Kateryna Sellers Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Kateryna is returning for her seventh season with the Louisville Ballet. She began her training in Toronto where she studied with teachers such as Sean Boutilier, Glenn Gilmour, Kevin Pugh and Roberto Campanella. In 2005 Kateryna graduated from Butler University with a B.F.A. in dance performance. Since joining the Louisville Ballet Kateryna has had the opportunity to dance many exciting and challenging roles. She has been seen as Myrthe in Giselle, Bacchante in Val Caniparoli’s The Seasons, Big Swans in Swan Lake, Dawn in Coppelia, 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 is thrilled to have performed the principal role in Adam Hougland’s ballets Rite of Spring and Cold Virtues. Kateryna has also been featured in such ballets as Smiling Underneath by Amy Seiwert, Adam Hougland’s Fragile Stasis, Jorg Mannes’ Marz and Helen Pickett’s Etesian.

Ashley Thursby Originally from Richmond, MO, Ashley trained with the Kansas City Ballet School, where she spent her senior year as a student apprentice. Ashley continued her studies at Indiana University, receiving a BS in ballet and journalism in 2008, and joining the Louisville Ballet that same year. While at IU, she was coached by Violette Verdy in numerous roles including The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the Principal role in Walpurgisnacht. She was also coached by Helen Starr in Les Patineurs for the White Pas de Deux. Ashley has taken master classes from Maria Tallchief, Jocelyn Vollmar, Alonzo King and David Parsons. Her Louisville Ballet performance highlights include Val Caniparoli’s Vivacé and Seasons, Swan Lake and Adam Hougland’s Rite of Spring.

Phillip Velinov Born in Bulgaria’s capital, Phillip started his training at the State Choreographic School in Sofia and later transferred to the Alabama School of Fine Arts on a full scholarship. Upon graduation, he joined the Alabama Ballet and later won the first full performing arts scholarship in the 150-year history of Birmingham-Southern College completing a B.A. with honors in Dance. Phillip has had the honor to study and work with Maestro Roumen Rachev, Dame Sonia Arova, Thor Sutowsky, Professor Mira Popovich, Vladilen Simeonov and Irina Kolpakova. He was a soloist with Ballet Internationale (Indianapolis) prior to joining the Louisville Ballet as a principal dancer in 2006. Phillip received diplomas at the 1998 and 2002 Varna International Ballet Competions and won the 1998 Birmingham Fine Arts Society Award for Excellence in Dance. Repertoire highlights include a wide spectrum of roles: Albrecht in Giselle, the Golden Slave in Scheherazade; The Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Cavalier and Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker; Nana the dog in Peter Pan, Basilio, Espada, Gamache and Lorenzo in Don Quixote, Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, Doctor Coppelius in Coppélia; Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream; as well as George Balanchine’s Agon, Lila York’s Celts, and “That’s Life” in Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs.

Kristopher Wojtera Born in Poland, Kristopher began his ballet studies at the National Ballet School in Gdansk, Poland. He danced with the Polish National Theatre in Warsaw, where he portrayed roles in variety of classical pieces such as Swan Lake, Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty as well as several contemporary works throughout Poland and Europe. Upon moving to the United States, he became a soloist with Columbia City Ballet (South Carolina) where he danced principal roles in Beauty & the Beast, The Nutcracker and Coppélia. In 2003, Kristopher joined the Louisville Ballet as a first soloist. He has performed as a guest artist with Ballet Theatre Midwest, the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet, the Carolina Ballet, the Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia, the Hilton Head Ballet among others. In 2007, he was invited to perform Swan Lake with the English National Ballet. Kristopher is honored to have participated in the National Choreographers Initiative in Irvine, California for four summers where he has performed in original works by Gina Petterson, Ron De Jesus, Melissa Barak, Edwaard Liang, Ma Cong, Edmund Stripe, Sidra Bell and Rick McCullough.

Trainees

Front Row: Jordan Schwinabart, Annie Honebrink, Shaely Simonton, Carrie Patterson. Middle Row: Sarah Farnsley, Shelby Higley, Erin Tsukashima, Juanita Araque. Standing: Erin Langston, Emma McGirr, Alexandra Hoffman, Elizabeth Glander, Ryan Stokes, Elisabeth Champion, Tiffany Bovard, Gwynn Root, Kirsten Stayton. Not pictured Toshitaka Takeuchi.