Bios

Emily Schultz began her formal dance education at age 16 in Oregon. She spent her summers training with American Ballet Theatre in New York City. In 2010 she joined Portland Festival Ballet under the artistic direction of John Magnus where she danced principal roles in the Nutcracker, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, and Alice In Wonderland. Her choreography was chosen two years in a row to be performed on stage by the Portland Festival Ballet.

Originally from Great Falls, Montana, Anna graduated with a BFA from the University of Utah's Department of Ballet, where she had the opportunity to perform internationally in Europe and Asia. Anna also dances with Éowyn Emerald and Dancers and several independent choreographers within the Portland area. A certified STOTT Pilates instructor, Anna enjoys climbing, the Blazers, hanging with friends and family, and lip synching in her car.

Alicia Cutaia earned her BFA with honors from Point Park University with a double major in Classical Ballet and Jazz. Her previous training included scholarships at Hubbard Street Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater, and River North Dance Company.

Brent fell in love with dance at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics in Vancouver, Washington and went on to graduate from Point Park University with a BFA in Modern Dance. He has since worked with The Pillow Project, as well as with Attack Theatre, both of Pittsburgh. Brent worked with Bodyvox for a year before attending college and is thrilled to be working with them again.

Katie Scherman is an artist, choreographer, teacher, and movement researcher based in Portland, OR. Originally from California, Scherman has performed with Houston Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Washington Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Zhukov Dance Theatre, Terpsicorps Dance Theatre, Bodyvox, and in numerous festivals and galas around the world. In 2009, she was honored with a Princess Grace Award in Dance.

Olivia Ancona was born in San Francisco, however grew up in Berkeley, London, and predominately Portland, Oregon. She trained with the Northwest Dance Project, Jefferson Dancers, and the Portland Ballet, and is an alumnus of the Juilliard School.

Dar Vejon holds a B.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography as well as a Minor degree in Japanese Language from San Francisco State University. While achieving his degrees, he concurrently received scholarships from the SFSU dance department that allowed him to continue his studies at Alonzo King Lines Ballet (San Francisco Dance Center).

Laura Haney attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, where she studied dance and music. She was a member of River North Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, toured nationally as a featured performer in the Broadway show “Fosse” and was a cast member of the Broadway musical ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Madison Square Garden for two seasons.

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).

Alicia Cutaia earned her BFA with honors from Point Park University with a double major in Classical Ballet and Jazz. Her previous training included scholarships at Hubbard Street Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater, and River North Dance Company.

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

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.

Vanessa Thiessen is originally from Portland, OR, and trained at The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. She has danced for ODC Dance, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Smuin Ballet, Skinner/Kirk Dance Ensemble, Amy Seiwert¹s Imagery, Tanya Bello's Project b. and Opera Parallele. She has most recently taught repertory for ODC Dance, Imagery and Smuin Ballet, and has frequently been Choreographic Collaborator for KT Nelson.

Éowyn Emerald Barrett is a Canadian born choreographer, dancer and teacher, currently creating in Portland, Oregon who was recently selected by The Times of London as "a talent to watch." Her company Éowyn Emerald & Dancers are based in Portland, and recently returned from their second international tour to the Festival Fringe, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to rave reviews.

Jenelle Yarbrough - Is a partnering founder / Artistic Director of Urban Arts, Inc. and  Urban Arts Dance Company and has been performing and teaching professionally in the Portland area as well as Internationally for over 15 yrs. She is a former dancer for the Portland Fire Hip-Hop Squad, the Jammin’ 95.5 Jam Squad and the Portland Trailblazer's Hip-Hop Squad.

 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.

Originally from Muncie, Indiana, Eric Skinner has been working on the West Coast as both a performer and choreographer for the past twenty years.

ELIZABETH BURDEN (Teaching Artist) began her dance training at the age of 7 with Joan Shelton Mason in Wenatchee WA.  Upon moving to Portland she continued her training with Jaqueline Schumacher, and then with Barbara Remington.  Elizabeth was granted a scholarship to study in New York with the Joffrey School, then was offered a job with Pacific Ballet Theatre as an apprentice.  Elizabeth danced with PBT, then became a founding member of Oregon Ballet Theatre where she danced for 12 years.