Kelly Jarrell
Ms. Jarrell received her early training in Houston, Texas with Michael Banigan. In 2003 – 2004, she attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied under Melissa Hayden, Kee Juan-Han, and Frank Smith. She then joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Graduate Program in 2005 and trained with Dennis Marshall and Marjorie Grundvig. During her tenure with this program, she performed in the company’s productions of Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Coppelia, Don Quixote, and Alice in Wonderland. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Jarrell was a member of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where she worked with renowned choreographers such as Lauri Stallings, Dwight Rhoden and Septime Webre.
Jessica Galgiani
A Tucson native, Ms. Galgiani trained at Ballet Arts (the official school of Ballet Tucson). After high school, she went on to dance at Indiana University where she performed lead roles including Bluebird Pas de Deux in Julie Kent’s staging of Sleeping Beauty and winning First Place in the Dance 2003 NASAL Competition. After earning a B.S. in Ballet and Biology, she danced with Louisville Ballet under the direction of Bruce Simpson and also toured with Dance Alive National Ballet in Florida. Ms. Galgiani also teaches Pilates to people young and old.
Elizabeth Egleson
Ms. Egleson grew up in Indianapolis and trained predominantly with the Academy of Ballet International under Principal Vladilen Semenov. She has attended various summer intensive programs including those with Joffrey Midwest, Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., Vail International, and Harid Conservatory. As an apprentice with Alabama Ballet, she performed in Swan Lake, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Ms. Egleson has also danced roles in The Three Musketeers and Giselle with Louisville Ballet.
Esther Cardona
Ms. Cardona grew up in Tucson, Arizona and trained at Ballet Arts (the official school of Ballet Tucson). She continued her dance studies at the University of Arizona School of Dance. Ms. Cardona has performed with Paradise Ballet Theatre, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Oakland Opera, Ballet America, and the DanceWright Project.
Askar Alimbetov
Mr. Alimbetov is originally from Kazakhstan and received his early dance training at the State Choreographic Academy of Almaty, Kazakhstan. After graduating with honors in 1998, he joined the Ballet of the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Almaty. In 2001, he became a Principal Dancer with Moscow City Ballet where he danced lead roles in numerous ballets including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Mr. Alimbetov was a Principal Dancer with San Diego Ballet (2002 – 2009) and has done guest performances with many ballet companies throughout the United States.
Hadley Jalbert
Born and raised in Reston, Virginia, Ms. Jalbert received her early training at the Classical Ballet Academy of Northern Virginia. She has attended intensive summer programs with Boston Ballet, The Rock School, Washington Ballet, Ballet Austin and American Ballet Theatre. Ms. Jalbert danced with Alabama Ballet for three seasons prior to joining Ballet Tucson in 2006. She has been featured in Antony Tudor’s Continuo.
Jonelle Camp
Ms. Camp is originally from Denver where she received her early training from Nikoloz Makhateli. She has attended summer programs at David Taylor Dance Theater, Southland Ballet Academy and Ballet Met. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Camp was a trainee with Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio.
Elise Vitso
Ms. Vitso trained from 1990 - 2002 under Marjorie and Anthony Randazzo. She attended the Virginia School of the Arts from 2002 - 2004 where she studied with Petrus Bosman, David Keener and Martha Faesi and performed featured roles in Kirk Peterson’s Carmen and Elegy Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade. She has attended summer programs with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Boston Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Vitso danced with Milwaukee Ballet II working with Rolando Yanes, Michael Pink, Robin Van Valin and Denis Malinkine.
Megan Terry
Ms. Terry began her ballet training at the age of 3 at Saddleback Dance Center in Mission Viejo, California. In the summer of 2000, she moved to Tucson and began her training with Ballet Arts (the official school of Ballet Tucson). She has attended summer intensive programs with The Rock School, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet (on scholarship) and American Ballet Theatre (New York) for 4 years. She has performed in productions at the Orange County Performing Arts Center including Swan Lake with San Francisco Ballet and Le Corsaire with American Ballet Theatre. Her roles with Ballet Tucson include Snow Queen, Dewdrop Fairy and Columbine in The Nutcracker, Cygnet in Swan Lake, Spring Fairy and Time Fairy in Cinderella and Pigtail Girl in Graduation Ball. She was one of the first students to train at Ballet Arts and become a member of Ballet Tucson.
Aurora Frey
Ms. Frey trained with Ballet Arts (the official school of Ballet Tucson) for 6 years and continued with famed ballerina Leslie Browne for 2 years in New York City. She has attended summer programs with Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre (New York). From 2004 to 2006, she was an apprentice with Alabama Ballet under the direction of Wes Chapman where she performed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Serenade as well as original works by Roger Van Fleteren including Giselle, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and Firebird. Ms. Frey was a regional finalist in the Youth America Grand Prix 2004 Ballet Competition. Since joining Ballet Tucson, she has been featured in works by noted choreographers such as Antony Tudor, Sam Watson and Lawrence Pech.
Aurora Frey
Jenna Johnson
Jenna Johnson graduated as a full scholarship student from Harid Conservatory for Dance. She attended Indiana University, also on scholarship, before joining Atlanta Ballet. In 1995, she left for Europe, fulfilling a desire to travel while pursuing her career in dance. Ms. Johnson was accepted as a soloist with the Romanian National Opera Ballet in Bucharest where she danced from 1995 to 1997. She then joined the Oleg Danovski Ballet Theater as a principal in 1997. During her tenure with ODBT, she performed throughout western Europe as Carmen, Scheherazade and Odette/Odile forming a successful partnership with her future husband, Daniel Precup. Ms. Johnson returned to the United States in 2003 to dance with Oakland Ballet. There, she received critical acclaim for her interpretation of Robert Moses’ Lone Woman and other contemporary works including Sightings by Margaret Jenkins and Trois Gymnopedies by Ron Guidi. Ms. Johnson joined Ballet Tucson in 2004. She has performed principal roles in the company’s productions of Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Dracula, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake, Cinderella and The Nutcracker. New works added to her repertoire include The More Things Change by Lawrence Pech and Pygmalion and Galatea by Jeffrey Graham Hughes.
Jenna Johnson
Meredith Dulaney
Ms. Dulaney received her early training at the Orange County High School of the Arts. She has attended summer programs with San Francisco Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and American Ballet Theatre (New York). Ms. Dulaney was a trainee with Nevada Ballet Theatre prior to joining Ballet Tucson in 2004. Featured roles with the company have included the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Princess Florine in Sleeping Beauty, Fleur-de-Lys in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the principal in Springtide and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. She has also performed in original works by Jeffrey Graham Hughes, Lawrence Pech, Sam Watson, Kim Robards and Mark Schneider.
Meredith Dulaney
Deanna Doncsecz
Ms. Doncsecz received her early training at Nardi’s Dance & Gymnastics Center under Tammy Liiro, Kelly Ackerman, Lisa Levy, Shelly Oliver and E. Laura Hausmann. She attended the highly competitive Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts in 1996 and was on faculty at that school in 2000. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance. After college, she continued her training with Jean Isaacs in San Diego, ODC in San Francisco, Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia, and with Mary Beth Cabana and Chieko Imada at Ballet Tucson. She has performed in industrials for such companies as Loréal and Unilever and has guest taught at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and West Michigan Youth Ballet. Since joining Ballet Tucson, she has been featured in many roles, most notably Poverty Train in Laura’s Women by Ian Horvath and In Mercury, a solo choreographed for her by Sam Watson. She also originated the role of Esmerelda in Lawrence Pech’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. An audience favorite, she is recognized for her strong versatility and dramatic abilities. Ms. Doncsecz teaches modern, jazz, and tap at Ballet Arts (the official school of Ballet Tucson).
Emily Conelly
Ms. Conelly received her early training with Lexington Ballet in Kentucky and North Carolina School of the Arts. She has attended summer programs with Dance Aspen, School of American Ballet, Ballet West, Jacob’s Pillow, Martha Graham Conservatory and Boston Ballet. She served as Ballet Mistress for Burklyn Ballet Theatre for 2 years and has performed in France and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has worked with many ballet companies including Nashville Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theater, Augusta Ballet and Alabama Ballet performing works by James Canfield, Paul Vasterling, Roger Van Fleteren, Trey McIntyre and George Balanchine. Emily has been featured in Ballet Tucson works by Chieko Imada, Sam Watson and Mary Beth Cabana.
