Tony Williams

Artistic Director

At age 16, after experiencing trouble as a street gang member, he discovered a pathway to international success through ballet. His strong athletic abilities in track, baseball and gymnastics accelerated his dance training. Mr. Williams began his early training with the Lithuanian ballerina, Tatiana Babushkina. Afterwards, Mr. Williams received a scholarship from the Boston School of Ballet, training with E. Virginia Williams (founder of the Boston Ballet) and Sydney Leonard. Along with Mr. Williams’ first teachers, he also attributes his success to Sam Kurkjian, Hector Zaraspe, Perry Brunson and Frank Bourman. Mr. Williams also owes a great debt to Arnold Spohr, former long-time Artistic Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Robert Joffrey, founder of the Joffrey Ballet. These individuals offered invaluable artistic direction which Mr. Williams is totally committed to passing on to future generations of dancers. Mr. Williams joined the Boston Ballet in 1964 and after dancing for only three years, Mr. Williams worked his way up from Corps-de-Ballet to Principal Dancer. He then danced soloist roles with the Joffrey Ballet and was a Principal Dancer with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Gulbenkian Ballet of Portugal, and the Norwegian National Ballet.

Mr. Williams has been teaching in the New England area for over forty years. With this background and as a father of three sons and a grandson, Mr. Williams is very sensitive to the needs of children from all backgrounds.  Widely respected as a progressive dance educator, Williams has won the Dance Teacher Magazine Award and Wheelock Family Theater’s Wheel Award. In 2014, he founded the Tony Williams Dance Center in 2000. He created Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker in 2001. Mr. Williams founded City Ballet of Boston in 2018 and Boston City Youth Ballet in 2019. He also founded BalletRox in 1996, American Concert Ballet in 1992, and co -founded Ballet Theatre of Boston in 1986.  Currently Mr. Williams is a Trustee of the Walnut Hill School of the Arts and a board member of the  Umbrella for the Arts in Concord, MA.

Betsy Khalil

Assistant Artistic Director

Betsy Boxberger Khalil trained under Victoria Lyras at the Indianapolis School of Ballet. She graduated from Duke University with a double Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Environmental Policy. Betsy joined City Ballet of Boston as a company member in 2018. She has also performed with José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, Fukudance, and Ballet Quad Cities, and as a guest artist with Dance Kaleidoscope and the Indianapolis School of Ballet. Featured roles include the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Urban Nutcracker, the Pink Girl in Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations, Second Violin in Concerto Barocco, the lead girl in Valse Fantasie, and George Balanchine’s Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker. In 2015, she was awarded the Robert D. Beckmann, Jr. Emerging Artist Fellowship by the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Gianni Di Marco

Ballet Master, Resident Choreographer

Gianni Di Marco joined the Boston Conservatory in 2006 as an instructor in partnering and advanced ballet technique, and is a professor of dance. He also teaches somatic and advanced partnering repertoire. In 2016, he started Step by Step!, a dance program for children with autism.

Di Marco began his dance career with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, where he was promoted to first soloist. He has also performed with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Opera Leipzig Ballet, Boston Ballet, Festival Ballet Providence, and Tony Williams Dance Company. His roles include Romeo and Mercutio in Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet and pas des deux in Petipa’s Don Quixote, as well as works by Balanchine, Nacho Duato, J. Kylián, Hans van Manen, Cranko, Danny Pelzig, and others.

Di Marco has choreographed more than 50 original works, including Muñecas (2009), On the Brink (2007), and In the Window (2012) for Boston Conservatory, La Rondine (2003) for the Boston Lyric Opera, and Orpheus (2012) for Boston Baroque. He has created works for Boston Ballet, including The Nutcracker (1996), Dance on the Top Floor (1998), Raw Dance(2002-2005), and various gala balls (1999-2016), as well as multiple works for Festival Ballet, including Lady of the Camellias(2016), Scheherazade (2005), and El Amor Brujo (2009).

Di Marco has been teaching ballet and movement to children and adults since 2000. In addition to Boston Conservatory, he has taught at Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, Harvard University, University of South Carolina, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. He was the principal of Citydance, a Boston Public Schools outreach program. In 2002, he founded Adaptive Dance with Michelina Cassella, a program for children with Down syndrome and autism, at Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education.

Di Marco is a graduate of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. He has studied with the National Ballet of Cuba and the National Ballet of Canada. He has completed Cecchetti certification (intermediate level), certification for Gyrotonic® and Gyrokinesis®, and certification for Burdenko water therapy.

Erika Lambe

Principal BCYB Instructor

Erika Lambe is a Boston native who began her training at the Boston Ballet School and later studied at the School of American Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem school. She danced professionally with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Miami City Ballet, and Boston Ballet where she was Boston Ballet’s first black Sugar Plum Fairy. Over her extensive career, her repertoire includes a number of Balanchine works including Concerto Borocco, Bugaku, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, The Four Temperaments, Square Dance, Jewels, The Nutcracker, Scotch Symphony, Valsse Fantasies, Divertimento 15, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Ballo de la Regina, and Raymonda Variations. Classical repertoire includes Swan Lake, Movanissimanoble, Flower Festival at Genzano, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Les Corsaire, LA Bayadere, Don Quixote, and Paquita. She has also performed “Creole Giselle”, The Fall River Legend, Firebird, Les Biches, Les Noces, Holberg Suite, and Voluntaries and works by Mark Morris and Lyla York.

Ms. Lambe was featured in a PBS special, “I’LL MAKE ME A WORLD”, which chronicled the lives of African Americans in dance. Since retiring from the stage, Ms. Lambe has taught ballet at Boston Ballet School, Walnut Hill School, Boston Arts Academy, Charles River Ballet Academy, and Acton School of Ballet. As a coach and choreographer, Ms. Lambe has worked with many dancers in the greater Boston area and is currently teaching at Tony Williams Dance Center and Northeast School of Ballet. She is the Urban Nutcracker Children’s Repertoire Director, and the Principal Ballet Instructor of Boston City Youth Ballet.

Adriana Suarez

Ballet Instructor

Adriana Suarez joined the Boston Conservatory in 2005 and is an associate professor of dance, specializing in advanced ballet, pointe technique, Gyrokinesis®, and classical and contemporary repertoire. She has also served as rehearsal director for resident choreographers and was co-artistic director of Boston Conservatory’s Summer Dance Intensive with Gianni Di Marco from 2011 to 2014.

Her dance career started in New York City, where she performed as a guest artist following her training at School of American Ballet. She was quickly spotted by Bruce Marks and invited to join the Boston Ballet in 1989. She became a principal ballerina in 1994 and has performed the lead role in a wide range of classical ballets, such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and The Nutcracker. Her contemporary repertoire includes the leading role in numerous works by George Balanchine, including Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Terpsichore in Apollo, and Serenade.

Suarez has had the pleasure of working closely with such renowned choreographers as Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, William Forsythe, and Nacho Duato. She has performed the roles of Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin and Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and has created roles for Christopher Wheeldon’s Firebird and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles. Suarez created many roles for Daniel Pelzig while he was a resident choreographer at Boston Ballet. She has appeared as a guest artist in South America and Asia. In 1997, she took a leave of absence to join Oper Leipzig Ballett in Germany as a principal ballerina under the direction of Proffesor Uwe Scholz, where she performed the classics as well as many of his works. Upon returning to Boston Ballet, she continued to broaden her repertoire and teaching skills.

Her teaching experience includes Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey School and Company, Harvard University, Ballet Hispanico, Brookline Ballet School, University of South Carolina, Green Street Studios, Festival Ballet of Rhode Island, and Regional Dance America.

Lorraine Chapman

Choreographer

Lorraine Chapman’s professional dance career spans 38 years. She danced with several international companies including Ballet British Columbia and Eliot Feld Ballets/NY, as well as locally with Amy Spencer & Richard Colton, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Prometheus Dance, and Marcus Schulkind. Her formal training includes The Ballet Academy, Boston Ballet, Boston Repertory Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and École Supérieure De Ballet Du Québec from such distinguished instructors as Frances Kotelly, Shauna Bereska, Samuel Kurkjian, Leo Guerard, Tony Williams, Jacqueline Weber, Galina Yordanova, Daniel Sellier, and Charmaine Turner and as a professional dancer with Camilla Malashenko, Patricia Neary, Jocelyn Lorenz, Marcus Schulkind, Richard Colton, Amy Spencer, José Mateo, and Diane Arvanites. As a choreographer she has received numerous awards including LEF Foundation New England’s Contemporary Work Fund Grant, Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artist Grant for Choreography, Choreographer’s Project Fellowship Summer Stages Dance, The Dance Complex’s CATALYSTS Series, Boston Dance Alliance Rehearsal & Retreat Fellowship, 2013 Brother Thomas Fellowship, The Gallery of the Pentacle dance agency, Boston Center for the Arts Dance Residency, Summer Stages Dance/Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency Project, Dance Magazine’s one of “25 To Watch”, Regional Dance Development Initiative – NE Dance Lab, 3 New England States Touring Grants, New Hampshire Theater Award for Best Direction, and a Live Arts Boston Grant. Lorraine has been teaching dance for 29 years, currently holding positions at Ballet Arts Centre of Winchester and Acton School of Ballet. Her latest adventure is working on becoming a fully certified Pilates instructor.

Chu Ling

Choreographer

Chu Ling is a graduate from the Beijing Dance Academy, and is the recipient of numerous awards in China, Japan, and USA. She received a choreography commission for the closing ceremony of the First East Asian Games in Shanghai. In 2002, Ling received the Artist-Humanist Award from the Boston Cultural Council. Ling is the founder and director of the Chu Ling Dance Academy. She has taught and performed at many institutions in the Greater-Boston area, including Wellesley College, Boston University, and Harvard University. In addition, Ling has been a recurring guest teacher and choreographer at Boston Ballet.

She is a sought-after artist for her ability to offer inclusive quality dance and movement experiences for all. Her students range from inner-city youth to the elderly in suburban settings. Ling is dedicated to cultural exchange, merging eastern and western aesthetics through dance. In 2022, Ling received the Traditional Art Award from the Mass Cultural Council. Since 2020 Chu Ling has been invited by Ballet of RI to teach Chinese character lessons and choreography pieces for their seasonal performances.

Rachel Isadora

Author and Illustrator of Ben’s Trumpet

Rachel Isadora is a painter living in both New York and France. Ms. Isadora exhibits her works internationally, including solo shows at Liss Gallery in Toronto.

Raised in Manhattan in the Lower East Side enclave of Knickerbocker Village, Ms. Isadora was exposed early on to the arts, developing a love of painting and dance that has shaped the trajectory of her life. Among her childhood memories, Ms. Isadora recalls visiting the Soho studios of Jackson Pollock, Elaine De Kooning, Lee Krasner, and Moses Sawyer, among many others, alongside her mother.

These studio visits, along with the creative influences of her uncle, the artist Joe Lasker (1919-2015), have remained with her throughout her development as an artist. After being advised by her uncle against pursuing a formal art school education, Ms. Isadora has been a diligent student of art history, independently becoming fluent in the works and techniques of the artists who have come before her, while constantly experimenting with new media and methods.

Dance, which appears as a core theme in her work, has had an equally powerful influence on her style and choice of subject matter. Ms. Isadora began the study of dance at the age of six, first at the New York Dance Group, and then at the School of American Ballet, where she trained with George Balanchine, along with dancers from the Ballets Russes, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the New York City Ballet. After seven years of study, Ms. Isadora embarked on a career, performing with the New York City Ballet and Boston Ballet. Now, working from her art studio, Ms. Isadora continues her exploration of dance, in a style driven by movement and fueled by a sense of musicality and improvisation. Her process often begins with a song selection, and from there her imagination guides the brush, as she applies the paint with a sense of dynamism and vitality. In paint, Ms. Isadora finds a sense of freedom and creativity not afforded by the rigor and formalism of dance — an outlet for pure and uninhibited expression.

Ms. Isadora is also a celebrated author and illustrator of more than 150 children’s books. Her book, Ben’s Trumpet, received a Caldecott Honor.

https://www.rachelisadora.com

Juliet Brown

Juliet is from Norwell, MA and trained at the Boston Ballet School and South Shore Ballet Theatre. She has danced with Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina and the Paris Opera Ballet. She is currently freelancing in the Boston area and dancing with City Ballet Boston. Her repertoire includes Sugar Plum and Snow Queen from The Nutcracker, Shades Pas De Trois from La Bayadere, Cinderella in Cinderella, and her portrayal of Lucille Grahn in Pas de Quatre.

Naoko Brown

At the age of six, Naoko Brown was introduced to the world of classical ballet by Michiko Matsumoto and continued her training with Barbara Banaskowski Smith in Lansing, MI. While there, she performed with the students of the National Ballet School of Gdansk in Poland, as well as students from Vaganova Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Russia. Brown received her B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. There she performed works by Daniel Pelzig, Sean Curran, Lar Lubovitch and José Limon. She also attended the Boston Ballet School Summer Dance Program, Ballet Intensive from Moscow, and was a full scholarship recipient at Summer Stages Dance in 2012. Brown has performed with Michiko Matsumoto Ballet, Prometheus Dance and Jo-Mé Dance. She is also a faculty member of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as well as Boston Ballet teaching Contemporary/Modern dance.

Caroline Cooper

Caroline Cooper is a Boston-based dancer. She graduated from Harvard University in 2023 with a BA in Psychology. She trained primarily at Boston Ballet School, starting at age 5. At BBS she developed parallel interests in teaching and choreography. In addition to ballet, her training included extensive work in classical character dance, an area of special focus for her now. While still a student, she was invited to teach at BBS, and she has subsequently taught at Acton School of Ballet and at Franklin School of Ballet. Now she is on the faculty at BBS. In college, she danced with Harvard Ballet Company, where she served on the board in leadership roles and also taught and choreographed. She is thrilled to be performing with City Ballet of Boston.

Nicole Dickson

Nicole Dickson originates from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania where she studied ballet (under the tutelage of Kimberly Martin and Patricia Brown), jazz, tap, and contemporary at Chester Valley Dance Academy. In 2023, she graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Pedagogy. At Butler, she performed in live-orchestrated productions of The Nutcracker and Giselle and danced in La Vivandière, The Forecourt Dance by Marek Cholewa, and Church Song by Susan McGuire during Butler Ballet’s Midwinter Dances. After graduation, she danced in Tony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker and joined City Ballet of Boston as a company member in 2024. She is thrilled to be performing in the Strand Theatre again for Dance Distinctive!

Kendra Frank

Kendra Frank, originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts began her pre-professional training under the instruction of Tanya Vincent and Beth Vages. She continued her training at South Shore Ballet Theatre, with Marthavan Mckeon, George Birkadze, Stephanie Moy, Leslie Woodies, Dona Silva, and Nan Keating.

In 2016 Ms. Frank was offered a traineeship with Bay Pointe Ballet in San Francisco. The following year she trained with Festival Ballet Providence as a Post-Graduate. From 2018-2020, she danced as a company member with City Ballet Boston. Ms. Frank then joined Florida Ballet’s company 2020-2023 in Jacksonville, Florida. She is now back dancing in her home state with City Ballet of Boston since 2023!

Kendra Frank is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also a professional certified pointe shoe fitter, Frankly.Fitted.

Margaret Holland

Margaret first guested in the Urban Nutcracker in 2019 and has since joined City Ballet Boston! Since being in Boston, she has also danced with Harvard Ballet Company and traveled to NYC to train with the New York Dance Project. She is an active part of the medical community in Boston and loves being able to invite colleagues to shows and events!

Morgan Brown Sanborn

Morgan Brown Sanborn is originally from Standish, Maine and is currently a member of City Ballet of Boston and Safe Haven Ballet as well as the Director of Dirigo Conservatory of Movement in Biddeford, ME. She has previously danced with The Florida Ballet, North Atlantic Dance Theatre, Teatrul Balet de Sibiu of România, Nevada Ballet Theater, and Portland Ballet Company of Maine.

Sanborn is a 2009 magna cum laude BFA dance graduate of Point Park University. She is a graduate of the Portland Ballet of Maine CORPS program. Her training includes summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Festival Ballet of Providence, Point Park University, and Boston Conservatory. 

Sanborn’s recent featured roles include Lilac Fairy in Gianni DiMarco’s Sleeping Beauty. Vine Soloist and Spanish Soloist in Anthony William’s Urban Nutcracker. Soloist in Gianni DiMarco’s The Gathering. Arabian Soloist in Linda MacArthur Miele’s Nutcracker, Persian Princess in Miele’s Cinderella. Carmen’s Alter Ego in Roberto Forleo’s Carmen, Christoph Garcia’s Death of the Maiden, Nikiya in La Bayadere, Mercedes in Don Quixote, Hermia in Forleo’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Glove Seller in Forleo’s Gaîté Parisienne. Soloist in Linda MacArthur Miele’s Souvenir, Fairy Godmother in Roger VanFleteren’s Cinderella, Dew Drop and Sugarplum in FLB’s Nutcracker. Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose, Dying Swan, and Prelude in Les Sylphide, as well as Joseph Morrissey’s Suite for Strings. 

Her choreography has been presented by City Ballet of Boston, Florida Ballet, Portland Ballet, Penta Project, Dean College, Franklin Performing Arts Company, Florida Ballet School, South Shore Ballet Theatre and many more. 

Morgan has over 20 years of teaching experience; is currently an ABT® Fellowship Instructor, and is certified in Pilates and Progressing Ballet Technique.

Avery Saulnier de Reyes

Avery Saulnier de Reyes is a freelance dancer and Co-Director of Northeast Arts. Avery received her classical training at Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Lexington School of Ballet and Integrarte. Her professional roles include Canary Fairy, Garland Lead and Little Red Riding Hood in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet’s confidante in Romeo & Juliet and Fanny Cerrito in Pas de Quatre. She has been set on regularly by renowned choreographer Gianni di Marco. Avery enjoys character roles and has explored work on film, performing with Columbia Pictures, ArtsEmerson and Carley Byers.

She is immensely grateful for the love and support of family, friends, teachers, directors and colleagues and the unending patience, knowledge and kindness of mentors Carlos Molina, Érica Cornejo, Gianni di Marco, Adriana Suárez, Mary Thompson and Linda diBona Brassel.

Rheya Shano

Rheya Shano is a Boston native, trained at The Brookline Ballet School under the direction of Trinidad Vives and Parren Ballard.

As a student, she participated in numerous ballet competitions, most notably the Prix de Lausanne in 2019, and the USA IBC in 2018, where she was a Bronze medal prize winner.

In 2019, she went on to dance in Tulsa Ballet’s second company, and is now dancing as a freelance artist in the Boston area, and a company member with City Ballet of Boston and the Asian American Ballet Project.

Amane Takaishi

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Amane Takaishi began her early training with Mitsuyo Kishibe. She continued her training in the UK; at the Central School of Ballet and the Elmhurst School of Ballet in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Amane extended her training through summer intensives at the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School in London, UK, and the International Masterclass in Prague, Czech Republic. She received Advanced II with distinction from the Royal Academy of Dance, UK. Amane danced with Eugen Ballet and Ballet Tucson before joining the City Ballet of Boston. Her repertoire includes leading roles such as Snow Queen (Urban Nutcracker), Spanish (The Extraordinary Nutcracker) and Jewels Pas de Toris (Sleeping Beauty). While dancing in Boston, she teaches ballet at Boston College and Tony Williams Dance Center, and teaches Pilates at Boston University and Boston Body Pilates. Amane holds BA with honors in Professional Dance and Performing Studies from the University of Kent, UK, and MA in Education (Dance Teaching) from the University of Bath, UK.

Nicole Volpe

A Chicagoland native, Nicole has had an eclectic performance career. After graduating from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN in 2016 with a degree in Psychology, she returned home to Chicagoland to study as a scholarship student at the Lou Conte Dance Studio. Before launching her career as a freelance dancer, she also trained at Ruth Page, Hubbard Street Professional Program, and ABT Collegiate Summer Intensives.She is now living in Boston with her husband and three cats and running her photography studio, Nicole Marie Photography. Most recently, she had the opportunity to perform in the ensemble of Evita at Drury Lane in Chicago, as Dream Laurey in Reagle Music Theater of Waltham’s production of Oklahoma!, and in City Ballet Boston’s summer and fall programs.

Katie McMahon

Katie, a Massachusetts native, joined City Ballet of Boston in 2024. Prior to this season, she danced several seasons as a full-time company member for North Atlantic Ballet, performing roles such as Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen, in their annual production of The Nutcracker, as well as soloist and principal roles in countless story ballets. She also had the great pleasure of dancing for Dance Visions, Inc. under the direction of Margot Parsons, prior to having her son Carter in 2018, who now shares her love for dance.

Katie is also a licensed physical therapist and holds her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from University of Massachusetts, Lowell. When she is not rehearsing and performing, she spends her time treating students and professionals in the Boston area, through her private practice Boston Dance PT. Katie is thrilled to be a part of Dance Distinctive.

Gabrielle Honoré

Apprentice

Gabrielle Honoré is currently a junior at the Boston Conservatory where she plans to graduate in 2026 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Contemporary Dance Performance. In addition to her academic studies, Honoré has been a guest artist with City Ballet Boston in their production of Tony Williams’ The Urban Nutcracker and has joined the company as an apprentice for their Spring 2025 season. While earning her BFA Gabrielle has found a passion for choreography, and has been selected to produce works on the mainstage of the Boston Conservatory in their show Winter Works in 2024 and 2025. Honoré has also created and been featured in several dance films that have been presented in the Boston Conservatory Dance Film Festival. Through the Conservatory Gabrielle has also had the opportunity to perform PLOD by Dan Wagoner, and Threadbare by Andrew Skeels. She was born and raised in Chicago where she trained classically under Michele Leslie Holzman and Roberta Pfeil-Begley for 10 years. Her strong ballet foundation comes from furthering her studies by training and examining in the Cecchetti Syllabus provided by the Cecchetti Council of America, where she has completed grades I-VII presented under Karla Harris. Honoré has also had the opportunity to train with companies such as Cincinnati Ballet, Boston Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Hubbard Street to name a few. She continues to develop an interest in classical modern, while in her Horton and Graham technique classes at school as well as in release technique and improvisation.

Zoe Arnold O’Grady

City Ballet Ensemble

Zoe Arnold O’Grady, age 15, has been training with Tony Williams Dance Center for more than 5 years. She has been a performing member of the BCYB program and CBB over the past few years. She has also been looking forward to performing in the Urban Nutcracker every year since she was seven. Zoe loves performing with such an amazing company and is excited to be a part of the show! 

Jim Ansert

Jim Ansart last appeared at The Footlight Club in Equus (Frank Strang), and Follies (Benjamin Stone). He has been seen at Vokes Players in Casa Valentina (Valentina), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rev. Crisparkle), A Man of No Importance (Alfie Byrne), A Little Night Music (Fredrik Egerman), Sunday in the Park With George (Boatman/Redmond), Tintypes (TR), at Riverside TheatreWorks in Hello, Dolly (Horace Vandergelder), at Quannapowitt The Diary of Anne Frank (Otto Frank), at Umbrella Stage Parade (Hugh Dorsey), La Cage Au Folles (Renault/Dindon), Bonnie and Clyde (Frank Hamer), at Concord Players Les Miserables (Inspector Javert), at Next Door Theatre Lend Me A Tenor (Saunders) at Turtle Lane Lane Playhouse 42nd Street (Julian Marsh), Sweeney Todd (Judge Turpin). Jim is grateful to be part of this beautiful production.

Haissan Booth

Haissan Booth is performer, artist, and choreographer and is trained in various styles such as Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, West African, and Hip-Hop. Upon attending and later graduating High school at the Boston Arts academy Haissan decided to further his dance training at University of Hartford Hartt School dance program majoring in Dance Performance Emphasis. Haissan later went on to work with various dance companies such as BoSoma Dance Company, Anna Myers and Dancers, StreetHype, Mystique Illusions Dance Theater, Deborah Abel Dance Co. Contemporarily Out of Order Dance Co, Urbanity Dance Co. Haissan currently dances with South Carolina Ballet.

Elvis Pietrzak

Elvis is so excited to be taking part in Dance Distinctive! He previously performed with City Ballet of Boston in their production of Ballet Banquet this last spring and in Urban Nutcracker this past December. He’s currently a student at the Boston Conservatory, pursuing a BFA in Contemporary Dance.

Meliza Naves Suarez 

Meliza started dancing at the age of three with ballet in Guadeloupe. At age 12, she began training in contemporary and later jazz at the Studio Danse Attitude. She has competed in regional and national competitions in France since age 8.

In 2023, she was offered a full scholarship into the professional semester program of Broadway Dance Center, where she learned more dance styles, including theater jazz, hip-hop, and heels. In 2024, she was offered a full scholarship for the summer intensive of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to further her Horton and Graham technique traning. She was also invited to perform with City Ballet of Boston in 2023 and 2024. Currently, she is training at the Regional Conservatory of Paris and working towards her goal of becoming a professional dancer/ artist and teacher.

Ronnie Thomas

Ronnie Terrell Thomas (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist pushing the boundaries of performance and storytelling. A native of Dorchester, MA, and a Boston Arts Academy alum (‘04), his work spans theater, dance, circus arts, visual arts, poetry, photography, and film.

As a dancer, Ronnie has performed with Teatrul De Balet Sibiu (Romania), José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Niles Ford Urban Dance Collective, Hybrid Movement Company, Tony Williams Urban Nutcracker, NYC Tranzformerz Breakdance Crew, Vance Garrett Productions, and Rudy Benda Productions. He performed the soloist role of Von Rothbart in Swan Lake with Teatrul De Balet Sibiu under the choreography of Andrei Litvinov and took on the lead role of Dracula with North Atlantic Ballet Theatre. His commitment to social justice is reflected in his work with Beheard.World, touring the Great Migration Trail.

Ronnie is also the founder of Mystique Illusions Dance Theatre, which ran for three years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

His film work includes the recent “To Do Nothing”, a collaboration with Adrienne Hawkins and Joe Gonzalez, and his latest project, “Malcolm X,” featured in the Roxbury Film Festival, produced in partnership with Castle of Our Skins, Boston Arts Academy, Adrienne Hawkins, Joe Gonzalez, and composer Akili Jamal James.

Ronnie has trained at Dance Theatre of Harlem, Boston Conservatory, LINES Ballet, International Ballet Academy, Circus Warehouse, and Company One Theatre.

Tony Tucker

Tony Tucker is a dancer, choreographer, performer, and educator who was born in Jamaica and came out of Boston Public Schools. After discovering a love for dance while attending Boston University’s summer dance program “Reach,” he joined forces with J.S. Fusement and started training more passionately in hip hop, Haitian folklore, and jazz dance. He now performs as a guest in numerous companies in Boston. Tony continues his education by attending classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, modern, and pas de deux. He is a dedicated dancer and a talented choreographer. As a teacher, he is adored by students all over Massachusetts and shares his gift of dance and love of the art form in every way he can. Tony is currently dancing with South Carolina Ballet.

Brian Washburn

Born in Providence, RI, Brian performed in his first large scale production at 15, He began teaching hip-hop following his graduation from Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte North Carolina. Since then he has expanded out to other styles and skills such as contemporary, jazz, acrobatics, ballet and made a career performing and teaching, both around and outside of the Boston area, Now living in Charlotte, he teaches Taekwondo and travels to perform dance along the East coast.

Richard Wood, Wooden Kiwi Productions

Production Manager
Richard Wood is happy to be back at the Strand Theatre and working with Tony Williams and the City Ballet of Boston team again. Since working on the Urban Nutcracker first production in 2001, Wooden Kiwi Productions has managed the production of the Urban Nutcracker at the Strand Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, John Hancock Hall and The Shubert as well as building the original scenery and the new set designed by Janie Howland. In addition to their work with the Urban Nutcracker, Wooden Kiwi Productions designs, builds and rents dance floors, builds scenery and has managed performance projects throughout the Boston area and around the world. Our clients include Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Emerson College, BoCO @ Berklee, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, SpeakEasy Stage Company, the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future Group, Moonbox Productions and many more. Wooden Kiwi Productions started in 1991 when partners Richard Wood & Peter Colao built their first dance floor at Green Street Studios in 1991 and is now based in Waltham, MA. Richard is a founding board member of the Massachusetts Live Events Coalition.

Miguel Flores

Stage Manager

Miguel Flores got his BA in Music from California State University Los Angeles. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, he has been a theatre professional for the last 25 years. He has worked in opera, theatre, dance, new works, and music education. He a Music teacher at a public high school, in California, for two years before returning the LA theater scene as a stage manager before traveling the US to ASM Operas. He moved to St. Louis for 4 years to work as an Associate Production Manager before moving to New England to be in other Production Management roles at theaters such as North Shore Music Theatre, MIT Department of Music and Theater Arts, and most recently, The Huntington Theatre. He continues as a freelance PSM for local operas, dance and other events. 

Liz Ramey

Lighting Designer

Liz Ramey has been a lighting designer for over 20 years, bringing her creative vision and technical expertise to a wide range of productions, including dance, theater, music, and special events. Her work has been seen in venues large and small, where she is known for her thoughtful use of light to enhance storytelling and mood. In addition to her design work, Liz is currently the Technical Director at the historic Strand Theatre in Boston, where she supports a diverse array of performances and community events.

Charles G. Baldwin

Ben’s Trumpet Scenic Design

Charles G. Baldwin is an educator, illustrator, stage designer, and puppeteer. He has taught production and stagecraft at CCTC/HJT, Wheelock Family Theatre, CityStage, and EcoWorks. As a scenic designer Charles has designed a variety of productions including the “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at Cape Cod Theatre Company and “Treasure Island” at Cotuit Center for the Arts; and costume designs for “Maverick Strain” with the Joe Goode Performance Group and “Shrek the Musical” at Wheelock Family Theatre (Best Costume Design 2015 by the Independent Reviewers of New England). He is a founding member of San Francisco’s Z Collective, Theater Artists Marketing Alliance (TAMA), the Consortium of Boston Area Children’s Theaters (CBACT), and the Boston Area Network for Teaching Artists (BANTA). Employed by the Mass Cultural Council as the Access and Inclusion Program Officer, Charles sits on the Advisory Boards of the Brickbottom Artists Association and the Wicked Queer Film Festival.