In honor of the Auditorium Theatre’s 50th anniversary of its grand re-opening,
A Golden Celebration of Dance honors the legendary dance history of the Auditorium Theatre, stars the world’s best dancers, and features the next generation of dance. Meet the Golden Dancers below, and join us as we commemorate 50 years with a one-night-only mixed repertory program!
JACQUELINE BURNETT (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Pocatello, ID. Burnett received classical ballet training in Pocatello from Romanian ballet master Marius Zirra, with additional summer training at Ballet Idaho, Brindusa-Moore Ballet Academy, the Universal (Kirov) Ballet Academy, the Juilliard School, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors from the Ailey School and Fordham University’s joint program in New York City in 2009 while apprenticing with Hubbard Street. She was promoted to Hubbard Street’s main company in August 2009 and is a 2011-12 Princess Grace honorarium recipient.
TODD BURNSED (MOMIX) received a BFA from the Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy. He has toured extensively with MOMIX, Jessica Lang Dance, and Twyla Tharp’s Movin’ Out. Burnsed was in the original Broadway cast of Tharp’s Come Fly Away and her Las Vegas production Sinatra: Dance With Me. He also has appeared in The Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Parsifal and Les Troyens. Burnsed’s first performance with MOMIX was in 2001.
MICHAEL COOK (The Suzanne Farrell Ballet) is from Tempe, AZ, and received his dance training from the Tempe Dance Academy in Arizona and the School of American Ballet. Cook has been a member of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet since 2007. From 1999 to 2007, Cook danced with Ballet Arizona as a principal dancer. While performing with Ballet Arizona, he originated roles in Ib Andersen’s Romeo and Juliet as Romeo, Mosaik, and Swan Lake as Prince Siegfried. His repertoire includes works by Paul Taylor, Julia Adam, Twyla Tharp, Dwight Rhoden, Maurice Béjart, Jerome Robbins, and George Balanchine. As a part of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Cook has danced principal roles in Agon, Apollo, Prodigal Son, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Duo Concertante, La Valse, Diamonds, Meditation, and Mozartiana, among others. He has also danced in Ragtime as a part of the Balanchine Preservation Initiative. His passion for dancing extends beyond the stage to teaching and inspiring young students. Through the Education Department at the Kennedy Center, Cook teaches a series of master classes in ballet and partnering. He also owns and directs Tempe Dance West in Laveen, AZ.
SOLOMON DUMAS (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) is from Chicago, IL. He joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2016. Dumas was introduced to the company through the AileyCamp program in Chicago, where he began his formal training at The Chicago Academy for the Arts and the Russell Talbert Dance Studio. Dumas studied at The Ailey School and was a member of Ailey II before joining the main company, and has also performed with Garth Fagan Dance and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE.
KELLIE EPPERHEIMER (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Los Osos, CA. She began her dance training in 1988 at the Academy of Dance and Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo, and attended training programs at The Joffrey Ballet School and the Juilliard School in New York City. A founding member of Cedar Lake Ensemble (later Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet), she joined Hubbard Street 2 in January 2005 and was promoted to the main company in January 2007.
MEGAN FAIRCHILD (New York City Ballet) was born in Salt Lake City, UT, and began her dance training at the age of 4, studying with Judy Levitre and Kaelynne Oliphant at Dance Concepts in Sandy, UT, and at the Ballet West Conservatory in Salt Lake City with Sharee Lane, Deborah Dobson, and Maureen Laird. While at the Ballet West Conservatory, Fairchild was also a Ballet West trainee. Fairchild entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 2000. In November 2001, Fairchild became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in October 2002 she joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet. Fairchild was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, she was promoted to principal dancer. Her repertoire with New York City Ballet includes George Balanchine’s Coppélia (Swanilda), Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Theme and Variations; Peter Martins’ Swan Lake (Odette-Odile), The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora, Ruby, Princess Florine), and The Magic Flute (Lise); and Jerome Robbins’ The Four Seasons (Winter), Brandenburg, and Piano Pieces; among many others.
MICHAEL GROSS (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Poughquag, NY. He earned a BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona and received much of his early training from Colorado Jazz Dance Company in Colorado Springs, followed by further studies at the American Academy of Ballet and Springboard Danse Montréal. Formerly a member of River North Dance Chicago and Visceral Dance Chicago, Gross has also performed with Elements Contemporary Ballet and in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s holiday production, Welcome Yule! Gross joined Hubbard Street in August 2014 and thanks his friends and family for their love and support.
