International Evenings of Dance II

Olivia Bell

Olivia Bell is a corps de ballet member with New York City Ballet. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, she trained locally before being accepted to the School of American Ballet in 2018. While a student, Olivia originated a featured role in Gianna Reisen’s Signs. In 2022 Olivia became an apprentice with New York City Ballet and was then promoted to corps de ballet in 2023. As a corps member Olivia has performed featured roles in Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter on Shuffle, George Balanchine’s Swan Lake, Tiler Peck’s Concerto for Two Pianos, and Jerome Robbins Interplay.

India Bradley

India Bradley was born in Detroit, Michigan and began her dance training at the age of four at The Link School of the Arts in Troy, Michigan. At the age of eleven, she attended the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Novi, Michigan, under the direction of Sergey Rayevitskey.

Ms. Bradley attended the summer program at Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2012, and entered DTH’s Professional Training Program under the direction of Andrea Long that fall.

She attended the 2014 summer session at the School of American Ballet, NYCB’s official school, and enrolled as a full-time student later that year.

Ms. Bradley was named an apprentice in August 2017 and joined the Company as a member of the Corps de Ballet in August 2018. As an apprentice, she performed a featured role in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.

Ms. Bradley was promoted to the rank of soloist in October 2025.

Maddie Cabral

MADDIE CABRAL is a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Originally from Ashburn, Virginia, Maddie is a unique mover with a fresh and fearless approach to Trinity’s range of repertoire. Her dynamism, extraordinary versatility, and individuality have shaped her as an invaluable collaborator in the studio and a crowd favorite on stage. Maddie’s distinct style has been celebrated by audiences worldwide, from Tokyo to New York City’s Joyce Theater to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Maddie recently received her BS in Community Health and Clinical Science from George Mason University, and in addition to continuing to redefine the possibilities for Irish dance with the Trinity Irish Dance Company, she is pursuing a career in medicine.   

Preston Chamblee

Preston Chamblee was born in Wendell, North Carolina and began his dance training at the age of 14 at the Raleigh School of Ballet under Mary Legere and Pablo Perez. He continued his training at the International Ballet Academy in Apex, North Carolina from 2010 to 2013. Mr. Chamblee studied at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, during the 2012 and 2013 summer courses, and enrolled as a full-time student in 2013. Mr. Chamblee was named an apprentice with NYCB in August 2014 and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in February 2015. Mr. Chamblee was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2022.

Chun Wai Chan

Chun Wai Chan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he became the company’s first Chinese principal dancer since its founding in 1948. Chan is also the founder of Chunner Studio, a creative platform dedicated to artistic production, education, and cross-cultural collaboration through dance and the arts.

Before joining New York City Ballet in 2021, Chan spent nearly a decade with the Houston Ballet, where he rose from the corps de ballet to principal dancer in 2017. Born in Guangdong, China, Chan trained at the Guangzhou Art School before becoming a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in 2010, where he received nine offers from leading ballet companies and schools and accepted a full scholarship to study at Houston Ballet Academy. In 2020, he also gained national acclaim as a finalist on “Dance Smash” one of China’s most popular television shows.

Chan has performed internationally across the United States, Europe, and Asia, appearing at major theaters and festivals worldwide. He was named to Forbes China “30 Under 30,” featured on the cover of Dance Magazine, and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Naomi Corti

Vladyslav Detiuchenko

Vladyslav Detiuchenko and Veronika Rakitina are a contemporary dance duo from Ukraine. Vlad creates the choreography,  and together with Veronika they perform on stage.

Vlad was born in Kremenchuk and graduated from the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. He later became a leading soloist with Kyiv Modern Ballet. Veronika was born in Khmelnytskyi and graduated from the Kharkiv High College of Art, after which she joined Kyiv Opera Ballet.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they were forced to relocate to the Netherlands, where they joined the United Ukrainian Ballet and began integrating into the Dutch dance community while further developing their own artistic voice.

During this period, they established themselves as an independent creative duo and began collaborating with Korzo, Senf Production, Nederlands Dansdagen, and other Dutch production companies and festivals. They have also worked with Igone de Jongh, former principal dancer of the Dutch National Ballet, contributing choreography for her projects performed at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam.

In 2024, Vlad and Veronika were nominated for the Piket Kunstprijzen for their contribution to the cultural life of The Hague. In 2025, they became winners of Holland’s Got Talent. That same year, they created the large-scale project Wings of Light in collaboration with renowned photographer Pieter Henket. In 2026, the duo presented their first major tour, spanning approximately 40 cities across the Netherlands, with their dance program Revelation.

Most recently, they created a choreographic piece for the National Liberation Day Concert, which was broadcast online on Dutch national television to an audience of over 2 million viewers.

Sofía Dorantes

SOFÍA DORANTES is a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Company. Reigning from Querétaro, Mexico, Sofía has achieved enormous feats throughout her competitive Irish dance career, including winning the Southern US regional championships three times and an unprecedented fourth place at the World Championships, breaking records and opening new portals for Irish dancers from Latin America. Her ability to break new ground continues through her evolution to the performing arts – in her first year with Trinity Irish Dance Company, Sofía’s exquisite technical prowess has been celebrated on stages throughout North America from Jacob’s Pillow to the Joyce Theater to Chicago’s Auditorium. Sofía is studying neuroscience at Mexico’s National Autonomous University. 

Philip Duclos

Philip Duclos is a soloist with The Royal Danish Ballet. He joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2022, and was promoted to soloist in 2025. He has danced roles such as Prince Desiré in the Sleeping Beauty, Albrecht in Giselle, one of the principal men in Harald Lander’s Études, Melancholic in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, the Sugarplum Cavalier in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Benno in Swan Lake, and the Premier Danseur in August Bournonville’s Kermesse in Bruges. He has also danced featured roles in Raymonda, Don Quixote, Wayne McGregor’s Dante Project, John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Alexei Ratmansky’s The Art of the Fugue. He was also awarded the Ballettens Venner Talent Prize in the spring of 2025. 

Robbie Fairchild

ROBBIE FAIRCHILD made his Tony nominated Broadway debut in 2015 as Jerry Mulligan in the Tony Award-winning musical An American in Paris, which he reprised in London’s West End in 2017. He was awarded the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theater World, National Dance and Astaire Award for this performance and was nominated for the Evening Standard and Drama League Awards. From 2009 to 2017, Fairchild performed as a Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet. His other theater credits include Monster in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (Signature Theater, Chita Rivera Award), Harry Beaton in Brigadoon (New York City Center), Will Parker in Oklahoma! (Royal Albert Hall, London), Mike Costa in A Chorus Line(Hollywood Bowl), and Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate (Roundabout Theater Company’s 2017 Gala). Television: Étoile (Prime Video), Soundtrack (Netflix), Mixtape (FOX Pilot), Julie’s Greenroom (Netflix), Oklahoma! (BBC Proms), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Carousel Boy in NY Philharmonic’s Carousel (PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center), Dancing With The Stars, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Live with Kelly and Michael, CBS Sunday Morning, and 60 Minutes. Film: Tom Hooper’s Cats, An American in Paris Live (West End Production), The Chaperone and NY Export: Opus Jazz. Represented by CAA. @robbiefairchild

Michael Fleck

MICHAEL FLECK is a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Company. A multidimensional artist, Michael thrives on the intersection of rhythms and spatial arrangement. Throughout nine years with the Trinity Irish Dance Company, his unparalleled movement style and percussive virtuosity have caught the attention of critics and audiences worldwide. Prior to his evolution to the performing arts, Michael celebrated a wildly successful competitive Irish dance career, winning the Midwest Regional Championships and the US National Championships several times, placing as high as 2nd at the World Championships and winning the All Ireland National Championships when he was only 9 years old. Originally from Noblesville, Indiana and now based in Chicago, Michael received his Bachelors of Architecture from Ball State University, and exercises his talents in the visual arts as an architectural graduate at a Chicago firm.

Elijah Geolina

Anna Gorman

ANNA GORMAN is a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Company. With 22 years of Irish dance training at Chicago’s Trinity Academy of Irish Dance along with 10 years of ballet and jazz training, Anna is a multidimensional artist with the unique ability to bend genres and consistently deliver the unexpected.  A classically trained violinist and an accomplished visual artist, Anna received a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Dayton, and now works as a graphic designer in Chicago. Throughout her nine years with Trinity Irish Dance Company, Anna’s distinct versatility has been celebrated by audiences worldwide, from Tokyo’s Orchard Hall to New York City’s Joyce Theater to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. 

Savannah Green

Savannah Green studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet and LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. She graduated with a BFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2017. She danced with Buglisi Dance Theater from 2017 to 2019 in New York City. Savannah joined BalletX in 2020, where she has performed works by Matthew Neenan, Jamar Roberts, and Justin Peck, among others. 

Daniel Guzmán

Daniel Guzmán began his training on Margarita Island, Venezuela, under the direction of Martha Gómez, Artistic Director of Ballet de la Mar. He won numerous competitions in Venezuela and, after graduating from Ballet de la Mar, moved to the United States to continue his training. He was awarded the Gold Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix 2023 Finals for his performance in Flames of Paris and was also the 2023 Grand Prix winner at the Universal Ballet Competition. He joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in January 2024 under the direction of Artistic Director Sascha Radetsky and was part of the 2024–2025 season. Since December 2025, he has been an Apprentice with American Ballet Theatre.

