Silver Linings Choreographers

BRET COPPA (Choreographer, Rabten Numinous) is from San Pedro, California. He danced with Atlanta Ballet 2 for one season before joining Atlanta Ballet as a Company apprentice. This is Coppa’s first season as a Company member. Some of his roles with Atlanta Ballet include Gaston, The Beast, Rat King, Russian, Nephew, Arabian and Red Man. He is a graduate of University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he has performed many principal roles; including Solor in La Bayadere, Principal Male in Donizzeti Variations, Waltz Boy in Serenade, The Poet in Les Sylphides and Cavalier in The Nutcracker. Coppa got his start at San Pedro City Ballet, then moving to Peninsula School of Performing Arts under the artistic direction of Roberto Almageur. During his training in the Los Angeles area, he performed as a guest artist in California, and danced roles throughout the country. He has also competed in the Prix de Lausanne twice, and he was a finalist in 2015. In 2017, Coppa went to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he received his teaching certification in the Vaganova method. DARIAN KANE (Choreographer, Dr. Rainbow's Infinity Mirror) is from Northern California, and has been a Company member of Atlanta Ballet for three seasons. This is her first year choreographing. She has been drawing for as long as she has been dancing, so she imagines her dances as fluid sequences of individual drawings in which any one moment could stand alone. Kane is influenced by pop composer Joe Hawley and film composer Danny Elfman, and by film directors Wes Anderson, Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino. She begins with her classical dance training and builds upon it, imbuing her pieces with the whimsy and quirkiness of her cinematic influences. KEATON LEIER (Choreographer, La Forme du Vent), originally from Canada, grew up in the small city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Leier started studying ballet at a later age, and he joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in 2013. After graduation from the school in 2016, he then moved on to dance with Houston Ballet’s second company for one year. Joining the ranks of Atlanta Ballet for the 2017|2018 Season, Leier is now commencing his fourth season with the Company. His most recent highlight was premiering The Nutcracker Prince at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Some more highlights include dancing Gurn in La Sylphide, as well as the lead in Liam Scarlett's Vespertine. Dancing with the Company over the years, Leier has enjoyed performing works from Alexander Ekman, Johan Kobborg, Liam Scarlett, Yuri Possokhov, Dwight Rhoden, Ricardo Amarante, Yury Yanowsky and Craig Davidson. Though he experimented with choreographing some in school, this is Leier's first time choreographing professionally, and he is looking forward to exploring this opportunity.

GUILHERME MACIEL (Choreographer, This Bitter Earth) reconciles his career as a dancer and choreographer since 2014, when he assumed the position of resident choreographer of the Grupo Jovem Paulista in Brazil, his native country, where he created amateur projects and choreographies for competitions. In 2016, after winning the Outstanding Choreographer Award in the Youth America Grand Prix final in New York, he was invited to participate in the 2017 edition of the "Creative Workshop for Young Choreographers" at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he created For a Sweeter Look and performed his award-winning work Shelter. Maciel joined Atlanta Ballet as a dancer in the 2019|2020 season and his creation for the Silver Linings program is his first work as a choreographer for the Company.

SERGIO MASERO (Choreographer, Teneo Integrum) is originally from Madrid, Spain. He received his ballet training from Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza “Mariemma” and San Franciso Ballet School. Since early in his career, the world of choreography has always appealed to Masero and he has seized every opportunity that has presented itself. His works include, La Follia and At the Ballet, for Ballet Memphis; Annie, a full-length ballet commissioned by the Dance Academy of Bartlett; and Forced Perspective and Tintinare, for galas with Northwest Florida Ballet. Masero is looking forward to growing his career as a choreographer and is thrilled to be able to create a work for Atlanta Ballet.

CARRAIG NEW (Choreographer, I Know Where It Is) 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. New 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. New joined Atlanta Ballet 2 in 2018-19. He 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. KEITH REEVES (Choreographer, Bodies in Motion) is a mixed media artist that focuses on dance and choreography. As a choreographer, he creates movement that pulls from different dance genres. To Reeves, dance is universal. Connecting to an audience through movement is his main goal. In his practice, he believes in highlighting different human experiences as a narrative. Reeves was inspired by conversations of family history with his grandmother during this time of COVID-19. Atlanta producer, Ptar’s music spoke to Reeves because of his many levels in one track. When choosing music, Reeves uses tracks with a wide variety of elements. Ptar’s music was an incredible landscape to build on. Reeves' movement is developed through research and understanding of the dancers with whom he works. Creating this piece, he wanted to play with choreographing moving architecture. In a situation where we can't touch, experimenting with how he can create a visual idea or essence of being able to touch was a challenge, but it gave him the liberty to think out of the box. With this particular piece, it's almost like Reeves saw his life unfolding. The more he started to see the complete vision, it was clear to him that Bodies in Motion is his love letter to culture and the ever-evolving beauty of diversity. ANDERSON SOUZA (Choreographer, Touchline) was born in Santo Ângelo, Brazil. Anderson 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, he joined Gelsey Kirkland Ballet. Under the unique guidance of Kirkland, Anderson matured his artistry and received praise from national critics, including those at The New York Times. He has enjoyed dancing roles in The Nutcracker (by Yuri Possokhov), La Sylphide as Gurn