PBS Leadership Archives - American Repertory Ballet

Samantha Dunster began her ballet training with Cristina Pora in Toronto, Ontario. Then, at age 17, she traveled to Havana to train with the National Ballet of Cuba. She continued dancing with the company of Centro Pro-Danza, under the direction of Laura Alonso, where she also worked as Regisseur and Ballet Mistress.

In 1996, Samantha accepted the position of Artistic Director and Principal Dancer of Bale da Ilha in Brazil, where she staged numerous full-length ballets. By 2000, she became Ballet Mistress of Orlando Ballet, where, under the direction of the late Fernando Bujones, she re-choreographed La Fille mal gardée for the company. In 2004, she was commissioned by Orlando Ballet to create a world-premiere production of Camelot, the success of which broke ticket sales records. In 2007, she accepted the role of Assistant to the Artistic Director of Orlando Ballet, under the direction of Bruce Marks. The following year, the pair together staged the full-length Don Quixote.

In 2011, Samantha accepted the position of Chair and Artistic Director of the Hartt School Community Division Dance Department at the University of Hartford. During that time, she created and choreographed two new full-length ballets: Snow White and Peter Pan with original scores by Kermit Poling. She also founded the pre-professional company HarttWorks as well as created the summer ballet intensive program “From Studio to Stage,” which has attracted Guest Artistic Directors such as Bruce Marks, Laura Alonso, and Angel Corella.

Samantha has danced and taught in countries all around the world, including Sweden, Argentina, and Brazil. In 2003 and 2009, she set her staging of La Fille mal gardée for the National Ballet of Korea and the NBA Ballet Company in Tokyo, respectively. Additionally, she has staged several works by Bruce Marks, including Lark Ascending for Louisville Ballet, and in 2010, she served as the Canadian judge for the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS.

Samantha began her tenure as Ballet Mistress with Philadelphia Ballet (formally Pennsylvania Ballet) in November 2014 and was appointed Assistant Artistic Director in November 2015. During her time there, she choreographed Snow White, Prince Charming, and Fairy Rhymes for Philadelphia Ballet II and staged Peter Pan for the School of Philadelphia Ballet. She has also appeared on stage as ‘Carabosse’ in The Sleeping Beauty and ‘Berthe’ in Giselle.

Julie Diana Hench (Executive Director) has been a performing arts professional for nearly 30 years. Originally from New Jersey, Ms. Hench studied at the School of American Ballet where she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award. At age 16, she joined San Francisco Ballet as corps member. She became a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet (now Philadelphia Ballet), performing and originating role in classical and contemporary repertoire. She appeared as a guest artist with New York City Ballet and several international touring groups, and participated in a dancer exchange with The Royal Ballet in London.

Ms. Hench was a private coach and guest teacher for renowned ballet schools across the country, and was appointed to the artistic leadership team at Pennsylvania Ballet. She received Isadora Duncan Awards for her dancing at San Francisco Ballet, and an Association Alumnae Award for her studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as Executive Director of Juneau Dance Theatre (JDT), a non-profit arts organization in Juneau, Alaska, where she facilitated collaborations with local artists and arts groups to enrich the dancers’ experience, grow audiences, and broaden the organization’s impact. At JDT, Ms. Hench helped the organization partner with the Kennedy Center’s “Any Given Child” initiative to expand arts education in Juneau public schools. She launched Juneau’s first-ever summer intensive ballet program and was honored to stage works for the George Balanchine Trust, enabling JDT to present Balanchine’s work onstage.

Ms. Hench has written for various publications such as Playbill, Dance, Dance Spirit, and Pointe, and was a Contributing Editor at Dance Teacher magazine where she wrote the monthly “Theory and Practice” column.

She earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude, and served as President of the University of Pennsylvania’s Association of Alumnae. She also completed the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy, a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and National Arts Strategies. Ms. Hench has been the Executive Director of American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School since 2017.