About HBC
Harvard Ballet Company has quietly grown into one of America's premiere student dance companies. Since its last Mainstage production, Momentum, the company has gained many talented dancers, rising choreographers, and fresh ambition. Harvard Ballet Company looks to further students' dance education through a supportive atmosphere, classes, and performances, while simultaneously encouraging their academic passions.
Accolades for the Harvard Ballet Company
"As the Director of the Harvard Dance Program, I am proud of the Harvard Ballet Company's constant striving for excellence. The group is one of Harvard's leading student dance companies. They are very ambitious, putting their best foot forward in providing our community with exciting and interesting dance."
- Elizabeth Bergmann, Dance Director of the Harvard Office for the Arts
"I have always been impressed by the Harvard Ballet Company, from the time I danced with them as a graduate student to collaborating with them as their current adviser. They are committed to a high level of technique and artistry, whether cultivating new student choreography or learning the masterworks. The group's dedication is even more notable when you realize they are simultaneously achieving scholarship in every other field besides dance."
- Kristin Ing Aune, Assistant Dance Director of the Harvard Office for the Arts
"Harvard afforded me the opportunity to perform major works generally reserved for principal stars of top-tier companies like American Ballet Theatre. Film clips of my performances of Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, and George Balanchine allowed me to audition for the best companies throughout Europe. Ironically pursuing my dream to become a professional ballet dancer might not have come to fruition through the traditional route of ballet school. Ultimately my year long employment at the Zurich Ballet Company and the opportunity to perform with Alonzo King's Lines Ballet Company was a direct result of the unique experience Harvard afforded me."
- Merritt Moore, Harvard Class of 2011
"I danced with HBC throughout my time as an undergrad, and was repeatedly impressed by the enthusiasm, dedication, and professionalism maintained by people whose time and energy were also heavily constrained by academics. Performing with HBC allowed me to keep dancing at a professional level while I got my degree, and allowed for a smooth transition into Cambridge-based Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, where I've been a company dancer since September 2008. I'm excited to keep working with HBC as Rehearsal Director on the board of the upcoming mainstage production Momentum, which promises to keep raising the bar for concert dance not only in the Harvard community but also in the greater Boston dance community."
- Joanna Binney, Harvard Class of 2008
Press Coverage on our Dancers
Lauren Chin '09
Merritt Moore '11
Madelyn Ho '08
Larissa Koch '09
Molly Altenburg '07
Jordan C. Walker '07
Rebecca J. Alaly '05
History of HBC
The Harvard Ballet Company was founded in 1993 in order to provide performance opportunities for classically trained dancers and to promote the presence of concert dance in the Harvard community. Since its inception, HBC has performed excerpts from classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Paquita, Le Corsaire and La Bayadere and has increasingly added contemporary ballet and modern dance works to its repertoire. HBC regularly invites guest artists to set repertory as well as create new works on the company, while continuing to foster the choreographic talent of its members.
Creating a collaborative and welcoming environment, HBC allows a wide range of dancers to pursue their love of the art form, while striving to maintain a high level of professionalism. Several of the company's dancers have studied at prestigious schools such as the School of American Ballet and the Boston Ballet School, and danced professionally with companies including New York City Ballet and Los Angeles Ballet. At Harvard, HBC dancers have performed in works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Trey McIntyre and Avichai Scher, and have worked with artists such as Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel, former principal dancers of New York City Ballet, and Tai Jimenez, former principal dancer of Boston Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem. A growing number of HBC dancers continue to pursue dance after college and former members are currently dancing with Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Paul Taylor II and The Forsythe Company.
In 2006, HBC presented "American Grace: The Story of the American Stage," a production which chronicled the development of American ballet, modern and theater dance in the twentieth-century, with works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Fred Astaire, Merce Cunningham, Bob Fosse, Twyla Tharp, David Parsons, Robert Battle and Laura Glenn. "American Grace" was notable, not simply as an impressive performance of this large collection of masterworks, but as a milestone for the Harvard community. "American Grace" brought dance to the Loeb Mainstage, home of the American Repertory Theater, for the first time in several years. Able to reach a larger audience, it was the most talked about production of the season.
In the fall of 2009, HBC returned to the Loeb Mainstage with Momentum - a large-scale collaboration across the artistic disciplines at Harvard with which we successfully catalyzed a more integrated approach to dance performance as a multidisciplinary-motivated art. Following the success of Momentum, HBC hopes to make such productions a more regular opportunity for Harvard dancers.
About Our Dancers
Pamela Ban
Pamela Ban began dancing at the age of four at the Richland Academy of the Arts in Mansfield, OH. She later continued her studies at BalletMet in Columbus, OH. During her training at BalletMet, Pamela had the opportunity to perform roles in the company's productions of Don Quixote and The Nutcracker, in addition to dancing in various showcases and galas. She is an Applied Mathematics concentrator at Harvard, and looks forward to pursuing her academic interests as well as her love of ballet with the Harvard Ballet Company.
Ali Berman
Ali Berman grew up in Hewlett, NY and began dancing at a young age. She became more focused on ballet at age 8 when she started dancing at the Eglevsky ballet school on Long Island. She then attended the School at Steps on Broadway, where she was taught by Leslie and Ethan Browne. She's spent her summers dancing at USDAN, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive. Ali has performed in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Who Cares?, Raymonda, and Coppelia. Ali is now a freshman and is so excited to be performing with HBC!
Alyssa Botelho
Alyssa Botelho is a freshman at Harvard College and a proud member of HBC. Before attending Harvard, she studied ballet for fourteen years at the North Carolina School of Dance under Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. She trained in the pre-professional division and was a member of the school’s Repertory Ensemble since 2004, performing more than twenty times a year. During past summers, Alyssa has attended the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program, the Chautauqua Institution School of Dance Festival Program, the Atlanta Ballet Summer Program, and the Chautauqua Institution School of Dance Workshop II Program. She is an anticipated Molecular and Cellular Biology concentrator here at Harvard and also enjoys volunteering and writing. Ballet has brought her the desire to be passionate and focused in any endeavor she pursues, and taught her how to approach countless challenges in life.
Lydia Bunker
Lydia Bunker, a Massachusetts native, discovered her love of dance at the age of three. She received the majority of her training at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts. Under the coaching of former principal ballerina Cheryl Madeux Abbott, Lydia performed solo variations from ballets such as Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Giselle, La Esmeralda, The Sleeping Beauty, and Carmen. She also performed in yearly productions of the Nutcracker, including the roles of Clara, Snow Queen, and Dew Drop Fairy. In 2005 and 2006, Lydia attended the Summer Intensive Ballet Program at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Torrington, CT under the direction of Sharon Dante. She is currently a sophomore at Harvard College and is a proud member of the Harvard Ballet Company.
Ashley Chung
Ashley Chung is a first-year student at Harvard Law School and hails from Orange County, California. She began training in Vaganova ballet and contemporary jazz at age 12 and danced as a soloist for the Sunrise Ballet Theatre, a non-profit ballet company in Southern California. As an undergraduate at Brown University in Providence, RI, Ashley was a choreographer and co-director of Brown's oldest dance group, Fusion Dance Company. She performed various dance styles (hip-hop, African dance, Chinese traditional dance, etc.) on tour with the company in Tokyo, Maine, and Boston. She also trained with Brown's Breakdance club, studied Cunningham and Horton technique under Maggie Walker and Carol Abizaid at Brown, and taught jazz and hip-hop at East Side Ballet studio. After graduating, Ashley returned to California, where she performed as a soloist for Montage Dance Theatre, a local ballet company, and continued training in ballet and contemporary jazz technique under Jeng Halili and Li-ann Lim at West Coast Conservatory of Ballet and Leann Alduenda and Mike Esperanza at Defore Dance Center. She is thrilled to be part of the Harvard Ballet Company this year.
Samantha Cohen
Samantha Cohen began her dancing training at the age of four at Paulette's Ballet Studio in Newton, MA. After moving to New York, she began studying at the School of American Ballet, where she also performed numerous children's roles with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center and in Saratoga Springs, NY. Productions included George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Coppelia, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Harlequinade, and Firebird, as well as Jerome Robbins's Circus Polka and Peter Martins's Swan Lake. Upon returning to the Boston area with her family in 2004, Samantha began training at Boston Ballet School in the intensive program. Among her most influential teachers there were Kathleen Mitchell, Margaret Tracey, and Parren Ballard. She also performed with the Boston Ballet School ensemble, in Balanchine's Serenade and Walpurgishnat Ballet and Fokine's Les Sylphides. In the winter of 2007, she performed in Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker. Also at Boston Ballet, Samantha volunteered as an assistant teacher with the Taking Healthy Steps Program and the Adaptive Dance Program for Children with Down Syndrome. She is thrilled to continue dancing with the Harvard Ballet Company.
Carina Fish
Raised right here in Cambridge, MA, Carina trained at Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre formerly the Ballet Theatre of Boston School. Between school years, she attended several summer intensives including American Ballet Theatre, Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Jeannette Neil Dance Studio, and Joffrey Ballet. She spent an interim year at Northeast Youth Ballet in Melrose, MA. She has performed parts in The Scarf Dance from La Bayadère, The Garland Dance from Sleeping Beauty, and numerous roles in The Nutcracker.