Chelsea Hoy

CHELSEA HOY (Trinity Irish Dance Company Co-Artistic Director / Choreographer / Dancer) Hoy’s work as a choreographer and dancer has been celebrated by audiences and critics worldwide – from New York City’s Joyce Theater to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival to Tokyo’s Orchard Hall. A Denver native, Hoy saw the Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) at the Vilar Center for the Performing Arts as a nine year-old. Following dreams and fate, she joined TIDC in Chicago in 2014, became Associate Artistic Director in 2018, and was named Co-Artistic Director in February 2026, becoming one of the youngest artistic directors in the industry.

As a formidable performer, choreographer, and organizational leader, Hoy has been at the heart of shaping and evolving this important cultural organization throughout the past decade. She recently celebrated the world premiere of ‘The Sash’, her third co-choreographed work with Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard, following ‘An Sorcas’ (2018) and ‘Taking the Mick’ (2024). Other choreographic credits include assistant director on ‘SÉseacht,’ a collaboration with Michelle Dorrance which celebrated its world premiere at The Joyce Theater in February. This year, at age 30, she was named to the “40 under 40” at by the Irish Echo. 

A powerful activist and artist, Hoy has quickly become a major player in the performing arts world. She is proud to join Howard as they spearhead the future of this cultural art form.

Yoon Jung Seo

Seo joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in September 2019, became an apprentice with the main Company in November 2021, and joined the corps de ballet in February 2022.

Lauren Lovette

Lauren Lovette personifies the intertwining of dance and choreography, moving seamlessly from one to the other. Her work has been commissioned and performed by leading dance companies and festivals, including the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Vail International Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Juilliard, Oregon Ballet Theater, Colorado Ballet, as well as a self-produced evening entirely of her own work in which she also danced, Why It Matters.

Born in Thousand Oaks, California, Lovette began studying ballet at the age of 11 at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Cary, North Carolina. She enrolled at SAB as a full time student in 2006. In October 2009, Ms. Lovette became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in September 2010. Promoted to soloist in February 2013 and to principal dancer in June 2015, she stepped down from her position at the company in 2021 in order to embark on a career devoted to dance and choreography in more equal measure. She is now the choreographer in residence at the Paul Taylor Dance Company and performs as a guest principal dancer around the world.

Ms. Lovette received the Clive Barnes Award for dance in December 2012 and was the 2012-2013 recipient of the Janice Levin Award.

Roman Mejia

Roman Mejia is a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas and began studying ballet at age 3 with his mother and father. At age 13, he entered the Mejia Ballet Academy. He attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet, NYCB’s official school, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In August 2017, he became an apprentice with NYCB and he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2017. He was promoted to Soloist in October 2021 and to Principal Dancer in February 2023. His repertory with NYCB includes featured roles in numerous ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, and he has also originated featured roles in ballets by Kyle Abraham, Silas Farley, Edwaard Liang, Peck, Ratmansky, and Gianna Reisen. 

Outside of NYCB, Mejia was the 2022 Vail Dance Festival Artist in Residence, and he has appeared in Twyla Tharp’s TWYLA NOW and with Tiler Peck at New York City Center and Sadler’s Wells in London.  

In 2019, Dance Magazine featured Mejia as one of their “25 To Watch,” and he was also the recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA Dance Fellowship. In 2020, Mejia was a finalist for the Clive Barnes Award. 

Takumi Miyake

Courtesy of American Ballet Theatre Takumi Miyake was born in Kagawa, Japan, and began his training under his mother at the age of three. He has won first place in many major national competitions in Japan. In 2017, he took part in Youth American Grand Prix where he won first place and received a full scholarship to The Royal Ballet School. He studied at The Royal Ballet School from September 2017 to July 2022, having received The London Ballet Circle Dame Ninette Award for the most outstanding male graduate of The Royal Ballet School that year. Miyake joined ABT Studio Company in September 2022. In 2023, he performed the Flames of Paris pas de deux as part of Natalia Osipova’s Force of Nature Gala at New York City Center and partnered Maria Khoreva in the Le Corsaire pas de trois at the Nervi International Dance Festival in Italy. Miyake became an apprentice with the main Company in November 2023 and joined the corps de ballet in July 2024. He was promoted to Soloist in September 2025. His repertoire includes Principal role in Études, Chinese dance in Nutcracker, Benno and the Neapolitan Dance in Swan Lake and roles in all the Company’s full-length ballets.

Mira Nadon

MIRA NADON was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018. Ms. Nadon was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2022, and to principal in February 2023. Nadon has performed featured roles in ballets by Kyle Abraham, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Sidra Bell, Ulysses Dove, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Alysa Pires, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, and Christopher Wheeldon. Her awards include the 2021 Clive Barnes Award in Dance, the 2022 Princess Grace Award, and the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Emiko Nakagawa

Emiko Nakagawa is a Japanese tap dance artist currently based in NYC. She went on to further develop her tap artistry with Yukiko “Smilie” Misumi’s mentorship at the age of 8, and she served as dance captain on various stages, including ARTN Company’s solo “Legends of Tap” series, and “Tokyo International Tap Festival “from 2015 to 2020 in Japan.  

