Peter Anastos, Artistic Director

Peter Anastos has choreographed over 100 stage works for the finest national and regional ballet companies in the United States as well as for modern dance companies, theater, film and television, and his ballets are performed worldwide. Mr. Anastos enjoys a long-standing collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov and their projects together include American Ballet Theater’s Cinderella, CBS Television’s Baryshnikov in Hollywood (Emmy Award nomination), White Oak Dance Project and the photography book The Swan Prince for Bantam Books. He choreographed several television specials and two Hollywood films, Addams Family and Addams Family Values, both for Paramount Pictures. For the Broadway stage, he choreographed I Hate Hamlet, Where She Danced and Chess (national tour). He has directed opera for the Washington Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and was choreographer-in-residence for the Santa Fe Opera and Robert Redford’s Sundance Theatre Festival. Mr. Anastos has published essays about ballet for the New York Times, LA Times, Dance Magazine, Ballet News, DanceInk and Ballet Review. Mr. Anastos directed the Ballet Project at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and has taught ballet technique in New York and throughout the United States.

Alex Ossadnik, Ballet Master

Alex Ossadnik was born in Soviet Union occupied East Germany and attended the Palucca School in Dresden from 1979-1987 and trained in the Vaganova Method in classical ballet, as well as modern, jazz, folkloric and improvisation. He joined the ballet company of the German National Theatre Weimar as a principal dancer at the age of 20. After the collapse of the East Block in 1989, he joined Ballet Theatre de Bordeaux (France) under the direction of Paolo Bortuluzzi. He has performed in such companies as Nevada Dance Theatre and Oregon Ballet Theatre, as well as a guest artist in Alabama, California, New Mexico and Texas. Mr. Ossadnik has worked over the past ten years in various capacities with artists of the Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre and Pennsylvania Ballet.

Heather Hawk

Heather Hawk studied ballet in Indiana, at the Stone-Cameron School in Chicago, the Ruth Page Foundation and Chicago City Ballet School. Heather attended the School of American Ballet in New York and was invited to study with the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. She joined the New York City Ballet and danced ballets by Balanchine, Robbins and Martins and appeared in films of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and the Balanchine Celebration for PBS. She has also danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Chicago and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She graduated from New York University. Heather began her teaching career at the School of Ballet Chicago and continues as guest faculty. In New York, she taught at Steps, Studio Maestro, Ballet Academy East, La Guardia High School and for the David Howard Foundation and is faculty at the Ballet School of Stamford, Connecticut.

Phyllis Rothwell Affrunti

Phyllis Rothwell Affrunti trained at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill in North Carolina and continued at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet. She danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, Southern Ballet Theatre and as a principal for Charleston Ballet Theatre, Eugene Ballet and Ballet Idaho performing lead roles in Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Tarantella, Who Cares? and Serenade. Since joining Ballet Idaho she has been featured as Giselle, Carmen, Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess Florine, Lilac Fairy and Wendy in Bruce Steivel’s Peter Pan and has been featured in many of Toni Pimble’s works. Phyllis has worked with choreographers such as Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Christopher Fleming, David Parsons and Eddy Toussaint.

Michael Cook

Michael Cook received his dance training from the Tempe Dance Academy in Arizona and the School of American Ballet. While performing with Ballet Arizona, Michael originated Romeo in Andersen’s Romeo and Juliet, and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. His repertoire includes works by Paul Taylor, Julia Adam, Twyla Tharp, Dwight Rhoden, along with Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, La Sonnambula, Agon, Rubies, Allegro Brilliante, Serenade and Divertimento No. 15.

Benjamin Lester

Benjamin Lester was raised in Connecticut and studied with the School of the Hartford Ballet, School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. In 1998, he joined the Pacific Northwest Ballet under the direction of Francia Russell and Kent Stowell. In New York City, Ben works with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet among others and as a guest artist throughout the U.S. Ben has performed ballets by George Balanchine, Francis Patrelle, Mark Dendy, Miguel Gutierrez, Kent Stowell and many others. He also has several film credits, including the BBC production of Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Ross MacGibbon.

Lesley Allred

Lesley Allred, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, began her serious dance training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, where she studied classical ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, classical Spanish, flamenco and various forms of character dancing. She performed lead and soloist roles within the school and worked with renowned choreographers. Lesley has received numerous scholarships and awards for her performance and choreography in both classical and innovative genres. She made her professional debut in 2007 with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and Balanchine’s Serenade.

