Opening Night

Isabella Boylston

Lil Buck

Shawn Cusseaux

Shawn is an emerging performing artist hailing from Tampa Bay, FL, where he attended Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. He continued his studies in Pittsburgh, PA at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University, where he received his Bachelor in Fine Arts. During this time he was given opportunities to perform works by Garfield Lemonious, Jae Man Joo, Kiesha Lalama, Jennifer Archibald, Jose Limon, Jason Mcdole, Amy Hall Garner, Robert Priorie, Edwaard Liang, and Camille A. Brown. Before joining the company in 2020. This is Shawn’s third season with BalletX. 

Michelle Dorrance

Michelle Dorrance is “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (The New Yorker) and has pushed tap dance choreography into dialogue with the international cultural landscape like no artist before. At once a composer and a choreographer, she is known for deeply musical, highly physical, and emotionally compelling work that lives at the intersection of innovation, tradition, and risk. 
Raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Dorrance was mentored by groundbreaking youth tap educator, Gene Medler and studied under many of the last hoofers of the jazz era. A New York City-based artist for over 25 years, she performed with notable tap companies and productions including Savion Glover’s ti dii and Off-Broadway sensation, STOMP.
In 2011, she founded Dorrance Dance with the mission to help audiences view tap dance in a new and dynamically compelling context while honoring the Black American legacy of the art form. The company’s inaugural performance earned Dorrance a “Bessie” Award and the company has since performed over 20 of Dorrance’s original works nationally and internationally to great critical acclaim.
A lover of collaboration and rebellion, Dorrance has created work with a unique range of artists including Dormeshia, Derick K. Grant, Nicholas Van Young, Bill Irwin, Lil Buck, Tiler Peck, Jillian Meyers, Ephrat Asherie, and Toshi Reagon. Michelle made her Broadway choreographic debut in James Lapine’s Flying Over Sunset in 2021. Other commissions include Martha Graham Dance Company, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, and 2012 Princess Grace Award winner, Dorrance has been acknowledged and supported by Jacob’s Pillow, the Alpert Awards, United States Artists, The Field, and the American Tap Dance Foundation. Dorrance holds a B.A. from New York University and will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina in May 2024. 

Robbie Fairchild

Robert Fairchild began dancing at the age of four in Salt Lake City. He began his training at the School of American Ballet at the age of 15 and shortly after rose through the ranks of the prestigious New York City Ballet. He became an apprentice with NYCB in June 2005. The following June, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was promoted to soloist in May 2007 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in October 2009. 

Robert Fairchild made his Broadway debut last year with his breakout role as “Jerry Mulligan” in the Tony Award-winning musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, and won the 2015 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, the 2015 Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer, and the 2015 Theatre World Award. He was also nominated for the 2015 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. 

He appears regularly in NYCB’s seasons at Lincoln Center. His roles range from Prince Desirè in The Sleeping Beauty to works by world renowned choreographer William Forsythe. Last Fall he participated in “Broadway at the White House” where he danced for the First Lady Michelle Obama. 

TV: “Julie’s Greenroom” on Netflix, Romeo in NYCB’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Carousel Boy in NY Philharmonic’s “Carousel,” both for PBS; “Live From Lincoln Center”, “Dancing With The Stars”, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, “Live with Kelly and Michael”, “CBS Sunday Morning”, “60 Minutes.” Film: NY Export: Opus Jazz. 

Ron Myles

Bessie-Award winner, Ron Myles was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, in a neighborhood called Orange Mound. Growing up the only dancer in the area, Myles described his friends and family as his greatest inspiration and motivation during this time. In 2009, Myles moved to Los Angeles, CA with his cousin and close friend Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, and since then has become one of the premier interpreters of the style of dance known as memphis jookin’, often in partnership with Riley. Since 2009, Myles has appeared as a featured dancer in the 2011 film Footloose; starred in several commercials including a Diet Pepsi segment alongside Sofia Vergara, and a spot for Adidas Originals; appeared in a TED Talk; and headlined evenings at the Vail International Dance Festival, where he also worked with children from the Celebrate the Beat program, the Colorado affiliate of the National Dance Institute which offers hundreds of students in the Vail Valley intensive music and dance classes in a week-long summer residency.