Emily Conelly
Samantha Chang
Ms. Chang began her ballet training at age 8 at Le Studio in Pasadena, CA. In 1998, she began training at the Ballet Pacifica Academy where she studied with former ABT dancers Amanda McKerrow, John Gardner, Alaine Haubert and Charles Maple. She has attended summer programs at Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre in Orange County and New York, Boston Ballet and Kaatsbaan. She has performed soloist roles in Robert Sund’s Alice in Wonderland and Brian Reeder’s The Nutcracker alongside the ABT Studio Company. Since joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Chang has been featured in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Paquita, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and has performed original works by Mary Beth Cabana, Mark Schneider and Mia Hansen.
Samantha Chang
Nadia Ali
Ms. Ali began her training at the age of 7 with Haydee Gutierrez at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Under the direction of James Canfield, she performed in Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, and Dark Side of the Moon with Oregon Ballet Theatre. She attended the University of Arizona as a recipient of the Bill Gates Millenium Scholarship and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance. Prior to joining Ballet Tucson, Ms. Ali danced with City Ballet of San Diego under the direction of Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich and performed in Concerto Barocco and Stars and Stripes by George Balanchine.
Daniel Precup
Daniel Precup is a graduate of the acclaimed National Choreographic High School of Bucharest, Romania. He joined the Oleg Danovski Ballet Theater, an internationally renowned touring company, at the age of 18 and moved through the ranks to become a principal dancer in 1998. Mr. Precup studied stagecraft with esteemed European choreographers Oleg Danovski, Germinal Casado and Gigi Caciuleanu. He has performed in world wide tours dancing the title role of the Mandarin in The Miraculous Mandarin, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, and Siegfried in Swan Lake. Mr. Precup came to the United States in 2003 as a principal dancer with Oakland Ballet. He excelled in the contemporary works of choreographer Dwight Roden and the classical works of the company’s founder, Ron Guidi. Mr. Precup joined Ballet Tucson in 2004. During his tenure with the company, his principal roles have included the title character in Dracula, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty, the Cavalier in The Nutcracker and Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He was also coached by John Gardner and Amanda McKerrow for his roles as Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried in Swan Lake and most recently as the Prince in Cinderella.
Daniel Precup
Stuart Lauer
Mr. Lauer began his training with Beverly Hugg at the Flagstaff School of Ballet in his home town of Flagstaff, Arizona. At the age of 14, he moved to Los Angeles to train with Donald Hewitt at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts. Mr. Lauer has attended summer workshop programs with Vail International Dance, Boston Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts, American Ballet Theatre and Milwaukee Ballet. He has also trained with Petrus Bosman and David Keener at the Virginia School of the Arts. After graduating from VSA, he danced with Milwaukee Ballet II under the direction of Rolando Yanes and Michael Pink. Mr. Lauer has been featured in Antony Tudor’s Continuo, Mary Beth Cabana’s Springtide, and as Snow King in Ballet Tucson’s The Nutcracker.
Cory J. Gram
Mr. Gram began dancing at the Canton Ballet under the directorship of Cassandra Crowley and later graduated high school from the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. He received acceptance to Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana where his repertoire grew through the many contemporary and classical ballets performed. After graduating with his BFA, he joined Dayton Ballet in Dayton, Ohio. In Dayton, Mr. Gram worked with Dermot Burke, the artistic and executive director, in many ballets and collaborations with choreographers such as Jeffrey Graham Hughes, Luis Fuente, Stephen Mills, Septime Weber, and many more. From Dayton, he moved to Arizona to pursue his MFA at The University of Arizona where he continued to dance and teach, having the opportunity to perform and work with its faculty and various guest artists. He is looking forward to his first season with Ballet Tucson and his return to dancing professionally.
Cory J. Gram