Steven Bain

Steven Bain was raised in Chandler, Arizona and began his pre-professional training with Houston Ballet II, where he studied under Claudio Munoz, Steven Woodgate, Phillip Broomhead and Stanton Welch. Steven performed with the Houston Ballet in many performances such as Swan Lake, Madame Butterfly, Brigade, Don Quixote and Dracula before becoming part of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Graduate program in 2007. There he trained under Dennis Marshall, Marjorie Grundvig, Janet Popeleski and Terrence S. Orr. In 2007, Steven performed as a supplementary dancer with the Cincinnati Ballet in Sleeping Beauty.

James Brougham

James Brougham was born and raised in California and started dance training at the age of twelve in Marin County. He attended the San Francisco Ballet School on full scholarship and continued at Pacific Northwest Ballet also on full scholarship. He has performed in both San Francisco Ballet’s and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s The Nutcracker and in Prodigal Son, The Concert, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Who Cares? and Cortege Hongrois.

Michael Dennis Dunsmore

Michael Dennis Dunsmore is from Alaska and was the first American male accepted into the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. His dance training started in Anchorage at Alaska Dance Theater. He then attended Bossov Ballet Theatre conducted by former Mariinski principal Andrei Bossov and studied four summers with Suzanne Farrell at Exploring Ballet. Michael has performed in Russia and the United States, including the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Mariinksi Theatre in St. Petersburg. He joined Ballet Tucson in 2006 and danced Von Rothbart in Swan Lake, the Blue Boy soloist in Frederik Ashton’s Les Patineurs, and in Anthony Tudor’s Continuo.

Sarah Ellis

Sarah Ellis received her early training with the Giacobbe Academy of Dance in Louisiana and also trained with Ballet Austin, Dance Aspen, Delta Festival Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. She danced with the Houston Dance Theater in soloist and principal roles. Sarah attended the University of Oklahoma School of Dance and completed a Master of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance. She danced soloist roles for the Montgomery Ballet and later joined the Alabama Ballet where she performed in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, The Firebird, Cinderella and Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. She also choreographs and performs as a guest artist.

Graham Quinn Gobielle

Graham Quinn Gobielle started dancing in his home town of Fort Collins, Colorado and received training from Melissa Corr and Scott Ranagan. In 2006, he joined Ballet West 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also participated in Ballet West for Children, an outreach program dedicated to bringing ballet to schools all over Utah.

Emily Haas

Emily Haas, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, began her training at Anneliese von Oettingen School of Ballet. She continued her studies at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ballet. Here she performed roles such as Odette in Swan Lake, Tsarina in Firebird, and in Dying Swan, as well as roles in many contemporary works. Her summer training includes Joffery, Cincinnati Ballet and Nashville Ballet programs as well as Kentucky Ballet Theater where she performed with the company in several productions.

Audrey Honert

Audrey Honert grew up in Colorado, where she started dancing at age five. She then joined Colorado Ballet at sixteen and was an apprentice there for two years. Audrey moved to Seattle and continued her training as a Professional Division student at the Pacific Northwest Ballet for the past year. She has attended various summer programs which include Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Sacramento Ballet. She won second place in the regional Youth America Grand Prix in Denver in 2006.

Angela Napier

Angela Napier, from Canby, Oregon, received early training from Willamette Ballet Academy and Allegro Dance Studio before attending Pacific Artists Dance Center. She attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she continued as a professional division student and performed in Symphony in C, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and in Swan Lake. In 2007, Angela earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet from Texas Christian University and since then has been performing in Portland, Oregon with Bouand Dance Company. In addition to dance, Angela is also a certified Stott Pilates Instructor.

Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye

Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye is from Maine and received his professional training from the Bossov Ballet Theatre and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Professional Division. He received the Arnold Spohr Scholarship and the Renne Highway Scholarship at Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He has appeared in The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Carmina Burana, Pulcinella, Carnival of the Animals and Give Me Much and Many. Ryan is also an award winning choreographer.

