State Street Ballet
Young Dancers
Dancers
Company
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Jade Barrad is a 16 year old honor student in her junior year at Santa Barbara High School. She trained with Santa Barbara Festival Ballet for twelve years culminating in her casting as Clara in the Nutcracker at the Arlington in 2011. This year will be her first year with the State Street Ballet Young Dancers and she is very excited to be joining the company. Jade attended American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive in Austin, Texas in 2010. She participated in Cecchetti USA summer intensives in 2009 and 2010 where she was a scholarship nominee. She scored high marks on her Cecchetti exams up to Level 9. In April, Jade was awarded 3rd place in the 11th Santa Barbara Ballet Competition (Junior Lady Division). This past summer, she attended State Street Ballet’s summer intensive along with a summer workshop at South Bay Ballet. This is her third year attending RDA and she is thrilled to be traveling to Montreal, Canada. Jade hopes to have a professional career in ballet and dreams of dancing with a company in New York. |
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Karina Biancone is 16 years old and a junior at Santa Barbara High School. This is Karina's fourth year in SSBYD and fifth year going to RDA. She has attended State Street Ballet Intensive three times, Long Beach Ballet's Ambassadors to China summer program, and RDA’s Choreography Intensive in North Carolina this year. She is excited for this year's upcoming performances and RDA in Canada. |
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Emily Clark is a fifteen years old sophomore at Dos Pueblos High School. She has been dancing with Gustafson since she was four years old and this will be her third year with SSBYD. Last summer Emily attended the SSB Summer Dance Program and in 2010 she spent six months in England, earning a distinction in RAD level 6. Outside of dance Emily enjoys music, art and science. |
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Melody Collins graduated San Marcos High School in 2010, and is currently a trainee with State Street Ballet. She began studying ballet at age 6 with Gustafson Dance and continued her training at Goleta School of Ballet before attending the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Graduate Program this past school year. She attended the State Street Ballet Junior Intensive as well as summer programs with Goleta School of Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Boston Ballet. In addition to dance she enjoys singing and playing the flute. |
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Julia DePaoli is a junior in high school and has been dancing with Gustafson dance since the age of five. She has had many opportunities to perform with State Street Ballet, and was Clara in their production of The Nutcracker in 2010. She has attended the State Street Ballet summer intensive, Joffrey Midwest intensive, Magnus Midwest intensive (formerly known as Joffrey Midwest) with John Magnus, and this past summer at Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet. This will be her third year in the company with State Street Ballet Young Dancers. |
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Francesca Gonzales is a junior at Santa Barbara High School. She has been at Gustafson Dance since the age of 4. She competed with Santa Barbara Gymnastics Club from Levels 4 through 8 for seven years. She has attended State Street Ballet's Summer Intensive program. In 2010 she received a dance scholarship to attend Long Beach Ballet's Ambassador to China program. While touring and performing throughout eastern China, she danced in Swan Lake, Act II as well as new dance works such as Ancestors, Swing and Peking. Last year she danced the role of Clara in State Street Ballet's The Nutcracker. This year, Francesca looks forward to attending and performing at RDA National Festival in Montreal, Canada. |
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Jameson Keating is from Santa Barbara, California, where he trained with Gustafson Dance. He performed with State Street Ballet Young Dancers for four years, and was part of the RDA/Pacific Company that performed at the 2010 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2011, he joined State Street Ballet as an apprentice. |
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Joel Sterken is 16 and a junior at Dos Pueblos High School. Joel has been dancing with Gustafson Dance for nine years. He has been in SSBYD for 4 years. In 2011 he received 1st place at the Santa Barbara Ballet Competition for his age group. He has played the role of Fritz annually in State Street Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. He has attended the State Street Ballet Summer Intensive, and most recently the Utah Regional Ballet Summer Intensive on full scholarship. |
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Rukako Takahashi is from Japan. She trained with Elmhurst School for Dance in associate with Birmingham Royal Ballet in UK on full scholarship, and The Washington Ballet School for the Trainee program. In 2004 she was a finalist at the YAGP Ballet Competition in NY and in 2006 she won the gold medal at All Nippon D.A.T.E Classic Ballet Competition. She joined State Street Ballet in 2011. |