Talia Fox
Talia Fox is from Ossining, New York, and has been dancing since she was four years old. Upon attending Logrea Dance Academy in 2003, she began intensive training in ballet, jazz and modern, and in 2005 joined the Westchester Ballet Company. Throughout high school, she performed in the WBC’s annual productions of the Nutcracker and Spring Repertoire, achieving the level of Senior Company Member and performing roles such as the Marzipan Reed Flute and Snow Soloist in The Nutcracker, the Cat in Peter and the Wolf, and soloist in excerpts from Les Sylphides, Graduation Ball, La Bayadere, Glenn Miller Nutcracker Suite, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Coppelia. During the summers, Talia has trained at the Ballet Academy East, Ellison Ballet, and Boston Ballet Summer Intensives, and attended Belvoir Terrace, a fine and performing arts camp at which she pursued dance, as well as one of her other loves, musical theater. Talia is currently a freshman, and is looking forward to spending the next few years dancing with HBC. She hopes to use her time at Harvard to explore so she can figure out what she loves (other than HBC) and wants to do with her life.
Whitney Fitts
Hailing from South Philadelphia, Whitney began her training at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. She continued at the Washington Ballet School and the Joffrey Ballet School (New York), where she was a trainee, and spent summers studying at the Royal Ballet School in London and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. During this time, she had the opportunity to perform various roles with both the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Washington Ballet. She was a recipient of the 2006 Silver Medal for the Senior Division of the USA National Youth Ballet Competition and was the 2007 Ryan D. Baline Winner in Ballet at the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. In addition to her classical background, she has been a soloist dancer at the Kennedy Center for the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival and has performed in New York with the Pucci Plus Dancers.
James Fuller
James Fuller was trained at Ballet Pacifica Conservatory in Irvine, California. In 2004, he received a Youth America Grand Prix scholarship to the Boston Ballet School, where he completed his final year of training. Before coming to Harvard, James took a year off to dance as an apprentice with Oregon Ballet Theatre. Since coming to Harvard, James has danced in George Balanchine's Emeralds, Paul Taylor's Aureole, and original choreography by Trey McIntyre. James is currently a philosophy concentrator with a secondary-field in dramatic arts.
Sara Gallant
Sara Gallant is a senior at Harvard College concentrating in Neurobiology. She grew up on the South Shore of Boston, MA and began her dance training at the age of 4 at Dance Workshop of Hanover. Sara subsequently trained at the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, performing with Boston Ballet in productions such as The Nutcracker. She joined Harvard Ballet Company as a freshman in September 2006 and has since performed in works by choreographers such as Mark Morris, Martha Graham, Larissa Koch, Claudia Schreier, Nina Stoller-Lindsay, and Coral Martin, as well as classical repertory from La Bayadere and Swan Lake.
Esther Hsiang
Esther, hailing from Destin, Florida, began her dance training at the age of seven, studying classical ballet originally at Ballet Conservatory before studying under the tutelage of Noreen Poppell, Georgia Ambarian, and Olga Tikhonravova at the Dance Theatre of Northwest Florida. Becoming a company member in 2004, she trained extensively in the disciplines of ballet, modern, and jazz, and also studied elements of hip-hop and theater dance. Esther also attended the Dmitri Roudnev Vaganova summer intensive for two summers. She performed in the Dance Theatre of Northwest Florida’s production of the Nutcracker from 2004 – 2007, including the roles of Clara and Dew Drop Fairy; she has also performed repertoire from Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Currently studying Human Evolutionary Biology as a sophomore at Harvard, Esther is an active member of both the Harvard Ballet Company and Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, a dance proctor for the Freshman Arts Program, and a former member of the Crimson Dance Team.
Lauren Kaye
Lauren is a Chemistry concentrator with a Secondary Field in Dramatic Arts. She spent the past seven years training with her primary mentor, former ABT soloist Christina Fagundes, and four years training at the Academy of Ballet Etudes. Lauren has attended summer programs at ABT New York, Juilliard, Boston Ballet, and Chautauqua Institute on scholarship. She has loved performing with the Harvard Ballet Company. Her performances with them have included Serenade and Who Cares?, staged by Heather Watts, Trey McIntyre's Blue Until June, and Claudia Schreier's Tartiniana. She staged Paquita on the company in her freshman year and has been a frequent photographer for the company.
Ricky Kuperman
Ricky Kuperman received his formal training in a variety of dance styles at Vlad’s Dance Company in Toronto, Canada. His study of jazz, tap, ballet, modern, acrobatics, and hip-hop influences his eclectic dance style and shapes his innovative choreography. Ricky has performed and competed across the United States and Canada, winning titles at the national level. He has toured with the Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble, with whom he performed at the Merce Cunningham Studios in New York City and at the American College Dance Festival. Recently, he worked with renowned Toronto-based contemporary jazz company, Helix Dance Project (dir. Linda Garneau). Some of Ricky's TV and film credits include Gemini award-winning director Moze Mossanen's Nureyev, So You Think You Can Dance Canada (Season 1, top 40), YTV's movie musical King of the Camp, and MTV's upcoming Turn the Beat Around. Recent choreography includes his piece “to dust.” presented on the Loeb Mainstage, as part of the Ivy Dance Exchange concert, and soon at the American College Dance Festival representing Harvard. Other works include the critically acclaimed The Space Between (dir. Videt, Loeb Mainstage), Bat Boy (dir. Bohrer, New College Theater), staging and fight choreography for The Pillowman (dir. Radulian, Loeb Experimental Theater), and his work for Harvard Ballet Company’s Premiere, which was also presented at the annual ARTSFirst Dance Festival. Ricky is currently working on his first dance film with executive producer Moze Mossanen, scheduled to begin principal photography in May 2010. He currently attends Harvard University, where he studies psychology and the dramatic arts.
Hazel Lever
Hazel Lever is a freshman from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she began her dance training at the age of 3 at Ballet Spartanburg under the direction of artistic director Carlos Agudelo and ballet mistress Lona Gomez. As an apprentice and then a company member, she trained and performed there through her graduation. In 2007, she attended the summer dance program at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. In the winter of 2008, she had the opportunity to perform with Amy Marshall Dance Company, and later that spring she received the South Carolina Dance Association’s College Scholarship. Also that spring, she performed in Debbie Allen’s musical “Brothers of the Knight.” In the summer of 2008, she attended the Joffrey Midwest Workshop in Flint, Michigan, and the following summer attended Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet’s summer intensive. She is currently serving as the Secretary and Ballet Mistress of Harvard Ballet Company and is also a member of Harvard Radcliffe Modern Dance Company.
Amanda Lynch
Amanda first put on tights recreationally at the age of two. After some ill-fated experimentation with tap dancing, she began to pursue ballet and has done so ever since. She trained in Chatsworth, California under Patrick Frantz, formerly of the Paris Opera, and credits him with cementing in her a lifelong love of dance. She participated in summer intensive programs with American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet and Kaastbaan International Dance Center, and performed with La Danserie in Los Angeles during their 2006 season. Favorite performances at Harvard have included works by George Balanchine, Mark Morris, Trey McIntyre, Avi Scher, Claudia Schreier, and Larissa Koch, among others. Once a ballet mistress for the Company, she would also like to salute the many wonderful teachers who have encouraged her over the past few years.
Coral Martin
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Coral has trained in a variety of dance techniques including ballet, modern, jazz, West African dance, Mexican baile folklorico, and some recent dabbling in Brazilian capoeira. Coral has trained at a number of schools in the San Francisco area with a variety of teachers, most recently coaching with Henry Berg of the SF Ballet Studio. Over the summers, Coral has participated in intensives at the Kennedy Center with Suzanne Farrell, Dance Theatre of Harlem, American Ballet Theater in New York, The Rock School, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, and most recently an intensive workshop with Alonzo King, director of LINES Contemporary Ballet. At HBC, Coral has had the good fortune to perform in ballets such as Swan Lake, Paquita, La Bayadere, and Serenade as well as in original works by Brenda Divelbliss, Tai Jimenez, Larissa Koch, Trey McIntyre, Claudia Schreier, and Josie Walsh, among others. Coral has relished the opportunity to work among such talented, passionate, and ambitious dancers and wants to thank HBC for the past four, inspiring years. Coral is a senior in the social anthropology department with a secondary field in visual art and theory.
Merritt Moore
Merritt Moore danced professionally with the renowned Zurich Ballet Company 2008-2009 performing works such as William Forsythe's full length Artifact, Don Quixote, Le Sylphide, and many of Heinz Spoerli's original works and toured with the company to China. That same year, she had the opportunity to perform as a guest soloist with Alonzo King Lines Ballet during their Italian tour. She was a semi-finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland in 2006 and has attended numerous summer programs around the world such as London Royal, American Ballet Theatre in New York, as well as programs in Prague, Rome, Korea, France and Austria to name a few. Through the Harvard Ballet Company, she has had the privilege to perform Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite, Trey McIntyre's Blue Until June, and Balanchine's Apollo. She is a physics major at Harvard.
Andrea Moreno
Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Andrea Moreno started dance at the age of 4. She studied at a local dance school for 2 years before going to study dance under the tutelage of Kim Burson at the Champaign-Urbana Park District in Champaign, IL. She then continued her studies with Deanna Doty at the Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy. After moving to Chicago, IL in 2004, she danced at the Salt Creek Ballet School under Sergey Kozadayev and Zhanna Dubrovskaya and then in the Civic Ballet of Chicago under Artistic Directors Larry Long and Dolores Long. She has attended the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive and the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Intensive. She has also attended summer intensives under scholarship at The School of Ballet Chicago and Salt Creek Ballet. Andrea was awarded the National Society of Arts and Letters Chapter Award for Excellence in Dance and has received accolades from the Royal Academy of Dance in London for excellence in dance training. She served as Producer for the Harvard Ballet Company’s spring show, Premiere, Assistant Producer for Momentum, and will serve as Co-Producer for the Ballet Company this upcoming season. She is also involved in ARTS First, Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and, most recently, the Harvard Art Review. She is concentrating in History of Art and Architecture and resides in Adams House. In her free time she enjoys dancing in her room, in the street, and in a variety of other semi-public to public spaces. She also enjoys writing, listening to music, hanging out with friends, and being outside.
