About HBC

Juan Aparicio

 

Juan Aparicio discovered his love for ballet at the Central Los Angeles High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, where he began studying classical ballet in 2009. He continued his training at the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at the Colburn School and, not long after, became a junior apprentice to the Blankenship Ballet, under the tutelage of Bertha Blankenship (formerly of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba). In 2010, he performed as a supernumerary for the Joffrey Ballet's production of Cinderella at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and, later that year, attended the California State Summer School for the Arts, where he was awarded the Herb Alpert Scholarship for Emerging Young Artists. Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Juan is a freshman and potential Government concentrator at Harvard.

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 has 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 junior and is so excited to be performing with HBC!

Alyssa Botelho

Alyssa Botelho is a junior 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. 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 a Molecular and Cellular Biology concentrator with a Secondary Field in History of Science, and also enjoys writing for the Harvard Crimson and conducting research in an MCB lab.

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 junior at Harvard College and is a proud member of the Harvard Ballet Company.

Ashley Chung

Ashley Chung hails from Orange County, California and is in her third and last year at Harvard Law School. 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, 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 performed as a soloist for Montage Dance Theatre, a local ballet company in California, and continued training in ballet and contemporary jazz technique with Jeng Halili and Li-ann Lim at West Coast Conservatory of Ballet and with Leann Alduenda and Mike Esperanza at Defore Dance Center. 

Glenna Clifton

Originally from Wayne, Pa, Glenna is a second year Ph.D. student in the Organismal and Evolutionary Biology department. She trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, with John White and Margarita de Saa, and at the Main Line Ballet Academy, with Edmund J. Novak. Glenna attended several summer ballet intensives including Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Boston Ballet, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts. She graduated magna cum-laude from Barnard College in 2010 with a double major in dance and physics and a minor in chemistry. While at Barnard she danced with the Columbia Ballet Collaborative and in pieces by Lisa de Ribere, Robert La Fosse, Nicholas Leichter, and Roseanne Spradlin. 

Samantha Cohen

Samantha Cohen began her dance 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

Melanie Comeau

A native of Pittsfield, MA, Melanie began dancing at the age of three with her two sisters. Studying with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Melanie toured each fall with their production of The Nutcracker, throughout high school performing corps and soloist roles.  With the Albany Berkshire Ballet, Melanie also performed the feature roles of Rosie in Rosie the Riveter, Princess Florine in Aurora’s Wedding, and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. Melanie moved to Pittsburgh, PA her senior year of high school to train in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Pre-Professional Division, where she danced the role of Swanhilda in Coppelia (excerpts), and soloist in La Bayadere (excerpts). Melanie also likes many other kinds of dance, and tries to dabble in them as much as possible! She has trained with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and was invited to perform in their 14^th Anniversary Gala at the Joyce Theatre in New York.   At Harvard, Melanie loves being a part of the Harvard Ballet Company, having performed works by Owen David, Lotsie Cash, and Francine Maigue in 2010. She also is a member of Harvard’s Expressions Dance Company and is a Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisor, and has absolutely no idea what she wants to study.  HBC LOVE!

Sarah Farrell

Born and raised a Southern California native, Sarah began her classical ballet training at age eleven at Riverside Ballet Arts of California Riverside Ballet under the tutelage of Glenda Carhart, Damien Diaz, David Allen, and Kathleen Ricker. During her summers in high school, Sarah attended the School of American Ballet’s ’05, ’06, ’07, and ’08 summer programs with full-tuition scholarship. Sarah has performed in David Allen’s Nutcracker as the Arabian soloist, Snow Queen, Dew Drop Fairy and Sugar Plum Fairy. Other roles performed with California Riverside Ballet include Swan in David Allan’s Swan Lake (2005), soloist in David Allan’s Concerto in G Minor (2006), principle dancer David Allan’s Holberg Suites (2007), R. Clinton Rothwell’s Concerto in G Minor (2006), and Damien Diaz’ Urban Revolution (2007). Sarah joined Harvard Ballet Company in the fall of 2009. She has since danced variations from Coppelia and Balanchine’s Faust, as well as performed in original choreography by Claudia Schreier and Lotsie Cash. She served as Publicity Manager for the Spring and Fall of 2010 and is currently the rehearsal director for the comapany’s 2011 season. Hoping to encourage a passion for the arts in young people, Sarah began teaching ballet classes for children of Harvard students and faculty in the fall of 2010. Sheoffers two thirty minute classes each week to students between the ages of three and five. Sarah is a Chemistry concentrator with an Economics secondary in Adams House and loves to take yoga, watch documentaries, and catch-up with friends in her spare time.

