Bios

THERESA HANSON was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, where she grew up training in ballet and jazz at Pofahl Studios. She began her professional dance career with Dance Alive National Ballet at the age of 15 as a member of the Corps de Ballet.

ANNA ELLIS excels at portraying bold, athletic and theatrical roles. At age seven she began dancing at Maranatha School of Dance in Fort Myers, Florida. After graduating from high school, she performed and toured with multiple companies in Texas, Mississippi, Illinois and California from 2011-2017. A few of those years were spent traveling around the country, creating dance films and performing in the music video SOS by Joseph.

BO BRINTON was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He began his training at Arizona Ballet Theatre under the direction of Cecily Bressel and Norman Walker, and was awarded scholarships to attend summer programs at American Ballet Theatre in New York City and Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco.

For over four decades, Jamey Hampton has had a storied career in dance theater that is as varied as it is accomplished. He was born in Portland, Oregon, where he began his dance training in the burgeoning modern dance scene of the early 1970's. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976 with a BFA degree in Drama, receiving the Marcus Hieman Award for Artistic Excellence.

Heather trained on scholarship at Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet and at 14 became a Ballet Major at the University of Utah where she earned her BFA. Heather has danced with Utah Ballet and Ballet West performing classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine and Paul Taylor. Before leaving Salt Lake, Heather was an administrator and instructor at the School of Ballet West.

Thorey Mountain
(MPhil, BA Hons, RAD Teaching Certificate)

Sara Parker holds an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City (2015) where she was a Graduate Teaching Assistant and a recipient of the Dee Winterton Award (2015). Additionally, she holds a B.S. in Dance from the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR (2009). Sara has most recently performed in works with artists such as Tere Mathern (PDX), Netta Yerushalmy (NYC), Pamela Geber-Handman (SLC), and Sharee Lane (SLC).

Jenelle Gaerlan is a multi-disciplined creative and freelance dancer from Portland, Oregon. Her dance training consists of contemporary, jazz (Luigi-style, afro-jazz, industry), modern (Horton, Counter-technique), ballet, and improvisation under BodyVox's Junior Artist Generator (JAG) program. Through JAG, Jenelle has worked for Nike, DarVejon Jones Dance Ensemble, and BodyVox Dance Company.

Maria has been performing, teaching, collaborating, and creating for more than 20 years. She received scholarships to Gus Giordano Dance Chicago and the University of Arizona School of Dance. In addition to the Giordano technique, she has studied the styles of jazz dance greats such as Luigi, Joe Tremaine, Frank Hatchett and Patsy Swayze.

Casey Hess is a Portland native who trained with Metro Dancers, Columbia Dance, Portland Festival Ballet, and Jefferson Dancers. Hess received his BFA from The Juilliard School in 2017 and was awarded the Martha Hill Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Dance and Leadership. Hess was dancing with Peridance Contemporary Dance Company in New York City pre-Covid.

Originally from Portland, OR, Amelia trained at The Portland Ballet and completed summer programs at Ballet West. She continued studying dance at The University of Oregon. Throughout her training she has performed works by George Balanchine, August Bournonville and Bella Lewitzky. Amelia had the opportunity to perform with Éowyn Emerald & Dancers at J.A.W. at Portland Center Stage.

 Zachary began his training with the legendary dancer George Zoritch in his native Tucson, Arizona. He continued his training as a full scholarship student with The National Ballet School in Toronto, Ontario. He has performed a wide variety of principal roles as a dancer in Oregon Ballet Theater, Minnesota Dance Theater, and Ballet West. His repertoire includes works by Balanchine, Taylor, Van Manen, Tudor, and many others.

Ashley Roland is a true American original. With an unparalleled imagination and an acuity in both choreography and theatrical effect, she creates work that is unbridled, ebullient, and unabashed, resonating deeply with audiences around the world. A native New Yorker, Ashley began her dance training at age 3.

Jeff George trained with Ballet Arts of Minnesota and Broadway Dance Center in New York. He performed on the East Coast Tour of Sesame Street Live and then moved on to travel the world for the next six years performing on various Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line ships.

Rachel Slater is a dancer, choreographer and teacher in Portland, Oregon. She holds a BFA from the University of the Arts in Modern Dance Performance. In Portland she has performed for Tracey Durbin, Carla Mann, Franco Nieto of NW Dance Project,Tere Mathern, and Sara Parker, among others. Rachel's previous work included performance engagements across the U.S. and Southern France.