CHARLOTTE BALLET DANCERS

Raven Barkley - New York Raven, from Bronx, NY, began dancing at age 10 at Ballet Tech, the New York City Public School for Dance. She furthered her training at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia Arts High School for Music and Art and Performing Arts, where she graduated with honors. While at LaGuardia, Raven also attended the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s (DTH) Pre-Professional Program as a scholarship student. While at DTH, Raven was selected as a featured dancer for the Scholastic Children’s book, Beautiful Ballerina by Marilyn Nelson. During the summer of 2013 and 2014, Raven performed choreography by Tony Award winner George Faison for the NYC SummerStage Performance Series. In 2015, Raven graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance with a concentration in ballet from SUNY Purchase. In 2018, Raven was recognized as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” and The Charlotte Observer’s “1 to Watch.” The following year she received the Delta Sigma Theta (Charlotte Alumnae Chapter) Outstanding Achievement in the Arts award (2019). In June 2022, Raven returned to Ballet Tech as an alumna guest artist performing the principal role in an excerpt of Marius Petipa’s Raymonda for their Kids Dance performances at the Joyce Theater (New York City). She has performed work by Bryan Arias, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Rena Butler, Val Caniparoli, Eliot Feld, Robert Garland, Ja’ Malik, Sasha Janes, Jiří Kylián, Jessica Lang, Arthur Mitchell, Matthew Neenan, Helen Pickett, Dwight Rhoden, and Christopher Stuart.

Nadine Barton - Florida

Nadine, born in California, received most of her classical ballet training at Artistic Dance Center of Doral in Miami. Other experiences include performing with Miami City Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet as an apprentice, Sarasota Ballet as a trainee, and Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami as a soloist. She then danced with Alabama Ballet for 5 years. Some of her favorite roles were Myrtha in Giselle, Coffee and Demi Flowers in Balanchine’s Nutcracker, and Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty. In their 2018/19 Season, Nadine was commissioned to create WATTS, a new work which the company premiered in April 2019. She’s been recognized in competitions such as the Youth American Grand Prix, where she earned Gold in 2011 semifinals; the American Dance Competition, where she won the Traditional Excellence Award for the pas de deux of Giselle Act ll; and the Honorary Fernando Bujones Excellence Award. She was also a 2012 finalist of the YoungArts organization. In the summer of 2018, she was one of 60 dancers chosen worldwide to take part in Netherlands Dans Theater’s Summer Intensive in Den Haag.

Juan Castellanos - Pennsylvania

Juan’s dance training began in Dublin, Ireland, where he was born and continued in the U.S. at Metropolitan Ballet Academy in Jenkintown, PA, under the Direction of Lisa Collins Vidnovic. As a member of their nationally acclaimed Boys’ scholarship Program, Juan’s 11 years of study there included access to many world-class teachers and the opportunity to perform a variety of principal roles including “Prince” in Cinderella (2018), “Bluebird Pas” in Sleeping Beauty (2017) and “Puck” in A Midsummer’s Night Dream (2016), as well as soloist and principal roles in contemporary works choreographed by Jessica Lang, Sarah Mettin and Kanji Segawa. His summer studies were with the Charlotte Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Fl. From 2009-2019, Juan has also appeared in various Nutcracker roles including “Nutcracker Prince” (2019) with Charlotte Ballet, “Russian” with The Moscow Ballet (2016), “Nutcracker Prince” and “Soldier Doll” with The Wilmington Ballet (2013-14) and “Fritz” with The Pennsylvania Ballet (2009-12), touring to Canada with the Company in Nov.-Dec. 2011. Juan made his Metropolitan Opera debut in July 2011 with Russia’s Mariinsky Ballet dancing a children’s role in Anna Karenina for the Lincoln Center Festival and appeared as a guest artist with Juneau Dance Theater in Juneau, Alaska. Most recently, Juan was a member of the Pre-Professional Division with Charlotte Ballet.

