Jorge Laico, born in Manila, Philippines, received his dance training at Manila Metropolis Ballet under Tony Fabella and Eddie Elejar, then joining the professional ranks at Philippine Ballet Theater. He studied under the Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus (RAD) and Atlanta School of Ballet.

Mr. Laico’s 18-year professional dance career led him to join numerous top U.S. ballet companies. He joined Atlanta Ballet under Balanchine dancer Robert Barnett where he performed a broad repertory that included works by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Fernand Nault, Tom Pazik, and Toni Pimble. He joined Eugene Ballet-Ballet Idaho as principal dancer, and has danced with Tulsa Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Ballet Pacifica, and Lexington Ballet. He was featured in Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Stars & Stripes, Marius Petipa’s Le Corsaire, David Allan Greer’s Capriole Suite, Dennis Nahat’s Quicksilver, Robert Sund’s Carmen, Stephen Mill’s Naughty Ones, August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, and The Nutcracker.

After his performing career, he taught at the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, Escuela Municipal del Teatro in Ribarroja del Turia, Spain, Pennsylvania Governor School of the Arts, and Cirque du Soleil. He was appointed Artistic Director of Wilmington Ballet Academy of Dance in May 2009 and Peoria Ballet 2018. He has choreographed and restaged classical and contemporary ballets including NutcrackerCinderellaSleeping BeautyCoppelia12 Dancing PrincessesBrigadoonPiazzolla Suite, and Ave Maria.

Mr. Laico has taught beginner, intermediate, advanced, pas de deux, pointe, and male and female solo variations. His students have gone on to professional careers with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, English National Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet. He has trained and coached dancers who have won medalists and awardees at the prestigious International Ballet Competition and Youth America Grand Prix in New York. To further his teaching knowledge, Mr. Laico has attended teaching and choreographic workshops with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Alonzo King Workshop, and Regional Dance America.

Karen Kamilos was born and raised in Sacramento and began her dance training with Pennie Davies. She trained locally with Bobbi Bader, Sue Geller, Cliff Klein, and Carol Pompei. Ms. Kamilos graduated with honors from San Jose State University with a B.A. and M.A. in Theatre Arts/Dance. Ms. Kamilos has studied and performed works by Mina Garman, Greg LIzenberry, Claire Whistler, Kay Clark, Duncan MacFarland, Bill Evans, and Cliff Keuter. She has performed with regional modern companies in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Ms. Kamilos has forty years of teaching experience, including developing special programs. She has taught all ages ranging from pre-school to pre-professional students as well as at the college level and older adults. Ms. Kamilos has received teacher training in adaptive dance from Axis Dance Company and Boston Ballet School’s Adaptive Dance Program. Ms. Kamilos has a passion for teaching dance and is delighted to be an integral part of school faculty at Sacramento Ballet.

Sacramento born choreographer, Rachel Angulo,  began dancing at the young age of two with her mother; a Tap Instructor in the Orangevale area. Rachel furthered her training from multiple professional dancers such as Bernard Brown, Philip Flickinger, Heidi McLean, Nahn Ho, and Samuel Fulk within African, Contemporary, Modern, Tap, Jazz and Ballet aesthetics. Rachel is honored to have trained and performed for many well-known choreographers of the time such as Nolan T’sani, Li Chiao Ping, Tiffany Rea-Fisher, Valerie Gnassounou, and Bahiya Movement’s Afia and Nafi Thompson. Rachel received her BA in Dance from Sacramento State in 2020 and plans on going back to school in the near future. Since graduation, Rachel has continued working in the dance field and occasionally showcases her own works under the company name Anguloarts.

Logan began dancing in Parkland, Florida. She was initially trained in various dance styles such as Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, and Hip Hop. After a few years, she decided to focus on Ballet and Contemporary by dancing with Ballet East and Miami City Ballet.  She held various children’s roles with Miami City Ballet’s Nutcracker.  She has trained with schools such as Miami City Ballet, Ballet West and Colorado Ballet.  Eager to focus on dance full-time, Logan decided to graduate high school early and merged her junior and senior years together while attending Colorado Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program.  In 2023, she moved to Sacramento to join Sacramento Ballet’s 2nd Company as a trainee while attending college.  This is Logan’s first year teaching for the School of Sacramento Ballet.