Before coming to NY, she achieved international recognition through performing at the show “JUBA!” at Chicago Tap Festival, and the show at Big Apple Tap Festival in NY.  

She also has had success at many international tap dance contests. She was a winner of both Woodshed Experience and LA Tap Fest cutting contests in 2019. In the tap dance contest KAWASAKI TAP FESTIVAL in Japan, she won six prizes until 2016 and was the champion in 2017.  

After coming to NY, Emiko works for Caleb Teicher & Company, Dorrance Dance and more of New York based dance companies. 

She is an alumnus of The School at Jacob’s Pillow 2023. 

She successfully made her first circus appearance which New York Circus Project are the presenting organization in 2025. 

Most recently, Emiko was selected for Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” for 2026. 

Her choreographies and performances have been shown at 54 Below, Symphony Space, The Joyce Theater, World of Dance (Headliner), 92NY, Vail Dance Festival and more, and she has a great appreciation for working and performing with amazing artists in U.S. 

Tiler Peck

Tiler Peck has been a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet since 2009. She made her Broadway debut at age 11 as Gracie Shinn in The Music Man and was seen on Broadway as Ivy Smith in the Tony Nominated On The Town. She originated the title role in Susan Stroman’s newest musical Little Dancer at the Kennedy Center and is attached to star in the Broadway production. Tiler made her choreographic debut at the Vail Dance Festival in 2018 and has gone on to choreograph and appear in episodes of Tiny Pretty Things and Ray Donovan, for the Boston Ballet and the box office smash hit film John Wick 3. She has also appeared on Dancing with the Stars, the Kennedy Center Honors and Live From Lincoln Center’s The Nutcracker and Carousel, Disney+’s The Hip Hop Nutcracker, and Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show PBS special. As a guest star, she was the first ballerina ever to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In film she has starred in “Ballet Now”, a Hulu documentary that followed her as she became the first woman to curate and star in The Los Angeles Music Center’s presentation ofBalletNOW, “Ballet 422”, “A Time for Dancing”, and “Donnie Darko”. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue Award, The Dance Magazine Award and was named one of Forbes 30 under 30. She curated and directed the highly anticipated inaugural Artists at the Center for New York City Center that made it’s European debut as Turn It Out With Tiler Peck & Friend and received an Olivier Awards nomination. Most recently, she choreographed her first ballet for New York City Ballet, Concerto for Two Pianos. 

To keep the dance world connected during the pandemic, Tiler developed a free ballet class #TurnItOutWithTiler that airs on her Instagram. She is the designer of the Love,Tiler collection for Só Dança. She has released two children’s books with Simon & Schuster: Katarina Ballerina and Katarina Ballerina & The Victory Dance. Most recently, Ms. Peck has been seen as a recurring guest star on Amazon Prime’s newest tv show Étoile. 

More on Tiler at www.tilerpeck.com. Tiler can be found on Instagram & TikTok via @TilerPeck.

Ryan Tomash

This past fall, New York City Ballet welcomed to the ranks Soloist Ryan Tomash, who moved to the Big Apple from Copenhagen, where he was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet. Following a busy fall, which included a number of repertory debuts as well as originating a role in Jamar Roberts’ Foreseeable Future; the many wondrous delights of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker^®; and a jam-packed winter, including performances in the latest works from Resident Choreographer Justin Peck and Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky—The Wind-Up and The Naked King, respectively—Tomash was promoted to the rank of principal dancer.

We spoke to the Canadian dancer about his career prior to joining the company, how his first few months have gone, and what he likes best about the city, among other things. Get to know Ryan Tomash better before he takes the stage again this spring.

Kayla Mak

Kayla Mak is an apprentice member of American Ballet Theatre, joining in the fall of 2025 shortly after graduating from Juilliard with a BFA in Dance. At Juilliard, she performed works by today’s leading choreographers, including Justin Peck, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts, and Shen Wei, in addition to receiving a grounding in the techniques of José Limón, Martha Graham, and other foundational dance figures. Before joining the main company, Mak danced with the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, performing a wide range of ballet repertory, from Twyla Tharp to Balanchine, along with works by contemporary ballet voices. Kayla reached a global audience through appearances on NBC’s World of Dance, at the Vail Dance Festival, and through other professional performance opportunities. Mak recently became a recipient of the 2025 Princess Grace Award for dance performance.

