Clara Pevel was born and raised in France, where she began her training. In 2018, she was selected to join the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School on a scholarship, awarded to her by Cynthia Harvey at the Youth America Grand Prix. Highlights of her career include being the only student chosen to perform The Nutcracker with ABT (2019), participating in the choreographic project at Le Prix de Lausanne (2020), appearing on the French TV show Prodiges in front of 50,000 people in Lille, France (2017), and the third place winner at the Young America Grand Prix (2018). At ABT’s JKO school, Pevel trained with Cynthia Harvey, Mikhail Ilyin, Robert La Fosse, Ethan Stiefel, Petrujska Broholm and Karin Averty. Since joining ARB in 2021, she has performed in David Fernandez’s Mexican Music, The Nutcracker, Titania opposite Gillian Murphy in Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Delibes Duet, Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, and Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite.
ARB Position: Dancer
Leandro Olcese
Leandro Olcese was born in Brazil and raised in Italy. In 2013, he began his training at Spazio Danza Cicagna in Italy, and continued his training at the English National Ballet School from 2016-2019. He joined Northern Ballet in 2019, where he performed in Ethan Stiefel’s Beneath the Surface, an original dance film by Northern Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Burberry Inspire. His American Repertory Ballet credits include The Nutcracker, Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ja’ Malik’s Moving to Bach, Caili Quan’s Circadia, Ryoko Tanaka’s Hindsight, Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite, and Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle.
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.
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.
Ryoko Tanaka
Ryoko Tanaka was born and raised in Wakayama Japan, where she began her training. In 2013, she was selected to be in the Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II program. In 2017, she joined the trainee program at American Repertory Ballet and soon moved up to ARB 2, and by 2018, she was promoted to ARB company member. Since joining the company, Ryoko has performed the title role in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Odette in Swan Lake (for Princeton Ballet School). She has also performed featured roles in Stiefel’s Wood Work, Overture, VARIANTS, as well as Caili Quan’s Circadia, Amy Seiwert’s Sight Line and World, Interrupted, Paul Taylor’s Airs, Trey McIntyre’s Blue Until June, Meredith Rainey’s Intrare Forma and multiple other roles. In 2021, she made her debut as choreographer for ARB with Saudade. She continued her choreographic work with ARB in 2022, collaborating with composer/pianist Ian Howells to create Hindsight and most recently TSUBOMI, for Princeton Ballet School.
Nanako Yamamoto
Nanako Yamamoto was born and raised in Japan where she began her training at the Geijutsuza Ballet Studio “Jardin des Arts”, performing such roles as Clara in The Nutcracker, Rose Adagio in The Sleeping Beauty and the title role in Cinderella. In 2005, she was selected to attend the prestigious Royal Ballet Summer School, then was accepted to the Elmhurst School for Dance in Association with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. While a student, she performed in the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s National Tour of Firebird, Fokine’s Petrushka, Petipa’s Raymonda and David Bintley’s Beauty and the Beast. She performed for his Royal Highness Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in addition to the grand re-opening of Birmingham’s Town Hall. Since graduating in 2009, she has performed with New Tampa Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Tampa, Ballet Fleming, Virginia Regional Ballet, in Giselle with Boca Ballet Theatre alongside Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes, and as soloist in La Bayadere with Gillian Murphy and José Manuel Carreño. Since joining ARB, she has danced featured roles in The Nutcracker, including Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen, the title role in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Changeling and Titania in Stiefel’s world premiere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as Belle in Kirk Peterson’s world premiere of Beauty and the Beast. She has also been featured in Gerald Arpino’s Confetti and Sea Shadow, Peterson’s Carmen and Glaznov Variation, Claire Davison’s world premiere Time Within A Time and other works by Douglas Martin, Kirk Peterson, Mary Barton, David Fernandez, Colby Damon and Ethan Stiefel.
Erikka Reenstierna-Cates
A California native, Erikka Reenstierna-Cates received her training under Leslie Ann Larson and Rene Daveluy. Before joining American Repertory Ballet in 2016, she previously danced with Central West Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Ballet Ireland. Reenstierna-Cates has been featured in a number of ballets in such notable roles such as Elena in Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Caroline Bingley in Douglas Martin’s Pride and Prejudice, and Zulma and Bathilde in Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle. She has had the privilege of performing works by renowned choreographers including George Balanchine’s Serenade, Who Cares?, and Valse Fantaisie, José Limón’s There Is A Time, Paul Taylor’s Air, Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work, Paul Vasterling’s Peter Pan, Val Caniparoli’s Songs and Violin, Septime Webre’s Fluctuating Hemlines, Ronn Guidi’s Trois Gymnopedies, Dennis Spaight’s Scheherazade, Kirk Peterson’s Tears of the Moon, Carmen, and Beauty and the Beast, Ryoko Tanaka’s Saudade and Hindsight, Claire Davison’s Bewitched, Stiefel’s Woodwork and VARIANTS, Amy Seiwert’s World, Interrupted and Sight Line, Caili Quan’s Circadia, Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite, Meredith Rainey’s Intrare Forma, Stephanie Martinez’s The Time That Runs Away, and Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker.
Aldeir Monteiro
Aldeir Monteiro began his training at the Centro de Arte e Dança de Campo Grande in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, coached by Daniel Mendéz and directed by Alice Arja. Monteiro won the Bronze Medal at the XVIII International Dance Seminar of Brasilia in 2008. He continued his training at the Miami City Ballet School and joined Miami City Ballet in 2012 under the direction of Edward Villella, followed by Lourdes Lopez. Monteiro performed in the original cast of Euphotic choreographed by Liam Scarlett for the Miami City Ballet in 2013. His repertoire includes Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphonic Dances; Sir Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs; George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Serenade, La Valse, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue; Paul Taylor’s Piazolla Caldera; John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and others. Since joining ARB in 2016, Monteiro has performed principal roles such as Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Lysander in Douglas Martin’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Matador in Kirk Peterson’s Carmen, Franz in Coppelia, Paul Taylor’s Airs, José Límon’s There is a Time, Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow and Jean de Brienne in Peterson’s Glazunov Variations. Other credits include Trey McIntyre’s Blue Until June, Septime Webre’s Fluctuating Hemlines, and Riccardo De Nigris’ Beyond the Normal, Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work and VARIANTS, Amy Seiwert World, Interrupted and Sight Line, and Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite. Monteiro originated the role of Puck, dancing alongside ARB’s Artistic Associate Gillian Murphy in Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Albrecht in Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle.