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The Company
KATHERINE GIESE, Executive/Artistic Director
Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Katherine Giese graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Arts Management with a Theatre Emphasis and a Minor in Dance. She has worked with Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, the Joffrey Ballet Workshop, Northern Arizona University Orchestra, and the University of Incarnate Word Dance Department. Upon moving to Albuquerque in 1996, she began teaching, dancing, and choreographing with Ballet Repertory Theatre. Katherine has danced featured roles in Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), The Nutcracker (Snow Queen), Lumina by David Chavez (Fertility Pas de Deux), Casa de Bernarda Alba (Magdalena), Paquita (Soloist), the 1997 Bravo award-winning production of Cinderella (Stepmother), and the 2003 production of Cinderella (Stepsister). She has choreographed The Nutcracker and numerous one-act ballets and concert pieces for BRT, and has collaborated with other choreographers on Enchanted Tales of the Southwest and a children's version of Alice in Wonderland. Throughout her career at BRT, she has served in a number of roles, including principal dancer, resident choreographer, ballet school instructor for ages three to adult, Educational Outreach Director, Director of the Children's Division, Ballet Mistress, and Administrative Assistant. In 2004, Katherine became Executive/Artistic Director. During her tenure, she has broadened and enhanced the quality of ballet training, increased enrollment in BRT's academy and enhanced the quality of company productions, resulting in sold out performances for the last four seasons. With more shows performed to broader audiences, BRT has become the premier ballet company and ballet academy in Albuquerque. Katherine trained with Susan and Buddy Trevino, Maureen Price, Sharon Randolph, Jillana, Gretchen Warren, Alex Ossadnik, and Jayne Lee. Besides Ballet Repertory Theatre, she has performed with Bill Evans for New Mexico Ballet Company, Contemporary Dance Ensemble, Canyon Movement Company, and the Incarnate Word College Ballet Company. As a child, she performed with San Francisco Ballet in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and with the Berlin Ballet in La Sylphide featuring Rudolf Nureyev and Eva Evdokimova.
ALEX OSSADNIK, Artistic Advisor/Choreographer.aspx)
Alex Ossadnik is a native of Germany and received his formal training at the Palucca School in Dresden from 1979-1987. His performance career spanned from 1987-2003 at the German National Theatre Weimar, Ballet Theatre de Bordeaux, Nevada Dance Theatre and Oregon Ballet Theatre, besides numerous guest engagements, including BRT. He co-founded the Santa Fe Festival Ballet and was its artistic director between 1996 and 1999, was co-founder and resident choreographer of Atlantic Southeast Ballet in 2002, and co-founded Ballet Pro Musica in 2004. Alex served as Ballet Master for Ballet Idaho from 2008-2018 and artistic director for Ballet Wichita. Alex has a long history with BRT, creating works since 1998, such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty & The Beast and an array of shorter ballets.
GRACIELA GRUNDINGER, Company Rehearsal Assistant 
Graciela Grundinger graduated from the Nina Nikanorova Ballet School in Classical Ballet Technique, Classical Repertoire, Character Dances and South American Traditional Dances. As part of her development in classical dance, she studied with Eric Volodin of the Bolshoi Theater with whom she later did the Seminar on the 6-year term Methodology of Moscow’s Choreographic School. She also participated in the II Pedagogical Ballet Seminar in Varna, Bulgaria dictated by Pyotr Gusev. During her professional dance career, Graciela danced numerous ballets from the Classic Repertoire and worked as a soloist dancer at Teresa Carreño Theater Ballet Company in Caracas, Venezuela; Principal dancer at the Colombian Ballet Company COLCULTURA in Bogota, and principal dancer and choreographer at CBC Carpe Diem Ballet Company in Rome, Italy. In 2005, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance, Major in Classical Dance Education, Graciela began teaching at the Nina Nikanorova Ballet School where she was awarded recognition by the Ministry of Culture. In 2014, Ms. Grundinger left for Canada where she taught and choreographed her own works in Ballet Schools across Ontario, like Carousel Dance Company, Waterloo Dance Studio and others. In 2022 she moved to Albuquerque and began teaching at Ballet Repertory Theatre of New Mexico.
