Dancers
2011-2012 NMBC Dancers
Kayla Armgardt began dancing at Fishback Studio of the Dance under the instruction of Krista King-Doherty and Jennifer Boren. She continued her classical ballet training at Dance Theatre of the Southwest, where she began dancing with the New Mexico Ballet Company at the age of fourteen. Dancing competitively for many years, Kayla has won numerous platinum awards, high-scores, and Most Promising Performer at competitions such as IDC, Dance America, and Youth America Grand Prix. She has attended summer intensives with Texas Ballet Theater, Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive, and was a scholarship recipient at Boston Ballet. Kayla was a member of Butler Ballet at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, performing in The Nutcracker Ballet and Swan Lake. Kayla returned to Albuquerque this year to study Psychology and Philosophy at the University of New Mexico, and is pleased to be dancing again with the New Mexico Ballet Company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baylee Brown, 15, is currently a sophomore at La Cueva High School. She began dancing at age three at Fishback Studio of Dance, and has since trained at Dance Theater Southwest, Ballet Lubbock, Alwin’s School of the Dance, and New Mexico Ballet Company, dancing under the direction of Patricia Dickinson, Benigna Sanchez-Duty, Jennifer Boren, Yvonne Racz Key, Deanna Encinias, Karen Alwin, Wendy Miner, Jolie Sutton-Simballa, Suzanne Johnston, and Wendy Rubin. She has danced in New Mexico Ballet Company’s The Nutcracker Ballet for four years, and has also performed in Ballet Lubbock’s The Nutcracker Ballet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This past summer, she attended The Jillana School summer intensive program in Taos, New Mexico. Baylee would like to thank NMBC for allowing her to be a part of such a great experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor Carrasco began dancing at the age of 3 at Sandra’s School of Dance. Since then, he has studied ballet and other forms of dance at Dance Theatre of the Southwest, Keshet, and other studios around Albuquerque. He first performed with the New Mexico Ballet Company when he was seven years old, dancing in The Nutcracker, since which he has participated in annually, along with many other NMBC productions. In 2009, he trained at Ballet Chicago during their summer term. He also attended the School of American Ballet (SAB) summer course in 2010 and 2011. He would like to thank Jolie Sutton-Simballa, Wendy Rubin, and his family for the amazing opportunities they have provided and their support in nurturing his learning and growing experiences.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lindsay Dekleva
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie Dyke began dancing at the age of 7 at Hayden’s School of Dance under the instruction of Celia Dale. At 14, after deciding to seriously pursue ballet, she enrolled in ballet classes at the University of New Mexico for two years with Suzanne Johnston. After performing for faculty productions at the University, she was encouraged by Mrs. Johnston to begin performing with the New Mexico Ballet Company. She has been dancing with the company now for the past three years. Stephanie has also attended several ballet summer intensives including the Jillana School, City Ballet San Diego, Walnut Hill, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and for the past two years, Joffrey New York. Stephanie is currently attending the Central New Mexico Community College, and upon completion of her two year program this spring, will transfer to the University of New Mexico, or out of state to continue her education.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashley Fresquez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin Gallacher started tap dancing at the age of 16 and within his first eight months he was put on stage. At 17 he continued his education of classical ballet with Park Avenue Dance Works in Colorado, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Moving People Dance Santa Fe (MPD). His studies also included contemporary ballet, jazz, modern, swing, hip-hop, break-dancing, and gymnastics. Kevin has studied and worked with Gail Gilbert, Sam Watson, Jock Soto, Suzanne Quinn, Dudley Davis, Michael Vernon, Layla Amis, Arturo Fernandez, and Valeria Madonia. He has been a principal dancer for Park Avenue Dance Works, Moving People Too!, MPD, and has performed with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Circus Luminous, and The Santa Fe Opera.