Dacia Biletnikoff, a BFA graduate of London Contemporary Dance School, honed her skills under renowned faculty from Batsheva, NDT, Random Dance Company, and DV8 Dance Theatre. She continued her exploration of choreography and improvisation at Leggere Strutture in Italy, collaborating with members of the William Forsythe Company and Ultima Vez/Wim Vandekeybus. Following this, she performed and toured with CaraBdanza in Spain before engaging in solo performances in the United States, forging connections with Capacitor and Two Point Four Dance Theatre, exploring circus/suspended and structural dance forms. Complementing her dance knowledge, she earned an MS in sports psychology, with plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology to promote holistic athlete development and sustainable athletic careers. Dacia is excited to be part of the inception of INK cooperative and eagerly anticipates contributing to the group’s establishment and collaborative art endeavors which will premier in Chicago, June 2024. She has enjoyed her time furthering the development of the contemporary program at Northern California Dance Conservatory and looks forward to growing within her new teaching endeavors at Sacramento Ballet

Ava was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and received her early training at the Flint School of Performing Arts. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Ballet and Legal Studies from Indiana University. She also trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and performed with the company while there. Since joining the Sacramento Ballet in 2010, Ava has been a leading dancer with the company; some of her favorite roles have been Choleric in The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine), Tall Girl soloist in Rubies (Balanchine), soloist in Wild Sweet Love (Trey McIntyre), Myrtha in Giselle (Ron Cunningham), and Gertrude in Hamlet (Stephen Mills).  She has been a dancer with Texture Contemporary Ballet, Oakland Ballet and has performed at the Kennedy Center with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet.  Ava is also a founding member, dancer and teacher with local company Capital Dance Project.

Ava has over a decade of teaching experience and has been on faculty at the Sacramento Ballet School, Northern California Dance Conservatory and Indiana University.  She has also been invited to be a guest teacher at the Flint School of Performing Arts, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Mid-Columbia Ballet, and Ovations Dance Studio.

Joseph was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and began taking hip-hop lessons at seven years old. Eventually, he took jazz and ballet lessons at the Ballet Academy Of Texas directed by Lisa Slagle at the time. At age twelve, Joseph then joined their pre-professional company, The Ballet Ensemble Of Texas, currently run by Thom Clower. In his junior year, he was accepted to BalletMet’s trainee program on full scholarship and he decided to move to Columbus, Ohio to take the next step in his training there for 2021-2022 season and was give the opportunity to perform as the lead in the fourth movement of George Balanchine’s “Western Symphony” Joseph is now at Sacramento Ballet as a second company member.

Jenny grew up in Roseville and trained under Barbara Crockett and The Cunninghams before finishing her training as a Professional Division student at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Jenny supplemented her training with summers at San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi at Vail and Pacific Northwest Ballet.  Jenny danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre before returning to Sacramento to dance again with Sacramento Ballet .  Jenny overcame two career ending injuries which shortened her professional career but led her to attend St. Mary’s LEAP program, earning her Bachelor of Performing Arts. While at St. Mary’s Jenny began teaching and fell in love with teaching as much as she loved dancing.  Upon graduating she started a career in Marketing and Account Management which moved her to San Diego and NY where she continued to teach at Academy of Performing Arts (San Diego) and Brooklyn Ballet (NY).  In 2012 Jenny returned to Sacramento where she happily lives with her husband, two boys James and Andrew and Bella, their loveable golden retriever.  Jenny is currently training to earn her comprehensive pilates certification through Balanced Body.

Rhodes Elliott is originally from Florence, South Carolina. Rhodes retired in 2018 as a Demi-Soloist with the Houston Ballet, after having been with the company for 11 years. He received his early dance training and pre-professional experience with UNCSA, as well as The School of Dance Arts and South Carolina Dance Theater under the tutelage of the esteemed Susan Rowe. He attended several summer programs throughout his training, including North Carolina Dance Theater, Houston Ballet, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. While dancing with the Houston Ballet, Rhodes enjoyed performing many works, including those by Stanton Welch, Jiri Kylian, Christopher Bruce, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Sir Frederick Ashton, Ben Stevenson, Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, and Christopher Wheeldon. After retiring from The Houston Ballet, Rhodes was the Assistant Ballet Director at Texas Academy of Dance Arts in The Woodlands, Texas. In 2021, Rhodes joined Texas Ballet Theater School (TBTS) as a Studio Training Company Instructor, as well as the Professional Training Division Instructor at TBTS Dallas. In November of 2022, Rhodes became an instructor with the Sacramento Ballet.

Samuel Alden Fulk is a professional ballet dancer living in Sacramento. He is experienced in a wide range of dance styles and methodologies, with a focus on classical ballet, modern, and contemporary dance. Born and raised in California, he grew up performing in dance, musical theatre and dramatic productions, later joining the pre-professional company Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, directed by Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher.

Samuel then went on to perform professionally with Utah Regional Ballet for six seasons under the direction of Jacqueline Colledge.  During this time, he also attended Utah Valley University, from which he graduated with honors in 2014 with a BFA in Dance.  While in Utah, Samuel also taught at Academy of Ballet directed by Lynne Thompson, and served as the Director of their second company Ballet Utah II North.

Since relocating to Sacramento in 2016, Samuel has become a highly sought after dance instructor in the region.  In January of 2018 he became a professor of dance at CSU Sacramento, where he teaches upper division ballet.  Samuel regularly teaches master classes and private lessons in classical and contemporary ballet, pas de deux, modern dance and broadway jazz.  Samuel choreographs works on dancers with varying levels of experience, from beginning to professional.  Samuel performs as a guest artist for professional and pre-professional companies. He is proud to have been a company member for three seasons with Sacramento Contemporary Dance Theatre, a company which partners with organizations to produce impactful work about important causes such as sign language integration, confronting cancer, and human trafficking.

Fiona grew up in Sacramento, CA and trained at the Sacramento Ballet School and Deane Dance Center before attending the University of Utah. She recently graduated with a BFA in Ballet, a BS in Kinesiology, and a Psychology minor. At the University of Utah, she performed works by guest choreographers (Kevin Thomas and Suzanne Haag) and faculty members (Melissa Bobick). This past spring, she performed in George Balanchine’s “Serenade” set by Michelle Gifford. While Fiona’s main teaching focus is ballet, she also loves teaching jazz and musical theater. Fiona will be a member of SBSC as a trainee for the 2024/2025 season and looks forward to teaching in the Sacramento Ballet School.

Florrie Sésé Geller began her pre-professional training with the legendary Marcia Dale Weary and
the faculty of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She continued her education at Next Generation
Ballet with Ivonne Lemus and directors Peter Stark and Philip Neal, as well as summer programs
at the School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet school on full tuition scholarships.
Florrie won the gold medal at the Youth America Grand Prix Semi-Finals, and distinguished
herself by placing in the Top 12 Junior Women in the Final Round of YAGP at Lincoln Center
where she was selected by Susan Jaffe and Gillian Murphy as the first recipient of the Gillian
Murphy Endowed Scholarship to UNCSA. After performing Aurora and Giselle in Next Generation
Ballet’s full-length productions, Florrie completed her pre-professional training at San Francisco
Ballet school on full scholarship.
At the age of eighteen Florrie was offered a professional contract with Cincinnati Ballet’s main
company where she performed Princess Florine in Devon Carney’s The Sleeping Beauty, the solo
role in Jiri Kylian’s Sechs Tanze, Virginia Woolf in Sarah Van PaYen’s Skylight, Cygnet in Kirk
Peterson’s Swan Lake, and a soloist role in Myles Thatcher’s Anomaly. Florrie also danced in
ballets by Adam Hougland, Victoria Morgan and Septime Webre.
Florrie performed the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake with Rochester City Ballet, and
originated the role of Arsinoe in Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance’s world premier Cleopatra. She has
appeared in galas including YAGP’s Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow and was invited to
represent the United States in the Beijing International Ballet and Choreographic Competition in
2019.
As an artist with Oakland Ballet Company she danced in the premiere gala of Misty Copeland’s
short film Flower and performed works by Graham Lustig, Phil Chan, Feng Ye, and Natasha
Adorlee.
Florrie is a certified instructor in various training modalities including Progressing Ballet
Technique and mat Pilates. She has taught ballet on the faculties of Cincinnati Ballet’s Otto M.
Budig Academy, Magaly Suarez’s The Art of Classical Ballet, and the Draper Center for Dance
Education and has been certified in the Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Cuba Methodology, Year 1.
Florrie has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine’s “Dancer You Should Know,” the podcasts
Becoming Ballet, Dancer Talks, and most recently Dance Magazine’s “Pack it Up.”
Florrie is thrilled to join Sacramento Ballet for the 24/25 season.

Agata Grzelak began her training in multiple disciplines including ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and character under the artistic direction of Ayako Takahashi and faculty which included Michael Lowe, Maria LeMance, Audie Atienza, and Mariko Takahashi. In 2010, she quickly immersed herself in the Sacramento State Dance program and began training under noteworthy faculty members such as Nolan T’Sani, Lisa Ross, Randee Pauve, Lorelei Bayne, Dr. Linda Goodrich, Philip Flickinger, and Ed Brazo. Agata has performed in numerous works on and off campus in venues such as CSUS University Theatre, Crocker Art Museum, and ODC Theatre for guest artists. In spring 2013, Agata was the very first recipient of the new Department of Theatre and Dance Joseph Allen Long Scholarship, recognizing excellence in Dance. In fall 2014, she graduated with her Bachelors of Arts in Dance. Agata is currently teaching dance at St. Francis High School.

Shirin Keyani-Rose is a native of Iran. She received her early training at the Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Tehran, under the direction of Bijan Kalantari. Upon moving to United States, she continued her training with Tamara Kinsell at Santa Barbara Ballet. As a young dancer she received scholarships to North Carolina School of the Arts, Pennsylvania Ballet and San Francisco Ballet school. Shirin joined Alonzo King LINES Ballet Company in 1989. She later served as Director of the Summer Program and Discovery Project Outreach at LINES Ballet school. She is currently a certified GYROTONIC® trainer at EPY Pilates studio.

Katie Kilbourn starting dancing at the age of four and trained all over Sacramento before moving to the East Coast where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Dance Performance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. After relocating to New York City, Katie had the opportunity to dance with several companies including Balasole, J/D Dansfolk, and IKADA before she co-founded Borne Dance Company with Kianna Moye in 2015 and became Borne’s Artistic Director. Katie’s work with Borne Dance Company has been performed at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, Bellevue Hospital, BAAD!, The Producer’s Club, and Anita’s Way. Through Borne, Katie has had the opportunity to work with and collaborate with Renoly Santiago, The Theater Development Fund, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Project Heal, Natomas Charter Performing and Fine Arts Academy and the National Eating Disorders Association. Alongside choreographing with her company, Katie’s other passion is teaching dance to students of all ages and backgrounds. She has been a teacher for over seven years and has had the privilege to teach all ages and levels. She loves helping her students develop and expand their artistic expression and she believes art is a necessary tool in everybody’s life.

Jessica Lawrence holds a master’s degree (MA) in Dance Education from New York University and a bachelor’s degree (BA) in Liberal Studies/Dance Performance from Saint Mary’s College of California. She trained on scholarship at The Sacramento Ballet, The San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Rock School, Washington Ballet, and Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell. As a pre-professional student, she was awarded third place in the classical variation division at YAGP.

She began her professional career at the Sacramento Ballet at age fifteen, and later joined The Suzanne Farrell Ballet at age seventeen. She has danced principal, soloist and corps de ballet roles in over twenty ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Maurice Bejart, as well as the classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker.

Her teaching accolades include being the first recipient of the School of American Ballet’s National Visiting Fellowship and being certified in American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. As a dance educator, she creates a learning environment where students feel comfortable being inquisitive and creative; a place where students can foster the development of their identities through dance. With over a decade of teaching experience, Jessica is excited to return to Sacramento Ballet and to share her passion for ballet and learning with the students at the School.

Born in Portland, OR, Wyatt McConville-McCoy began his ballet training at Oregon Ballet Theatre. In 2017 he joined Boston Ballet II, under the tutelage of Peter Stark, where he performed Harlequinade in Boston Ballet’s At Home Series and alongside the main company in Jerome Robbin’s West Side Story. Two years later he joined Atlanta Ballet II where he had the privilege of performing in ballets such as La Bayadere and in featured roles of The Nutcracker while on tour to the Kennedy Center. Wyatt joined Sacramento Ballet in 2021 where he has graced the stage in roles such Gnome in The Nutcracker, the Men’s Trio in Val Caniparoli’s Tutto Eccetto il Lavandino, and the featured pas de deux in Isaac Bates-Vineza’s Rumor as well as in Jennifer Archibald’s Soar.