Dario Natarelli

Dario Natarelli is a performer, choreographer, and dance educator specializing in tap dance based in New York City. He is honored to be a part of the Vail Dance family since 2016. Some of his credits include: Illinoise (Justin Peck), The Tap Dance Kid (New York City Center Encores!), Oliver! (Encores!), Tappin’ Thru Life (Off-Broadway), Ayodele Casel’s Artists At The Center (performer and co-choreographer with Michelle Dorrance), Assistant choreographer to Michelle Dorrance at Vail Dance, Maestro (Bradley Cooper and Justin Peck), The Kennedy Center (soloist, choreographer), Saturday Night Live, Amazon, national commercials, and more. He is grateful to his family, friends, and mentors for their unconditional love and support. Respect the dance; go in rhythm. @dario_natarelli

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.

Calvin Royal III

Calvin Royal III is an acclaimed internationally recognized Principal classical ballet dancer. He began his ballet training at fourteen and a half, and received a scholarship from ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of ballet in 2007. Despite his unprecedented late start, he was promoted to the American Ballet Theatre’s Main Company in 2010, achieved Soloist in 2017, and Principal Dancer in 2020. This makes him the third African-American artist to achieve this honor in the history of the iconic Company – following in the footsteps of Desmond Richardson and Misty Copeland.  

Calvin has performed star turns throughout ABT’s global tours, and at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City – as the title role in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Count Albrecht in Giselle, and has worked with notable choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Justin Peck, Benjamin Millepied, Alonzo King, Mark Morris, Wayne McGreggor, Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance, Jamar Roberts, and many more.  

Calvin was a finalist at the Clive Barnes Awards, the winner of the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship, a cover star of Dance Magazine in July 2020, and was the 2020/21 Artist in Residence at the Vail Dance Festival in Vail, Colorado. He is represented by IMG Models and has been featured in global campaigns for GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Target, Ralph Lauren, Mavi Jeans, Canali, and has partnered with Deckers Brands, HOKA, Johnnie Walker and The Luxury Collection hotels. Follow Calvin on Instagram & TikTok @calvinroyaliii

Ai Shimatsu

Ai Shimatsu, originally from Tokyo, Japan, started training ballet at the age of 3 and studied with Tokyo Ballet School. In 2007, Ai moved to NY and continued her dance training in Jazz, Hip-hop, Contemporary, House and more at Broadway Dance Center. She has toured with top artists including Madonna, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Brandy. She has performed on numerous TV and award shows with artists such as Prince, Kanye West, Janelle Monae, and many other Incredible stars. Her style, grace, and remarkable skill in dance have not only gained mass attention in the dance world but in fashion also. Ai starred in major fashion campaigns with Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, KENZO, NIKE, abercrombie and fitch, and more.

Cory Stearns

Born on Long Island, New York, Cory Stearns began his classical training at the age of five with Mme. Valia Seiskaya at the Seiskaya Ballet. At age fifteen, he participated in the Youth America Grand Prix and was offered a full scholarship to The Royal Ballet School in London. Stearns performed in Madrid, Moscow, Milan, Düsseldorf and London while at The Royal, and appeared with Kylie Minogue in her music video Chocolate in 2004.  Upon graduating from The Royal Ballet School with honors, he received, for the second year, the Dame Ruth Railton Award for excellence in dance.

Stearns joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in September 2004, the main Company as an apprentice in January 2005 and became a member of the corps de ballet in January 2006. He was appointed a Soloist in January 2009 and a Principal Dancer in January 2011.