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 junior in Cabot House, and one of HBC's Co-Producers. 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

A Philadelphia native, Whitney began ballet training at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet.   She did further studies at the Washington School of Ballet as well as at summer programs such as the Royal Ballet School in London and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.  Whitney was the 2007 Ryan D. Baline Winner in Ballet at the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. In 2006, she won the Silver Medal in the Senior Division of the USA National Youth Ballet Competition and was awarded a traineeship. Before coming to Harvard, Whitney performed with both the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Washington Ballet, toured with the Washington Ballet Studio Company, and was a soloist in the world premiere of Studio Company's The Little Prince.   From 2007-2008, she danced full time as a trainee at the Joffrey Ballet program in New York and worked with renowned choreographers Margo Sappington, Peter Pucci and John Magnus and performed their works in both New York and Vancouver, Canada.  In addition to her classical background, she was a soloist dancer in the Kennedy Center's production of Duke Ellington's Shakespearian Suite, performed in Dance Rocksat the New York City Center, and danced with the Pucci Plus Dancers in New York. Whitney currently serves as fundraiser for the Harvard Ballet Company, is a Psychology concentrator and a proud Dunster House resident.

Andy Harris

Andy Harris is a freshman at Harvard College in Canaday and is excited to be joining the Harvard Ballet Company.  He began his dance instruction at the age of eight at the Kathy Blake Dance Studio.  He then studied at and performed with the Southern New Hampshire Dance Theatre.  For several seasons, he performed the title role in SNHDT's annual production of The Nutcracker.  In addition to HBC, Andy is a proud member of FAP 16's Team Dance and the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company.

Thom Hecht

Thom Hecht is a Visiting Fellow at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in affiliation with the Committee on Women, Gender and Sexuality. He is also a doctoral candidate at Texas Woman’s University, pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance with a doctoral minor in Women’s Studies. Thom graduated from London Contemporary Dance School at The Place (London, UK) with an M.Phil. in Contemporary Dance, and  he holds a Master degree in Performance Practices from Central School of Speech and Drama (London, UK). Thom has presented conference papers and workshops around the globe and taught extensively in higher education institutions in the U.K., the U.S., Germany, and Switzerland. His scholarship is published in peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Performing Arts Leadership in Higher Education and Theatre Arts Journal), and excerpts of his choreographic works are published in Practice-as-Research in Performance (edited by B. Kershaw et al.). He authored several book chapters on cultural and historical studies with an emphasis on fashion and dance costumes, and co-edited (with Dagmar Fischer) Dance, Movement, and Spirituality (German Society for Dance Research). Thom also held a fellowship as Visiting Assistant in Research at the Psychology Department at Yale University, where he developed a dance curriculum that focuses on emotional skills and competencies (Emotionally Intelligent Dance Training). He is currently focused on combining his dance training with social entrepreneurship by organizing community dance projects in prisons. Thom is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. He is very excited to further pursue his artistic passion with the Harvard Ballet Company. 

Esther Hsiang

Originally from Destin, Florida, Esther began her dance training at the age of seven, studying classical ballet 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, Graham modern, and jazz, and also studied elements of hip-hop and theater dance.  Her repertory with the Dance Theatre of Northwest Florida has included multiple roles in the Nutcracker and excerpts from Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Esther also attended the Dmitri Roudnev Vaganova summer intensive for two summers. Most recently, she trained in Horton modern technique and learned Ailey repertoire with Sylvia Waters, Elizabeth Roxas, and Judith Jamison. Currently studying Human Evolutionary Biology as a junior 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.

Jennifer Hu

Jennifer Hu is from Fairlawn, OH, where she has been dancing with the Dance Institute of the University of Akron since she was five, taking classes in ballet, jazz, and modern with an emphasis on ballet technique. Over the years, she has performed in many of Dance Institute’s productions, including the title role in Dance Institute’s The Snow Maiden. Jennifer has also had the opportunity to participate in the University of Akron Dance Company, a Taylor II workshop, and master classes taught by Alicia Alonso, Paul Taylor Modern Dance Company, and GroundWorks Dance Company. As a freshman at Harvard, Jennifer is looking forward to dancing with the Harvard Ballet Company, taking on exciting new extracurriculars, and concentrating in Biomedical Engineering.

Florence Kuhl

Florence Kuhl is originally from Ossining, New York, and has studied ballet since the age of three at Logrea Dance Academy. In 2005, Florence also began studying jazz and modern dance styles. In 2003, Florence became a member of the Westchester Ballet Company and throughout her years with the company, progressed to being a Senior Company Member, performing in the company’s annual “Nutcracker” as well as Spring Repertoire. She has performed roles such as flower soloist, gigue, Russian, and snow soloist in “The Nutcracker”, as well as a range of corps and soloist roles in “Graduation Ball”, “La Bayadere”, “Glenn Miller Nutcracker Suite”, “Coppelia”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and “La Boutique Fantastique”. Florence is a freshman and is super excited to be a new member of HBC and dance with such a wonderful group.

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. Some of Ricky's TV and film credits include Gemini award-winning director Moze Mossanen's Nureyev, YTV's movie musical King of the Camp, and MTV's upcoming Turn the Beat Around. Recent choreography includes the critically acclaimed One Arm and a Leg which ran Off Off-Broadway this past summer, and his work Film Noir, which premiered at Symphony Space in NYC as part of the Young Choreographer’s Festival. Other works include “to dust.” presented on the Loeb Mainstage, as part of the Ivy Dance Exchange concert, and at the American College Dance Festival; 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 currently attends Harvard University, where he studies psychology and the dramatic arts. More info at: www.kupermanbrothers.com

Hazel Lever

Hazel Lever is a junior concentrating in History and Science 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.  With HBC, she has danced in pieces by guest choreographers Josie Walsh, Serena Mackool, Owen David, and Peter Pucci as well as many student choreographers.  She is currently serving as the Director of Harvard Ballet Company after having previously served as the Secretary and Ballet Mistress.

Michelle Luo

Michelle grew up in Birmingham, AL and started taking dance classes at the age of six at the Birmingham Ballet Academy, where she studied under director Cindy Free as well as guest artists Irina Vacuoneeva (Bolshoi Ballet), Deirdre Carberry (American Ballet Theatre), and Alfonso Figueroa (Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Eliot Feld Ballet Tech Company). Since joining the pre-professional company in 2004, Michelle has performed in a number of soloist and principal roles, including Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Tiger Lily in Peter Pan, and became the first student of the academy cast as Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. In 2009, she was invited as a charter apprentice of the Birmingham Ballet Repertory Dance Company, a developing professional wing of the Birmingham Ballet. In addition, Michelle has spent summers training at American Ballet Theatre in Tuscaloosa, directed by Charles Maple, and Kwak Ballet Academy, under Kyu Dong Kwak and Yoomi Lee of Nevada Ballet Theatre. Michelle is a sophomore in Winthrop House studying Applied Math.

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.

Megan Murdock

Megan Murdock is originally from New Jersey, and is currently a freshman at Harvard. She began dancing at age three, and has studied ballet, modern, jazz, and tap at Dance Expression Dance Arts for the past fifteen years, as well as performing with the Dance Expression dance company for eight years. For the last three years of high school, she was the dance captain and a lead dancer in the spring musicals (Les Miserables, Footloose, and West Side Story). She performed with the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company in their anniversary performance and has also participated in their summer intensive. This year, Megan is very excited to be performing with the Harvard Ballet Company, Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and in Chicago.

Alexandra Ortega

Alexandra Ortega 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.  Alexandra joined HBC in the fall of 2008 and has since served on the board as secretary, executive producer, and co-director.

Marissa Pan

Marissa is originally from the ATL, Georgia and is currently a Junior 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. With Harvard Ballet Company, Marissa has served on the Board for two terms and is looking forward to serving in her new capacity as Social Chair. Since joining, she has enjoyed performing works by Balanchine and Peter Pucci as well as classical works such as Les Sylphide and Don Quixote. In her free time she loves traveling, eating, poetry, and freestyle rapping. 

Thuy Phan

Thuy is a sophomore in Adams House studying Social Anthropology and South Asian Studies. Starting ballet from the age of six, Thuy studied dance at several local studios in the Boston metropolitan area before training at the Northeast School of Ballet in Melrose, MA. At NSB, Thuy performed with the Northeast Youth Ballet for annual demonstrations and productions of The Nutcracker. Thuy joined HBC in Fall 2008, and she will perform in a piece choreographed by Laura Sampson and Rachel Weintraub in HBC’s Spring 2010 Show. She is also both a performer and choreographer for the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and she is also dancing in the Vietnamese Dance Troupe and Ghungroo. Besides dancing, Thuy is also a member of the Harvard College in Asia Program’s Spring 2010 Mumbai Delegation.

Gina Quinn

Gina Quinn is studying psychology at the Harvard Extension School. She began her dance training at Dance ImagesDance Center in Methuen, Massachusetts, where she studied ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. At the age of twelve, Gina began her training in classical ballet in the Young Dancers Program at Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There she joined the Youth Works performing group and was also a part of the annual Nutcracker productions. Gina attended the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre summer intensives, as well as Etudes de Ballet in Naples, Florida, and spent a summer dancing in Prague. Gina studied ballet and modern at Palm Beach Atlantic University under the direction of Eileen Hebron and Kathleen Klien. There she was chosen to perform Unconfined, a piece by a guest choreographer Randall Flinn. She is very excited to be joining the Harvard Ballet Company this year!

