American Repertory Ballet

ARB Position: Teacher

Avery Snyder

Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, Avery Snyder began her dance training locally at the age of 3. When her interest in ballet grew into a passion for the art form, Avery sought private training to refine her technique and took 2 years of private lessons with Nicole Busse McGurn before attending the newly formed Charlottesville Ballet Academy in 2011. Avery trained at the Charlottesville Ballet Academy until 2016 when she joined the professional company as a trainee while she simultaneously completed her junior year of high school. In 2018, she attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) high school classical ballet program for her senior year. Avery continued her training under the esteemed faculty of UNCSA at the collegiate level and graduated in May of 2021 with a BFA in classical ballet. Following her graduation from UNCSA, Avery accepted a traineeship with American Repertory Ballet and was recently promoted to Company member in May of 2025. During her time with ARB, she has had the honor of performing various roles such as The White Cat in The Sleeping Beauty, Little Swan in Swan Lake, as well as performing the female role in Anthony Tudor’s pas de deux, Little Improvisations.

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Headshot by Harald Schrader Photography

Anna Fredeen

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.

Roland Jones

Roland Jones was born and raised in Poolesville, Maryland. He began training at Maryland Youth Ballet in 2012, before continuing his development as a trainee at Ballet West Academy under Jeff Rogers from 2017-2019. At Ballet West, he had the opportunity to perform as Oberon in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and guest performed as Colas in the University of Utah’s production of La Fille Mal Gardée, before being promoted to Ballet West II. In 2021, Jones joined Richmond Ballet II under Igor Antonov and Malcolm Burn, performing in ballets Romeo and Juliet and Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. Jones joined ARB as an apprentice in 2022, and performed in Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Caili Quan’s Circadia, Claire Davison’s Bewitched. Jones also had the opportunity to perform as the Snow King and Cavalier in ARB’s The Nutcracker.

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Headshot by Harald Schrader Photography

Katrina Jans

Katrina Jans has been training in classical ballet since she began dancing at two years old. She studied tap for over eight years and now teaches tap and ballet at Princeton Ballet School. Participating in numerous intensives and workshops, she also broadened her study of dance through contemporary, modern, jazz, and several other dance forms. She trained for three years in Italy at the feeder school to Teatro alla Scala in Milan. While in Europe she performed in The Nutcracker with the Croatian National Ballet and attended an invitation-only summer intensive in Novi Sad, Serbia. Ms. Jans has performed in many productions such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Snow White, and more, including pas de deux, soloist, and principal roles: White Swan in Central New Jersey Ballet Theatre’s White Swan Pas de Deux with internationally renowned dancer Fredrick Davis; Dorothy in the Vacaville Ballet Company’s Wizard of Oz; and The Fairy of Grace with the Contra Costa Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty. She trained with numerous distinguished instructors including Stefan Grebeldinger, Franca Desinia, Katarina Wester, Charles Anderson, Mishic and Valentine Liberatore, Emily Borthwick, and Shannon Bresnahan. Ms. Jans placed 3rd and top 24 in YAGP Pre-Competitive Division and Junior Division respectively. She has performed in ARB’s The Nutcracker as Marzipan; Wilis corps in Giselle; and a soloist role in Raymonda. Ms. Jans is excited to pass on her love for dance with the students of PBS.                    

Emily Cordies-Maso

Emily Cordies-Maso started her training at her mother Rebeca Maso’s studio in Somerset, NJ at a young age. At age 12 she attended Ballet Hispanico under the direction of Dr. Ana Maria Correa and later with current director Michelle Manzanales. Cordies-Maso was part of the Pre-Professional program for her last three years there under a full scholarship. During that time she was able to travel to Cordoba Mexico for the Festival de Danza and to Havana Cuba for the Ballet Nacional Festival International de Danza. In 2019 Cordies-Maso started studying under the direction of Aydmara Cabrera at the Princeton Ballet school and was later a trainee with the ARB/PBS in 2021. In December 2020 Emily left to Switzerland to study as a stagiare at Ecole Rudra Bejart in Lausanne with a full scholarship, under the direction of Micheal Gascard and Julio Arrozarena where she got to perform at Vaison la Roman, France and Martingy, Switzerland. Cordies-Maso has also attended various summer intensives including Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, Taina Morales and Jesus Corrales Summer Intensive in Montreal, Canada, and Leonel Morales & Friends Dance Course in Granada, Spain. Her American Repertory Ballet credits include The Nutcracker, Da’Von Doane’s Kaleidoscope Mind, Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s Giselle, Arthur Mitchell’s Holberg Suite, and Stiefel’s VARIANTS.

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.

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Headshot by Harald Schrader Photography

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 inSwan Lake Act II and Prince Desiré inSleeping 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.

Please click here to learn about dancer sponsorship opportunities. 

Headshot by Harald Schrader Photography

Shari Nyce

Shari Nyce started dancing at Princeton Ballet at the age of eight where she was offered a scholarship by its founder, Audrée Estey. Shari was offered the role of an apprentice at age 15 when The Princeton Society first formed their professional company, later known as ARB. A year later, she became a company member while finishing high school. Shari danced with Princeton Ballet for a few years and then moved to New York City, where she joined the new contemporary company, Keith Young Dance. At age 24, Shari moved to Los Angeles. Here, she continued her work with various contemporary companies as well as exploring the film and television industries, both as a dancer and as an actress. She had the honor of working with many talented artists including Twyla Tharp, Bon Jovi, Will Smith, Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Carole King, Woody Harrelson, Whoopi Goldberg and many more. Shari had her last professional engagement at the Ford Amphitheater when she was 38; she found out she was pregnant with her first of three daughters two weeks after the performance. Shari then embarked on a new career: that of a single mom. At this point, Shari went back to school and after moving back East, completed her Associate’s degree in Exercise Science. She will be obtaining her BS in Kinesiology and Exercise Science this coming Spring. In addition to teaching at Princeton Ballet School since her return to NJ, Shari has been teaching Pilates, Yoga and various other movement techniques for nearly forty years. She maintains her own studio, Nyce Bodies Pilates, in Pennington, NJ. Shari is passionate about working with dancers to not only strengthen but to educate. She is a firm believer that understanding movement is the key to smart, efficient movement, which will lead to the best combination of strength, power, longevity and freedom of ultimate artistic expression.

Ana Novoa

Ana Novoa’s repertoire includes all the classics in the company such as Giselle in Giselle, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Swanilda in Coppelia, Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Paquita in Paquita, Lisette in La Fille Mal Gardee, Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadere, Medora in Le Corsaire, lead female in Les Sylphides, and the sylph in La Sylphide. These were performed alongside many notable male dancers including Jose Manuel Carreno. Novoa also danced many modern, contemporary pieces by Cuban and International Choreographers. She performed in Havana and all throughout Cuba and also toured extensively worldwide with the company, dancing on all the renowned stage of the major capitals of the world including Bolshoi in Moscow, Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Liceu in Barcelona, Champs Elysees in Paris, Colon Theater in Argentina and many others.

Rebeca Maso

Rebeca Maso is a former ballet dancer from Cuba. She received her training at the Professional Ballet School in Cuba. She also obtained her Diploma as Ballet Teacher in Cuba and has been teaching for more than 30 years for professional and school levels. She was one of the founder dancers of the Professional Ballet Company of Santiago of Cuba under the direction of Maria Elena Martinez and worked as rehearsal assistant and maître of this company for a few years. In 1995 traveled to Venezuela where she was a member of the Professional Ballet Company Nuevo Mundo of Caracas under the direction of Zhandra Rodriguez.  Maso came to the US in 1999 as a guest artist of Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas participating in the International Ballet Festival in Philadelphia.

In Cuba, she was teaching in regional ballet schools and taking students to examinations and open classes during national seminars. She had been a guest teacher for Milwaukee Ballet School Summer Intensive, San Jose Ballet Festival in Costa Rica, New Orleans Ballet Association, Martha Graham School, Kentucky Ballet Theatre and had the opportunity to participate in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Mexico as an invitation of this organization as a part of Ballet Hispanico ballet faculty. She is currently in the ballet faculty of Ballet Hispanico School of Dance in NY, Evolution Dance Center and American Repertory Ballet/ Princeton Ballet School.

Ms. Maso is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum ABT.

Her work includes classical and neo-classical styles of renowned choreographers such as Jose Pares, Paulo Denubila, Dennis Nahant, Alberto Mendez, Carlos Orta, Jorge Lefebre, Lazaro Martinez, Gustavo Herrera, Hilda Rivero, Maria Rovira, Hector Montero, among others.