TRACY MENSCHING, Company Rehearsal Assistant 
Tracy has been an instructor with Ballet Repertory Theatre of NM since 1996 and performed roles in the company for The Firebird, Triptych, The Nutcracker, Coppélia, and The Magic Flute. She also danced with the New Mexico Ballet Company for many years and was an original member of their Jr. Company. She has danced lead roles in The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty for various ballet companies, plus A Christmas Carol, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Carmina Burana with NMBC under the direction of David Chavez. Tracy also performed in over twenty Albuquerque Civic Light Opera Productions during the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and toured with Summer Stock productions of “My Fair Lady” and “George M.” She has been a guest artist for Ballet Lubbock, Texas Ballet in Houston, and the Asian American Ballet Company in Los Angeles, Ca. Her early training was here in Albuquerque with Suzanne Johnston, Cecelia Jaramillo, Bill Potenziani, David Chavez, Soili Avrola, and Leo Ahonen. Tracy also attended the Southwest Ballet workshop with Bill Martin Viscount and the Joffery Ballet workshop with Robert Joffery and Diane Oreo. She was lucky enough to study with many world-renowned guest teachers in her dance career.
SARAH MORRIS, Company Rehearsal Assistant 
Trained as a second-generation Balanchine dancer, Sarah Morris joined the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet in 1993. Her repertoire included classic Balanchine ballets and original works by artistic director, Paul Mejia. Among her favorite roles were soloist in Balanchine’s La Valse, Mother in Mejia’s Les Noces and Stepsister in Cinderella. She later joined the Bruce Wood Dance company, a modern troupe heavily influenced by Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, and Lar Lubovitch. During her professional dance career and since, she has enjoyed teaching ballet classes, staging, rehearsing, and auditioning children of all ages for musical theater and dance productions in a variety of venues. Sarah has taught all levels of ballet and choreographed numerous dance pieces in Texas, Idaho and now, New Mexico. Along with over a quarter century of teaching experience, she has also directed a non-profit dance studio for low income families, coordinated an outreach program to children in public schools, created an authentic after school dance program, directed a youth dance ensemble and served on the Board of Idaho Dance Theatre. In addition, Sarah is certified in Soma+IQ Breathwork, helping adolescents and adults live fulfilling lives after releasing deeply-held trauma. She joined the Staff of Ballet Repertory Theatre in 2018.
COREY NAGEL, Jr Company Rehearsal Assistant 
Corey Nagel has her B.S. in Dance from Illinois State University and has been on the dance faculties for ISU, Loyola University Chicago, Harper College, Columbia College Chicago, and the University of Chicago. Ms. Nagel had the opportunity to study with Gus Giordano, Lea Darwin, Patty Obey, Pirkoff Lawlor, Birute Barodicaite, Nana Shineflug, Rosemary Doolas, and Joel Hall while growing up around the Chicago area. She is a co-founder of Dance for Life/Next Generation and the McLean County Dance Association and developed the children’s program for two prominent Chicago studios. Ms. Nagel has worked with dancers from all over the states, been guest choreographer for multiple high schools, and has served as an adjudicator for dance festivals, dance companies, and dance scholarships. She is passionate about her art, thrives on building strong dancers, and loves sharing her knowledge of dance.
OLANIKE ONIMOLE, Jr Company Rehearsal Assistant 
Born and raised in Albuquerque, NM, Olanike began her dancing career at BRT at five years old. With BRT, she has performed under Katherine Giese, Alex Ossadnik, Celia Dale, and Fletcher Nickerson in The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Wizard of Oz, The Magic Flute, and other contemporary works. She has attended summer intensives at BRT and Colorado Ballet. She has the pleasure of working as a faculty member with BRT and enjoys growing as a dancer as well as helping develop upcoming dancers. She graduated with a degree in Exercise Science from Anderson University in Indiana and is continuing her education and clinical hours to pursue a degree in Physical Therapy. She is very excited to be dancing for another season with the company.