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Casey Venturelli is 17 years old, and is a senior at San Marcos High School. She has been dancing since the age of three at Gustafson Dance in such styles as ballet, jazz, tap, character, and her favorite, modern. Dance has brought Casey many opportunities, such as attending Magnus Midwest Workshop in Michigan, Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program, and Regional Dance America festivals in Utah, Washington, Las Vegas, and Long Beach, California. This past summer she attended San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, focusing her time on modern, choreography, and improvisation. In the spring of 2010, her choreography, "Silhouette", was chosen as one of six emerging pieces shown at the Regional Dance America festival in Richland, Washington. Outside of dance, Casey is a dedicated student, and is most recently focused on working with students with developmental disabilities. She plans to study neuroscience and psychology in college next fall, and hopes to have a career that combines this interest with dance. |
Apprentice II
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Fiona Chandrasekaran is in 8th grade and goes to La Colina Jr. High. She started dancing with Gustafson when she was 3 years old and had been dancing ever since. Although Fiona mostly does ballet, she also loves taking modern and jazz classes. Last year, Fiona choreographed a piece for On The Verge. This is her first year as an apprentice in SSBYD, and her third year going to RDA. Fiona also loves to read, draw, and watch anime. |
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Kira Hopkins has been studying with Gustafson Dance since the age of 7. She is very happy to be dancing with SSBYD this year as a level 2 apprentice. She is in her 8th year at Santa Barbara Montessori School and is 13 years old. She has attended 3 summers of the Junior Intensive with Gustafson Dance, and also participated in the State Street Ballet’s Summer Intensive 2011. She is excited to be dancing the role of Rudolph this year, and looks forward to her second performance as a Party Girl in the State Street Ballet’s production of Nutcracker. Kira has been very fortunate to receive scholarships from Santa Barbara Dance Alliance. When she is not dancing Kira enjoys riding her bike, reading, and spending time with family and friends. Kira will be attending RDA this year for the first time and can’t wait! In the future Kira hopes to continue dancing and developing as an artist! |
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Emma Nelson is 13 and is currently an eighth grader at Goleta Valley Junior High. This will be her 10th year with Gustafson Dance, second year with SSBYD, and second year going to RDA. Emma has attended the Kirov Acadamy of Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet for their summer intensives. This year she will be dancing Clara in State Street Ballet's The Nutcracker. She is very excited about this coming year with SSBYD, and hopes to pursue a career in dance when she is older. |
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Natalie Mohr is 13 and in eighth grade at Santa Barbara Junior High School. She has been dancing with Gustafson Dance for 6 years, and this will be her third year participating in the Regional Dance America festival. In addition to dance, Natalie enjoys drawing and playing the piano. She is looking forward to another fun year of dance as an apprentice with SSBYD. |
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Lianne Sturgeon is a freshman at Dos Pueblos High School. She has been dancing for four years and this is her first time being an apprentice for the company. Lianne hopes to someday become a surgeon so she can say Surgeon Sturgeon and dance in SSB's Waltz of the Flowers. Along with meeting new people in high school, Lianne looks forward to RDA this year...in Montreal! |
Apprentice I
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Giulia Castleberg is a 14 year old freshman at Dos Pueblos High School. She has been dancing since the age of five and has been doing SSBYD for two years now. She is looking forward to be in multiple dances and challenge herself to many new things this year. |
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Jenna Comstock is twelve years old and is an eighth grader at Santa Barbara Junior High. She has been dancing for nine years. From age four to seven Jenna danced with Bossov Ballet and from age seven on she has danced with Gustafson Dance. In the 2010/11 school year, Jenna had the opportunity to dance with Cornish College of the Arts Dance Preparatory Program as well as training with Debra Hadley. Jenna’s favorite role that she has performed so far is the Bluebird variation; she performed this variation in the Debra Hadley 2011 end of year performance. Jenna was accepted into Kirov Academy of Ballet’s summer program when she was 10, State Street Ballet Summer Intensive at age 11, and Pacific Northwest Ballet and Los Angeles Ballet summer programs at age 12. She attended State Street Ballet’s Summer Intensive at age 11 as well as Gustafson Dance’s Junior Intensives from age eight to ten. She also enjoys skateboarding, hiking in the Santa Barbara mountains, tennis, and art. Jenna is very excited to be an Apprentice with SSBYD this coming year. She hopes to pursue a professional career in dance. |
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Lily Conroy has been with Gustafson’s Dance for 6 years and has been dancing since she was 4 yearsold, she is now 13. Lily is an 8th grader doing independent studies at Alta Vista Jr High School allowing her time to pursue her love of dance & also her passion for figure skating. She has been involved competitive figure skating for over four years, and is a United States Figure Skating member. Lily was thrilled to participate in the Junior Intensive Camp this past summer. It was a great honor for Lily, when she was chosen to be a member of SSBYD. |
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Afton Gustafson has been dancing all of her life. She has performed in many Gustafson Dance and State Street Ballet performances. Afton is not only a dancer but a figure skater too. She has three mostly great dogs named Tico, Kitri, and Romeo. Someday she hopes to be in the ballet “Don Quixote,” her favorite ballet since she was six. Now Afton is Twelve and a half. |
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Kaylee Kooyman is 12 years old. She is homeschooled and is in 7th grade. She has been dancing for 3 years with Gustafson Dance. this is her first year in SSBYD. She is very excited to be able to go to RDA festival in Montreal, Canada this year. Besides dance, she likes to play the piano and sing. Int he future, she would like to teach younger classes. One of her dream roles would be the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. |
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Sophie Kubinyi is 13 years old and has been dancing for 10 Years. She attends La Colina Junior High as an eight grader. One of her goals is to be in the company when she's older and to teach younger classes. Sophie has been doing junior intensitive for the past 3 years. Something unique about her is that she's fluent in Hungarian. Sophie is also very excited to be attending regional dance America this year. |
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Julia McCarter is a 13 year old at Santa Barbara Junior High School. She has been dancing for 8 years and with Gustafson’s for at least 4. She is an Apprentice 1 and this is her first year of SSBYD. She will be attending RDA this year for the first time this year and is very excited. She cannot wait to work with the company and participate in the upcoming performances. |
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Catherine Mesipam has been dancing since she was two and a half. She goes to St. Raphael School and is 12 years old. She has attended Gustafson Dance’s Junior Intesive. She is excited to be an apprentice 1 this year. She also enjoys playing volleyball. |
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Margaux Sullivan is 13 years old and attends 7th grade at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School. She has been dancing at Gustafson Dance for 10 years. She enjoys sewing and designing dresses as well as singing and acting. She can't wait to go to Montreal for RDA and learn from different teachers. |
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Grace Quittner is a 12 year old at Santa Barbara Middle School. She has been dancing with Gustafson for about 9 years. She has done Junior Intensive and Dance Camp in past summers. She loves all kind of dance, but especially ballet. This is Grace’s first year as an Apprentice 1 in level 4b, and she is excited to do future productions with the company. |
Juniors
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Cella DePrima is 11 years old and is in 7th grade at Santa Barbara Junior High. This is her seventh year dancing with Gustafson Dance. Cella participated in the Junior Intensive for 2 summers and played the role of Liza in Peter Pan. She is very excited to be a SSBYD Junior this year. |
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Sophia Vraciu is in sixth grade at Santa Barbara Montessori School. She has been dancing since the age of 2, and this is her 8th year at Gustafson Dance. She is very happy to be a junior this year. |
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Sophia Caldwell is eleven years old, and is a sixth grader at Vieja Valley School. Sophia has been dancing since the age of three, and this is her fourth year with Gustafson Dance. Sophia is thrilled to be a part of SSBYD Juniors, and is looking forward to dancing this year. |
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Isabel Clark is twelve years old and a seventh grader at Goleta Valley Junior High. She has been dancing since the age of three, and has studied ballet, jazz, flamenco and character at Gustafson Dance and FlameColores in Santa Barbara and DanceForce in Kingston, UK. She is excited to be part of SSBYD Juniors and looks forward to a wonderful year. |
Beach Photography by Heidi Bergseteren
