PRINCIPALS

Taylor Ayotte was born in Sacramento, California and began her formal dance training at the age of 5 at the Green Bay School of Dance in Wisconsin. She continued her training in New York City as a full-time student at The School of American Ballet after accepting an invitation to study year-round at age 14. Ms. Ayotte performed with the New York Choreographic Institute, School of American Ballet’s annual workshop performances, and participated as both choreographer and dancer in the school’s Student Choreography Workshop. She attended summer courses on full scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet and The School of American Ballet. Ms. Ayotte’s featured roles with Carolina Ballet include Calliope in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Tall Girl in George Balanchine’s Rubies, and the Principal Woman in Zalman Raffael’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1.

Dancer Sponsors: Susan and David Brigham

Pointe Shoe Sponsor: Dr. Robert Schantz

Jan Burkhard began her professional training at the School of American Ballet at the age of nine. She performed numerous ballets with New York City Ballet and was involved in the New York Choreographic Institute. Upon completion, she was also the recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award in 2005 for “Most Outstanding Promise.” In the fall of 2005, she became a member of Carolina Ballet’s Corps de Ballet and was promoted to Principal in 2011. She has performed principal roles, including Princess Aurora, Juliet, Firebird, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Giselle. Her repertoire also includes George Balanchine’s Tarantella, Valse Fantaisie, Apollo, Who Cares? and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux; August Bournonville’s La Sylphide and Flower Festival; Zalman Raffael’s Rhapsody and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2; Robert Weiss’s A Classical Ballet, Intimate Voices, among others.

Dancer Sponsors: Carolyn and Sandy Stidham

Pointe Shoe Sponsors: Frank and Connie Plastina

Kiefer Curtis began his training at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Alpharetta, GA under Maniya Baredo. He attended summer intensives with Danita Emma and Momchill Mladenov in Syracuse, NY, Orlando Ballet in Orlando, Fl, as well as Peter Breur in Salzburg, Austria. He has also trained at the International Ballet Academy (IBA) with Rossana Gahagan in Cary, NC. His favorite roles include Romeo in Robert Weiss' Romeo & Juliet, and the pas de trois in Zalman Raffael's Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto.

Dancer Sponsors: Peter and Donna Heffring

Pas de Deux Sponsors: Bonnie and John Medinger