 

Photo by Tony Nguyen

Born and raised in Houston, TX, Julia Payne began her ballet training at Payne Academy of Ballet. After graduating high school, Julia attended the University of Oklahoma where she continued her training in the School of Dance under the direction of Michael Bearden. In 2019, she joined Texas Ballet Theater’s Studio Training Company where she performed in many works including Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. Julia joined Sacramento Ballet in 2021 as a trainee and joined the main company this season as an Apprentice. Primarily teaching ballet, Julia also teaches a wide range of styles including jazz, tap, lyrical, and contemporary, as well as stretch and conditioning. She has had the pleasure of teaching all ages during the summer programs at School of Sacramento Ballet, including Young Dancers Workshops and the Junior and Senior Summer Intensives. This is Julia’s third year teaching for School of Sacramento Ballet.

Hailey Rozzano-Keefe, originally from Daly City, California,  began her dance training at the Westlake School for the Performing Arts, under the instruction of Cristina Fargas, Malu Rivera-Peoples, Irene Liu, Adam Sage, and Zherlin Ndudi. She was trained in various styles such as Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and Polynesian/Hula. While being versatilely trained, Hailey has always kept a main focus in Ballet/contemporary. Hailey joined Sacramento Ballet’s trainee program in their 2022/23 season and is now going into her second year as an SB2 member in the second company. Since joining Sacramento Ballet, Hailey has danced in company productions such as Nicole Haskins, Julia Feldman, & Colby Damon’s The Nutcracker, Anthony Krutzkamps Swan Lake, and Paul Vasterlings Cinderella. She has also been in many works by choreographers such as Adam Hougland, Thang Dao, Ilana Goldman, Colby Damon, Julia Feldman, Anthony Krutzkamp and Jill Krutzkamp.

Ms. Samuelson received her training from Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, PA where she studied for 15 years. Upon graduating in 2006, she continued studying at Pacific Northwest Ballet School as a professional division student for one year where she performed with the company, dancing roles in Kent Stowell’s The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Her professional career began at Pennsylvania Ballet as a member of their second company and then led to a 10 year career with Pacific Northwest Ballet. She danced featured roles in the classics such as George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Coppelia, Kent Stowell’s The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Cinderella, and Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty. She was also featured in William Forsythe’s New Suite and The Vertiginious Thrill of Exactitude, David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to my Skin, and Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort. Ms. Samuelson retired from PNB in 2018 and in February, 2019 she began teaching at Pacific  Northwest Ballet School in addition to other local ballet studios. Ms. Samuelson is currently  studying Exercise Science at Sacramento State and plans to attend Physical Therapy school next fall.

Amy Frost Schultze began dancing at a young age, trained on scholarship at Virginia School of the Arts and received her BA from Hollins University with a major in dance. She danced professionally for thirteen years with companies such as Orlando Ballet, FL, Charleston Ballet, SC, Roanoke Ballet Theater, VA, and has been a guest artist with several companies and schools throughout the US. She has performed principal and soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, The Firebird as well as George Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Serenade and Who Cares, and works by Fernando Bujones, Jerome Robbins, Jill Eathorne Bahr, David Parsons, Christopher Flemming, Thom Clower, Todd Eric Allen and Derek Reid.

Ms. Schultze has been teaching dance for over twenty five years and has enjoyed watching many of her students continue on into professional dance careers. Having taught for many studios, schools, companies, and universities, she has experience teaching all ages and abilities. She taught ballet at American Dance Festival at Duke University 2000-2006, choreographed and performed solo works as well as facilitated
post performance discussions and workshops and was sent as an adjudicator to National High School and College Dance Festivals.

Ms. Schultze has received her Professional Teaching Certificate (Dance K-12) from the
State of Florida and is certified to teach Progressing Ballet Technique. Since 2015, she
has been a teacher, choreographer, coach and stage manager for Holt Ballet
Conservatory in Nevada City, CA. She has choreographed and restaged numerous
classical and contemporary ballets and loves to see students shine onstage. She is
grateful to share her love of dance with Sacramento Ballet School.