Christina Russell

Christina Russell, raised in Greenwich Connecticut, started dancing at two years old, and has loved ballet ever since. She studied at the Scarsdale Ballet Studio under director Diana White, formerly a soloist with New York City Ballet, as well as with Jennifer Tinsley-Williams of NYCB, Pedro Ruiz of Ballet Hispanico, and Anastasia Edery of the Bolshoi Ballet. She has performed in several Balanchine ballets, including Serenade, Diamonds, Walpurgisnacht, La Valse, and Valse Fantasie. She has also performed as Gamzatti in La Bayadere, a soloist in Les Sylphides, Summer Fairy in Cinderella, and in Raymonda, Paquita, Swan Lake, and several original contemporary pointe pieces by Pedro Ruiz. She is currently a freshman and is very excited to be performing with the Harvard Ballet Company for the first time.

Laura Sampson

Laura is a junior at Harvard College concentrating in Statistics. She grew up competitively figure skating in a suburb of Chicago and did not begin dancing until she moved to Brookline, MA shortly before high school. She picked up ballet, modern dance, jazz and broadway quickly at the Brookline Academy of Dance, where she performed in annual productions and won the 2008 Ballet Award. She also danced in her high school's dance program and was captain of the varsity gymnastics team. Laura began performing with HBC her sophomore year through common casting for Momentum, the fall production at the Loeb Mainstage. Since then, she has performed a classical repetory from Les Sylphides as well as many pieces by Patrick Quinn. She choreographed a piece for the first time in HBC's show last spring. She also dances for and serves on the board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company.

Bridget Scanlon

Bridget began dancing at the age of three, and since then has explored a variety of styles of dance including ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. She trained at Creative Dance Arts in her hometown Clifton Park, New York, as well as at the National Dance Museum and American Dance Center in Saratoga, New York. She has performed solo in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Sleeping Beauty,” as well as performing with the Moscow Ballet in “The Nutcracker.” Bridget has also attended many intensive workshops, including those with Phyllis Latin and Finis Jhung. A freshman this year, Bridget is thrilled to be a part of 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 and Walpurgisnacht, as well as in original choreography by Claudia Schreier, Lotsie Cash, and Avichai Scher. She served as HBC's Publicity Manager for the Fall 2009 Mainstage production, Momentum, and currently is HBC's Ballet Mistress. Erica is a History and Literature concentrator.

Jun Shepard

Jun Shepard was born in New York City, New York, where she trained in Ballet, Graham, and Horton techniques at the School at Steps on Broadway, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts, and the Alvin Ailey School. In addition, she studied at the Royal Danish Ballet School in Copenhagen, Denmark under the Bartholin International Ballet Seminar, where she performed principal roles in La Sylphide, Le Conservatoire, and The Sleeping Beauty. She has worked with choreographers including Earl Mosley, Bradley Shelver, Christian Von Howard, Endalyn Taylor, Daniel Gwirtzman, and H.T. Chen. She has also performed works by Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and Martha Graham.

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 as a member of the Charlotte Youth Ballet, Queen City Jazz Company, and the Harvard Ballet Company, and has performed original works by Bridget Young at North Carolina School of the Arts’ Festival of Winter Dance, in the Moscow Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, and in the premiere of Fred Ho’s Take the Zen Train.  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), First Shade (La Bayadère), Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and Princess Florine (Sleeping Beauty), and Giselle.  Shayna is a sophomore physics concentrator in Quincy House.

Mari Sosa

Born in Cortland, NY, Mari has been dancing ballet since the age of five. During high school she trained with the Ithaca Ballet, where she performed leading and soloist roles in classical ballets such as Raymonda, Paquita, La Bayadere, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. She has had additional training in modern and contemporary dance. In the summer of 2007, she attended American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, where she began her training in choreography with artistic director Graham Lustig. Since then, she has choreographed for the Ithaca Ballet, the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, and the Harvard Ballet Company, setting her pieces titled “Cynosure” in Silhouettes and Arts First 2010, “Exit Tension” in Barre None 2010, and “Between the Present” in Contours 2011. For HBC, she has danced in works by George Balanchine, professional alumni Larissa Douglas Koch and Nina Stoller-Lindsey, and guest choreographers Owen David, Boyko Dossev, and Darcy Naganuma. Outside of dancing, she served as HBC Treasurer from 2009-2011 and as Finance Manager for Momentum 2009. Mari is currently a senior in Dunster House, concentrating in Neurobiology with 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 junior 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.

