ARB Position: Teacher

Jaime Santoro began her ballet training at the age of six at both The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Philadelphia Dance Conservatory. She went on to perform as a member of the Philadelphia Ballet before joining Orlando Ballet in 1996, where she enjoyed a distinguished fourteen-season career. In the summer of 2001, Ms. Santoro was awarded a Professional Fellowship and invited to perform as a guest artist with the Rome Festival, touring and performing throughout Italy.

While with Orlando Ballet, Ms. Santoro performed numerous soloist and principal roles in both classical and contemporary works. Her classical repertoire includes The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her Balanchine repertoire includes Symphony in C (First and Fourth Movements), Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco, Valse Fantaisie, Serenade, and Agon. She also performed in contemporary masterpieces such as Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and The Upper Room, as well as Val Caniparoli’s Going for Baroque.

The transition from principal and soloist dancer to choreographer and teacher was a natural evolution for Ms. Santoro and provided her the opportunity to contribute artistically and educationally to several organizations, including Orlando Ballet, Orlando Ballet School, Springton Dance Academy, and Dance Arts of Yardley.

In 2009, Ms. Santoro was recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for her dedication, leadership, and excellence in the performing arts.

Most recently, Ms. Santoro served as Children’s Ballet Mistress and Head Teacher of the Trainee Program with the Philadelphia Ballet for ten years. In that role, she was instrumental in the development and training of professional dancers and students and played a pivotal role in staging and rehearsing George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, helping to inspire, guide, and shape the next generation of young dancers.

Ms. Santoro looks forward to bringing her experience, talent, and love for dance to the professional dancers and students of the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School, continuing her lifelong commitment to artistic excellence and education in the art of ballet.

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.  

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Aldeir Monteiro (Sponsored by Nancy and Duncan MacMillan) 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.

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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.

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A California native, Erikka Reenstierna-Cates (Sponsored by Catherine Granzow and Lisa Patterson) 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. 

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Lane Dallape is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Suwanee, Georgia, trained in ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. Her education includes Suwanee Academy of the Arts, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Brenau University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. Recently, Lane performed with VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, directed by Ranardo-Domeico Grays. She also completed the American Repertory Ballet trainee program under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera and Ethan Stiefel, where some of her more memorable roles include Myrtha in Giselle, and the Spanish Pas de Deux in The Nutcracker. Since her completion of the trainee program, Lane has been teaching with Princeton Ballet School and has also worked on the administrative side as a Front Desk Receptionist. Lane looks forward to another season with the school and helping young dancers find their passion through technique and musicality in the classroom. 

Former ballerina Leigh Donlan trained in Russian technique and a variety of folk and modern dance techniques, was Children’s Ballet Mistress at the Washington School of Ballet, Director of the Athenaeum School of Ballet, and studied English at the University of Oregon and Public Relations at Georgetown University. She has been writing for Ballet to the People since 2014.

Eddy Tovar trained at the National Ballet School in Havana. He began his  professional career in Brazil at the Bale do Estado de Goias before joining the  Orlando Ballet under the direction of Bruce Marks and the late Fernando  Bujones. Eddy rose through the ranks of Orlando Ballet to that of principal  dancer, while also serving as the resident guest artist of the Los Angeles Ballet.  He retired from the stage after dancing for Texas Ballet Theater as a principal  dancer, under the direction of Ben Stevenson. 

Eddy has performed principal roles in virtually every full-length classic ballet, as  well as roles in works by George Balanchine and Twyla Tharp. He has won  numerous medals in competitions all around the world and appeared as a guest  artist on the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”. From 2012 to 2014, Eddy  served on the faculty of the Hartt School of Dance Department at the University  of Hartford. Throughout his career, he has staged ballets as well as instructed  students of all levels.  

In 2016, Eddy became Ballet Master for Philadelphia Ballet II (formally  Pennsylvania Ballet) and was promoted to Director of Philadelphia Ballet II in  2018. During this time, he guided many dancers as they transitioned from  student to professional, helping them not only with their technique and artistry, 

but also with their partnering skills and their performance capabilities.  As a  member of the artistic team of Philadelphia Ballet, Eddy also taught company  class for the main company and coached them in  many leading roles including  Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia as well as Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Who Cares?  He is married and has a daughter.

Anna Fredeen (B.A. Dance Science, Rider University) has danced with multiple dance studios in Connecticut and New Jersey where she trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, musical theater, choreography, modern, and leaps and turns. Before attending Rider University, she studied at Texas Christian University for two years in the School of Classical and Contemporary Dance. Fredeen has attended residential dance intensives in New York City and performed with dance companies at venues such as The Joyce Theater, Peridance, Disney World, and The Orange Bowl, where she had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Tyler Gilstrap, Sidra Bell, and Chris Judd. In the most recent years, Fredeen participated in American Dance Festival and the National Choreography Intensive, and has become a satellite member of the modern dance company Luminarium, based out of Boston, MA. She has received awards from various institutions, including Rider University and the National Choreography Intensive, for her choreography and involvement in the dance community. Fredeen currently teaches dance at local studios and works with many studios over the summer as a guest artist. As a committed dancer, teacher, and choreographer, Fredeen strives to pass down her knowledge and experience to students, using Dance Science to bring awareness to the physicality required of dancers to ensure a safe environment for all.