Zoë Morrison
Zoë began dancing with Ballet Hawaii at the age of three, and performed the role of Clara for the school's production of The Nutcracker in 1996 and 1997. She participated in summer intensives and studied extensively with such master teachers as Shamil Yagudin, Violette Verdy, Alaine Haubert, Michael Vernon, and Maria Vegh. At Ballet Hawaii, she also had the opportunity to dance in original works by modern dancer and choreographer Peter Rockford Espiritu of Tau Dance Theatre. During her teenage years she took classes with the dance department at Punahou School, where she attended high school. Zoë was trained in both traditional and contemporary hula at the halau Ka Hale I o Kahala, where she participated in retreats and competitions, and later danced in Punahou School's yearly Holoku Pageant.
Alexandra Ortega
Alexandra Ortega is currently a junior at Harvard studying Economics. She began her professional ballet training at the school of the Eglevsky Ballet in New Hyde Park, New York with Ali Pourfarrokh and continued her studies at Studio Maestro in Manhattan with Francois Perron and Deborah Wingert. She has attended the American Academy of Ballet Summer Intensive, the Eglevsky Ballet Summer Intensive, and the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Ballet. She has performed with the Eglevsky Ballet Company and the Manhattan Youth Ballet. Alexandra joined HBC in the fall of 2008. She served on the 2008-09 board as Secretary. In the spring of 2009, she was nominated to be the Executive Producer of HBC's Momentum at the Loeb Mainstage. In November 2009, she was named Co-Director of the Harvard Ballet Company. She is interested in pursuing a career in arts administration.
Marissa Pan
Marissa is originally from the ATL, Georgia and is currently a freshman at Harvard. She began dancing at the age of 11 at North Atlanta Dance Academy where she studied under the tutelage of Michael Garrison and Tatiana Dubois. As a member of the company, she had the opportunity to dance lead roles in Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, Paquita, and Esmeralda. In the Nutcracker, her favorite roles to perform included Arabian, Spanish, and Dewdrop Fairy. She has spent her summers training under scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet and Orlando Ballet School. In her free time she loves traveling, eating, and freestyle rapping. Marissa is looking forward to performing both classical ballet and newly choreographed works with the Company.
Thuy Phan
Thuy is from Wakefield, MA and has been dancing ballet since the age of six. She started taking classes at a local dance studio in Chelsea, MA. After a brief break from ballet in middle school, she transferred to the Northeast School of Ballet in Melrose, MA. At NSB, Thuy continued to dance throughout high school and performed with the Northeast Youth Ballet for annual demonstrations and productions of The Nutcracker. Besides continuing ballet at Harvard, she is trying out modern dance for the first time with the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company. Thuy is very glad to be at Harvard where she is able to pursue both her academic interests as well as her artistic passion with the Harvard Ballet Company.
Erica Sheftman
Born and raised in New York City, Erica Sheftman enrolled in Studio Maestro at the age of five and continued to train there until her teens with Francois Perron, Deborah Wingert and Marina Stavitskaya. At age 9 she was accepted into the School of American Ballet on full scholarship, where she trained for ten years with Kay Mazzo, Suki Schorer, Susan Pilarre, Sean Lavery and Katrina Killian. In June 2008 she performed at the annual SAB Workshop Performances in Jerome Robbins' Fanfare. Erica also trained in the Martha Graham technique at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. Her repertory over the years includes soloist roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Walpurgisnacht, and Who Cares?, Spanish in the Stamford production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, and in original choreography by Melissa Barak for the New York City Ballet Spring Galas. She has appeared in the New York City Ballet productions of The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as with the Stuttgart Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet on their American tours at the Metropolitan Opera House. Erica also trained in summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre in New York, as well as with Wilhelm Burmann. She joined the Harvard Ballet Company in Fall 2008, and since then has danced variations from Le Corsaire, as well as in original choreography by Claudia Schreier, Lotsie Cash, and Avichai Scher. She currently serves as HBC's Publicity Manager and will probably declare History and Literature as her concentration in Spring 2010.
Courtney Singleton
Courtney Singleton was born on March 9, 1990 in Darby, Pennsylvania. She began dancing at 18 months old at the Lansdowne YMCA. At age three, Courtney took her first ballet, jazz, and tap classes at Progressive Center for Dance. She continued to dance at D'Shay School of Dance and at Philadanco. In 2004, Courtney dedicated herself to ballet and began taking classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet with Margarita and John White. In 2006, Courtney attended a summer program in Estonia at the Polli Talu Arts Center with instructors from St. Petersburg's Vaganova Russian Academy of Ballet. In the fall of 2007, Courtney began to train with Dede Barfield in the Pennsylvania Ballet Outreach Program and in the summer of 2007, she attended the Orlando Ballet Summer Intensive. In 2008, Courtney studied ballet at Barbara Sandonato's School of Ballet and attended the ARB's Princeton Ballet School's Summer Intensive. During her first year at Harvard, in 2008, Courtney joined HBC and performed in Larissa Koch's contemporary ballet piece.
Shayna Skal
Shayna Skal began her study of ballet at the age of four under the instruction of Gay Porter and Bridget Young at the Charlotte School of Ballet in Charlotte, NC. Following both the Cecchetti and Royal Academy of Dance syllabi she has risen through the levels of both methods, travelling to Toronto in 2009 as the only American to present that year for the RAD’s pinnacle examination, the Solo Seal Award. She has danced regularly with the Charlotte Youth Ballet and Queen City Jazz Company and has performed original works by Bridget Young at North Carolina School of the Arts’ Festival of Winter Dance and in the Moscow Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. She has also danced at programs held by the Cecchetti International Summer School, the Atlanta Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, and LINES Ballet, studying with John Gardner, Amanda McKerrow, Alun Jones, Helen Starr, Arthur Leeth, Alonzo King, and David Howard, among others. Her repertoire includes Spanish and Christmas Rose (The Nutcracker), Knave of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland), Prelude and Mazurka (Les Sylphides), Cygnet and Big Swan (Swan Lake), Autumn Fairy (Cinderella), Fouetté Girl (Graduation Ball), Odd Girl (Scott Free), Princess Florine (Sleeping Beauty), and Giselle.
Mari Sosa
Born and raised in Cortland, NY, Mari has been dancing ballet since the age of five. During high school she trained with the Ithaca Ballet in upstate New York, where she performed leading and soloist roles in classical ballets such as Raymonda, Paquita, La Bayadere, and The Nutcracker. She has had additional training in modern, jazz, and contemporary dance. In the summer of 2007, she attended American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, where she began her training in choreography under the direction of Graham Lustig. Since then, she has choreographed for the Ithaca Ballet, the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and is making her debut for the Harvard Ballet Company with Cynosure, which will also be performed at Arts First 2010. For HBC, she has appeared in works by Larissa Douglas Koch, Lotsie Cash, Owen David, and Patrick Quinn. Outside of dancing, she served as Fundraiser for HBC during her freshman year and is currently the HBC Treasurer, and in the fall of 2009 she served as Finance Manager for Momentum. Mari is currently a sophomore at Harvard, concentrating in Neurobiology and pursuing a language citation in Spanish.
Samantha Stockman
Samantha Stockman started dancing at the age of three, studying ballet, jazz, and tap. At age eight she became a serious student of ballet with Northern Plains Ballet in Bismarck, ND, quickly improving both her artistry and technique. She had many performance opportunities, and at age 15 she joined the Northern Plains Ballet professional company as a paid apprentice, where she continued to dance soloist roles and performed in cities throughout the Midwest. At 13 Sam competed and placed in the Denver regionals of the Youth America Grand Prix. A year later she entered and won a spot on Bravo TV's On With the Show artistic essay contest, joining 49 other young, talented teenagers in a weekend-long Broadway show workshop in New York City. At 16 she competed at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. She spent the next two summers studying at Boston Ballet's Summer Intensive, where she was invited to train as a year-round student and was selected to model for Nikon's Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting instructional DVD, working with award-winning National Geographic travel photographer Bob Kirst and world-renowned photojournalist Joe McNally. Sam is currently a sophomore in the College of Communication at Boston University, and is training and performing with both the Harvard Ballet Company and the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company.
Nina Stoller-Lindsey
Nina Stoller-Lindsey is a senior English concentrator with a secondary field in Dramatic Arts. She is from New York City where she studied at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and received a scholarship to the Young Artists’ Program at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. As a member of the Harvard Ballet Company and Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble, she has danced in works by Josie Walsh, Mark Morris, Martha Graham, and Paul Taylor and she recently performed with Larissa Douglas Contemporary Dance. She has performed her own solo choreography at Dance Theater Workshop in New York City and at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and in 2008 her choreography was selected to be featured as part of the Ivies @ Cunningham at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, also in New York City. She has enjoyed choreographing for the Harvard Ballet Company, Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and Harvard Early Music Society and recently choreographed Musical Chairs as part of the Harvard Ballet Company’s Momentum on the Loeb Mainstage.
Katherine Szeto
In June 2008, Katie graduated from the Greenwich Ballet Academy where she studied both classical and contemporary ballet technique under Michael Shannon (Bolshoi Ballet). Before joining GBA, Katie studied at the Ballet School of Stamford and also attended numerous summer programs, including the Houston Ballet Academy, Miami City Ballet, the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. While a student, Katie performed frequently; her classical repertoire includes the Mazurka from Chopiniana, Kitri's Act I variations from Don Quixote, the third shade in La Bayadère, the Lilac Fairy's Act I variation from Sleeping Beauty, the third Odalisque from Le Corsaire, and Myrtha (Queen of the Wilis) from Giselle. Her contemporary repertoire includes several original works by Michael Shannon: Spring Awakening, What's the Pointe?, Goodbye Lenin, Tchaicotic, Yumeji, and Madame Bovary. In January 2008, Katie made her professional debut as an apprentice with the Configuration Dance Theater in a premier production of Goodbye Lenin at the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York. She returned to perform several times with Configuration Dance Theater, including a performance of Tchaicotic at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater. Katie is currently a sophomore at MIT.
