NADYNE BISPO is originally from Santos coast of São Paulo, Brazil. She started dancing at the age of 4 at Balé Jovem de São Vicente under the direction of Geyssa Alencar and Sabrina Olimpio. In 2012, she represented Brazil at Tanzolimp in Berlin, her first international festival. She graduated in 2015, at the age of 17 from the Balé Jovem de São Vicente. Nadyne participated in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) three times and, in 2016 received a scholarship for the summer course and contract with Boston Ballet II. She attended the four weeks summer intensive under the direction of Peter Stark. In 2018, she was a finalist at YAGP, and she got a contract to work with Atlanta Ballet 2 under the direction of Gennadi Nedvigin and Sharon Story, where she attended for two years (2018- 2020). In 2020, she was promoted as a Company member with Atlanta Ballet. Nadyne is really thankful for her family and friends' support.
Company Ballet Dancers
SEVERIN BROTSCHUL, originally from Glen Arbor, Michigan, began his dance training in Maryland at age 13. He later studied with Denis Gronostayskiy and Anastasia Babayeva at School of International Ballet in Media, Pennsylvania. He moved to Houston at age 16 to dance at Houston Ballet Academy. After two years in the professional levels, Severin danced with Houston Ballet II for the 2019/20 season. During his time at Houston Ballet Academy, he had opportunities to dance various works by Houston Ballet Director and Choreographer Stanton Welch AM, as well as many other esteemed choreographers.
GEORGIE GRACE BUTLER is 24 years old and from Roswell, Georgia. She began her training at the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. In 2015, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to train at Boston Ballet School as a pre-professional student. She danced roles in Mika Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, Raymonda, and The Sleeping Beauty. In 2018, Georgie Grace became a trainee at Pennsylvania Ballet. There she danced roles in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Angel Corella’s Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty. She joined Atlanta Ballet 2 in 2019, and has danced in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker, August Bournonville’s Napoli, George Balanchine’s Serenade, and in Giselle, Don Quixote, and Paquita. She has also danced the roles of The Evil Queen in Snow White and Belle in Beauty and the Beast, both choreographed by Bruce Wells. Georgie Grace had her choreographic debut in 2020 with No Ordinary Love that premiered at the Georgia Tech Arts: Skyline Series. She is thrilled to return this season as a new company dancer for Atlanta Ballet.
EMILY CARRICO was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, and received her classical ballet training from Kentucky Ballet Theatre Academy, The HARID Conservatory and The Art of Classical Ballet. She has danced professionally with Kentucky Ballet Theatre, Columbia City Ballet and currently with Atlanta Ballet. Carrico feels fortunate to have performed principal roles, such as Kitri in Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, the Sylph in Johan Kobborg’s La Sylphide, and Marie in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker. Along with dancing many other classical ballets, she has performed works by Helgi Tomasson, Mark Morris, George Balanchine, Liam Scarlett, Stanton Welch, Dwight Rhoden, Ricardo Amarante, Yury Yanowski, John McFall, Craig Davidson, Max Petrov, Claudia Schreier and Mark Godden. In May of 2019, she was named Dance Magazine’s dancer “on the rise.” Aside from dancing, Carrico is very passionate about teaching ballet and has been a part of the Atlanta Ballet Summer Intensive faculty for four consecutive years.
MICHAEL CAYE was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he trained at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and the Point Park University International Summer Dance Program. At 16, Michael was a finalist at Young American Grand Prix and received a scholarship with Miami City Ballet Pre-Professional Program under the direction of Arantxa Ochoa, the same year. While in Miami, Michael performed roles such as George Balanchine’s Tarantella, Mathew Neenan’s Penumbra and works by Durante Verzola and Ariel Rose. During his last year in Miami, he was given the opportunity to choreograph on the pre-professional students and perform in West Side Story Suite with the Miami City Ballet company. Michael was most recently a company dancer with Nevada Ballet Theater in Las Vegas, under the direction of Roy Kaiser. He performed many principal and soloist roles, the most notable of which included Frederick in Ben Stevenson’s Dracula, Kaschie in Yuri Possokov’s Firebird, Melancholic in George Balanchine’s Four Temperaments and a featured dancer in Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero.