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle Linzer began his study of dance as a senior in high school after being prompted to do so by his martial arts instructor. (It’s never too late to start!) His training includes classical ballet, modern, jazz, pas de deux, character, and yoga under the direction of such schools as the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the Dance Space, the Dance Foundation, the Dance Academy, the College of Santa Fe and Prince Ballet in Santa Fe, the Arrowhead Manor School of Dance in California, and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In addition to teaching and performing dance in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, Kyle stays in shape by also teaching Yoga and Pilates classes at Cleveland High School, Defined Fitness, and the Placitas Fire Station, as well as internationally for various resorts in the Caribbean.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jacob Maes started dancing hip-hop at age six at Sandra’s School of Dance. He soon fell in love with multiple styles of dance including jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, salsa, and lyrical. Currently, Jacob is a junior at the Public Academy for Performing Arts and is part of their Contemporary Dance Ensemble. He continues his training at Sandra’s School of Dance and is part of the competition team in which he competes and attends workshops nationwide. This past year, Jacob won two regional titles along with several other awards and top honors for his solo and team performances. This is Jacob’s first year performing with the New Mexico Ballet Company, and he is very excited to be part of this incredible experience. He would like to express his gratitude to Jolie Sutton-Simballa, Sandra Rubi, and all his teachers at Sandra’s School of Dance for their support and making these opportunities possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Natalee Maxwell graduated from the Performers Ballet and Jazz Company as a soloist, where she trained under Karen Alwin, Deanna Encinias and Wendy Miner for 13 years. She is currently studying ballet at the University of New Mexico with Vladimir Conde Reche, and is majoring in Studio Art. Natalee has performed her own choreographic works in Youth America Grand Prix competition, where she was also a finalist. Highly influenced by Alonzo King’s LINES ballet faculty, Natalee has rehearsed under Lee Wei Chao who choreographed a contemporary piece for her to perform at YAGP. In addition, Natalee has trained at renowned schools such as Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and recently Ballet West with full scholarship. Having many years committed to dance, she is now sharing her knowledge by teaching ballet and jazz. This is Natalee’s first season with New Mexico Ballet Company, and is honored to perform with such a commendable cast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthony Montoya has been dancing for 10 years, inspired to pursue a career in Dance in high school by Kyle Linzer. Currently pursuing a B.A. in Dance at the University of New Mexico with a graduation date of Spring 2012, Anthony trains in ballet, modern, hip-hop, flamenco, and jazz, with concentration in ballet and modern. He has received dance instruction from local instructors including Celia Dale(UNM and Haydens School of Dance), Jolie Sutton- Simballa(UNM and NMBC), and Vladimir Conde Reche(UNM) and many more instructors he had the pleasure to be work with. Anthony has performed in student and faculty dance shows while attending the UNM. This will be Anthony’s first seasonal year performing with NMBC and he is very honored to see what the future will bring with NMBC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shane Montoya, most commonly known as “Shuga Shane”, was born in Gallup, New Mexico. At the age of 13, Shane began his hip-hop career in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1999, Shane was a founding member of the U.H.F. Crew (United Hip-Hop Family), which performs, teaches, and competes Internationally. Shane has won various competitions around the nation, and is embarking on his next journey touring Europe in winter of 2011. He is also one of the newest members of the Chief Rockers Performing Arts Crew, which is comprised of members from Native Tribes across the country. Branching out to different disciplines, Shane began taking ballet classes under the instruction of Rosalinda Rojas at the age of 22. He is now a member of Festival Ballet Albuquerque and New Mexico Ballet Company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tessa Peterson has been dancing for 14 years and has been a member of the Performers Ballet and Jazz Company for 10 years and New Mexico Ballet Company for the past year. Tessa is classically trained in ballet and pointe under Karen Alwin and Deanna Encinias of Alwin’s School of Dance. She also studies jazz, tap, hip-hop, and contemporary dance. She spent two summers with the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, working with Summer Rhattigan and Alex Ketley. She has worked with Alonzo King, Andrea Flores, Luis Fuentes, Sasha Yaparov, and many others. Tessa was selected to represent the USA under the Cecchetti Council of America in and international competition held in Manchester, England and came away with a year scholarship to KS Dance LTD and a job offer to Phoenix Dance Company in Leeds, England. She will be dancing with them next year, and is looking forward to spending another year with New Mexico Ballet Company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy Ritter has been dancing for 24 years. She trained at La Mesa Dance Academy with Cecelia Jaramillo in ballet, jazz, and tap for 16 years. She then trained with Suzanne Johnston at the University of New Mexico, soon becoming the teacher’s assistant. She auditioned for The Nutcracker in 2003 after strong encouragement from Johnston; she has been dancing with the New Mexico Ballet Company ever since. She has received several lead roles including Lead Merliton in The Nutcracker, Bride of Dracula in Dracula, core member in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, West Side Story, and Thoroughly Modern Millie with MTS. She has also danced in several student and faculty productions at UNM. She teaches throughout Albuquerque for preschool ages through adults and was recently hired by the National Dance Institute of New Mexico.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Louis Roccato
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kelly Ruggiero studied on full scholarship and received her BFA from the University of Arizona. While attending the U of A, she was featured in Lise Houlton’s Sidetracks, Melissa Lowe’s English Suite, Michael William’s Dreaming, and James Clouser’s Swan Lake, as Odette. Upon graduating , Kelly joined David Taylor Dance Theatre. Her repertoire included Sugar Plum and Clara in The Nutcracker, Juliet in David Taylor’s Romeo and Juliet Rocks!, James Wallace’s The Storm, and Tom Ruud’s Mobile. After three seasons with DTDT, Kelly joined Nevada Ballet Theatre, where she performed George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Serenade, and Rubies, Peter Anastos’s Cinderella, as well as James Canfield’s Giselle. Kelly was offered the esteemed opportunity to perform Canfield’s Equinoxe at the Kennedy Center. She also performed with Cirque du Soleil in their annual Choreographer’s Showcase at the Mystere Theatre. Kelly recently danced two seasons with Sandra Organ Dance Company while residing in Houston.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Natalia Ruiz, 15, and a sophomore at Southwest Secondary Learning Center, began her training at Alwin’s School of the Dance under the instruction of Karen Alwin, Deanna Encinias, Wendy Miner, and Faye Warren. She was invited to join the Performers Ballet & Jazz Company when she was 7 years old, where she has performed Christmas Joy each year, dancing several advanced and leading roles. She has competed locally and nationally since age 10, and has attended summer intensive programs such as ABT, Miami City Ballet School on scholarship, Marshall’s Vaganova workshop, New Mexico Ballet Company, and the Performers Ballet & Jazz Company. She has studied with accomplished dancers such as Vitaly and Olga Veterich, Philip Neal, Sasha Yaparov, Luis Fuentes, Lee Wei Chao, Carlos Dos Santos, and Franco De Vito. She would like to thank her instructors, her parents, and most importantly God for her education and opportunity to dance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abigail Ryckman, 15, is currently a sophomore at the Albuquerque Academy. She started dancing at the age of 7, training with Jennifer Boren, Jolie Sutton-Simballa, Suzanne Johnston, Candy Simmons-Smith, Tracy Ritter, and Wendy Rubin. Abigail has performed in the last seven New Mexico Ballet Company productions of The Nutcracker; she has danced roles such as Lead Polichinelle, Clara’s Friend, Angel, Soldier, Snow flurry, Flower, and Chinese. Abigail is a member of the Albuquerque Academy Dance Troup and Symphonic Band. She has also trained with Rodney Gustafson of State Street Ballet, and she has been part of the Long Beach Ballet Ambassadors to China, where she trained with David Wilcox and dancers from the Guangzhou Ballet and the National Ballet of China. This past summer, she trained with teachers Daniel Duell and Patricia Blair at Ballet Chicago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antionette Segura has been dancing for sixteen years, receiving training in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, acrobatics, and salsa. Primarly trained at Fishback Studio of the Dance for 15 years, she has also trained with Dance Theater of the Southwest. She has participated in many productions such as The Nutcracker, Dracula, Petruska, and Firebird. She has also competed in the many competitions including International Dance Competition (IDC), Cathy Roe, Show Stoppers, and Youth America Grand Prix, throughout which she has received platinum awards, high-winning scores, and Junior Miss Global. She will attend Central New Mexico Community College to receive her business degree in hopes of one day opening her own dance studio in the south valley of Albuquerque.