ELLIOT HAMMANS (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Santa Fe, NM. He began his formal dance training in 2008 with Robert Sher-Machherndl and continued his ballet and modern dance education with Moving People Dance in Santa Fe under the direction of Curtis Uhlemann. Hammans joined Moving People Dance Company as an apprentice in 2010, trained on full scholarship at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center in San Francisco, and attended Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s 2011 and 2012 Summer Intensives. Following one season with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and studies abroad at Austria’s Tanzzentrum SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance), Hammans earned his BFA in Dance in 2014 from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Hammans joined Hubbard Street 2 as a full company member in August 2014 and was promoted to Hubbard Street’s main company in August 2016.
KOTO ISHIHARA (San Francisco Ballet) was born in Nagoya, Japan and trained at Yukie Ballet School and the Shiho Kanazawa Ballet. She won 3rd place in the Japan Grand Prix Competition and received a scholarship to The Harid Conservatory. After completing the Conservatory’s summer intensive in 2008, she became a trainee at the San Francisco Ballet. She joined the company in 2010 and was promoted to soloist in 2014. Ishihara has danced featured or principal roles in Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU; Helgi Tomasson’s The Nutcracker, 7 for Eight, Swan Lake, and Giselle; Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote (Cupid); George Balanchine’s Brahms- Schoenberg Quartet and Divertimento No. 15; William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc (Serenade); Natalia Makarova’s (after Petipa) “The Kingdom of the Shades” from La Bayadère, Act II (1st Shade variation); Rudolf Nureyev’s Raymonda; Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella (Balinese Princess); Wayne McGregor’s Borderlands and Chroma; and many others. Ishihara danced in the film version of Tomasson’s Romeo & Juliet as part of the inaugural season of Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance.
VICTORIA JAIANI (The Joffrey Ballet) is from Tbilisi, Georgia. She began her training at the age of 10 at the Choreographic School of Georgia. Later, she continued her studies at a ballet school in New York. In June 2003, she won a bronze medal at the New York International Ballet Competition. Since joining the Joffrey in 2003, Jaiani has performed in Age of Innocence, Alegro Consabor, Apollo (Terpsichore), Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations, Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (Cinderella), Creative Force, Dark Elegies, Giselle (Giselle), The Green Table, In the Night, Kettentanz, Laurencia Pas d’Action, Light Rain, Monotones II, The Nutcracker, Pas Des Deesses (Grahn), Petrouchka, Postcards, Les Presages (Passion), Jiři Kylián’s Return to a Strange Land, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Round of Angels, Square Dance, Viva Vivaldi, A Wedding Bouquet, and in the middle, somewhat elevated. In 2006, Jaiani was featured in the world premiere of a new work by Donald Byrd, Motown Suite.
ALICE KLOCK (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Whidbey Island, WA. She trained at Interlochen Arts Academy from 2003-2007, and in the Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Dominican University of California’s joint BFA program from 2007-2009. Klock then joined Hubbard Street 2 in September 2009 and was promoted to the main Hubbard Street company in September 2011. Klock creates original works in watercolor, oil paint, and mixed media as a visual artist; as a choreographer, she has contributed to the Nexus Project, Loyola University, and Visceral Dance Chicago, in addition to premiering work through Hubbard Street’s danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, International Commissioning Project, and annual Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop.
MARIA KOCHETKOVA (San Francisco Ballet) was born in Moscow and trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School for eight years before dancing with The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet in London. She joined the San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer in 2007 and has performed as a guest artist with the Bolshoi and Stanislavsky Theatres in Moscow, the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres in St. Petersburg, and the Tokyo Ballet in Japan. Her classical repertoire includes the title role in Giselle, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin, and the title role in Alice in Wonderland. She has also performed in George Balanchine’s Coppelia (as Swanilda), Divertimento No. 15, Jewels (Emeralds and Rubies), Serenade, Theme and Variations, Symphony in C (2nd movement), and Scotch Symphony; William Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated and Artifact Suite; Kenneth MacMillan’s Winter Dreams; Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations and Voices of Spring; Wayne McGregor’s Chroma (opening night for US premiere); and ballets by David Dawson, Derek Deane, Jorma Elo, Mark Morris, Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Helgi Tomasson, Christopher Wheeldon, and Hans van Manen. In 2013, Kochetkova made her debut with American Ballet Theatre, performing Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. She joined ABT as a principal dancer in August 2015.
LIUDMILA KONOVALOVA (Vienna State Ballet) was born in Moscow. She graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and joined the Russian State Ballet in 2002. In 2004, she was appointed first soloist with the company. In 2007, she joined the Staatsballett Berlin and was appointed soloist in 2009. In 2010, she joined the Wiener Staatsballett (Vienna State Ballet) as a soloist and was appointed principal in 2011. Her repertoire with the company includes Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake (Odette-Odile), John Cranko’s Onegin (Olga), and Jorma Elo’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania).
NICOLE LOIZIDES (MOMIX) has danced with New York Dance Theatre, NYC Contemporary, Ballet Hispanico, and MOMIX. Trained as a classical dancer in the Balanchine tradition, it was a welcome and surprising change when she joined MOMIX in 1999. Having toured with MOMIX for over 18 years, Loizides has taken part in the creative process for five of the company’s shows and has traveled six continents performing and teaching for the company. In February of 2002, she was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine, and in September of that same year, she performed Millennium Skiva on Live with Regis and Kelly. In 2007, she had the privilege of performing for and meeting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at the Royal Variety Show in Liverpool, England. Loizides appeared in MOMIX’s Target commercial that aired in 2009. Loizides leaped forward from dancer to associate choreographer when she assisted in the creation of the “Dove of Peace” segment featured in the opening ceremonies for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. In 2015, she directed and choreographed Abu Dhabi’s National Day celebration, which was attended by 45,000 people. After a 21-year dance career, Loizides now runs a massage studio, h’Om, in Glen Cove, NY. She teaches master classes throughout the year in both dance and injury prevention. She is the founder of the newly formed non-profit Moving On, an organization dedicated to assisting dancers who are transitioning careers, choreographing, and performing special projects.
BROOKLYN MACK (The Washington Ballet) was born in Elgin, SC. Mack began his dance training at age 12 with the Pavlovich Dance School under Radenko Pavlovich and Milena Leben before receiving a scholarship to study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. Mack then apprenticed with The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and later joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company. Before joining The Washington Ballet, Mack spent three seasons as a principal dancer with Orlando Ballet. Notable awards include the Kirsti Paakenen Encouragement Prize at the 2005 International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, Finland; the silver medal at the 2006 Jackson International Ballet Competition in Mississippi; the 2007 Princess Grace Fellowship Award; second prize at the 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition; the bronze medal at the 2011 Boston International Ballet Competition; the Marius Leipa Prize at the 2011 Boston International Ballet Competition; the silver medal at the 2011 Korean International Dance Competition; the gold medal at the 2012 Boston International Ballet Competition; first prize at the 2012 Istanbul Grand Prix; and the gold medal at the 2012 International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. Most recently, Mack was featured in Ebony Magazine, theGrio’s Top 100, and Dance Magazine as one of the 25 to Watch. He is in his ninth season with The Washington Ballet.
NATALIA MAGNICABALLI (The Suzanne Farrell Ballet) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has been a principal dancer with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet since its inception in 1999 and with Ballet Arizona since 2002. A graduate of Teatro Colón, she became a principal dancer at the age of 19 with Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino. In Europe, she joined the Italian company Aterballetto under Mauro Bigonzetti’s direction. Her repertoire includes the lead roles in 30 Balanchine creations, the leads in the most beloved classic ballets, as well as works and premiers by Jiři Kylián, Roland Petit, Maurice Bejart, Mauro Bigonzetti, Jerome Robbins, Dwight Rhoden, Paul Mejia, Ib Andersen, Oscar Araiz, Mauricio Wainrot, Ana María Stekelman, Alberto Méndez, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky. She has toured and performed in the main houses and arena theatres in five continents including the Paris Opera Garnier and the Mariinsky Theatre. Magnicaballi has been featured as one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch and named Best Dancer by The Arizona Republic.
ANDREW MURDOCK (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, from which he received a BFA in dance under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. Prior to being a regular collaborator with Aszure Barton & Artists, Murdock performed with Gallim Dance and BJM Danse, formerly Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal. Additional collaborators and colleagues include Cherice Barton, Joshua Beamish, Andy Blankenbuehler, Nina Chung, Joe Lanteri, Austin McCormick, Michelle Mola, Abdel Salaam, and Edgar Zendejas. He has appeared at the Greenwich Music Festival with Zack Winokur and with Geneviève Dorion-Coupal at Just for Laughs and Le 400e Anniversaire de la Ville de Québec. As a rehearsal assistant to Aszure Barton, he worked with American Ballet Theatre, Canada’s National Ballet School and Ballet BC, New York University, the Steps Ensemble, Arts Umbrella, and Springboard Danse Montréal. He joined Hubbard Street in 2013.
MADISON PENNEY (Youth America Grand Prix) is from Arizona. When she was 8 years old, she joined the Master Ballet Academy, led by Artistic Director Slawomir Wozniak. Among her many accolades and awards are the Gold Medal at the World Ballet Competition in 2015 and the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Hope Award in 2016. She recently won the 2017 Grand Prix award at the YAGP finals in New York. Penney has performed with Phoenix Ballet in several productions with seasoned professionals that include soloist roles originated for her by Albert Blaise Cattafi and Fransisco Gella.
KEVIN J. SHANNON (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is from Baltimore, MD. He began dancing under the guidance of Lester Holmes. He graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts with additional training at the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Parsons Dance. He earned his BFA in 2007 at the Juilliard School, toured nationally with the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, and appeared in the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast television special The Juilliard School: Celebrating 100 Years. Shannon joined Hubbard Street in November 2007.
DANIIL SIMKIN (American Ballet Theatre) was born in Russia to a ballet family. At age 10, Simkin began his training under the direction of his mother, Olga Aleksandrova. At 12, he began participating in ballet competitions and galas around the world and, at the same time, finished his academic education. He joined the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera in 2006 as a demi-soloist. Simkin joined American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in October 2008 and became a principal dancer in December 2012. His repertoire with the company includes the Bronze Idol in La Bayadère; the Ballet Dancer in The Bright Stream; Franz in Coppélia; Ali and Lankendem in Le Corsaire; Basilio and the Lead Gypsy in Don Quixote; Puck in The Dream; the first sailor in Fancy Free; the Flames of Paris pas de deux; Albrecht and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle; The Profiteer in The Green Table; Lescaut in Manon; Kolia in A Month in the Country; the Nutcracker Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker; Lensky in Onegin; the Son in Prodigal Son; Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet; Boy With Matted Hair in Shadowplay; Prince Désiré and the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty; the Rose in Le Spectre de la Rose; the pas de deux from Stars and Stripes; Prince Siegfried and Benno in Swan Lake; Gurn in La Sylphide; Orion, Eros, and a Goat in Sylvia; Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. He created the Chinese Dance in Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Bluebird in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Ariel in The Tempest, The Boy in Whipped Cream, and roles in Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, and Troika.
TEMUR SULUASHVILI (The Joffrey Ballet) was born in Russia and raised in the Republic of Georgia. He began his dance career at age 15 by studying at the Vachtang Chaboukiani Academy in the Republic of Georgia. At the Academy, Suluashvili performed in productions of The Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quixote, Bluebird, and Hour Dance. In 1999, he was a finalist the Republic’s first dance competition and received a certificate of achievement. In September 2000, Suluashvili came to the United States thanks to a full scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Suluashvili was part of The Joffrey Ballet School Dancers, a student ensemble that toured the United States. In the summer of 2003, Suluashvili was a finalist in the New York International Ballet Competition. Later that summer, he joined The Joffrey Ballet as a full-time dancer and made his debut with the company in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. Suluashvili has performed in various ballets with the Joffrey, including The Clowns, Creative Force, Giselle, Laurencia Pas d’Action, Les Patineurs, The Nutcracker, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz!, Petrouchka, Round of Angels, Le Sacre du Printemps, Square Dance, Tensile Involvement, Viva Vivaldi, and A Wedding Bouquet.
DANIEL ULBRICHT (New York City Ballet) was born in St. Petersburg, FL, and began his dance training at the age of 11 at the Judith Lee Johnson Studio of Dance, studying with Lenny Holmes. He also studied at Les Jeunes Danseurs with Javier Dubraq and attended the Chautauqua Summer Dance Program, training with Jean Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride. In 1999, Ulbricht was invited by the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, to continue his training during their Winter Program. As a student at SAB, Ulbricht performed with New York City Ballet as a Jester in Peter Martins’ The Sleeping Beauty. In December 2000, he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in November 2001 he joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet. In January 2005, Ulbricht was promoted to the rank of soloist and principal dancer in May 2007. His repertoire with New York City Ballet includes George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon, Puck), Prodigal Son, and Stars and Stripes; Peter Martins’ Eight More, A Fool for You, and Swan Lake (Jester, Pas de Quatre); and Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, Fanfare (Tuba), and The Four Seasons (Fall).