ANASTASIA CHEPLYANSKY began her training at Ballet San Jose and Lise la Cour’s LaCademy of Ballet. She graduated from Bayer Ballet Academy in 2018, under Inna Bayer’s direction. While at Bayer Ballet, she performed roles such as Medora in the Le Corsaire Grand Pas de Deux, Paquita Pas de Trois, Queen of Dryads in Don Quixote’s Dream Scene, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Gerda in Snow Queen, and she was invited to participate in Young American Grand Prix New York finals. Anastasia also performed at the Apollo Arts Festival’s gala in 2018, as the corps for Don Quixote Act III Pas de Deux and for Gamzatti’s Grand Pas alongside Adiarys Almeida and Maria Alexandrova, respectively. She joined Atlanta Ballet 2 from 2018-2020, where she got to perform with the Company for The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, and performed a principal role in Atlanta Ballet 2’s The Swan Princess. In 2020, Anastasia joined Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice and performed Claudia Schreier’s Pleiades Dances and a duet choreographed by Carraig New for the Silver Linings program. Over the summer of 2021, she had the special opportunity to learn from and be choreographed on by world-renown choreographer, Vasily Medvedev for his world premiere, which will later be danced by schools and companies in Europe. She danced the Rose as the lead role and Nasturtium, the antagonist, in his ballet, The Romance of the Rose and the Butterfly-A Love Story. Anastasia is excited for her third season with the Company.
DYLAN CLINARD, from Clemmons, North Carolina, began his dance education at the UNCSA Preparatory Dance Program under the direction of Dayna Fox. At age 13, he was offered a scholarship to train at Houston Ballet Academy, where he spent three years in the top level of the school before his promotion to Houston Ballet II under the tutelage of Andrew Murphy, Sally Rojas, Sabrina Lenzi, Claudio Muñoz and Stanton Welch. While at Houston Ballet II, Clinard performed in Welch’s Raymonda, A Dance in the Garden of Mirth, La Bayadère, Clear, Swan Lake, The Gentlemen, Blue, The Long and Winding Road and Brigade. He joined Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice in 2015. His favorite performances to date are Yuri Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort. He is looking forward to the 2023|2024 season and thanks his family for their love and support.
CATHERINE CONLEY was born in Chicago and began her formal dance training at the Ruth Page School of Dance. She danced as Swanhilda in Coppélia and appeared in Civic Ballet of Chicago productions. At age 18, she participated in an exchange program between Ruth Page and the National Ballet School of Cuba. Catherine was subsequently invited to train in Havana full time—a first for an American ballerina. While there, she performed as Gulnare and Medora in Le Corsaire, and competed in the International Competition for Ballet Schools in Havana, winning the silver medal with the pas de deux from Paquita. In 2017, Catherine entered the National Ballet of Cuba as the company’s only foreign dancer. During her time with the company, she performed in Giselle, Swan Lake and Cinderella, as well as Queen of the Nymphs in Alberto Mendez’s La Fille du Danube. She then went on to dance with Milwaukee Ballet, performing in Coppélia, The Nutcracker and Rise by Nicole Teague-Howell. Catherine joined Atlanta Ballet in 2020 and has performed works by George Balanchine, Cathy Marston, Guillherme Maciel, Sergio Masero Olarte, Justin Peck, Yuri Possokhov, Kiyon Ross, Claudia Schreier and Remi Wortmeyer.
LARISSA CAPITANIO DAL’SANTO was born in Chapecó – SC, Brazil. At age 11, Dal’Santo was approved with a full scholarship to study at the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil, where she studied for seven years, with renowned teachers. She had the opportunity to rehearse with one of the most famous dancers in the world, Vladmir Vassiliev. In 2018, she was certified in the Bolshoi School Internship Program as an assistant teacher of first and fourth grade classes. In 2019, Dal’Santo joined Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre as a soloist. In Russia, she performed complete ballets such as Romeo and Juliet as Juliet, Cipollino as Radish, Nutcracker as Masha (Clara), La Bayadere as Manu and Drum Dance soloist, Swan Lake as Little Swans and Neapolitan Dance soloist, as well as Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Le Corsaire, and others. In 2021, she was invited by the artistic director of Voronezh Theatre, Aleksander A. Lityagin, to perform a contemporary duet in the award “Soul of Dance,” which was based in the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre in Moscow. In 2020 during the pandemic, she started an online project titled Ballet Couple, with Luiz Fernando Xavier, to share with Brazilian students and audiences about a professional ballet dancer’s life. The project includes online and in person workshops of classical ballet for Brazilian students. Through this project, Larissa was invited to give workshops and perform in many cities around Brazil. She joined Atlanta Ballet in the 2022|2023 season and is excited for her second season with the Company.
GUILLERMO DOMINGUEZ was born in Burgos, Spain. He began his ballet training at the age of four years old in Arabesque Estudio de Danza and in 2011 continued his studies in Escuela Profesional de Danza “Ana Laguna” where he trained for seven years. In 2018, he trained for one year with the dance master Lola de Ávila in Estudio de Danza María de Ávila in Zaragoza and in 2019 was accepted to the School of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier. Guillermo joined Tulsa Ballet ll in 2020. This is his first season with Atlanta Ballet.
