American Repertory Ballet

Archives: People

Ethan Stiefel

Ethan Stiefel is an internationally recognized artist, educator, and leader in the performing arts. After serving as American Repertory Ballet’s Artistic Director for over three years, he is currently The Nora C. Orphanides Artist in Residence. Stiefel was the Principal Guest Instructor at American Ballet Theatre (ABT) from 2016-2021 and the Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) from 2011-2014. Just before being appointed the RNZB’s Artistic Director, he served as Dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) from 2007-2011.

Stiefel began his professional career at age 16 with the New York City Ballet where he quickly rose to the rank of Principal Dancer. He was also a Principal Dancer with Ballett Zürich and joined American Ballet Theatre as a Principal Dancer in 1997. Stiefel gave his final performance with ABT in July 2012.

During his career, Stiefel performed leading roles in all of the full-length classics and danced in an extensive range of shorter works created by the industry’s foremost classical, modern and contemporary choreographers.

Guest appearances include The Royal Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Ballett Zürich, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Hamburg Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Teatro Colón, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Arena de Verona, New National Theatre (Tokyo), Kings of the Dance and numerous tours in the United States, Japan, Russia and throughout Europe.

He starred in the feature film Center Stage and returned to play the role of Cooper Nielsen in Center Stage 2-Turn It Up and Center Stage: On Pointe. Stiefel’s television and video credits include The Dream, Le Corsaire, Die Fledermaus, Gossip Girl and the documentary, Born to be Wild.

As a choreographer, Stiefel created a new staging of The Nutcracker for the UNCSA. He choreographed a one act comedic ballet, Bier Halle, and collaborated with Johan Kobborg on choreographing and producing a new production of Giselle for the RNZB. In 2013, Giselle was adapted into a feature film, directed by Toa Fraser, and was selected for screening in the NZ International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Giselle was restaged and performed in 2015 at the Opera National Bucharest.

Additionally, Stiefel choreographed a new work for the top level of ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Knightlife, which was performed at the Joyce Theater in New York in April 2016. He choreographed a collaborative work on the ABT Studio Company and the Royal Ballet School, See the Youth Advance!, which had its premiere at London’s Covent Garden, in May 2016. Stiefel created FRONTIER, a new ballet for The Washington Ballet which premiered at The Kennedy Center in May 2017. In the fall of 2018, Stiefel created Overture for the ABT Studio Company and subsequently he choreographed Wood Work for The Washington Ballet in April 2019.  In 2021, Beneath the Surface, a short dance film for Northern Ballet Theatre (UK) was conceived by Stiefel. Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for American Repertory Ballet had its premiere at the NBPAC in April 2022. Inspired by American musicians and poets, he choreographed Prine Time, a solo commissioned by the Guggenheim Works and Process Virtual Artists Series set to the music of John Prine, and in October 2023 created if, using a song of Blaze Foley’s. 2023 also saw the premiere of the vibrant and virtuosic VARIANTS.

Stiefel was the choreographer for Flesh and Bone, a 2015 limited edition television series for STARZ network.

He has been a guest instructor for many institutions including the Paris Opera Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, The Royal Ballet School, The Australian Ballet School, Norwegian National Ballet, Ballett Zürich, Ballet de Bordeaux, Opera National Bucharest, John Cranko Schule Stuttgart, Tanz Akademie Zürich, Berlin State Ballet School, Dance Theatre of Harlem, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and The School of American Ballet.

Stiefel was invited to serve on the jury for the Paris Opera Ballet’s 2014 annual promotion examination and was on the jury of the 2015 Prix de Lausanne.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Albert of Monaco presented Stiefel with the Statue Award of the Princess Grace Foundation, the Foundation’s highest honor, in October 1999. He received the prestigious Dance Magazine Award in December 2008.

