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, Costume Coordinator

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.

Donna Silva

Ballet Instructor
Donna Silva was born in New York. Her initial training was under the direction of former dancer of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Lila Crabtree. Ms. Silva experienced extensive, diversified training with Margaret Craske, Alfredo Corvino, and Anthony Tudor at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School; Valentina Pereyaslavec and Yurek Lazowski at American Ballet Theatre; and Robert Joffrey, Perry Brunson, Hector Zaraspe at the American Ballet Center/Joffrey Ballet.

Ms. Silva has danced throughout America and Europe with the Joffrey Ballet Company including a performance for President Johnson at The White House. Following Joffrey Ballet, she served as principal artist (and taught) with First Chamber Dance Company of New York and Bern State Theater, Switzerland. Boston Ballet invited Ms. Silva to appear in character roles in: Lady of Camellias (2004) and Cinderella (2005). Her earlier performing experiences were with Manhattan Festival Ballet, Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company, and Carnegie Hall as a young dancer. While in Europe (Bern State Theater) she appeared in West Side Story and On The Town. She served on the Jury for the Prix D’Aarau Competition.

Ms. Silva’s comprehensive and considerable teaching experiences in Switzerland include Zurich State Theatre Ballet (Ballet Mistress, under Uwe Scholtz). She was also invited to teach with the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brussels, Belgium.

Dance Academy Silva was founded and directed by Ms. Silva in 1985. Her teaching and choreographed pieces continued to be in evident through 2014 even though she returned to the USA in 1993. Her legacy has continued to provide excellent teaching/training with First Chamber Dance Company of New York, Cornish College (Seattle), Portland Ballet Company/School (Maine), and Boston Ballet School under the direction of Bruce Marks, Anne Marie Holmes, and Mikko Nissinen (1994-2007). During this time, she recruited dancers and taught for the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Programs, recruited dancers for the Dance Program of Boston Conservatory (1995-2005), and choreographed several works for students at both programs. Ms. Silva has also been a guest teacher for Robert Joffrey’s NY School Summer Program. Following 22 years as Professor of Dance and four Most Outstanding Faculty awards, she retired from Boston Conservatory (1994-2016).

Currently, Ms. Silva is a certified Pilates instructor and part of the South Shore Ballet Theatre faculty. Ms. Silva has highly contributed to the art of dance in America and Europe, continuing to be a driving force to this day.

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.

Marcus Schulkind

Choreographer

Marcus Schulkind has been a dancer, choreographer, and teacher for more than 50 years. He has received grants from the NEA, NYSCA, MCC, Affiliated Artists, Celebrity Series, and First Night. Prior to moving to Boston, he had his own dance company in New York City and was featured at Clark Center, American Theater Laboratory/Dance Theatre Workshop, and Dance Umbrella. He is also one of the founders of Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to this, for the past 20 years, he has been an acupuncturist, teaching at New England School of Acupuncture and maintaining a private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts.

He graduated from Goddard College, which included two years of study in New York City at the Juilliard School and the dance studios of Martha Graham, Norman Walker, May O’Donnell, and Gertrude Schurr. He performed in the companies of Pearl Lang, Kathy Posin, Elisa Monte, Lar Lubovitch, Norman Walker, and the Batsheva Dance Company of Israel. He has choreographed extensively in the United States and had his own dance company in New York and in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Schulkind also teaches at Green Street Studios and Urbanity Dance Company (Boston).

Ellen O’Reilly-Jonas

Repetiteur

Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan was the first to free dance from the many constraints imposed by classical ballet. She can therefore be rightfully called the mother of modern “barefoot” dance.

Isadora Duncan was born in Oakland” California in 1877. Her mother was an accomplished pianist who introduced her to the great composers, whose music later inspired Isadora’s creation of a new dance form. Isadora’s genius was appreciated by her family when she was very young, but her revolutionary ideas on dance were not well accepted in America. When Isadora was in her teens, the family moved to Europe, where her genius was recognized. Even so, raising money was always difficult, until Isadora met her “Lohengrin”, an American heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. With his financial support, she founded schools of Duncan dance in France and Germany. Eventually, Isadora gained great fame in both Europe and America; in fact, in the entire world.

Isadora’s dream was to teach children who would then continue to teach others. This was more important to her than performances, although performing was important as a motivating force and also to help finance her school. One of her objectives was to obtain government support for the school. The first and only government to sponsor her work was the Soviet Union, and this support lasted approximately ten years.

Isadora died but her dream lives on. Six of her most gifted students eventually settled in the United States, and were adopted by Isadora Duncan and took her last name. Only three of these women continued to teach and perform for many years.

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

Matthew Brian Cost

Lighting Designer/Stage Manager

Matthew Brian Cost is a Boston-based lighting designer whose work has appeared in hundreds of productions throughout Boston, New Hampshire, and Maine, and more far-flung corners.  Matt has designed with The Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Portland Stage Company, BoSoma Dance Company, Gold Dust Orphans, The Center for the Arts in Natick, Moonbox Productions, and many others.  Matt graduated from Colby College in 2001, and lives in East Weymouth, MA with his wife Abby, son Simon, daughter Sadie and pitbull Roadie.  

Miguel Flores

Assistant 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, new works, and music education. Was the Music teacher at a public high school, in California, for two years before returning the LA theater scene as a stage manager, and then traveling the US to ASM Operas. He moved to St. Louis for 8 years to work as an Associate Production Manager before moving to New England to be the Production Manager at North Shore Music Theatre, the Production Coordinator at MIT Music and Theater Arts Department, and then the Production Manager at Revels, Inc. He is currently the Associate Director of Production at The Huntington and continues as a freelance PSM for local operas and other events.

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 College in 2023 with a degree 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.

Nicole Dickson

Nicole Dickson is a Boston-based ballet dancer originally from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. She began her training at Chester Valley Dance Academy, where she studied ballet under the guidance of Kimberly Martin and Patricia Brown. In 2023, she graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Pedagogy and Mathematics. At Butler, she performed in live-orchestrated productions of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and she danced in La Vivandière, The Forecourt Dance by Marek Cholewa, The Other Self by Marek Cholewa, and Church Song by
Susan McGuire during ButlerBallet’s Midwinter Dances. In 2023, Nicole joined the City Ballet of Boston for the Urban Nutcracker and became a company member in 2024. Notable roles include Hoopette and Rat Queen, and she has had the privilege of dancing in original works by Gianni di Marco, Tony Williams, and Morgan Brown Sanborn. This fall, she premiered in Tony Williams’ Saraband.

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! Ms. Frank is excited for her role this season as the Sugar Plum Fairy!
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.

Grace Hall

Born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard, Grace Hall (she/her) was first introduced to dance at her mother’s dance school, Kaleidoscope Dance. She studied classical ballet for 6 years at Atlantic Coast Academy of Dance under Tanya Vincent before attending high school at Walnut Hill School for the Arts as a ballet major. She went on to attend Vassar College where she graduated with a minor in dance and was a member of the on-campus company Vassar Repertory Dance Theater (VRDT). In summers spent on the Vineyard, Grace dances in the island’s homegrown dance festival Built on Stilts and runs her own summer intensive program for ballet students titled Summer at Kaleidoscope. Since graduating, Grace has performed professionally for companies such as North Atlantic Ballet, the Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe, BalletMV, and now City Ballet of Boston.

Margaret Holland

Margaret first performed in the Urban Nutcracker in 2019 as a guest artist and has since joined City Ballet of Boston year round. During her dance career, she has also performed with Harvard Ballet Company, New York Dance Project, and Capital Ballet DC. In addition, Margaret is an active member of the Boston medical community and enjoys sharing her passion for the arts by inviting colleagues to performances and community 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.

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.

Katie McMahon

Katie is a Massachusetts native joining Urban Nutcracker for the first time 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.

Gabrielle Honoré

Apprentice

Gabrielle Honoré is currently a senior 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 and Fall 2025 season. Through the Conservatory Gabrielle has also had the opportunity to perform Dvorák Serenade by Lar Lubovitch, PLOD by Dan Wagoner, and world premiers by Andrew Skeels and Nicole Von Arx. Her strong ballet foundation comes from furthering her studies by 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 Boston Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Hispanico, and Hubbard Street to name a few.

Azamat Asangul

Azamat was born in Issyk Kul, Kyrgyz Republic. He started his studies at age 10. In 2007, Azamat was awarded a Presidential Scholar “Personnel 21st Century” for “Creative achievement in the Performing Skills”. Later he was invited by Altynai Asylmuratova to study in Saint Petersburg, Russia and graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 2010. He then joined Moscow City Ballet under the direction of artistic director Victor Smirnov. In 2012, Azamat was selected by Julia Moon to join Universal Ballet in South Korea. He also continued to dance with the Kyrgyz National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2013, Azamat was invited to join The Russian National Ballet by Artistic Director Sergei Radchenko. He has toured with The Moscow City Ballet in the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Taiwan, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus, Russia and with The Russian National Ballet in the USA. In 2014, Azamat joined Island Moving Co. in Newport, Rhode Island to focus on his contemporary style. Azamat has appeared as a guest artist with Kyrgyz National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Russian National Ballet, Charleston City Ballet and Ballet Idaho. Azamat danced with Ballet RI from 2017-2023. This is Azamat’s third season with the Asian American Ballet Project.

Louise Hautefeuille

Louise Hautefeuille is a French-American dancer originally from California and currently freelancing in the Boston area. A former Boston Ballet second soloist, she spent 6 years with the company performing a mix of classical and contemporary repertoire including William Forsythe’s Approximate Sonata, Dewdrop in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, the Crystal Fountain Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Calliope in Balanchine’s Apollo, and Tall Swans, Lead Czardas, Pas de Cinq and Pas de Trois in Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake. She most recently performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker.

She is also a licensed EMT and a graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in health science.

Elvis Pietrzak

Elvis is so excited to be taking part in Tradition, Reimagined! He has previously performed with City Ballet of Boston in Ballet Banquet, Dance Distinctive, and Urban Nutcracker. He’s currently a student at the Boston Conservatory, pursuing a BFA in Contemporary Dance.

Rhapsody Stiggers

A Minnesota native, Rhapsody Stiggers began her dance journey with the Minnesota Dance Theater at two years old, where she studied classical ballet and modern. As a young teen, she segued into a wider variety of styles at TU Dance Center such as Horton, contemporary, improvisation and West African dance under the direction of Toni Pierce Sands. After graduating, Rhapsody continued her training in a myriad of styles at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, studying under influential professors such as Kurt Douglas, Gianni DiMarco, Ruka White, and Marissa Parmenter. While at BoCo, she was able to perform in numerous mainstage performances, including classical ballets such as La Vivandiere and La Bayadere, as well as company repertory from Doug Varone, and Urban Bush Women. In addition, she has had the
opportunity to participate in various summer intensive programs throughout the years including: Orsolina28, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rhapsody spent her final semester at BoCo working with choreographer Anderson Carvalho in Cape Town, South Africa and continued performing his work both in The Netherlands and Rwanda this past summer. She performed with City Ballet of Boston in the Urban Nutcracker this past December.

Alexis Taborda

Alexis Taborda is a 19-year-old artist and Boston Arts Academy graduate with a deep love for ballet, modern, and contemporary. They continued their training at the Boston Conservatory, further refining their technique and artistic voice. Alexis is committed to growing as a performer and exploring new creative opportunities.

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.