BROOKE GILLIAM is from Boulder, Colorado, and began her training at the Colorado Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Julia Wilkinson Manley. At 16, after attending the summer intensive, she was offered a merit scholarship to the Conservatory Program at Atlanta Ballet. From there, Brooke was a part of Atlanta Ballet 2 for two seasons before her promotion to the main company in 2018. Since joining, some of her most noteworthy performances include Russian Girls in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, demi-soloist in Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, and Remi Wörtmeyer’s Significant Others. One of her most memorable moments with Atlanta Ballet has been touring and performing The Nutcracker at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This is Brooke’s sixth season with Atlanta Ballet.
JESSICA HE, originally from Rancho Cucamonga, California, received her early ballet training at Inland Pacific Ballet Academy. She moved to Philadelphia in 2012 at the age of 14 to enter the pre-professional training program at The Rock School for Dance Education on full scholarship, where she received multiple awards and merit scholarships at competitions, such as the Youth America Grand Prix and World Ballet Competition. Jessica danced with Houston Ballet’s second company for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, where she enjoyed touring internationally and performing a varied repertoire. One of the most memorable moments in her career thus far with Atlanta Ballet has been premiering the Principal Woman in Craig Davidson’s world premiere Remembrance/Hereafter during her 2017/18 debut season. She has since performed featured principal and soloist roles in George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, George Balanchine’s Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Jiří Kylián's Return to a Strange Land, Kiyon Ross’ Sum Stravinsky, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine and world premiere Catch, Ricardo Amarante’s Love Fear Loss, Lar Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck, and Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird. Jessica received praise and recognition as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2019 for her performances in Remembrance/Hereafter, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Who Cares?. She is very much looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that her seventh season with the Company will bring.
AIRI IGARASHI was born in Gunma, Japan. She received her early training at the Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School and continued her training under John Neumeier at The Ballet School of the Hamburg Ballet in Germany, where she performed in Neumeier’s The Nutcracker and danced the role of Princess Florine in Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty. She won first place at the All Japan Ballet Competition in 2011 and third place in 2015. In addition, she was a semi-finalist at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland in 2013 and 2015. Airi joined Atlanta Ballet in 2017, and she has performed principal roles such as Kitri in Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, The Sylph in Johan Kobborg’s La Sylphide, Marie in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker, Firebird in Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird and Giselle in Marius Petipa’s Giselle. She has also performed works by Liam Scarlett, Helgi Tomasson, Mark Morris, Jili Kylian, George Balanchine, Kiyon Ross, John McFall, Stanton Welch, Ohad Naharin, Dwight Rhoden, Ricardo Amarante, Craig Davidson, Max Petrov, Claudia Schreier, Remi Wortmeyer, Ben Stevenson and Cathy Marston. Airi was named as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2020.
DARIAN KANE is from northern California where she received her dance training at the Capitol Ballet Center in Sacramento, under the direction of Stuart Carroll and Sharon Newton. From 2015 to 2018, she danced with BalletMet2 and BalletMet in Columbus, where she performed in Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16 and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s Carmen, as Cigaretta. This is her fifth season with Atlanta Ballet. In past seasons, some of her favorite roles include performing in Alexander Eckman’s Cacti, Return to a Strange Land from Jiří Kylián, and dancing the third movement principal in Sum Stravinsky choreographed by Kiyon Ross. Most recently, she performed in Claudia Shreier’s Fauna, danced the role of Myrtha in Gennadi Nedvigin’s re-staging of Giselle, and danced Arabian in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker. In 2020, she appeared as the dancer in an episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories on Apple TV+. She began choreographing on the Company in 2021 with the beginning of her ballet Dr. Rainbow’s Infinity Mirror and in 2022, she expanded that work into a full, world premiere ballet as part of the Company’s Firebird program.
ERIK KIM was born in Dallas, Texas, in 2001. He began dancing at the age of nine in Little Rock, Arkansas, at Shuffles and Ballet II, learning the fundamentals of ballet under his teacher Arleen Sugano. He continued his training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Dean of Dance Susan Jaffe, training with teachers such as Mikhail Tchoupakov and Ilya Kozadayev. After competing in the 2019 Prix de Lausanne, Erik was invited to join the Ballet Nacional SODRE (BNS) in Uruguay, under director Igor Yebra. During his time in BNS, Erik performed roles such as Pas de Cinq in Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc and Beggar Chief in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. He also performed in Blanca Li’s Quixote del Plata during the BNS International Tour in Spain in 2019.
SAHO KUMAGAI is from Sapporo, Japan, where she began dancing at age 9. In 2009, she moved to the United States to study at the Boston Ballet School and Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division under the direction of Peter Boal. In 2014, she placed among the 20 finalists at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland. After dancing in Charlotte Ballet II, she joined Atlanta Ballet as an apprentice in 2015. She had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Dwight Rhoden for Sunrise Divine, Craig Davidson for Remembrance/Hereafter, and Tara Lee for blink. Some of her favorite repertoire include Liam Scarlet’s Vespertine, Cupid from Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, and Alexander Ekman’s Tuplet.
SOJUNG LEE, from South Korea, began her early ballet training at age 6, in her mom’s studio, and continued training at the Korea National Institute for Gifted in Arts, Yewon Arts School and Seoul Arts High School. SoJung entered the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul two years earlier than others. Upon graduation, she joined Boston Ballet. SoJung received multiple awards in world competitions, such as a gold medal from Youth America Grand Prix in 2009, she was a finalist in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2014, and in the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2012. She also won the Valentina Kozelova International Ballet Competition in 2015, and the Sicily International Ballet Competition in 2015. At Boston Ballet, under the direction of Mikko Nissinen, Russell Kaiser and Larissa Ponomarenko, SoJung performed works by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, John Cranko, August Bournonville, Sir Frederick Ashton, Mikko Nissinen, Jorma Elo and Jessica Burrows. She also danced with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, for one year.
JORDAN LEEPER, a native of Jamestown, New York, began dancing at age 12 with the Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet and later studied at San Francisco Ballet. Leeper danced with Charlotte Ballet under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during Ballet Across America in 2013. He has performed works by Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Jiří Bubeníček, Sasha Janes, Mark Diamond and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, among others. He has been a guest artist with Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and City Ballet of Wilmington. He also danced with Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson during the company’s 20th-anniversary season at the Joyce Theater in New York City.
GUILHERME MACIEL began his studies at the age of 11 in São Paulo, Brazil. He studied at renowned schools, such as Ballet Adriana Assaf and Raça Centro de Artes e Especial Academia de Ballet. In 2006, he attended The HARID Conservatory's Summer Program in Boca Raton, Florida, where he followed his studies for the following year. Maciel was awarded as a dancer and choreographer in important dance competitions in Brazil, standing out among them, Passo de Arte, Festival de Danças de Joinville, Premio Desterro, among others. In 2006 and 2008, he was a bronze medalist in the senior category and Best Choreographer in 2016 at the Youth America Grand Prix finals in New York, where he received a scholarship for Houston Ballet II. Maciel was a dancer at São Paulo Dance Company, directed by Iracity Cardoso and Inês Bogea from 2008 to 2010. He participated in the 2011 and 2017 editions of The Nutcracker of the Black Swan Dance Company directed by Hulda Bittencourt and Dani Bittencourt. In 2013, Maciel was a guest dancer of the galas “Black Swan” and “The Virtuous of the Ballet World” on tour in Russia. In 2017, he was the first Brazilian to participate in the Workshop for Young Choreographers at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, as a choreographer and dancer. In 2018, Maciel was a guest professor at the “Cloche Ballet” summer course in Cordoba, Argetina, and judged at the Danza National Contest in Paraguay. Under the direction of Vinicius Anselmo, he performed as a dancer in the production of Intuição Cia de Ballet "Epifania" in 2019. Maciel was the artistic director and resident choreographer of the Grupo Jovem Paulista em São Paulo, Brazil, between 2012 and 2019. This is his fifth season with Atlanta Ballet.
SERGIO MASERO is from Madrid, Spain, and began his training at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma. He continued his training on scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School. Sergio then joined Ballet Memphis where he performed lead roles, such as Romeo in Steven McMahon’s Romeo & Juliet, and Swan Lake; Matthew Neenan’s Water of the Flowery Mill; and in works by Mark Godden, Gabrielle Lamb and Joshua Pugh. Since joining Atlanta Ballet, Sergio has performed principal roles such as Basilio in Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote; James in Johan Kobborg’s La Sylphide; and the Nutcracker Prince in the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker. He’s also been featured in ballets by Helgi Tomasson, Stanton Welch, Mark Morris and Craig Davidson, among others. Aside from dancing, Masero enjoys the world of choreography. He created two pieces on his colleagues at Ballet Memphis and two full-length productions for the Dance Academy of Bartlett, in Tennessee. After the success of his first creation for Atlanta Ballet’s Silver Linings program, Teneo Integrum, he was commissioned to create another piece. Schubertiada, a piece that featured an all-male corps de ballet, debuted in May of 2022 to great acclaim.
JULIANA MISSANO was born in Lloyd Harbor, New York, and began studying ballet at age 5. She trained at the Lynch School of Ballet until she was 15, and then continued her training at The Rock School under the direction of Bo and Stephanie Spassoff. In 2017, Juliana was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed at the Kennedy Center. She has competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, receiving the Grand Prix Award, placing first in the pas de deux category and advancing to the final round where she performed at Lincoln Center. This is Juliana’s sixth season with Atlanta Ballet. Some of her favorite repertoire include Gemma Bond’s Denouement, Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, Claudia Schreier’s First Impulse and Kiyon Ross’ Sum Stravinsky.
MIGUEL ANGEL MONTOYA was born in Cali, Colombia, and began his training at the Colombiano de Ballet and Incoballet. He continued to dance with Incoballet Company under the direction of Gloria Castro de Martínez. In 2008, Montoya moved to Philadelphia to attend The Rock School. In 2010, he reached the second round semifinals in the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, as well as the Youth America Grand Prix New York City finals. In 2012, as an Atlanta Ballet apprentice, he originated roles in Twyla Tharp’s The Princess & the Goblin. Other favorite roles include the Slave in Le Corsaire and Basilio in Don Quixote. He joined the Atlanta Ballet company in 2013. He has performed in such notable ballets as Jorden Morris’ Moulin Rouge® - The Ballet, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, Gina Patterson’s I AM, Helen Pickett’s Camino Real, Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush and Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas. Montoya has been featured in the Paquita Pas de Trois, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort.
MARIUS MORAWSKI graduated from the State Ballet School in his hometown of Łódź, Poland. As a student, he won several national and international competitions. He participated in various dance workshops, including Ellison Ballet Summer Intensive, Arts Ballet Theater of Florida, and Dance Open Festival, among others. In 2017, he joined the Finnish National Ballet Junior Company and after two years was promoted to Corps de Ballet, where he danced soloist roles in ballets such as La Bayadere (Natalia Makarova), Infra (Wayne McGregor), and Carmen (Liam Scarlet), and has performed in works by Alexander Ekman, John Neumeier, August Bournonville, Carolyn Carlson, Patrice Bart, Jorma Elo, Anjelin Preljocal, and Val Caniparoli, among others. In 2021, he joined Tulsa Ballet, where he danced in repertoire created by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Yury Yanowsky, Andy Blankenbuehler, Katarzyna Kozielska, Andrew McNicol, Ma Cong, Jennifer Weber, Craig Davidson, Nicolo Fonte, Kenneth Tindall, Itzik Galili, and Alexander Ekman. As a young choreographer, Marius has presented his own creations at many different dance galas in the Czech Republic, Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, and on TV shows. He choreographed for Tulsa Ballet Centre for Dance Education and won first place and four special awards at the IX International Choreography Competition in Poland. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Dance Pedagogy and Science from Chopin University of Music in Poland. Marius joined Atlanta Ballet in the 2023|2024 season.
DENYS NEDAK was born in Odessa, Ukraine. In 2005, he began to study in the Kyiv Municipal Ukraine Dance Academy, named after Serge Lyfar. While in the Academy he was invited to perform at the National Opera House in Kyiv, where he danced his first professional performances as Paris in Romeo and Juliet and Prince in The Nutcracker. After graduation, Denys joined National Opera House of Ukraine in Kyiv, working under the supervision and guidance of a People's Artist of Ukraine, N.D Pryadchenko, to create his repertoire. In 2008, Denys became principal dancer. He has become known as a performer of lyrical-romantic repertoire at National Opera House of Ukraine. In the theatre he frequently partners with leading ballerinas, including E. Filipeva, T. Golyakova, N. Matsak, U. Lopatkina, N. Polakova, V. Part and P. Herrera. In 2011, Denys was honored with the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine. His popularity in Ukraine has led to many invitations to perform at international festivals. He is a regular guest artist at the, Rudolf Nureyev International Festival of Ballet Art in Ufa. Since 2014, Denys performed as a regular guest at the National Theater of Serbia; from 2014 to 2015, as a guest dancer with American Ballet Theatre and the Vienna State Opera; from 2016 to2017, as a guest dancer in the Finnish National Opera and Ballet; and the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet. He worked with teachers, such as N. Pryadchenko, V. Yaremenko, N. Makarova, I. Kolpakova, I. Muchamedov, M. Legris, J. Boocca, and O. Evreinoff. In 2017, Denys was honored with the prestigious title of People’s Artist of the Ukraine. He now travels frequently throughout Russia, France, Italy, Germany and Japan to show his skill. Denys’ repertoire includes: Solor in La Bayadere, Basil in Don Quixote (Nureyev), Prince in The Sleeping Beauty (Ratmansky), Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake (Nureyev), Albert in Giselle, Jose and Escamilio in Carmen Suite, Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Prince in The Nutcracker, Krass in Spartacus, The Golden Slave in Scheherazade and Alexandre in Lady of Camellias, as well as roles in a Classic Pas de Deux (Balanchine), a Grand Pas de Deux (Ober), Silvia Pas de Deux (Balanchine), Red Giselle as Chekist (Eifman) and Touch of illusion (Ricardo Amarante).