Mayfield Myers

Dario Natarelli

Dario Natarelli is a New York-based performer, choreographer, and dance educator specializing in tap dance. This is his 10th year as an artist at Vail Dance Festival, and he is honored to be dancing in the mountains with everyone again. Broadway/Off-Broadway credits include Justin Peck’s Illinoise (OBC), Masquerade (World’s 1st Immersive Musical), three Encores! musicals (Oliver!, Wonderful Town, The Tap Dance Kid), Tappin’ Thru Life with Maurice Hines, Fall For Dance soloist and co-choreographer with Michelle Dorrance, Ayodele Casel’s Artists at The Center. Other credits: Park Avenue Armory, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Postmodern Jukebox, Maestro (Netflix), SNL, Sugar Hill Nutcracker, Breaking Brooklyn (film), Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, national commercials, staging at Juilliard, and work with Jared Grimes, Michelle Dorrance, Joshua Bergasse, Damian Woetzel, Debbie Allen, and more. Dario is a graduate of LaGuardia High School and earned his BFA in Musical Theatre from Penn State. He is also the founder of the hand-dyed yarn brand, Knitarelli. Deepest thanks to his teachers and supporters, especially his late mentor, Robert L. Reed, who always said, “Respect the Dance.”

Michael Nicolas

A “long-admired figure on the New York scene,” (The New Yorker), two-time Grammy-nominated cellist Michael Nicolas enjoys a diverse career as chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, improvisor, and teacher. He is the cellist of the intrepid and genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider, which has drawn praise from classical, world music, and rock critics alike. As a member of the acclaimed International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), he has worked with countless composers from around the world, premiering and recording dozens of new works. Earlier in his career, he held a post as Associate Principal Cellist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and was also a member of the wildly popular South Korean chamber group Ensemble Ditto. His solo album Transitions is available on the Sono Luminus record label.

Of mixed French-Canadian and Taiwanese heritage, Michael was born in Canada, and currently resides in New York City, where he is on the cello faculty at The Mannes School of Music at The New School. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School.

Michael de la Nuez // Festival Emerging Artist

Michael de la Nuez was born in Lexington, Kentucky and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began his dance training at age 14 at de la Dance Center, studying with his parents, former professional ballet dancers Mario de la Nuez and Meridith Benson. In 2016, he attended the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program.

In 2016, de la Nuez joined de la Dance Company, a small professional company in Cincinnati, as a trainee, and he performed as a full company member from 2017-2018. His repertoire included the Cavalier, Snow King, Nutcracker and Russian in The Nutcracker, Paquita, Le Corsaire pas de deux, Don Quixote pas de deux and the peasant pas de deux from Giselle, as well as modern and contemporary repertory.

In 2017, de la Nuez was a finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City, and in 2018 he won the Grand Prix at the YAGP Regional Competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He joined ABT Studio Company in February 2018, became an apprentice with the main Company in December 2018, and joined the corps de ballet in June 2019. His repertoire includes Partner to the Italian Ballerina in Gala Performance, the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Grand Pas Classique, Juan Alejandrez in Like Water for Chocolate, Midnight Pas de Deux, Nutcracker, the Prince, and the Spanish Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Olga’s Fiancé in On the Dnipro, The Faun in The Seasons, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Sylvia Pas de Deux, Florizel in The Winter’s Tale, “Becomings” in Woolf Works, leading roles in La Boutique and Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, and featured roles in Bach Partita, Indestructible Light, and Songs of Bukovina.

Jerard Palazo

Jerard Palazo (Dancer) studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division, Toronto Dance Theatre, Ailey School, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, and Nederlands Dans Theatre. He has worked with Nai Ni Chen Dance Company and Peridance Company. Jerard joined BalletX in 2022.

Unity Phelan

Unity Phelan was born in Princeton, New Jersey where she studied at the Princeton Ballet School. After attending summer courses at the School of American Ballet, Phelan was invited to attend the school full time and remained at the school for three years. Phelan was invited to join the New York City Ballet in the winter of 2012 as an apprentice and joined the company as a Corps de Ballet member in 2013. In the Winter of 2017, Phelan was promoted to Soloist dancer and in the Fall of 2021, she was promoted to Principal dancer. In her time at New York City Ballet, Phelan has danced numerous ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon and other choreographers. Phelan has been featured in Dance Magazine, Elle Magazine, and People Style Magazine. In the last couple years, Phelan has been found on the silver screen acting in “John Wick 3: Parabellum” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”. In 2019, Phelan was awarded the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award for her work at New York City Ballet.

Veronika Rakitina

Vladyslav Detiuchenko and Veronika Rakitina are a contemporary dance duo from Ukraine. Vlad creates the choreography,  and together with Veronika they perform on stage.

Vlad was born in Kremenchuk and graduated from the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. He later became a leading soloist with Kyiv Modern Ballet. Veronika was born in Khmelnytskyi and graduated from the Kharkiv High College of Art, after which she joined Kyiv Opera Ballet.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they were forced to relocate to the Netherlands, where they joined the United Ukrainian Ballet and began integrating into the Dutch dance community while further developing their own artistic voice.

During this period, they established themselves as an independent creative duo and began collaborating with Korzo, Senf Production, Nederlands Dansdagen, and other Dutch production companies and festivals. They have also worked with Igone de Jongh, former principal dancer of the Dutch National Ballet, contributing choreography for her projects performed at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam.

In 2024, Vlad and Veronika were nominated for the Piket Kunstprijzen for their contribution to the cultural life of The Hague. In 2025, they became winners of Holland’s Got Talent. That same year, they created the large-scale project Wings of Light in collaboration with renowned photographer Pieter Henket. In 2026, the duo presented their first major tour, spanning approximately 40 cities across the Netherlands, with their dance program Revelation.

Most recently, they created a choreographic piece for the National Liberation Day Concert, which was broadcast online on Dutch national television to an audience of over 2 million viewers.

Michael Scales

Michael Scales is a musician for dance in New York City, where he serves as pianist at New York City Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and formerly at American Ballet Theatre and New York Theatre Ballet. Michael is pianist for Vail Dance Festival, and has collaborated with Martha Graham Dance Company and Limón Dance Company. Michael has performed at numerous venues around New York City including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, NY City Center, the 92nd Street Y, Rockefeller Center, and in halls across the country and internationally. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Dr. Maria Asteriadou, and a Masters of Music degree from James Madison University, where he studied with Dr. Lori Piitz.

Caroline Shaw // Composer-In-Residence

Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She works often in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. Caroline is the recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, several Grammy awards, an honorary doctorate from Yale, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. This year’s projects include the score to “Fleishman is in Trouble” (FX/Hulu), vocal work with Rosalía (MOTOMAMI), the score to Josephine Decker’s “The Sky Is Everywhere” (A24/Apple), music for the National Theatre’s production of “The Crucible” (dir. Lyndsey Turner), Justin Peck’s “Partita” with NY City Ballet, a new stage work “LIFE” (Gandini Juggling/Merce Cunningham Trust), the premiere of “Microfictions Vol. 3” for NY Philharmonic and Roomful of Teeth, a live orchestral score for Wu Tsang’s silent film “Moby Dick” co-composed with Andrew Yee, two albums on Nonesuch (“Evergreen” and “The Blue Hour”), the score for Helen Simoneau’s dance work “Delicate Power”, tours of Graveyards & Gardens (co-created immersive theatrical work with Vanessa Goodman), and tours with So Percussion featuring songs from “Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part” (Nonesuch), amid occasional chamber music appearances as violist (Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, La Jolla Music Society). Caroline has written over 100 works in the last decade, for Anne Sofie von Otter, Davóne Tines, Yo Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, LA Phil, Philharmonia Baroque, Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Aizuri Quartet, The Crossing, Dover Quartet, Calidore Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Miro Quartet, I Giardini, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Ariadne Greif, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Britt Festival, and the Vail Dance Festival. She has contributed production to albums by Rosalía, Woodkid, and Nas. Her work as vocalist or composer has appeared in several films, tv series, and podcasts including The Humans, Bombshell, Yellowjackets, Maid, Dark, Beyonce’s Homecoming, Tár, Dolly Parton’s America, and More Perfect. Her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite smell is rosemary. 

Alex Sopp

Alex Sopp creates flowering gardens of song and clouds of harmonious flute sound, rendering dreams and reimagining portraits, channeling a state of wonder and enchantment.  Her debut album of original songs, “The Hem & The Haw” was released on New Amsterdam Records in April of 2024.  She is a founding member and flutist of yMusic, The Knights, NOW Ensemble, and Between Worlds, and has played principal flute in the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at venues such as Suntory Hall, the Ojai Festival, and the Lucerne Festival.  As a soloist, she has played works written for her by Judd Greenstein, Gabriel Kahane, Nico Muhly, Chris Thile, and Allison Loggins-Hull.  Performing iconic vocal lines and whistle solos, Alex toured the world with yMusic in support of their album with Paul Simon.  yMusic redefines the chamber ensemble as a creative voice in its own right, debuting a self-titled record of original compositions at Carnegie Hall, while creating an outpouring of arrangements and collaborations with artists such as John Legend, Ben Folds, Bruce Hornsby, and Anohni.  Her unique visual artwork, ranging from meticulously detailed pen drawings to hand painted stop motion animation has been used by musicians such as Joshua Bell and cutting edge organizations like Castle of Our Skins to bring their projects to life.