Luke Csordas - Pennsylvania

Luke Csordas grew up outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania where he was drawn to dance due to its ability to tell stories and ignite joy. He studied at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance where he trained with role models such as William Forsythe, Jermaine Spivey, Bret Easterling, and Jodie Gates. He is passionate about bettering his community, having served on the Student Advisory Board all four years of his undergraduate studies. While studying to receive his BFA in Dance, Luke also focused on Cinematic Arts at USC’s SCA. Intersecting dance and media, Luke hopes to achieve his goals using cinematic storytelling in order to share, listen, and encourage empathy through stories told by dancers. He is looking forward to this next chapter with Charlotte Ballet.

Isabella Franco - California

Isabella, born in Los Angeles, CA, began dancing at the age of three at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet. She attended summer intensives on a merit scholarship at the Academie Princess Grace in Monaco and San Francisco Ballet School. She also danced in the summer programs of the School of American Ballet and Ballet Austin. Isabella was a 2016 YoungArts Finalist in Dance and was a semifinalist for the 2018 Presidential Scholar in the Arts award.

She consistently placed in the top three in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) regional semifinals, earned the Junior Grand Prix award in Los Angeles and won 2nd place in the YAGP Finals in New York. She spent two years as a Butler Fellow at Ballet Austin. Isabella joined the first company of Charlotte Ballet in 2021. Some of her favorite roles include Aurora in Matthew Hart’s Sleeping Beauty: A Fairy Tailored Classic, Rebecca West in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House, and Rena Butler’s Subliminal Tsunami.

Sarah Hayes Harkins - North Carolina

Sarah’s early dance training began at the Asheville Center of Performing Arts in Ashville N.C. Afterwards, she attended North Carolina School of the Arts in the High School Program. Sarah has an extensive performance history with a myriad of choreographers. She performed George Balanchine’s Serenade for the Tribute to Melissa Hayden and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Swan Lake with Ballet Adriatico in Ascoli Piceno, Italy in 2005 and in the Kennedy Center Honors celebrating the career of New York City principal dancer and Charlotte Ballet Master Instructor Patricia McBride in 2014. Sarah has performed in seven world premieres by choreographer Dwight Rhoden, as well as world premieres by Helen Pickett, Myles Thatcher, Philippe Portugal, Bryan Arias, and many more. She has also performed in master works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Bubeníček, Twyla Tharp, Alonso King, William Forsythe, David Dawson, Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Ohad Naharin, and Jiří Kylián. Some of her favorite roles include, Choleric in Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, David Dawson’s Opus 11, the Grey Girl in Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, and Lena in Christian Spuck’s Leonce and Lena.

Meredith Hwang - Maryland

Meredith Hwang grew up in Potomac, Maryland, and trained at Metropolitan Ballet Theater and Academy. At age 16, she moved to Boston to train at the Boston Ballet School where she attended for three years and was a trainee for two years. She had the opportunity to perform in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Coppelia, and Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella with the company. She has attended summer intensives at Nashville Ballet, Carolina Ballet, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet.

Ben Ingel - North Carolina

Ben is from Charlotte, NC and began his dance training at age 9 with Ginny Siano-Eck of Foothills Dance Conservatory in Seneca, SC and Pavel Gurevich of Boston Ballet. He then transferred to Charlotte Ballet Academy. Ben attended his freshman and sophomore year of high school at North Carolina School of the Arts and continued his training at the Boston Ballet School and the Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. Ben has had the privilege of working with Alonzo King, Mark Diamond, Claudio Munoz, Dwight Rhoden and Twyla Tharp. Ben has performed various classical and contemporary repertoire including Ohad Nahirin’s Minus 16, Johan Inger’s Walking Mad, Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, George Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Dwight Rhoden’s The Groove. Ben began his professional career with Charlotte Ballet II during the 2012/2013 Season and was promoted to the first company in the 2014/2015 Season.

James Kopecky - Illinois

Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, James grew up dancing at Dancenter North. He trained in ballet, jazz, tap, modern and musical theater. After high school, James studied at Butler University under Marek Cholewa, Susan McGuire, Derek Reid, Cynthia Pratt, Tong Wang, Stephan Laurent and Michelle Jarvis. In 2010, he graduated with a BFA in Dance and was offered an apprenticeship at Ballet San Jose under the artistic leadership of Dennis Nahat. In his second season, James was promoted to Corps de Ballet. During his five years with Ballet San Jose, he was featured in a number of works including Paul Taylor’s Piazzolla Caldera, Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room and Jorma Elo’s Glow/Stop. Since arriving at Charlotte Ballet, James has enjoyed performing a number of pieces such as Alonzo King’s Map, Dwight Rhoden’s The Groove, Jiří Kylián’s Sechs Tanzes, Helen Pickett’s IN Cognito and Johan Inger’s Walking Mad. As a Choreographer, James has done works on Butler Ballet, Ballet San Jose School, Opera San Jose, Charlotte Ballet II and

Charlotte Ballet. This past summer, he was selected to take part in the inaugural University of Utah Ballet Choreographic Institute.

Sarah Lapointe - Maryland

Sarah trained in various genres of dance from age two to 14 at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Performing Arts. She furthered training at Baltimore School for the Arts and The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, where she was offered a full scholarship to train under the direction of Bo and Stephanie Spassoff and graduated in 2015. She attended summer intensives with Bolshoi Ballet Academy and Chautauqua School of Dance, where she was awarded with the Artistic Director Award for Overall Excellence and Faculty Award for Technical Merit. Sarah was also recognized as a National YoungArts Foundation Dance Finalist (Ballet, 2015) and received a nomination for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts semi-finalist. She has been a guest artist with The Washington Ballet in the history breaking performance of Swan Lake featuring Misty Copeland and Brooklyn Mack. At 18, she began her professional career with Charlotte Ballet. Sarah was recognized in 2017 as Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch.” During her professional dance career, she went on to continue her educational studies, and in 2020 graduated summa cum laude with honors from California Baptist University with a B.S in Kinesiology. As a company member of Charlotte Ballet, she has been featured in works by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Sasha Janes, Mark Diamond, George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Dwight Rhoden, Ohad Naharin, Alonzo King, Mark Godden, Javier de Frutos, Myles Thatcher, Filipe Portugal, Bryan Arias, Jerome Robbins, Medhi Walerski, Stephanie Martinez, Helen Pickett, Christian Spuck, Val Caniparoli, Rena Butler and Crystal Pite.

Rees Launer - Idaho

Rees began his dance training with Ballet Idaho and Idaho Regional Ballet at age 12. He attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts for three years and graduated cum laude in 2016. He went on to dance with The Joffrey Ballet’s trainee program and Studio Company. During his years in training, he attended numerous summer intensives including Netherlands Dance Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Arts Umbrella, Jacobs Pillow and The Royal Danish Ballet where he was awarded the Birger Bartholin Scholarship. Rees has been a guest artist for Peoria Ballet and Idaho Dance Theatre. He began his professional career with Charlotte Ballet in 2019.

Anna Mains - Tennessee

Anna Mains grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and began her training at age eight with Centennial Youth Ballet. From 2016-2018, she danced as a Trainee with the Nashville Ballet. Anna attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Arts Umbrella, and Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She was invited to join Joffrey Ballet’s Trainee program in 2018 and was promoted to Joffrey Ballet’s Studio Company in 2019. Anna spent the last two years in Charlotte Ballet’s Second Company and danced in original works by Christopher Stuart and Rena Butler and performed the role of Lady of the Sea in Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House. She was selected to participate in the 2022 National Choreographer’s Initiative and premiere works by Emily Adams and Jennifer Hart.

Maurice Mouzon Jr. - Maryland

Maurice, a Baltimore native, was first introduced to dance at age 14 and started his formal training at Baltimore School for the Arts. After graduating, Maurice continued his dance training at Purchase College State University of New York. After completing a year at SUNY Purchase, Maurice joined Charlotte Ballet II. While in the second company, Maurice had the opportunity to dance the solo in Ohad Nahrin’s Minus 16, which lead to his promotion to the first company. Maurice has also performed works by Johan Inger, Filipe Portugal, Javier de Frutos, Brian Arias, Sasha Janes, Robyn Mineko Williams and Myles Thather. He attended summer intensives with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Miami City Ballet.