Sara Trowbridge
Sara Trowbridge is a senior concentrator in neurobiology. She has studied ballet since the age of five. In high school, she participated in the Rock School Summer Intensive and the Jose Mateo Ballet Theater Summer Intensive. She has been honored to be a part of HBC since freshman year, and she especially enjoyed her role as Ballet Mistress spring 2007 - fall 2008.
Elizabeth Walker
Elizabeth C. Walker, born in New York City, began dancing at the age of 3. In 2001 she began training at The Ballet School of Stamford under the direction of Stephanie Marini. She has studied during summers at the School of American Ballet, the Chautauqua Institution, and American Ballet Theatre. In 2004 she was selected to study at the Jacquoeline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, graduating in June of 2006. Elizabeth has danced leading roles in classical works such as Paquita, Raymonda, The Nutcracker, and Les Sylphides, and contemporary works by choreographers including Trey McIntyre, Peter Anastos, Jessica Lang, Michael Vernon, Violette Verdy, and Sandra Brown. In April of 2005 she performed with the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company at Lincoln Center in a world premiere by Jessica Lang, and has appeared as a guest artist with the Hammond Ballet Company, located outside New Orleans. From 2006-2007 she danced with the Los Angeles Ballet, where she performed the Dark Angel in Balanchine's Serenade, and roles in Apollo, Agon, and Concerto Barocco. While with Harvard Ballet Company, she has performed in Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring, Balanchine's Apollo, and Claudia Schreier's original choreography.
Kevin Shee
Kevin Shee is currently a Junior at Harvard College concentrating in Molecular and Cellular Biology. He has been dancing since he was five years old with a foundation in tap, jazz, and lyrical dancing. He began ballet at the age of 12, and has since trained intensively with the San Francisco Ballet and Sacramento Ballet. Also, he has performed as a professional dancer and guest artist at both the Crockett-Deane Ballet in Sacramento, California, and Peninsula Ballet Theatre in San Mateo, California, performing roles such as Albrecht (Giselle), Snow King and Cavalier (The Nutcracker), Basilio (Don Quixote), Prince (Coppelia), and Franz (Coppelia). Despite having chosen to pursue an academic career instead of one in dance, Kevin joined the Harvard Ballet Company in Fall 2006, and has since performed works such as Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite, Mark Morris' Polka, Trey McIntyre's Blue Until June, Balanchine's Apollo, Scott Rink's The Shortest Day, Jaime Blanc's The Rite of Spring, and many others. He is also a member of Harvard's Asian American Dance Troupe and is a frequent performer with the Harvard Dance Center. Outside of dance, Kevin enjoys playing guitar and piano, and enjoys the occasional swim or tennis match.
Hannah Yohalem
Hannah Yohalem is a senior in Kirkland house and has been an active member of the Harvard Ballet Company since her freshman year. At Harvard, she has also performed with HRDC, Citystep, Expressions, the Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and the Harvard Dance Department. In addition, she choreographed work for the Ives@Cunningham performed at the Merce Cunningham studio in New York City and the play *Ondine *at Harvard.* *A History of Art and Architecture concentrator, she plans to continue her engagement with both the visual and performing arts after graduation.
Cici Yu
CiCi has been dancing since the age of five at the New Tampa Dance Theatre in Tampa, Florida under the artistic direction of Dyane Elkins-IronWing and the instruction of former Joffrey principal Trinity Hamilton. For seven seasons, she performed with NTDT's company, the Dance Theatre of Tampa, in their annual community production of The Nutcracker in such roles as Dew Drop Fairy, Snow Queen, and Spanish Lead. CiCi also received training at America's Ballet School under the direction of Paula Nunez, performing in Nunez's original production, Musical Kingdoms. In addition to HBC, CiCi is a proud member of FAP 15 Team Dance, the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and CityStep. CiCi is a freshman in Matthews and plans to concentrate in economics and psychology.
Interviews
Elizabeth Walker
When did you first start dancing and why?
I started dancing when I was 3 years old. My older sister was in ballet classes, and I wanted to do everything she did!
Where did you receive your training?
I trained at the Ballet School of Stamford, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT. Then I danced with Los Angeles Ballet for a year after high school.
How did you end up at Harvard?
My friend, neighbor, and talented HBC choreographer Claudia Schreier ‘08, started at Harvard a couple years ahead of me, and through her I saw what great opportunities to dance exist here. I decided to apply because I found that Harvard is very strong in both academics and ballet.
What is the best part of dancing at Harvard?
The dancers at Harvard are very close. We’re a tight-knit community. We also have opportunities to perform a wide range of works, which is a lot of fun.