Audrey Tovar-Dunster // Scholar-In-Residence

Audrey Tovar-Dunster began her ballet training at the age of two. At age six, she was accepted to the School of Philadelphia Ballet and at eight was given the role of Marie in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, which she performed for three seasons. While training at the School, she attended summer intensives with ABT, United Ballet Theatre, and The Royal Danish Ballet School. At age 12, Tovar-Dunster became a Trainee with Philadelphia Ballet and at 14 became one of the youngest members of their second company. During this time, she performed corps de ballet roles in a variety of Philadelphia Ballet productions. In September 2024, Tovar-Dunster began training at the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School under the direction of Stella Abrera. In April 2025, she won a silver medal at Youth America Grand Prix Finals in the pas de deux category and in May/June 2025, she participated in ABT Studio Company’s spring performances and summer tour as a Trainee. During the summer of 2025, she was invited to Italy to perform in the second season of the Stelle di Domani performances of Balletto Di Venezia. Tovar-Dunster joined ABT Studio Company in September 2025 under the artistic direction of Sascha Radetsky. In ABT Studio Company, she has created a role in Cerulean Skies by Brady Farrar and her other repertoire includes Gamzatti in the La Bayadere pas d’action, Cornbread by Twyla Tharp, Bernstein in a Bubble by Alexei Ratmanksy, Interplay by Jerome Robbins, and Christopher Wheeldon’s An American in Paris pas de deux. She has also performed in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker with the main Company of American Ballet Theatre.

Melissa Toogood

Melissa Toogood has been a prominent presence on the Vail stage since 2015. She is a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie)–winning, internationally recognized dancer and master teacher celebrated for her work with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, where she was one of the last dancers to work directly with Cunningham himself. A 2013 and 2015 Merce Cunningham Fellow and an official stager for the Merce Cunningham Trust, Melissa has taught his technique worldwide since 2007 and continues to stage his work for renowned companies, including the Stephen Petronio Company and the Washington Ballet. Most notably, Melissa is a longtime dancer with choreographer Pam Tanowitz, where she also served as Rehearsal Director and Artistic Associate, assisting on new works for major institutions such as The Australian Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, The Royal Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company and others. Melissa’s freelance career spans performances with leading artists including Tanowitz, Kyle Abraham, Kimberly Bartosik, Michelle Dorrance, Rosie Herrera, Jodi Melnick, Rashaun Mitchell, Jamar Roberts, Sally Silvers, Bobbi Jene Smith, Christopher Williams, the Bang Group: Tap Lab, and the Stephen Petronio Company. Her own work has been commissioned by Boston Ballet, New York Theater Ballet, and the Vail Dance Festival. She most recently premiered Johnny Loves Johann, a collaborative creation and performance led by violinist Johnny Gandelsman, with John Heginbotham, Caili Quan, and Jamar Roberts. In 2025, Melissa was appointed Dean and Director of the Juilliard Dance Division and continues to shape the future of dance through education and mentorship.

Derek Wang

With virtuosity and “enviable idiomatic rigor” (The Wall Street Journal) at the service of “pure poetry” (Seen and Heard International), pianist Derek Wang is drawing increasing acclaim in the roles of soloist, collaborator, curator, and communicator. A proponent of the music of Franz Liszt, Derek was awarded second prize at the 12th International Liszt Competition (Liszt Utrecht) in the Netherlands in 2022, which followed on the heels of first prize at the inaugural New York Liszt Competition in 2021. He held a three-summer-long fellowship position as pianist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival under conductors Donald Crockett and Timothy Weiss, performing a total of over fifty works of the 20th and 21st centuries. In 2025, Derek began a role as Creative Enterprise Fellow at Juilliard, curating a range of programs including sesquicentennial celebrations of composer Charles Ives and poet Rainer Maria Rilke, an interdisciplinary program interweaving ecological texts with George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), and an all-Philip Glass marathon concert on the composer’s 88th birthday. Derek holds degrees from Juilliard and from the Yale School of Music. His principal teachers have included Stephen Hough, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Matti Raekallio, and Boris Slutsky. He continues his studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover, Germany in the studio of Arie Vardi. Derek returns to the Vail Dance Festival in 2025 after last summer’s performances in premiere works by Lauren Lovette, with music by Caroline Shaw, and by Tiler Peck, with music by Meredith Monk. The latter work, danced by Aran Bell, was reprised to critical acclaim at the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center. For more information and the latest concert schedule, please visit www.derek-wang.com.

Indiana Woodward

Indiana Woodward is a New York City Ballet Principal. Born in Paris, France, Woodward began her dance training at age 10 at the Yuri Grigoriev School of Ballet and came to the School of American Ballet in 2010. Named an NYCB apprentice in 2012, she joined the NYCB corps de ballet that year and was promoted to Soloist in 2017. Her repertory includes leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Robert Binet, August Bournonville, William Forsythe, Edwaard Liang, Lauren Lovette, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Gianna Reisen, Pam Tanowitz, Peter Walker, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Brooklyn Rider

Johnny Gandelsman, violin
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Nicholas Cords, viola
Michael Nicolas, cello

“A string quartet of boundless imagination.”—NPR

Celebrating twenty years of shared musical exploration, Brooklyn Rider originated in a living room, four friends in search of an outlet for their curiosities. Inspired by the probing spirit of Germany’s pre-WW1 artistic collective Der Blaue Reiter, they recognized parallels with their creative community in Brooklyn at the time and began to build projects. In the following two decades, Brooklyn Rider has undertaken a staggering amount of work, carving a singular space in the world of string quartets. Through thoughtful programmatic framing, deep-rooted collaborations, and innovative commissioning projects, Brooklyn Rider has used the medium at every point in their adventurous journey as a vehicle for exploration and discovery. Inspired equally by the rich repertoire of the past and the limitless canvas of new creation, Brooklyn Rider seeks to create meaningful and memorable experiences for their audiences.

To mark the twenty year milestone, a wide range of projects are on the horizon for 2025 and beyond that celebrate the key elements of their work. Honoring a long-standing relationship with the string quartets of Philip Glass (String Quartet # 3, Mishima was on Brooklyn Rider’s first public program), Brooklyn Rider has embarked on the first ever retrospective of the composer’s complete works for the medium. Initially presented by the Yale Schwarzman Center this past fall, the retrospective is next happening in May 2025 at the Met Cloisters in NYC before heading further afield. A major commission by Gabriela Lena Frank, Frida’s Dreams is due for the 2025-26 season. A forthcoming recording, The Four Elements (slated for May 2025) servesas a dual metaphor for the complex inner world of the string quartet and the future of planet Earth, the latest example of the kind of programmatic concept long associated with Brooklyn Rider. The quartet expands their reach into the orchestral world in future seasons with a new work for quartet and orchestra by Nico Muhly, to be presented by a wide ranging consortium of orchestras across Europe and North America. Lastly, a special concert at Tanglewood this August will feature the Schubert Cello Quintet as the centerpiece alongside the quartet’s friend and mentor Yo-Yo Ma.

The beginning days of Brooklyn Rider’s history included numerous self-produced concerts events, and the quartet has since cherished the live performance experience in its many guises. In more recent years, the quartet has made regular appearances in many of the major musical centers of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia – from Zurich’s Tonhalle, Carnegie Hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Sydney Opera House, the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing, and London’s Wigmore Hall. Comfortable in a wide range of performance outlets, they have also appeared on the main stage of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, at Austin’s South By Southwest Music Festival, and in two NPR Tiny Desk Concerts. Brooklyn Rider has been the long-standing resident string quartet of the Vail Dance Festival, collaborating with many of the finest dancers and choreographers of our time. They have also been privileged to use the balming powers of music at deeply challenging moments along the way. The quartet made a special appearance at a Buddhist Temple in the decimated fishing village of Kesennuma, Japan in the months following the devastating 2011 tsunami. Most recently, Brooklyn Rider played an all Glass concert at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills in the midst of the 2025 Los Angeles area fires.

Brooklyn Rider has remained steadfast in their commitment to generate new music for string quartet at every phase of their history. Through commissioning, collaborative exploration, and the inimitable works of BR’s own Colin Jacobsen, the quartet has left a lasting contribution tothe repertoire. Shared at the height of the US lockdown, the Grammy®- nominated recording and commissioning project Healing Modes (In A Circle Records) was described by The New Yorker as a project which “…could not possibly be more relevant or necessary than it is currently.” The upcoming season will unveil a new program called Citizenship Notes with commissioned works by Don Byron, Ted Hearne, and Angélica Negrón.

Brooklyn Rider has had a voracious appetite for collaboration since their inception, encapsulating their wide-ranging projects and programmatic frames and giving rise to NPR Music’s observation that Brooklyn Rider is “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.” The Butterfly (In A Circle Records), an album which the Irish Times described as “a masterclass in risk-taking,” explored a collaboration with the legendary Irish fiddler Martin Hayes. The 2021-22 season boasted two unique partnerships: one with Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital, and the other a new chapter of work with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter (following So Many Things on Naïve Records, 2016). 2022’s The Stranger (Avie Records) with tenor Nicholas Phan was nominated for a 2023 Grammy® award and made numerous best-of lists, including The New Yorker. In fall 2018, Brooklyn Rider released Dreamers on Sony Music Masterworks with Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera which topped charts and garnered a Grammy® nomination for best arrangement (Gonzalo Grau’s “Niña”). Other collaborators include former NYC Ballet prima ballerina Wendy Whelan, banjo icon Béla Fleck, jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and the Iranian kemancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor.