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Faculty
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 inLa Sylphide featuring Rudolf Nureyev and Eva Evdokimova.
MICHELLE DAVIS
Michelle Davis, a Dallas, Texas native, trained at the Dallas Ballet Academy and at Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet High School, as well as a student dancer with the Dallas Ballet. Michelle spent a decade dancing with the San Francisco Ballet from 1990 to 2000 and one season with the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the Portland area, she has taught for The Portland Ballet since 2008, six years as artist in residence at Arts and Communication Magnet Academy, three years at PDX Contemporary Ballet, and various classes teaching at Bodyvox, Polaris, and Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. She and her husband, Jason Davis, have three children.
CHRISTINA ENDLER 
bio coming soon
IRIS GREEN
Iris Green was born in Albuquerque, NM and began her ballet training at Ballet Repertory Theater when she was 3 years old. She has performed in BRT’s productions of The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Dance Spooktacular, Wizard of OZ, and Magic Flute. In addition to being an instructor, this is second season as a member of the company.
GRACIELA GRUNDINGER
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.
She had the opportunity to study with renowned guest teachers like Ninel Yulteyeva and Nadeja Podtchikova, masters of the Soviet Union; Rodolfo Rodriguez from the Colon Theater; Betsy Erikson, master of the Oakland Ballet, and Alfredo Pietri from the Institut de Danse Classique in Toulouse, France.
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 for choreographing and staging the Cinderella Ballet with children and training competitors for the Ministry of Culture sponsored Arts and Literature event.
Graciela has solid knowledge of Vaganova Ballet style and Classical Ballet Repertoire, teaching intermediate and advanced levels, and applying suitable teaching techniques in order to prevent injuries.
In 2014, Ms. Grundinger left for Canada where she taught intermediate and advanced levels, adult ballet classes, 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.
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 fourteen 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 Perich Sabatini. She is happy to still be teaching and dancing with Ballet Repertory Theatre.
CECELIA JARAMILLO .aspx)
Cecelia Palladino-Jaramillo started dancing at age 5 and studied locally at Fishback Studio and Suzanne's School of Ballet. She continued her dance studies at the University of Utah as a Musical Theater major with a Ballet Emphasis. Ms Jaramillo is trained in Classical and Cecchetti Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Character Dance, and mime. Her ballet training has been with Ballet West, Bill Martin-Viscount, Leo Ahonen and Soili Arvola, Eugene Tanner, and Suzanne Johnston, among others. She received advanced jazz training from Gus Giordano, Luigi, and instructors in L.A. Her tap training was furthered through Tony Coppola, Jim Taylor, and Bril Barrett, and she studied character with Yurek Lazowsky at the University of Utah. Extended dance education includes Chicago National Dance Masters Association, Professional Dance Teacher's Association, National Dance Educators of Texas, and Cecchetti Council of America, where she became qualified to teach Cecchetti levels I-VI.
Ms. Jaramillo received the 2003 National Dance Educators Organization award for meritorious service to dance education in New Mexico and was a Bravo Award nominee in 2004 and 2005.
Teaching experience, starting in 1967, includes Fishback Studio, Albuquerque Ballet Co., Suzanne's School of Ballet, and The Music Studio (Salt Lake City). In 1987 she opened La Mesa Dance Academy, which she closed in August 2019, after almost 33 years. In 1992, Ms. Jaramillo created the Energy in Motion Dance Company, which had its final performance in 2019.
Ms. Jaramillo has performed, choreographed, and directed for ACLOA/MTS, in over 40 performances, since 1968. Choreography credits include Chicago, Evita, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Cabaret, and Singin' in the Rain. She also choreographed and directed for Carlaw Productions and performed and choreographed numerous ballets for the original NM Ballet Co., under Suzanne Johnston.
Ms. Jaramillo is extremely happy to be part of the BRT family. It feels like coming home!
TRACY MENSCHING
Tracy has been an instructor with Ballet Repertory Theatre of NM since 1996 and performed in roles in the company for The Firebird, Triptych, and The Nutcracker. 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 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
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. She is excited to bring her experience and join the staff at Ballet Repertory Theatre!
COREY NAGEL
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 
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.
ALEX OSSADNIK .aspx)
Born and raised in the former East Germany, Mr. Ossadnik trained for 8 years under government scholarship at the prestigious Palucca School in Dresden. He performed with the Ballet Theatre de Bordeaux in France and was a principal dancer with the German National Theatre Weimar. Moving to the United States in 1995, he has worked with numerous companies as a teacher, ballet master, choreographer, and director with artists from the Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza de Mexico, Joffrey Ballet, Joven Ballet de Jalisco, Veronique’s Ecole de Danse in Bordeaux, France, and Compania National de Danza in Mexico City. From 1996-1999 he Co-Founded and Directed Santa Fe Festival ballet and from 2008-2018 Alex was the Ballet Master for Ballet Idaho. He also co-founded Ballet Pro Música in Albuquerque, NM and the Atlantic Southeast Ballet in Charleston, SC. Past choreographic works for BRT include Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Orpheus, Carmen, Beauty and the Beast, La Mer, Tchaikovsky Suite, Act I of Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid and Like Water for Chocolate. Mr. Ossadnik was Artistic Director of Ballet Wichita from 2018-2020.
MEGAN OTHLING
Megan Othling was born and raised in New Mexico and trained with BRT from 1993-2003. With BRT she performed in Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppelia, Scheherazade, Cinderella, Dancers at a Gathering, Macbeth, and Paquita. She has been teaching ballet in Albuquerque since 2005, as well as dancing and performing with a local company until 2020. She graduated from UNM with a degree in Creative Writing in 2008. Megan is a mother of 4, a birth doula and a community support worker, and has been teaching at BRT since 2022.
TOMAS TAFOYA
 Tomas Tafoya, a native of Albuquerque, has been dancing for over 20 years. He grew up dancing at Sandra’s School of Dance on their nationally recognized and award-winning competitive teams. Between 2013-2015 Tomas traveled around the world with The Silhouettes, including a tour of Ireland, the Polish Academy Awards, and Mexico’s Festival de Las Almas (Festival of the Souls). In addition, Mr. Tafoya has been a guest teacher to numerous studios and schools in New Mexico, passing on his love and passion for dance. In 2015 Tomas joined BRT as a company dancer and has performed lead roles in BRT’s productions of The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, Coppélia, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Magic Flute, and their contemporary concerts. Tomas is also an instructor and Jr. Company Rehearsal Assistant. He graduated from UNM with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science (2018), a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (2021), completed an advanced training with a focus in orthopedics (2022), and is Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. He presently works at Balanced Physical Therapy and Wellness and has a dance specific rehabilitation program focused on injury prevention and return to sport.
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