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cristal Segura was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and began her dance training at the age of four. At age 14, Cristal trained at Interlochen Arts Academy (Michigan), where she studied on scholarship under the direction of Mark Borchelt. She continued her studies with coaches, teachers, and mentors including Jillana (NYCB), Arthur Mitchell (NYCB), Alonzo King (Artistic Director of Lines Ballet), Earl Mosely (Alvin Ailey), Janet Eibler (Artistic Director of Martha Graham Company), Willy Burmann (NY), and Philip Neal (NYCB). Her repertoire includes lead roles in The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, and Valse Fanatsie, as well as being featured in Interlochen’s production of Martha Grahams Diversion of Angels.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott Shaw is currently a dance and sociology major at the University of New Mexico; he has been studying ballet and modern with Vladimir Conde Reche and Donna Jewell. He also trains with Jennifer Boren at Fishback School of the Dance. Scott just recently finished training with Vitaly Verterich of New Jersey Ballet at Marshall Performing Arts Constervatory’s Vaganova Summer Intensive. This is his first season with the New Mexico Ballet Company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connie Spiegel, 15, is a sophomore at Moriarty High School. She has been dancing since the age of 6, training with Jolie Sutton-Simballa, Suzanne Johnston, Wendy Rubin, Patricia Dickinson, and Jennifer Boren. She has studied ballet and pointe, jazz, modern, and flamenco. She has appeared in the last 8 productions of the Nutcracker Ballet, performing roles such as Lead Polichinelle, Clara’s friend, Angel, Mouse, Rat, Flower, and Snow. Additionally, Connie has trained in The Jillana School summer program in Taos, New Mexico for the past 3 years, performing solo variations and excerpts from Balanchine’s Serenade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lora Sturm has been dancing for nearly her entire life. She has studied ballet, modern, and flamenco in Albuquerque and bharata natyam, South Indian classical dance, in Middletown, Connecticut and Paris, France. She holds a B.A. in French Studies from Wesleyan University.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tomás Tafoya has been dancing at Sandra’s School of Dance for 11 years, and has been on their competitive team for 10 years. He has attended numerous dance competitions across the country with the team and won several awards in high points, most entertaining, best theatrical performance, and overall high score; as an individual, Tomás earned a scholarship to The Millennium Dance Complex in California. The dance team was also ranked in the top 50 of The Federation Dance Competitions for the year. Tomás also appeared in the movie Lemonade Mouth. He currently attends St. Pius X High School and has received First Honors, awarded to students who have a GPA of 3.7 or higher for multiple consecutive semesters. He has also lettered at St. Pius X in both community service, with a completion of 120 hours or more, as well as a varsity letter in dance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maura Talley, 17, is an Albuquerque native and currently a student at the Public Academy for Performing Arts. She began her dance training at Lana’s School of Dance and has continued her training in all dance forms at Dance Arts Center, Marshall Performing Arts, Dance Theatre of the Southwest, and The New Mexico Ballet Company. Maura has won numerous awards for her performances, choreography, top honors at many regional and national competitions, also being named Miss Senior Ultimate Dance. She performed her second year with Cathy Roe’s National Producer’s Dream Company this summer. Maura’s other performances have included Moscow Ballet’s The Nutcracker, a festival benefitting the UNMH Burn Unit, Petrushka with David Chavez and the NMSO, Disneyland Parades, White Christmas with ALT, and many Tap Jams. This is Maura’s 5th year performing with The New Mexico Ballet Company and she looks forward to many more wonderful experiences with the company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew Valdez is an Albuquerque native who began to study dance 5 years ago here in Albuquerque with the local West African and Haitian dance communities. He has studied under master dancer teachers and drummers from Mali, Senegal, Ghana and Guinea. Performing at schools, community centers, and local theaters, Matthew has been gaining performance experience along with knowledge from artists from an entirely different culture. He is currently double-majoring at UNM in Dance and Art Studio, with an emphasis on contemporary dance, where two years ago he began expanding his dance vocabulary gaining technique in modern and ballet, and recently been adding jazz to his dance studies. He is very excited be a part of NMBC for the season, this is his first year dancing with the company and he is looking forward to the challenges that it offers.