Stearns repertory with the Company includes The Man in AfterEffect, Solor in La Bayadère, The Ballet Dancer in The Bright Stream, a featured role in Brief Fling, Her Prince Charming in Cinderella, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Daphnis in Daphnis and Chloe, Basilio and Espada in Don Quixote, Oberon in The Dream, a leading role in Études, Second Sailor in Fancy Free, Colas in Las Fille mal gardée, Kaschei in Firebird. Baron in Gaîté Parisienne, Albrecht in Giselle, Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel, Grand Pas Classique, Her Lover in Jardin aux Lilas, Armand Duval in Lady of the Camellias, The Leaves Are Fading pas de deux, Des Grieux in Manon, Beliaev in A Month in the Country, His Friend in The Moor’s Pavane, the Nutcracker-Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Onegin in Onegin, Iago and a Carnival Dancer in Othello, Other Dances, Man From the House Opposite in Pillar of Fire, Romeo and Paris in Romeo and Juliet, the Terrestrial in Shadowplay, Prince Désiré in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Désiré, the Celtic Prince and a Fairy Knight in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried and von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Act III, Juliet, James in La Sylphide, the Poet in Les Sylphides, Orion and Apollo in Sylvia, Prospero in The Tempest, Prince Coffee in Whipped Cream, The Awakening Pas de Deux, leading roles in Allegro Brillante, Duo Concertant, Études, Mozartiana Monotones II, Raymonda Divertissements and With a Chance of Ran and roles in The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Citizen, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Duets, Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Overgrown Path, Mozartiana, Rabbit and Rogue, Raymonda Divertissements, Symphony in C and Thirteen Diversions.

Stearns created roles in AFTERITE, From Here On Out, Her Notes, One of Three, Piano Concerto #1, Private Light and I Feel The Earth Move.

Stearns won the 2009 Erik Bruhn Prize for best male dancer.

Devon Teuscher

Devon Teuscher began her ballet training at the age of nine under Deanna Doty of the Champaign Urbana Ballet Academy in Champaign, IL. When her family moved to Vermont, she continued her training at the Vermont Ballet Theatre School in Essex, Vermont under the direction of Alex and Kirsten Nagiba. At the age of eleven, Teuscher attended The Kirov Ballet Academy summer intensive. She also attended the Pacific Northwest Ballet summer intensive on full scholarship for two years.

From 2002 to 2006 Teuscher attended American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive, and was a National Training Scholar from 2003 to 2006. In January 2005 at the age of 15, Teuscher relocated to New York City to dance at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School on full scholarship.

Teuscher joined ABT Studio Company in 2006.  She joined American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in December 2007 and the corps de ballet in June 2008. She became a Soloist in August 2014 and Principal Dancer in September 2017.

Teuscher was nominated for the Clive Barnes Award in 2014 and received the Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in 2016.

Byron Tittle

At a young age, Byron Tittle began tap dancing with David Rider and the American Tap Dance Foundation in his hometown of New York. Determined to be a multi-faceted artist, he trained weekly at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in other disciplines: ballet, jazz, hip-hop foundations, modern, and dancehall. Byron is a co-captain of Dorrance Dance, touring with the tap dance company for the last decade. He is humbled to have been a featured dancer with Hugh Jackman’s 2019 “The Man, The Music, The Show,” touring The United States, Australia, and New Zealand, and in Jon M. Chu’s soon-to premiere feature film “In the Heights.” He is also a recipient of a 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Dance Fellowship Award.

James Whiteside

Andrea Yorita

Andrea Yorita is from Irvine,California, where she received her classical ballet training at Academy of Dance, under the direction of Merle Sepel, Rebecca Tsivkin, and Mignon Furman. In 2012, she graduated as a Gillespie Scholar with a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied under Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, and Donald McKayle. Originally trained under the R.A.D. syllabus, Andrea has completed all Vocational R.A.D. exams with Distinction, as well as received the Solo Seal Award. In 2008, Andrea competed as a finalist in the Genée International Ballet Competition in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in the National Choreographers Initiative, as an apprentice, and the Traverse City Dance Project. Andrea was a 2016 Dance Finalist for the Clive Barnes Award. She joined BalletX in 2012.