CARRAIG NEW was born in Juneau, Alaska. He is a graduate of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography where he studied classical Russian technique with Bolshoi Theatre first soloist Denis Medvedev. He performed on the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Yuri Grigorovich’s staging of La Fille Mal Gardée, dancing in the Gypsy Dance as one of the four friends, as well as being featured as a demi-soloist. He also performed as a soloist in La Bayadère's Dance of the Drum. Carraig performed on the Bolshoi Historical Stage in A Tribute to Marius Petipa, which included Danse des Forbans from Le Corsaire. He was invited to dance as the guest artist at the premier performances of the Ballet de Barcelona, in Spain and France. He joined Atlanta Ballet 2 in 2018-2019. Carraig has performed Arabian, Russian, Mice and Skier in Yuri Possokhov's reimagined production of The Nutcracker; the Beast in Bruce Wells’ Beauty and the Beast; Von Rothbart and Benno in Bruce Wells’ The Swan Princess; Dance of the Wedding Guests in La Sylphide; and a leading role in Volar, a contemporary ballet choreographed by Nadia Mara.
PATRIC PALKENS, was born in Boston and began his dance training at the age of 4 at his mother’s jazz studio. He was introduced to ballet through a scholarship to train with the Municipal Theater Ballet School in Santiago, Chile. After which he trained with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Chicago and Orlando Ballet. Palkens has performed with numerous companies over his 13-year career, including Orlando Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, The Washington Ballet, and most recently spent five years as a soloist with Boston Ballet. Over the years Palkens has performed many works by choreographers from around the globe, including George Balanchine, Fredrick Ashton, Miko Nissinen, Wayne Mcgregor, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Val Caniparoli, Devon Carney, Alejandro Cerrudo, Ma Cong, Adam Hougland, James Kudelka, Victoria Morgan, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Septime Webre.
MADISON PENNEY was born and raised in Arizona, began dancing at a very young age and trained in all different disciplines of dance. When she was eight years old, she decided to focus on ballet training and joined Master Ballet Academy, in Scottsdale Arizona. Madison continuously kept growing as a dancer and an artist. Among her many accolades and awards are winning the Gold Medal at the World Ballet Competition in 2015, the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Hope Award winner at regionals and finals in 2016, the 2017 Youth Grand Prix award at YAGP regionals and finals, and the American Dance Competition (ADC) /International Ballet Competition (IBC) Grand Prix award. Madison has performed in many productions around the world. Madison received The Royal Ballet School International Scholar from Christopher Powney in 2017 and began her full-time training at the Royal Ballet School upper school in 2020 where she performed Playfully So by Valentino Zucchetti. She performed in roles in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker and Don Quixote. Madison graduated from the Royal Ballet School in 2023 where she received a contract from Birmingham Royal Ballet, the special award ‘3rd Year Artistic Prize for Progress and Endeavour’ and had the honor of being chosen to perform The Principal role as ‘Raymonda’ in The Royal Opera House. Madison is now 19 years old, and this will be her first season with Atlanta Ballet.
ÁNGEL RAMÍREZ was born in Trinidad, Cuba, and trained for eight years at the National Ballet School of Cuba in Havana, winning the gold medal in the Cuban International Ballet Competition his graduating year. Upon graduation, he was accepted into the National Ballet of Cuba and performed in classics such as Giselle, Theme and Variations and Don Quixote, as well as in works by Alberto Mendez and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Ángel was invited to train at The Rock School in Philadelphia and competed in Youth American Grand Prix the following year, winning the Grand Prix Award in Philadelphia. Most recently, he danced with the Georgia Ballet performing principal roles in various classical ballets. Ángel joined Atlanta Ballet in 2021 and has danced works by Cathy Marston, Claudia Schreier, Yuri Possokhov, Justin Peck, Kiyon Ross, Helgi Tomasson and Remi Wortmeyer.
KAITLIN MATREE ROEMER received her early training under Hollie Bottiglia in her hometown of Highland, Michigan. In 2014, Kaitlin began training at Ballet Detroit, directed by Sergey Rayevskiy. She was honored to represent Ballet Detroit in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Dance Open Festival in 2018. Kaitlin was accepted into Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education’s Academy VI in 2018 and was awarded the Audrey B. Morgan Merit Scholarship. Following her tenure in the academy, Kaitlin was invited to join Atlanta Ballet 2, enjoying two seasons from 2020-2022. During her time in Atlanta Ballet 2, she had the privilege of performing alongside the company and dancing the roles Young Marie in Yuri Possokov’s The Nutcracker and Butterfly Pas de Deux in Bruce Wells’ Snow White. Kaitlin was promoted to Company Artist for the 22/23 season, where she danced the roles of Russian and Chinese in Yuri Possokov’s The Nutcracker and was among the cast of Significant Others, a world premier by Remi Wörtmeyer. She is thrilled to continue her journey with the company for the 2023|2024 season. Kaitlin thanks her family and mentors for their continued support.
MIKAELA SANTOS was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She began her ballet training at Effie Nañas School of Classical Ballet. In 2014, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Ballet Competition, she was awarded second place. In 2016, she was among the top 15 finalists at the World Ballet Competition. She joined the Philippine Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in March 2016. At the age of 17, Mikaela joined the Fellowship program of Atlanta Ballet and later became a Company apprentice in 2017 and was promoted to the Company in 2018. She took the summer intensive at Jacob’s Pillow and was featured in performances such as Kitri in Don Quixote, Peasant Pas de Deux, Zulma in Giselle, Kitri’s Friends in Don Quixote, Chinese and Spanish in The Nutcracker and Demi Sylphs in La Sylphide. She had the opportunity to work with renowned choreographers such as Claudia Schreier, Yuri Possokhov, Johan Kobborg, Gemma Bond, Craig Davidson, Helgi Tomasson, Maxim Petrov, Kiyon Ross, Dwight Rhoden, and Viki Physos, to name a few.
ANDERSON SOUZA, born in Santo Angelo, Brazil, received his training at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Dança under Jorge Teixeira. After graduating, he joined the Cia Brasileira de Ballet in Rio de Janeiro, dancing principal and soloist roles and competing in national and international competitions, including the Beijing International Ballet Competition. Souza traveled with the Company to perform in Colombia, China, Israel, and France. In 2013, Anderson joined Gelsey Kirkland Ballet, where he matured his artistry under the unique guidance of Kirkland. His talent received praise from national critics, including those at The New York Times. He has had the pleasure of dancing roles in renowned ballets such as The Nutcracker (by Yuri Possokhov), La Sylphide as Gurn (staged by Johan Kobborg), Sum Stravinsky (by Kiyon Ross), Sandpaper Ballet (by Mark Morris), Tuplet (by Alexander Ekman), and the world premiere of Catch (by Liam Scarlett). Anderson is thrilled to be joining Atlanta Ballet for his eighth season, having joined the company in 2016.
FUKI TAKAHASHI was born in Yokohama, Japan, and began training at age 3 at Yuzue Ballet Academy. She moved to the United States in 2010, and trained at Princeton Ballet and Hariyama Ballet in New York. Takahashi competed in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, in 2014 and 2018. She earned silver in the Tanzolymp International Dance Festival and was offered a place in the Orlando Ballet Trainee Program during the American Dance Competition. In 2017, Takahashi joined Orlando Ballet’s second company to then move on to Atlanta Ballet in 2018. Her favorite performances with Atlanta Ballet include Vespertine, Catch and First Impulse.
MUNKHJIN ULZIIJARGAL received a full scholarship to study at Perm Ballet School when he was ten years old and completed his studies as a professional ballet dancer in 2018. He started his career as first soloist at Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in 2018. During his college years, Munkhjin participated in the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition (IBCC) in 2017 and was awarded the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) special award. In 2019, he was awarded the silver medal from the 1st Russian Japanese Eurasian Ballet Competition, and in 2022, received a Diplomat award from the Moscow International Ballet Competition. That same year he participated in the Korea International Ballet Competition 2022 and was awarded the Gold medal. In 2023, Munkhjin became the dancer of the year in Mongolia and received the National award “Mungun Mod”. His latest achievement was the Robert Joffrey Award of Merit from the USA International Ballet Competition (USA IBC 2023). Munkhjin is delighted to be joining Atlanta Ballet for the 2023|2024 Season.
KELSEY VAN TINE was born in Naples, Florida, and trained at the Naples Dance Conservatory under the direction of Abdelazis Roque. In 2009, Ms. Van Tine joined Kentucky Ballet Theatre as an apprentice and was promoted to company dancer within her first season. At the end of the 2012-13 season, she was promoted to principal dancer by Artistic Director Norbe Risco. During her time at Kentucky Ballet Theatre, Ms. Van Tine performed not only the entire Kentucky Ballet Theatre repertoire but a wide range of roles in many classical, neoclassical and contemporary works, as well. Some of her favorite roles include Paquita, Le Corsaire, Norbe Risco’s The Wizard of Oz & Carmen, as well as Kirt Hathaway’s Calles de Tango. Upon joining Atlanta Ballet in 2021, Ms. Van Tine performed Marie in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker, The Princess in Yuri Possokhov’s The Firebird, as well as Peasant Pas De Deux in Giselle. This is her second season with Atlanta Ballet. Ms. Van Tine is proud to have worked with coaches/choreographers Anna Patsfall, Roberto Sifontes, Kirt Hathaway, Andres Arambula, world renowned “Cuban Jewel” Aurora Bosch and Alla Osipenko, to name a few. In 2017, by invitation, Ms. Van Tine traveled to Cancun, Mexico to perform at the 7th Annual International Encounter of Dance Festival. Also in 2017, she traveled to Camaguey, Cuba for Ballet de Camaguey’s 50th Anniversary Gala and has since returned to Cuba annually to perform with Ballet de Camaguey as a principal guest artist.
ASHLEY WEGMANN was born in New Jersey, and began her training at the National Ballet of New Jersey. She later studied on scholarship at the Princeton Ballet School. After attending Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s graduate program, she joined the corps de ballet in 2007. She danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for five seasons, and went on to dance for three seasons with BalletMet. Ashley joined Atlanta Ballet in 2015. Some of her favorite roles and repertoire include Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine, a Stomper in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Nurse in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s Lovely Together, James Kudelka’s Real Life and The Four Seasons, Mercedes in Yuri Possokhov's Don Quixote, and Madge in La Sylphide. Special thanks to Ashley's Pas de Deux Society Patron Jan Beaves.
SPENCER WETHERINGTON is from Bridgeton, New Jersey, and began dancing at Maxine’s Studio of Dance in Vineland, NJ at age four. He continued his training at the School of Philadelphia Ballet, formerly the School of Pennsylvania Ballet. Upon graduation from St. Augustine College Preparatory School, Spencer went on to study at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, also known as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. With the academy, he performed variations from Flames of Paris, Napoli and La Bayadere, as well as soloist roles in the school’s production of La Fille Mal Gardée. Additionally, he competed in the International Ballet Competition "Dance Moscow" and was awarded second place. From there, he joined Atlanta Ballet 2 where he danced for two seasons. His notable performances include “Gaston” in Bruce Wells' Beauty and the Beast, “Prince Siegfried” in Bruce Wells' The Swan Princess, Alexander Ekman’s Cacti, and Russian in Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker, among others. Spencer was promoted to apprentice with Atlanta Ballet in the 2020-21 season. Since joining, he has performed in roles such as Roses and Nutcracker Doll in Yuri Possokhov’s the Nutcracker, Blue Man in Helgi Tomasson’s Concerto Grosso, Snowblind by Cathy Marston and “Romeo” in Claudia Schreier’s Romeo and Juliette performed at the National Cathedral in Washington DC, to name a few. This is Spencer’s fourth season with Atlanta Ballet. He thanks his loving family for their support.
LUIZ FERNANDO XAVIER was born in São Paulo – SP, Brazil, and started ballet classes at the age of nine at the Municipal Dance School “Iracema Nogueira,” where he had the opportunity to join in workshops promoted by renowned Brazilian dance companies, such as Deborah Colker, Cisne Negro, São Paulo Cia. De Dança and others. At the age of 14, Xavier joined the Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil, where he graduated from Ayrat Khakimov’s class in 2018. As a student, he had the opportunity to rehearse with great personalities, such as Vladimir Vasiliev and Galia Kravchenko. In 2018, Xavier was certified in the Bolshoi School Internship Program as an assistant teacher for the first and fourth grade classes at Bolshoi Brasil. In 2019, he joined Youth Company Bolshoi Brazil, where he worked until September. In October of the same year, Xavier was hired as a soloist dancer at the State Opera and Ballet Theater in Voronezh, Russia. In 2021, he was awarded the “Bravo Contest” by the Cultural Union of the Russian Federation, for his performance as Nikolia in the ballet, The Toy Seller. In Russia, Xavier performed principal roles like Solor and Golden Idol in La Bayadere, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince in Nutcracker, Cipollino in Cipollino, Rothbart in Swan Lake, Ratmir in Ruslan and Ludmila, Piotr in The Calvary Halt, Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty, and Pas d’esclave in Le Corsaire. During the pandemic, he became co-creator of the Ballet Couple project, with Larissa Dal’Santo, to share experiences about professional ballet and life in Russia in an accessible way. The project includes online classes and workshops of classical ballet for Brazilian students. In 2022, through this project, Xavier was invited to give workshops and perform in cities around Brazil, including São Paulo, Recife, Araraquara, Chapeco, Joinville and Guarapuava, for more than 500 participants. He joined the Atlanta Ballet in the 2022|2023 season and has enjoyed dancing roles in The Nutcracker, Classical Symphony and Don Quixote (by Yuri Possokhov), Concerto Grosso (by Helgi Tomasson) and Significant Others (by Remi Wortmeyer). In 2023 he competed in the USA International Ballet Competition. Luiz is very excited for his second season with the Company.
REI YAMAGUCHI is from Hokkaido, Japan. He began training at Hisatomi Ballet in Japan and continued training at the English National Ballet School in London, graduating in 2021. He danced with Birmingham Royal Ballet during his time at school, English National Ballet, and Hong Kong Ballet before joining Atlanta Ballet as a Company Dancer in 2023. Rei has performed in numerous productions, including David Bintley’s Cinderella for Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Wayne Eagling’s The Nutcracker and Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda for the English National Ballet. For Hong Kong Ballet, he performed in Septime Webre’s Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet, in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Coco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon, and in Vladimir Malakhov’s La Bayadere. This is his first season with Atlanta Ballet.