The Dancers
DAGNY GELLERT.aspx)
Dagny began her dance training at the age of 4 with BRT and has been studying there ever since. She has performed in several BRT productions including The Little Mermaid, The Nutcracker (Clara), Wizard of Oz (Toto), and Beauty & the Beast (Beauty). Other works include The Magic Flute and Dance Spooktacular. She has attended summer intensives with BRT and Joffrey Ballet programs in San Francisco and Boulder. This is her second season dancing as a company member with Ballet Repertory Theatre.
IRIS GREEN Iris Green was born in Albuquerque, NM and began her ballet training at Ballet Repertory Theatre when she was three years old. She has performed in BRT’s productions of The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Dance Spooktacular, Magic Flute, Wizard of OZ, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty & the Beast. She has also attended multiple summer ballet intensives at Ballet Repertory Theatre and received a scholarship from Joffrey Ballet School to attend their summer intensive. This is her fourth season as a member of the company. She teaches a Creative-Ballet class at BRT. Iris is currently attending the University of New Mexico where she is studying exercise science.
EMMA HEUERTZ
Emma began her ballet training at the age of three with Ballet Repertory Theatre. She has attended summer intensives at Walnut Hill School for the Arts; Orlando Ballet School; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City on a full merit scholarship. Emma has performed with BRT for fifteen seasons in numerous productions including The Nutcracker (as Princess Clara, Snow Queen, Dew Drop Fairy, and Sugar Plum), Beauty & the Beast (as Beauty), Coppélia (as Coppélia), Alice in Wonderland (as the Red Queen), and many more. While on study abroad in the Netherlands in 2018, Emma had the opportunity to train with Alexander Zhembrovskyy (Bavarian State Ballet, Slovenian National Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet), Naira Agvanean (Dutch National Ballet), and Daan Visser (Dutch National Ballet Academy and Nederlands Danse Theatre). Emma graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of New Mexico in 2020 with her bachelor's in Environmental Planning and Design, with a concentration in Landscape Architecture. She finished her Master of Landscape Architecture in May of 2023, and now works as a Landscape Designer with Dekker, persuing licensure. She is happy to still be teaching and dancing with Ballet Repertory Theatre.
VIVIEN JONES
Vivien began her interest in dance, music, and the arts at the age of three and has trained with Ballet Repertory Theatre since. She has performed with BRT in many productions of The Nutcracker, as well as Food for Thought; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Contemporary Innovations: Ode to Johann, John, and Juan; BRT’s Parking Lot Promenade; and The Little Mermaid. Vivien graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2025 with a Bachelor of the Arts in Biology, and she will be matriculated into the UNM Doctorate of Physical Therapy program in Fall of 2026. She looks forward to integrating her studies of artistry, movement, and medicine to inform a well-rounded approach to her future profession. This will be her fifth season dancing in BRT's company.
CARLEY MAZE
Born and raised in Albuquerque NM, Carley started training at Ballet Repertory Theatre at the age of 4. She has been in multiple productions of The Nutcracker with BRT, as well as Dance Spooktacular, Magic Flute, Wizard of Oz, Beauty & the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. She has also attended multiple ballet intensives with BRT, NMBC, and the Joffrey Pre Professional ballet intensive in New York on a partial scholarship, with additional modern intensives at BRT. Carley is currently attending the University of New Mexico studying exercise science. She also teaches Creative Ballet at BRT. This is her second season dancing as a member of BRT’s company.