Adam L. Still

Adam L. Still, from Kansas City, Missouri, was most recently a member of the Milwaukee Ballet. He graduated from the Harid Conservatory, where he trained with Svetlana Osiyeva and Olivier Pardina. While at Harid, Adam danced the roles of the Bronze Idol in La Bayadere, Cavalier in The Nutcracker and Flower Festival of Genzano (pas de deux). Adam received additional training at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Jacob’s Pillow summer programs. In 2004, he won the Silver Medal at the U.S.A. National Youth Ballet Competition. Adam is a 2005 Rudolph Nureyev Education Fellowship recipient.

Jessica Sulikowski

Jessica Sulikowski grew up in Jackson, New Jersey and graduated as an honors student from Jackson Memorial High School’s class of 2008. She has studied dance with the Academy of Dance Arts and has been a successful candidate of the Royal Academy of Dance major examinations. She has attended summer intensive workshops at the Kirov Ballet, Princeton Ballet, the Washington School of Ballet and Steps on Broadway and has been a pre-professional dancer with the Company of Dance Arts in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty as Aurora, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and La Linda.

Andrew Taft

Andrew Taft, born in Miami, began his classical ballet training at age nine with Ruth Wiesen at the Miami Conservatory. He trained in both Limon and Graham technique at the New World School of the Arts. His ballet training continued in New York with private coaching by Johan Renvall and David Howard. Andrew has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Kaatsbaan and Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has danced leading roles with Michael Uthoff Dance Theatre, Miami Ballet, Francis Patrelle and Miami City Ballet. Notable roles include Franz in Coppelia, soloist in Theme and Variations, Prince Charming in Cinderella and The Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty.

Mary Slate Williams

Mary Slate Williams grew up in Florida and began her ballet training with the Orlando Ballet School, later graduating from the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia. She performed a variety of works including La Bayadere and Harald Lander’s Etudes and traveled to Ruel Mal Maison, France to perform in their Millennium celebration. Mary performed with the Orlando Ballet for six seasons. She performed in several Balanchine ballets and in contemporary works by Fernando Bujones, Salim Gualoos and Bruce Woods. Most recently, Mary performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in their production of Dr. Atomic.

Monique Betty

Monique Betty, from Pocatello, Idaho, began her training with the late Marius Zirra and attended Brindusa-Moore Ballet Academy where she studied under Sergiu Brindusa, Florin Brindusa and Beth Moore. She has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Brindusa-Moore Ballet Academy, Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre and Ballet Idaho. She has danced Myrtha in Giselle, Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, numerous variations from Paquita, La Bayadere and Cinderella and various other classical and contemporary ballets.

Robert Ryan Callan

Robert Ryan Callan, from Spokane, Washington, began his career in Musical Theatre and has trained and danced with Ballet Spokane for six years. Favorite roles performed include The Poet in Les Sylphides, contemporary works by choreographer Amy Seiwart and his own comedic version of Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty as Aurora herself.

Julia Limoges

Julia Limoges is a native of Vancouver, Washington. She has studied with Maricar Dilon-Capps and Russell Capps at Washington State Ballet. There, she performed in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and modern ballets such as Glasshouse and Eye II Eye. She has attended various summer intensives, including the Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. This is her second season with Ballet Idaho.

Jaimi McGuire

Jaimi McGuire, a native of Moses Lake, Washington, received her early ballet training there and later her professional training as an original member of Ballet Spokane under Janet Wilder and later, Phaedra Jarrett. With Ballet Spokane, she performed soloist and lead roles in Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dracula and Alice in Wonderland. Jaimi has performed with Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Opera in La Traviata, Man of La Mancha and Hansel and Gretel.

Sada Popick

Sada Popick has been dancing at the Portland Ballet Academy and Youth Company for the past two years. Previously, she studied at Oregon Ballet Theatre and attended summer intensive courses at San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Joffrey Workshop, Ballet Austin and Ballet Idaho. She has performed roles in Les Sylphides, La Sylphide, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Paquita, Coppelia and The Nutcracker.

Jessica Zisa

Jessica Zisa, from Portland, Oregon, began her training at June Taylor’s School of Dance, later completing her Royal Academy of Dance examinations. She danced with the Goh Ballet’s Youth Ballet Company, including a tour to China in 2004. Jessica was an apprentice with Colorado Ballet and appeared in The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Cinderella. For Ballet Idaho she has danced in Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, Pulcinella, Carnival of the Animals and American Spirit.

Adrienne Kerr