SSBYD.org

State Street Ballet

Young Dancers

Dancers

	Performing Members
(photo by Mary Fish Arango)	Catrina Boscutti is a 19 year old from Lompoc. She is currently teaching jazz classes at Boscutti Ballet Theatre in Lompoc. Catrina has been studying ballet, jazz, and hip hop for the past 13 years and has attended summer intensive programs and State Street Ballet and the Kirov Academy. She also enjoys music, choreographing, sewing, and designing. Catrina hopes to become a commercial dancer and choreographer, a music producer, and also hopes to have her own clothing line someday.
(photo by Bleu Braaten)	Mairead Bower is a 16 year-old junior at Santa Barbara High School. She has been dancing for 13 years and 8 years at Gustafson Dance. She is the beginning/intermediate tap teacher at Gustafson Dance starting this fall. Mairead would love to continue dance along with at career in a federal agency.
(photo by Mary Fish Arango)	Kelsey Gerber is a 19 year old from Lake Tahoe, Nevada. She is currently attending Santa Barbara City College as a sophomore, with hopes of attending UCSB as a dance and business major. Kelsey has been dancing with the Dance Workshop performing company of Lake Tahoe for 14 years, and has toured with the company on several cruise ships, competitions, and summer programs. She has also enjoyed her last three years with the company teaching jazz, lyrical, and tap classes. This is Kelsey's second year in Santa Barbara and her first year dancing with SSBYD. Kelsey also loves to choreograph and hopes to continue into a career in dance and choreography
(photo by Bleu Braaten)	Bianca Gonzales is a sophomore who attends San Marcos High School. She has been studying ballet at Gustafson dance since she was 4 years old. Bianca has attended State Street Ballet Summer Intensive, American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive program in Austin Texas and this past summer felt privileged to attend Boston Ballet's Summer Dance Program.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Merritt Howard is fifteen years old and this is her eleventh year studying ballet. She is in the tenth grade and recently made the decision to home school to allow more time to pursue her ballet training. Merritt has studied at summer programs with State Street Ballet, Long Beach Ballet, American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, Boston Ballet, and will spend this summer at the San Francisco Ballet intensive. For the last two years, she has been awarded dance scholarship grants from the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts. Merritt won Second Place in the 2006 Ballet Competition of Santa Barbara County and was the recipient of the 2006 "Most Improved Dancer" Award from Gustafson Dance/State Street Ballet Young Dancers. She was a 2007 top 12 regional semi-finalist in the United States Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition. Merritt was recently invited by Rodney Gustafson to join the State Street Ballet in their productions of Napoli, La Sylphide, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Merritt plans to seek a professional career in dance.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Siena Montesano is a 15-year-old new home schooler who has been dancing off and on for 13 years. This is Siena's second year at Gustafson Dance and first year with SSBYD. Her favorite roles have been Snow White and Chinese in the Nutcracker. For the past four years Siena has attended the Steps on Broadway summer intensive and has also done a Russian Workshop three years in a row in Santa Barbara. Siena plans to continue to dance through high school and also in college.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Teddy Montesano is sixteen years old and is currently a junior at Santa Barbara High School. She has been studying ballet for fourteen years, however, this is only her second year with Gustafson Dance. She has attended Regional Dance America two times in the past and is excited to join State Street Ballet Young Dancers at National Dance America in Pittsburg. Along with ballet, Teddy loves art and design. This is her first year in the Multi Media Arts and Design Academy and Santa Barbara High School.