Sally Torres-Gil – Sally majored in dance at the University of Utah where she studied ballet, contemporary, tap, musical theater, choreography, music theory and acting. She trained at the Academy of Classical Ballet (ACB) under Karen Morell, former soloist with the Dutch National Ballet. She received instructor’s certification in the Vaganova Syllabus through ACB as well as through John White of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. Sally is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. Sally has been dancing and training her whole life. She owned and operated her own dance studio for 12 successfulyears before devoting her full attention to raising her daughter (who is now in college). Sally has been teaching ballet for over 20 years. Her performing career includes musical theater, music videos, traveling companies, and cruise ships in the U.S. and abroad. Sally has an excellent reputation workingwith students from beginner levels to the more advanced levels and strives to develop their skills and passion for dance while keeping her students motivated to perform their best.

Isabella Velasquez grew up training in Orange County at the Maple Conservatory. At 17 she joined The Washington Ballet in DC as a trainee, and continued training at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s graduate program for two years after. Isabella joined Sacramento Ballet in 2014 where she has had the opportunity to perform many lead roles including Kitri in Don Quixote, Act 1, Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, the lead in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Donizetti Variations and Tarantella, and Ophelia in Stephen Mills’ Hamlet. Outside of Sacramento, Isabella has danced with The National Choreographers Initiative, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Capital Dance Project, and Ballet Project OC. Isabella has also choreographed multiple works for Sacramento Ballet, Capital Dance Project, and Ballet Project OC. Isabella has been a teacher with the Sacramento Ballet School for 4 years and has taught in the Sacramento area for 7 years. She teaches a wide variety of classes from technique, to pointe, variations, contemporary, and coaching. Isabella strives to share the technical and artistic tips she has learned as a professional dancer with her students, to better prepare them for a career in the arts. When not working Isabella loves to spend time with her two wiener dogs Luigi and Leonardo!

Jennie was born and raised in Sacramento. She began taking ballet lessons at the age of two at Janelle Sebren’s Sacramento Academy of Dance. She attended the Sacramento Ballet School under the direction of Carinne Binda and Melanie Haller, and danced various roles in Ron Cunningham’s The Nutcracker. She then attended the San Francisco Ballet School for two years, before joining The National Ballet of Canada as an apprentice in 2018. In 2019 she became a member of the corps de ballet at The National Ballet and continued with them until 2021. Her repertoire includes: Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anna Karenina, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Angels’ Atlas, Etudes, and The Sleeping Beauty, among other works. With Sacramento Ballet, Jennie has performed in The Nutcracker, Paul Vasterling’s Cinderella, Marika Brussel’s Water Ghosts, and George Balanchine’s Apollo.



Ava Grace began her training in all styles of dance under the instruction of her mom, Leigh Williams. From there, she continued to train mainly in ballet locally around her home town of Wilmington, North Carolina. Ava Grace attended summer programs such as Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Miami City Ballet, and went on to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for all four years of high school. At UNCSA, she had the opportunity to perform roles such as Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker, Russian Girl in Balanchine’s Serenade, and Little Red Riding Hood in the Sleeping Beauty to name a few. While training at UNCSA and before hand, Ava Grace competed and placed in both YAGP and ADC IBC for multiple years. Not only this, but she focused on furthering her teaching experience during the time being. She has taught and assisted at many local studios in North Carolina including The Arts Company and The TuTu School. She began dancing with Sacramento Ballet in 2023 as a second company dancer directly after graduating high school, currently an apprentice with the company for the 2024/2025 season.

Kenzie Woodward, originally from Fort Worth Texas, began her training at The Texas Ballet Theater School and joined TBT’s Studio Company in 2019. After graduating she spent a year in New York at Marymount Manhattan College before moving to Sacramento in 2022. She has been with Sacramento Ballet’s Second Company for two years and is entering her second year as an SBII. She has trained in a multitude of styles and spent summers with American Ballet Theater, Next Generation, The Joffrey Ballet School, and Miami City Ballet. Over the last 5 years Kenzie has performed in professional productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Peter and the Wolf, Cinderella and two productions of The Nutcracker.