Yuliya Rakova

Yuliya Rakova was born in Russia and began her ballet training at the age of ten at the Perm State choreographic college in Russia, home of the famed Russian ballet traditions, where her studies included classical ballet, history of theater, history of art and music, acting, stage makeup, history of European and American ballet, character, historic dance, and pas de deux. Upon graduation in 1995, she was invited to join the Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theater. Rakova danced with the company for five years before moving to Moscow. She joined the Moscow Dance Theater of Alexei Fadeechev as a soloist. She was featured in the modern dance choreographer Stanton Welsh`s world premiere Opus X. In 2001 she was invited to join Russian National Ballet and danced with the company until she moved to the United States to teach. She toured nationally and abroad, enjoying great success and quickly building a classical repertoire while performing such roles as Odile, the Sugarplum Fairy, Lilac Fairy and Maria Taglioni from Pas de Quatre. Rakova has worked with notable choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, Ben Stevenson and Alexei Ratmansky. Her repertoire includes soloist roles in Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Paquita, Raymonda, Nutcracker, Chopiniana, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire and others. She taught for professional ballet schools such as Kirov Academy of Ballet, Ellison Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School, and Pennsylvania Ballet. Rakova continues to teach as well as stage classical productions and original works around the country and abroad. As an accomplished dancer and experienced teacher, Rakova would like to share her knowledge with passion for young dancers.

Michelle Quiner

Michelle Quiner was born and raised in Chester, New Jersey, and began her formal ballet training at the North Jersey School of Dance Arts under the direction of Christine Taylor and Luba Gulyaeva. In 2010, she was cast as Clara for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. She has been featured on the cover of Inside Dance magazine (May 2019) and in Dance Spirit magazine as both a Cover Model Search Finalist and the Dancer You Should Know. Quiner has been a final round participant at the World Ballet Competition and a bronze medalist at the Valentina Kozlova IBC Contemporary Competition. She spent a year at the Washington Ballet School on full scholarship under the direction of Xiomara Reyes before joining the ARB Trainee program. She was promoted to ARB2 in 2020, then apprentice in 2021, and joined the company in 2022.

Quiner has performed featured roles in ARB’s The Nutcracker including Dew Drop, Hot Chocolate, Marzipan, and Bird Song. Other performances with ARB include: Myrtha in Ethan Stiefel & Johan Kobborg’s Giselle; Oberon in Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Lilac Fairy in ARB’s Classic Beauty; Diana & Acteon Pas De Deux; Don Quixote Pas De Deux; Caili Quan’s Circadia; Stephanie Martinez’s The Time That Runs Away; Stiefel’s if (solo); Stiefel’s Wood Work; Ryoko Tanaka’s Hindsight; Colby Damon’s Strange Sentience; Stiefel’s VARIANTS; and Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite.
 

Madison Elizabeth Egyud

Madison Elizabeth Egyud was raised in Newtown, Pennsylvania and began her formal ballet training at the Princeton Ballet School at the age of 6. In 2012, she attended American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive on full scholarship, awarded by Philadelphia Dance Access. That summer, she was invited to study year-round at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT where she continued her training for the next five years under the direction of Franco DeVita and Cynthia Harvey. Egyud danced as a trainee with American Repertory Ballet for two seasons before joining ARB2 in 2020. She was promoted to apprentice in the beginning of 2022, and joined the company later that year. During her time with ARB she has had the privilege of performing featured roles such as Coffee in ARB’s The Nutcracker and Elena in Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other works with the company include Colby Damon’s Strange Sentience, Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work and VARIANTS, Claire Davison’s Time Within A Time and Bewitched, Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Ryoko Tanaka’s Hindsight, and Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite.

Andrea Marini

Andrea Marini started his professional training at the Rome Opera House Dance School in 2014, where he graduated in July 2019 under the direction of Laura Comi, former Étoile of the Rome Opera House. During his time at American Repertory Ballet, he danced: several leading roles of The Nutcracker; Puck for Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream; Albrecht in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle; as well as Siegfried in Swan Lake Act II and Prince Desiré in Sleeping Beauty Act III. Marini joined American Repertory Ballet in 2019 as a member of ARB2, promoted to Apprentice the following year and eventually joined the main company in 2021. Recent credits include: Ryoko Tanaka’s Hindsight; Claire Davison’s Bewitched and Time Within A Time; Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite; Amy Seiwert’s Sight Line; Meredith Rainey’s Intrare Forma; and Stephanie Martinez’s The Time That Runs Away. As an international guest artist, he has performed for the Gala della Danza near Milan in The Nutcracker; for the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet in The Nutcracker and in Don Quixote; for Princeton Ballet School in Le Corsaire and Don Quixote; Cavalier for Nutcracker of Middle Georgia; for the Margot Fonteyn Academy in The Sleeping Beauty; as well as guest teacher for the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet Summer Intensive 2024. He has worked with renowned teachers and choreographers around the world including Pablo Moret, Ofelia Gonzalez, Mauro Bigonzetti, Ethan Stiefel, Gillian Murphy, Mauro Astolfi, Trey McIntyre, Amy Seiwert, Stephanie Martinez, Ian Hussey, Chris Bloom, and others.

Lindsay Jorgensen

Lindsay Jorgensen is a performing artist in the New York/New Jersey area. She currently dances with Buglisi Dance Theatre and Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater. She has performed at Lincoln Center, the David H. Koch Theatre, Asbury Park Dance Festival, and works by Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Robert Battle, Patrick Delcroix, Riccardo de Nigris, Blakeley Maguire, and Gabrielle Lamb. Her poetry was featured at APAP and Women/Create, and her choreography was premiered at Bell Works and Ailey Citigroup Theatre. Jorgensen is a graduate of the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Dance Program, where she graduated summa cum laude with an honorable mention in Dance. She holds a dual degree in Dance and English. As a former ARB Trainee and PBS student, Jorgensen is so excited to continue her choreographic endeavors with American Repertory Ballet’s Trainees Program and fostering growth and creativity with the dancers at Princeton Ballet School. (www.lindsayjorgensen.com).

Annie Johnson

Annie Johnson began her early training at Ballet Technique, under the direction of Julie Caprio, in Hamilton, NJ.  She then attended Butler University, graduating cum laude in 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance performances, as well as studying strategic communications. In the summer of 2014 she toured Eastern Europe with members of Butler Ballet to teach and perform at various schools in Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. After graduation, Johnson joined American Repertory Ballet as a trainee and became a member of ARB2 in 2017, and then was promoted to the company in 2018. Since joining ARB, Johnson has performed various roles in productions such as Kirk Peterson’s Carmen, Beauty and The Beast, and Lombardi Variations; Jose Limon’s There is a Time; Paul Taylor’s Airs; Septime Weber’s Fluctuating Hemlines; Riccardo De Nigris’ Beyond the Normal; Trey McIntyre’s Blue Until June; Amy Seiwert’s World, Interrupted and Sight Line; Ryoko Tanaka’s Saudade; Claire Davison’s Bewitched; Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Oberon in Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Myrtha in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle.

Jessica Totaro

Jessica Totaro is a Contemporary and Choreography Skills teaching artist from Asbury Park, NJ.  She received her BFA in dance from Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Movement Arts Project; a student-based, educational dance company based in Brielle, NJ that focuses on preparing students who want to further their education at a collegiate level. Jessica is currently a teaching artist for Derling Dance Arts, 10 Hairy Legs and Dance New Jersey’s Young Audiences. Jessica was featured in Dance Studio Life Magazine for her choreography methods and program. She continues to teach master classes and choreograph throughout the tri-state area at various studios and performing arts schools. Her teaching method is to not dictate but guide each dancer deeper into their own creative ability and communicate authentically through movement.

Rachel Stanislawczyk

Rachel Stanislawczyk is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned her Ed.M in Dance Education with a K-12 teaching certification, and Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned her B.F.A in Dance and Choreography. Rachel is the Director and Founder of the Dance for Parkinson’s Program at American Repertory Ballet: a program for people diagnosed with PD and their caregivers. As Director, she has presented at The Parkinson’s Foundation’s Moving Day NJ, Dr. Jill M. Giordano Farmer’s PD Education Conference, The American Parkinson’s Disease Association’s Annual Spring Conference, and The Parkinson’s Alliance’s 5K Team Parkinson Run. In 2017, Stanislawczyk progressed from an intern to a lead teacher of the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) Dance for PD® program, where she taught classes at MMDG, New York University, and Ballet Academy East. Currently, Stanislawczyk is a full-time dance educator at Abraham Clark High School, and performs professionally with Rock Dance Collective.

Rachel Abrams

Rachel Abrams joined ARB’s staff in 2019. She earned her Master’s degree in Dance Education from New York University in 2013, following her magna cum laude graduation from Barnard College in 2008 as a dance major. She joined ARB from Nimbus Dance in Jersey City, where she served as Grant Writer and Assistant Director of Development. She also worked as an administrator for the Dance to Learn residency program at Dance New Jersey/Young Audiences Arts for Learning. Rachel previously worked at the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as the Interim AIE Coordinator, as the Director of Education at Lustig Dance Theatre in New Brunswick, as a research assistant to dance historian Jennifer Homans, and as an intern in the Education Department at New York City Ballet. She began training in ballet at the age of 5 and also explored modern, tap, musical theater, and gymnastics. Rachel is dedicated to sharing with others her passion for dance and the impact of the performing arts through advocacy and writing.