(photo by Scott London)	Amaya Perea is sixteen years old and attends Santa Barbara City College. She has studied ballet with Gustafson Dance Studio for ten years and Flamenco for nine years with the Linda Vega Dance Studio. Amaya enjoys, singing, acting, and all types of dance. In 2004, she toured as member of the Marquez Classical Spanish Company. She looks forward to one day dancing professionally full time and performing on Broadway.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Christine Sawyer was born in Hackensack, NJ. She trained at the School of American Ballet, the official school of The New York City Ballet. Most recently, Ms. Sawyer has trained in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap at The School at Steps on full scholarship primarily under Leslie Browne, Ethan Brown, and David Howard for ballet and Roberta Mathes for jazz. In 2005 Ms. Sawyer competed in the Youth America Grand Prix competition and was in the top 12 category for both classical and contemporary dance in the semi-finals and was a New York City finalist. Ms. Sawyer has attended summer programs such as The Jillana School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and American Ballet Theater's Intensive in NYC, NJ Governor’s School for the Arts, and Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet. This past summer she attended State Street Ballet's Summer Intensive on full scholarship where she was asked to join the company as an apprentice.
(photo by Mary Fish Arango)	Chelsea Yarnell is 17 and attends the Middle College program at Santa Barbara City College. She is currently in her twelfth year at Gustafson Dance and fifth year as a State Street Ballet Young Dancer. Chelsea has attended The American Ballet Theatre and State Street Ballet summer intensives and was awarded full scholarships to the Craft of Choreography Conference in Utah and The Interlochen Arts Academy summer programs.
	Apprentices
	Tivoli Evans, age twelve, is a seventh grader and lives in Solvang, California. She began singing and dancing at the age of 3 and in 2003 she played the leading role of Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods. Tivoli has studied ballet for nine years and has performed various roles in seven holiday Nutcrackers, both in Dallas and Santa Barbara. Tivoli studies dance at Gustafson Dance and Los Olivos Dance Gallery. Last spring Tivoli was invited to dance the role of the Changling Child in State Street Ballet’s A Midsummer Night's Dream. Tivoli has attended State Street Ballet summer and ABT Young Dancer programs and will be returning to ABT New York this June for their Summer Intensive Program. Tivoli has won the Los Olivos Dance Gallery Scholarship for the past two years.
	Nicola Florimbi (Nikki) is a twelve-year-old sixth grader at Cold Spring School in Santa Barbara. She has studied ballet at Gustafson Dance since she was six. Nikki is committed to a future in dance, wherever that may take her. She has attended various intensives in Santa Barbara and works privately whenever she can on Balachine technique with former Kansas City Ballet principal, Susan Manchak. Nikki also works privately with Arlene Sugano, currently at the University of North Texas. She will be attending the ABT intensive in Austin, TX this summer.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Sofia Florimbi is thirteen years old and is currently in the eighth grade at Crane School. She loves ballet and has been studying at Gustafson Dance since she was three years old. She has attended the State Street Ballet Summer Intensive, Summerdance Kids Connection, the Santa Barbara Ballet Summer Intensive, and a workshop with Dmitri Roudnev. Sofia also studies privately with Susan Manchak.
(photo by David Bazemore)	Nicole Larson is 14 years old and is a freshman at Santa Barbara High School. She has been studying ballet at Gustafson Dance for eight years, and has attended the Summerdance Kids Connection. She hopes to continue her ballet training at a performing arts college. Along with dancing, Nicole loves music, drawing, and all other forms of art, and will be part of the Visual Arts and Design Academy next year at her high school.
(photo by Mary Fish Arango)	Natalia Perea is thirteen years old and is homeschooled. She has studied ballet for five years with Gustafson Dance and Flamenco for six years with the Linda Vega Dance Studio. Natalia was chosen and served Old Spanish Days of Santa Barbara with the title, “Junior Spirit of Fiesta 2004.” She loves the joy she receives when dancing and also enjoys creative writing.
(photo by Bleu Braaten)	Veronica Wenzinger (bio to come)
(photo by David Bazemore)	Meaghan Yolles is 15 years old and is currently in the tenth grade at Dos Pueblos High School. She has been studying at Gustafson Dance since she was four years old. This past year participated in State Street Ballet’s Summer Intensive. Meaghan has been assisting with ballet classes for the past five years, and now helps with four classes a week. She loves younger children and teaching ballet. She hopes one day soon to be able to teach her own ballet class, and maybe even be a ballet teacher as an adult.