CHASE PETERSEN
Chase began dancing at the age of 7 years under the instruction of Charlou Riggan, retired director of the Ballet at the Heritage in Fallbrook, California, Chase's hometown. He was inspired to start dancing by his little sister, who was 4 years old at the time. As he developed, he took on contemporary dance and more challenging ballet technique. This allowed him to perform shows like Cat in the Hat,and have a lead role in Where the Wild Things Are, gaining his first experience in a theater environment. As he gained experience and skill, Chase graduated into a new studio, the Academy of Ballet Arts (ABA), Murrieta at the age of 12, where he honed his skills as a dancer and reached new heights. His performances with ABA include the Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Alice in Wonderland, excerpts from Carnival of the Animals, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, as well as many other in-studio shows. He has also competed at YAGP and California Dance Classics (CDC), winning 3rd place two times at CDC and received an invitation to dance at Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. During his time with ABA, he received multiple scholarships to summer intensives while auditioning, such as the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Colorado Ballet, and Ballet West intensives. He finally landed in Utah at 19 years old to train as a student at Ballet West Academy in their Professional Training Division. After one year with them, he was promoted to Trainee and is currently in his second year of dancing in that rank. Chase is training at a high level of dance and works alongside the Ballet West Company, performing in the Capitol Theater, as well as touring Utah for the Nutcracker and Ballet West for Children.
Chase Petersen appears courtesy of the Ballet West Trainee Program.
ERIKA RAY 
Erika Ray began her ballet training at the age of five with Fishback Studio of the Dance in Albuquerque, where she also studied tap and jazz. In 2008, she began dancing with Ballet Repertory Theatre and joined as a member of the company in 2010. Since joining, she has danced principle and soloist roles in The Nutcracker (Clara, Sugar Plum, Dew Drop and Snow Queen), Swan Lake (Odette), Wizard of OZ (Glinda and Dorothy), Alice in Wonderland (Alice), and The Sleeping Beauty (Green Fairy). Other works with BRT include Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Mythical Wonders, Literally Dance, and many more. Erika graduated from UNM with her bachelor’s in Exercise Science in May 2016 and graduated with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in May 2019 and in 2024 passed her exam to become a Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. She now works as a Physical Therapist in outpatient orthopedics with a special interest in rehabilitation for dancers.
IPHIGENIA ROGERS.aspx)
Iphigenia was born in Washington, DC, and began her ballet training at the age of 3 at several local studios. After moving to Albuquerque when she was 6, she joined Ballet Repertory Theatre, where she has been dancing happily ever since. She has performed in numerous BRT productions of The Nutcracker (Clara), as well as other works that include Dance Spooktacular, Magic Flute, Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty & the Beast. She has attended ballet and modern summer intensives at BRT, Keshet Dance Center, and Joffrey San Francisco. This is her first season as member of the company, and she is also a demonstrator at Ballet Repertory Theatre.
TOMAS TAFOYA, Jr Company Rehearsal Assistant 
A native of Albuquerque, Tomás Tafoya has been a dancer for more than two decades. He received his early training at Sandra’s School of Dance, performing with their nationally recognized competitive teams. From 2013–2015, he toured internationally with The Silhouettes, appearing in Ireland, at the Polish Academy Awards, and at Mexico’s Festival de las Almas. Mr. Tafoya joined BRT as a company dancer in 2015 and has since performed leading roles in numerous productions, including The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, Coppélia, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, The Magic Flute, and BRT’s contemporary concerts. He also serves as an instructor and Jr. Company Rehearsal Assistant with the company. In addition to his artistic work, Mr. Tafoya is a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science (2018) and a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (2021) from the University of New Mexico, followed by advanced orthopedic training (2022). In 2025, he joined the UNM School of Medicine’s Physical Therapy program as a Lecturer I, teaching in the orthopedics curriculum. Mr. Tafoya currently practices at Balanced Physical Therapy and Wellness, where he leads a dance-specific rehabilitation program specializing in injury prevention and return-to-sport care.
XAVIER VALDEZ
Raised in Rio Rancho, NM, Xavier began his ballet training at the age of eight at Ballet Repertory Theatre. He has performed under choreographers Katherine Giese and Alex Ossadnik in BRT’s productions of The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland (Little White Rabbit), Magic Flute, Wizard of Oz, and The Little Mermaid, and has played the prince in BRT’s Beauty &The Beast. Xavier has also attended several summer ballet intensives at Ballet Repertory Theatre, as well as a six-week summer intensive at Ballet Austin. This is his third season as a member of the company of Ballet Repertory Theatre.
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