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 junior at MIT.

Rebecca Walker

Rebecca Walker hails from Colorado where she began he training with the Academy of Colorado Ballet and appeared in several of their productions. She then studied and performed with the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. for 2 years. Rebecca attended summer programs at Perry Mansfield in Steamboat Springs, CO and BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. She danced with Boulder Ballet Company for 3 seasons and has performed in several performances with David Taylor Dance Theatre including The Nutcracker and Eclipsing Venus. Rebecca graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. This is her first season with Harvard Ballet Company.

Rossi Lamont Walter, Jr.

"If the human brain can create and comprehend the infinite spectrum of human realities, then there seems no reason to live as if the human body cannot do the same.” RLW

A second-year student and first-year dancer in the company, Rossi began his study of classical ballet in 2008-09 at the Dallas Ballet Center in Dallas, TX, his hometown. Under the instruction of Judy and Brent Klopfenstein, he performed as the toy soldier and in the Spanish pas-de-trios in The Nutcracker(2008) and as a corsair in Le Corsaire (2009). At Harvard, he furthered his study under Mme. Catherine Ulissey and Mme. Margot Parsons, and danced with Expressions, a student-run group performing hip-hop and narrative styles each semester. Rossi indulges his curiosity for dance under the guidance of the celebrated dancer-choreographers Jill Johnson and Liz Lerman. As an undergraduate, Rossi plans to explore the history of science while at Harvard College to create for himself a foundation of knowledge about the sciences. In the future, he hopes to collaborate with scientists and researchers in the future and in this way contribute to the contemporary fusion of creativity and science in service of the general public.

“I am very grateful for the inspiration of those around me whose lives have been illuminated by dance, especially my instructors, who have shed their light on this, my own expedition.”

Shanna Wiggins

Shanna Wiggins began her ballet training at the age of two at various dance studios in her hometown of Methuen, Massachusetts. During her high school years, she danced competitively at the Carlene Nazarian Dance Center and studied ballet intensively with the New England Civic Ballet under the direction of Roshni Pecora and Phyllis George. While dancing with NECB, she performed in various community presentations as well as in multiple roles in The Nutcracker. During her summer vacations, she studied in myriad summer dance programs at schools such as The Joffrey School in NYC, Syracuse University, the Rock School for Dance Education, and The American Academy of Ballet. Shanna is very excited to begin her first year here at Harvard and to be spending it with the HBC!

Nina Yancy

Nina Yancy is a sophomore at Harvard College and a native of Dallas, TX. A newcomer to Harvard Ballet Company, Nina's dance abilities also span to the realms of hip-hop and contemporary. She has spent summers training in Los Angeles, CA at EDGE Performing Arts Center and Millennium Dance Studio as well as in New York, NY at Broadway Dance Center. Outside of HBC, Nina performs hip hop with Expressions Dance Company and teaches dance to students in the Cambridge Public School District as a member of CityStep. She is excited to join the HBC family this semester!

Julie Yen

Julie Yen began dancing at age four in her hometown of Concord, Massachusetts.  She received most of her ballet training at José Mateo Ballet Theatre in Harvard Square.  At JMBT, Julie was as a member of YouthWorks and performed several roles in The Nutcracker, including Clara in 2007. Julie has also trained at Boston Ballet summer intensives.  When she is not dancing or studying, she enjoys baking and reading Jane Austen novels.

Cici Yu

CiCi is a junior psychology concentrator in Pforzheimer House. She began dancing at the age of 5 at the New Tampa Dance Theatre in Tampa, Florida. For seven seasons, she performed with NTDT's The Nutcracker in such roles as Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen. In addition to HBC, CiCi has choreographed for and danced with the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company and has been a stage technician for numerous dance productions, including Dancers' Viewpoint 11 and the ARTS FIRST Dance Festival.

 

Helen Zhao

Helen Zhao, born and raised in Boston, started dancing ballet and traditional chinese dance at the age of six. She first started her ballet training at the Londonderry Dance Academy and later danced at the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre before transferring to Mass Motion Dance in Brighton, Massachusetts. At Mass Motion Dance, Helen was introduced to many different styles of dance including Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, and Hip Hop. There, she competed in national dance competitions under the Solo categories of Ballet en Pointe and Lyrical, earning awards at the high gold and platinum levels. As a freshman at Harvard, she is also involved in the Asian American Dance Troupe and Crimson Cheer. Helen is extremely honored and excited to be dancing with the Harvard Ballet Company!