Oliver Oguma - New York Oliver Oguma was born and raised in New York City. He grew up as a hip-hop dancer and Ford model before he began dancing ballet at the age of 8. He trained at The School of American Ballet, The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, The Rock School for Dance Education and San Fransisco Ballet School before returning to NYC to join American Ballet Theatre studio company. In 2014 he joined Ballet West, he danced soloist roles and also choreographed ballets for the company. In 2019 he joined Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin in France. He has danced works of Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian, Alexei Ratmansky, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, and many more.

Emily Porter - Oregon

Emily Porter began her ballet career on the Oregon Coast and then continued at Marin Dance Theatre in San Rafael, California, with instruction by Margaret Swarthout. She received Youth America Grand Prix awards and attended ABT, Ballet Arizona and other summer programs. In 2019 she joined Ballet Met’s second company directed by Edwaard Liang and also danced works of Alexander Ekman and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano. In 2020 Emily joined The Joffrey Ballet’s studio company under Ashley Wheater and Jose Carayol and performed virtual works by Nicolas Blanc and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. She then proceeded to Jacobs Pillow and received the professional advancement award while dancing under Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Amy Seiwert. And now for the 2021/22 Season, Emily is honored to be dancing with Charlotte Ballet with the direction of Alejandro Cerrudo and is looking forward to the exciting performance opportunities ahead.

Humberto Ramazzina - Brazil

Humberto was born in São Paulo, Brazil and started his classical ballet training at age eight. In 2014 he joined The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida as a freshmen. After graduating high school he joined Charlotte Ballet II where he performed for two years before being promoted to the first company. Humberto has performed in numerous works by various choreographers during his past four years in the first company.

Amelia Sturt-Dilley - Colorado

Amelia was raised in Colorado where she trained under Karen and David Samuelson. She received her high school education at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts under the direction of Michael Owen and Samuel Kurkjian. She then went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School. She has attended summer intensives at schools including The Nutmeg Conservatory, Washington School of Ballet, Houston Ballet, Ballet Austin and The Paris Opera. While at Juilliard, Amelia danced in works by Monica Bill Barnes, Emery Le Crone, Darrell Grand Moultrie, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Larry Keigwin, Merce Cunningham and Jessica Lange. She appeared in the 2015 Vail International Dance Festival where she performed Larry Keigwin’s Stormy Weather. As a company member of Charlotte Ballet, she has been featured in works by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Sasha Janes, Mark Diamond, David Ingram, Dwight Rhoden, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, George Balanchine, Javier de Frutos, Myles Thatcher, Robyn Mineko Williams, Bryan Arias, Filipe Portugal, Jerome Robbins, Medhi Walerski, Stephanie Martinez, Helen Pickett, Christian Spuck, Christopher Stuart, Val Caniparoli, Sal Aiello, Crystal Pite and Rena Butler.

Andrés Trezevant - Nevada

Andrés began his formal dance training at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts while also dancing with the Nevada Youth Dancer’s Company. He has attended intensives with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Nederlands Dans Theater, Chuthis. Moves, Movement Invention Project 2, the Rambert Intensive, and Springboard Dans Montreal. In 2017, Andrés was invited to join the Hubbard Street Professional Program under the direction of Alexander Wells. During his time there, he had the privilege of performing with the company in Peter Chu’s Space, In Perspective and Ohad Naharin’s Decadance/Chicago as a Guest Artist. Andrés joined Charlotte Ballet II in 2018, where he had the chance to perform the works of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Peter Chu, Mark Diamond, and Christian Spuck. In the summer of 2020, Andrés was promoted to the first company of the Ballet, and is excited for this next chapter.

Shaina Wire - New Jersey

Shaina, from Sussex County, NJ, started dancing at age 8 at Branchville Dance Centre. Shaina has attended summer intensives at The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Chautauqua Institution, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet and The Joffrey Ballet School. At age 13, Shaina was invited by Ethan Stiefel to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. When she returned to New York, she joined The Joffrey Ballet School as a trainee, and a year later was invited to join the Joffrey Ballet Concert Group under the direction of Davis Robertson. She has performed principal roles in various ballets, including Balanchine’s Serenade and Valse Fantaisie, and Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations, Light Rain, Kettentanz, Suite Saint-Saens and Viva Vivaldi. Shaina had the opportunity to perform at the Florence Dance Festival in Florence, Italy and Beijing Dance Academy’s 60th anniversary.