Savannah Quiner was born and raised in northern New Jersey and began her formal ballet training at the North Jersey School of Dance Arts at the age of five under the direction of Christine Taylor and Luba Gulyaeva. In 2017, she placed first in classical at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Semifinals in Boston and was a scholarship recipient at the YAGP Finals. She has danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy for various studios in New Jersey from 2018-2020 and in New York Theatre Ballet’s Nutcracker in 2021. Prior to joining ARB, she danced at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School for three years. She performed with American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Center in Swan Lake (2019, 2022, & 2023), and in Manon (2019). At American Repertory Ballet, she has performed in The Nutcracker as Snow Queen and Dew Drop, Myrtha in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Ryoko Tanaka’s Hindsight, Amy Seiwert’s Sight Line, Ethan Stiefel’s VARIANTS and Wood Work, and Stephanie Martinez’s The Time That Runs Away.
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Alexandra Jans
Alexandra “Ali” Jans has been training in ballet and other dance forms for over twenty years. She grew up a military kid, stationed across the U.S. as well as abroad, which presented opportunities to work with many world-renowned instructors and choreographers. She trained under various acclaimed instructors including Stefan Grebeldinger, Franca Desinia, Paula Weber, David Justin, Gary Abbott, DeeAnna Hiett, Ronald Tice, and Mishic and Valentine Liberatore. Jans trained for three years in Italy at the feeder school to Teatro alla Scala in Milan. While in Europe she performed The Nutcracker with the Croatian National Ballet and Don Quixote with the State Ballet of Georgia (Europe). She also attended an invitation-only summer intensive in Novi Sad, Serbia. Jans spent two years pursuing a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she worked with a variety of choreographers including Nilas Martins and Cleo Parker Robinson. She is currently earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. As a freelance professional dancer, she performed in various ballets including Don Quixote, Swan Lake as Odette in Swan Lake with Fredrick Davis and the title role in Paquita with Michael Crawford. For two seasons, she was the the Assistant Artistic Director for two seasons at Central New Jersey Ballet and the Junior Company Ballet Mistress for one year. Jans is a certified teacher of the Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) strengthening program for dancers.
Maura Ryan
Maura Ryan’s primary training was under the instruction of Susan Jaffe and Risa Kaplowitz. She attended SUNY Purchase College’s Conservatory of Dance on scholarship where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and Composition. She performed many lead roles with the Purchase Dance Corps and graduated cum laude with extensive training in Ballet, Modern and Ballet Composition. Upon graduation, she completed the ABT® National Training Curriculum in levels Primary through Level 5. Ryan has had the privilege of working with hundreds of children and families throughout New Jersey. She was a guest teacher at Rutgers University, as well as an adjunct professor for The College of New Jersey. She enjoys teaching outreach programs within the community and provides a disciplined yet nurturing environment to connect with students in order for them to trust their training process.
Katrina Jans
Katrina has been training in classical ballet since she began at two years old. She studied tap dance for over eight years and has both taught and assisted in tap classes. In addition, her training in contemporary, modern, and jazz ranges over many years. Participating in numerous intensives and workshops, she also broadened her study of dance through several other dance forms. She trained for three years in Italy at the feeder school to Teatro alla Scala in Milan. While in Europe she performed in The Nutcracker with the Croatian National Ballet and attended an invitation-only summer intensive in Novi Sad, Serbia. Jans has performed in many productions including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Snow White, and more. Several of these include Pas de Deux, soloist, and principal roles. Her favorite roles are White Swan in Central New Jersey Ballet Theatre’s White Swan Pas de Deux with internationally renowned dancer Fredrick Davis. Another is Dorothy in the Vacaville Ballet Company’s Wizard of Oz. Also, as The Fairy of Grace with the Contra Costa Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty. She trained under numerous distinguished instructors including Stefan Grebeldinger, Franca Desinia, Katarina Wester, Charles Anderson, Mishic and Valentine Liberatore, Emily Borthwick, and Shannon Bresnahan. Jans has placed 3rd and top 24 in YAGP Pre-Competitive Division and Junior Division respectively. Presently she continues as an ARB/Princeton Ballet School trainee under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera and Rebeca Maso. She has performed in the PBS Nutcracker as Marzipan, Willis corps in Giselle, and a soloist role in Raymonda. Jans is excited to pass on her love for dance with the students of PBS.
Emily Cordies-Maso
Emily Cordies-Maso started her training at her mother Rebeca Maso’s studio in Somerset, NJ at a young age. At age 12 she attended Ballet Hispanico under the direction of Dr. Ana Maria Correa and later with current director Michelle Manzanales. Cordies-Maso was part of the Pre-Professional program for her last three years there under a full scholarship. During that time she was able to travel to Cordoba Mexico for the Festival de Danza and to Havana Cuba for the Ballet Nacional Festival International de Danza. In 2019 Cordies-Maso started studying under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera at the Princeton Ballet school and was later a trainee with the ARB/PBS in 2021. In December 2020 Emily left to Switzerland to study as a stagiare at Ecole Rudra Bejart in Lausanne with a full scholarship, under the direction of Micheal Gascard and Julio Arrozarena where she got to perform at Vaison la Roman, France and Martingy, Switzerland. Cordies-Maso has also attended various summer intensives including Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, Taina Morales and Jesus Corrales Summer Intensive in Montreal, Canada, and Leonel Morales & Friends Dance Course in Granada, Spain. Her American Repertory Ballet credits include The Nutcracker, Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite, and Stiefel’s VARIANTS.
Cheryl Whitney
Cheryl Whitney (Ballet, PBW Ballet Master and Coordinator) received an M.S. in Ballet from Indiana University and a B.A. in English Literature and Music from St. Lawrence University. She was trained and performed professionally in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. For more than 30 years, she has been involved with Princeton Ballet School and American Repertory Ballet, serving as a faculty member, rehearsal director for both the ARB productions of The Nutcracker and the Princeton Ballet School shows, and Coordinator for Princeton Ballet Workshop. Ms. Whitney is the 2008 recipient of the Audrée Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the dance programs at Rider University.
Guest teaching credits include Brandywine Ballet, Peabody Conservatory and NJ Governor’s School. Her teaching in academic settings includes Princeton University, Howard University, Indiana University, The Lawrenceville School, Foxcroft School and Latin School of Chicago. and has received grants from the New York and New Jersey State Councils on the Arts. She is Artistic Director of Reverence Dance Company.
Carol Bellis
Carol Bellis received her training on scholarship at the School of American Ballet, official school of the New York City Ballet. She danced with the Garden State Ballet and has taught for Garden State Ballet School, Gloria Govrin’s New Hope Ballet Academy, the School of Performing Arts at Somerset Vo-Tech, and NJ Governor’s School. Bellis has been a member of the Princeton Ballet faculty for over 30 years, and is the principal of the Cranbury studio and the Coordinator of Princeton Ballet School’s summer programs. She is a two time recipient of the Audrée Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education. Bellis is also an Adjunct Professor of Ballet at Rider University.
Anna McDowell
Born in Juneau Alaska, Anna McDowell received her ballet training at Juneau Dance Theatre under the direction of Julie Diana and Zachary Hench. As a student she danced the roles of Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Myrtha in Giselle, and attended summer programs at Carolina Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Atlanta Ballet, Indiana University and Cincinnati Ballet. She joined ARB/PBS as a trainee in 2018 and danced the roles of Snow, Flowers and Spanish corps in Nutcracker with ARB and danced in PBS’s production of Don Quixote in Seguidillas and Dryad corps. She started teaching for Princeton Ballet School in 2020. Anna has choreographed works for Harvard Ballet Company, Princeton Ballet School students and trainees, and has created several pieces for Juneau Dance Theatre including a work titled Blurred Visions created in collaboration with composer and conductor, William Todd Hunt.
Eileen Nelson
Eileen Nelson joined ARB’s staff as the Development Associate in August of 2021. Prior to joining American Repertory Ballet, Eileen was the Development Associate at NORWESCAP and the Development Operations Associate at Princeton Theological Seminary focusing on gift processing, prospect research, and donor database management. Her work involved streamlining processes, increasing efficiency and accuracy, and generating requested information. After having worked in higher education and nonprofit organizations, Eileen is looking forward to the opportunity to continue to work in development at ARB.
Makenzi Kalsch
Makenzi Kalsch is a graduate of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Technical Theatre. While at Rider she received the Maurice Hageman II Memorial Fine Arts Award as well as the Certificate of Merit from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for Excellence in a Stage Management team for Bright Star. She joined the American Repertory Ballet as an Assistant Stage Manager in November 2018, and was the Administrative and Production Assistant for the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School from September of 2020 to March 2022. Makenzi was named Interim Production Manager for ARB March of 2022. For American Repertory Ballet: Nutcracker, American Made, Coppelia, Mask-erade Gala, Beauty and the Beast, New Heights, Giselle, Digital Spring Season, Emergence and A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Princeton Ballet School’s productions of Don Quixote, Nutcracker Suite, Swan Lake and Summer Dance. Other credits include: Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey Tartuffe and La Musica Lirica Rigoletto.
Photo by Emily Keleher Photography