What is your favorite ballet?
I have many favorites. In particular, I love Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort.
What has been your favorite role to perform and why?
Dark Angel in George Balanchine’s Serenade. It’s such a special ballet, and my experience performing it was very special as well. It was my first year in a company, and Los Angeles Ballet itself was new. I was very close with my fellow cast members, and it was the first time any of us had performed those roles. It was an adventurous part of all our lives, so I have wonderful memories of it.
What role would you like to perform in the future?
Suzanne Farrell’s role in Diamonds from Balanchine’s Jewels.
Who is your favorite dancer and why?
Suzanne Farrell-- she was so incredibly expressive. I love watching videos of her dancing.
What is your favorite part of the standard ballet class?
Adagio...and the waltz!
What do you typically wear to class?
I like to keep it simple so that my clothes can’t get in the way of my dancing, and I don’t get overheated. I typically wear a leotard with pink tights and a black skirt, and keep warmups nearby to wear between rehearsals.
What style of dance outside of ballet are you most interested in?
I love watching hip hop, but I’ve never tried it myself.
What are your other hobbies and interests outside of dance?
As an art history concentrator at Harvard, I love going to museums in my spare time. I also enjoy working on sewing projects (so nerdy, I know), doing yoga and pilates, and spending time in bookstores.
What was the last book you read?
Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer.
Tell us one thing most people don't know about you.
I was in Vogue! I was just in the background of a picture, so it’s not as exciting as it sounds.
Where would you like to be in the next five years?
Dancing in a company again or in business school!
James Fuller
When did you first start dancing and why?
I demanded to start dance classes when I was three, so my parents signed me up for a creative movement class in the basement of the Unitarian church on Church Street. I can't remember the class, but we got to jump around on bubble wrap.
I started ballet in the third grade. My mom saw an ad in the paper saying that the Royal Danish Ballet needed local boys for its Orange County debut. I hadn't taken any ballet, but I got the part (only three boys auditioned). I had a great time, and only forgot my entrance once. I did the same thing for San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker, and finally decided it would be worthwhile to sign up for real ballet classes.
Where did you train?
I was trained at Ballet Pacifica Conservatory in Irvine, California. My senior year of high school, I received a Youth America Grand Prix scholarship to attend the Boston Ballet School's Winter Term.
How did you end up at Harvard?
Harvard was the only Ivy League school I applied to, and I had no idea I was going to get in. I danced around my apartment when I found out that I had been accepted, but opted to defer for a year. I still needed to decide whether I was going to stay on the traditional ballet career path or go to college, and so I spent a year experiencing the professional ballet world as an apprentice with Oregon Ballet Theatre. I'm glad I took a year off, but I'm happy I came back. College has made my life and my dancing so much richer.
What is the best part of dancing at Harvard?
All of Harvard's dancers are friendly and supportive. There's no reason to be competitive, and we all cheer for each other and have fun together. I've made some of my best friends taking class, rehearsing and performing at Harvard.
What is your favorite ballet?
I recently saw Emanuel Gat perform Winter Variations at American Dance Festival. The piece is performed by two men and has no scenery, but it has amazing compositional depth. I saw it twice.
What has been your favorite role to perform and why?
I loved dancing Dan Wagner's role in Paul Taylor's Aureole. Aureole is full of light and love for humanity, and I feel like the role helped my dancing become stronger, lively and open.
What role would you like to perform in the future?
I'd like to do Paul Taylor's role in Aureole. Taylor choreographed a beautiful solo for himself that I'd love to work on.
Who is your favorite dancer and why?
Anyone who is physical, musical and totally committed to their movement.
What is your favorite part of the standard ballet class?
Unlike most guys, I like petite allegro. I enjoy having to move so fast that I can't think about anything but dancing to the music.
What do you typically wear to class?
Unitard.
What style of dance outside of ballet are you most interested in?
Since coming to Harvard, I've immersed myself in Graham, Taylor, and Limon technique. I'm passionate about modern dance, and am always trying to learn more. I'm also very interested in Kathak, which I studied while attending an Urdu language intensive in North India.
What are your other hobbies and interests outside of dance?
I'm a philosophy major, and I'm very involved in my studies. Even though I plan to pursue a dance career after college, I will study philosophy my whole life.
Tell us about one of your favorite experiences at Harvard outside of the ballet studios.
My section for Philosophy 8: Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy was unforgettable. Everyone was prepared and willing to explore. We had a blast.
What was the last book you read?
Thesis Research: Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's Being and Time, Division I by Hubert L. Dreyfus. Fun: Breakfast at Tiffany's and Other Short Stories by Truman Capote.
What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I like Sufjan Stevens and dance music.
Tell us one thing most people don't know about you.
I was a baby model in Japan.
Where would you like to be in the next five years?
There are so many places I want to go. I'd be thrilled to dance in Europe or go back to India. Hopefully, I will be somewhere interesting and unexpected.
