Archives: People

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.

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 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 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

Amanda Donato began her career at American Repertory Ballet in 2018 as a Dance Power teaching artist. The following fall she took on an additional position as the assistant children’s stage manager for the company’s annual Nutcracker. During her years of extensive dance, gymnastics and baton twirling training she found a love for all things behind the scenes involving studio management and spent most of her off dance hours learning how to run a successful school. That love will serve her well as she now takes on her role at American Repertory Ballet/Princeton Ballet School as Administrative Assistant and Children’s Coordinator. She is excited for this new chapter in her career while still being able to bring her 25 years of teaching experience into her classes during Dance Power.