Portland Ballet - Portland Ballet Dancers


Eugenia L. O'Brien (Founder and Artistic Director) is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Dance. She has performed with Movement Laboratory in Boston, Concert Dance Company, Boston Dance Theater, and represented the U.S. at the International Academy of Dance, Portugal. Ms. O'Brien completed the Academic Classical Ballet course with Egon Bischoff at the International Ballet School in Jackson, MS., and attended the 2006 Balletto Internazionale Americano-Adriatico Teacher's Seminar in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. Currently, she is a member of the Creative Portland Corp. and continues to promote education through dance. She serves as the Artistic Director for both the Portland School of Ballet and the Portland Ballet Company. Nell Shipman (Associate Artistic Director) earned her B.F.A. in Dance Performance with High Honors from Butler University. Nell has performed and shown choreography in Portland, New York, Chicago, Boulder, Indianapolis and Tbilisi. She has taught at RDA's Mid-States Festival in St. Louis, MO. and Kansas Regional Ballet's Summer Intensive. With PBC, Nell has performed in Giselle, The Victorian Nutcracker; Bolero; Carmina Burana; La Vivandiere; Degas and Portland Symphony Orchestra's Magic of Christmas 2006 & 2007, as well as The 2008 & 2009 Best of Broadway Benefit Concert and PORTOpera's overture to Romeo et Juliette which she also choreographed. Her choreography for PBC includes The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Dance for the Cure; Spoke of the Wheel; Somebody; Push Me Pull You; Les Noces & The Triumph of Aphrodite in collaboration with Bowdoin College, Hansel and Gretel with PORTopera, the 2006 and 2011 Friends of the Kotzchmar Organ Halloween Concerts and Spring 2008 Bach Birthday Bash and a PBC collaboration with Portland Symphony Orchestra of L'Histoire du Soldat. Nell is an Instructor for Portland Ballet, as well as PBC Resident Choreographer and has been a Company member since 2004. In 2010 Nell was promoted to Associate Artistic Director of Portland Ballet. Elizabeth Avantaggio is a graduate of the University of the Arts with a BFA in Ballet Performance on a 4 year promising artist scholarship. She has trained with Joffrey Ballet and performed with The Shore Ballet Company and Performing Arts Ensemble of New Jersey. Elizabeth joined Portland Ballet in 2007 and her credits include Snow Princess in The Victorian Nutcracker. Elizabeth also teaches ballet at several studios in Southern Maine. Megan Buckley is from St. Louis, MO, and began her formal training with Alexandra Zaharias, graduating as First Company member from pre-professional company, Alexandra Ballet. Buckley also trained at summer intensive workshops with American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Thodos Dance Chicago. She furthered her education as a Trainee at Joffrey Ballet School, NYC and on scholarship at Nashville Ballet School. She then performed professionally with Milwaukee Ballet II, Alexandra Ballet, Thodos Dance Chicago, and Rockingham Ballet Theatre. Derek Clifford is a graduate from Northwestern University, he danced in Mark Morris's The Hard Nut in Brussels, New York, Edinburg and Berkeley. As a member of the New York Baroque Dance Company, he danced at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and in the Gottingen Handel Festival production of Ariodante in Germany. He has been with the Company since 2001. Deborah Grammatic began her ballet training with the Seacoast Ballet Company, and Ballet Theatre Workshop, where she performed a wide variety of roles including the lead roles in Paquita; Carmina Burana; and Pas de Quatre. She joined Ballet New England's Junior Company in 2004 on scholarship and after dancing the title role in Sleeping Beauty was asked to join their professional company. She also joined and toured with the Boston Dance Company, and has been a principal dancer with Northeastern Ballet Theatre. Joseph Jefferies has danced professionally for 14 years, most recently with Les Ballet Trockadero De Monte Carlo. He has danced several lead roles in classical full length ballets as well as contemporary pieces by noted choreographers. He has had the opportunity to tour the world including Japan, Russia, Brazil, Italy, France, Australia, Germany and the UK. He has won the RDA Emerging Choreographer Scholarship twice and been selected for and performed in New York City's Ballet Builders Showcase. Jefferies was named "Artist of the Year" in 2002 by the Memphis Commercial Appeal for his dancing and choreography. Jefferies appeared with PBC in the 2010 – 2011 season; returned as Brom Bones in the 2011 production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and will dance the role of Albrecht in the PBC Spring 2012 production of Giselle.		Jennifer Jones joined Portland Ballet Company in 2010-11 after four seasons as a principal dancer with The Northwest Florida Ballet. Prior to dancing in Florida, she danced as a soloist with Montgomery Ballet, and an Apprentice with Dance Connecticut (formerly Hartford Ballet). Her Portland Ballet credits include Katrina in the 2011 production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; By Request and The Victorian Nutcracker. Meghan McCoy studied ballet at the Portsmouth School of Ballet and continued training at the University of New Hampshire, with the Joffrey School of Ballet in NYC, and with Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre. She has also been a guest artist with Northeastern Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker production. This is her first year with Portland Ballet as a full company member. PBC performances include The Victorian Nutcracker, By Request and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Morgan Sanborn graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. From Standish, ME she is a Portland Ballet CORPS graduate and attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Festival Ballet of Providence, Point Park University, and Boston Conservatory. With Point Park University's Playhouse Dance Company she danced in Leny-Midkiff's Euphoric Dances and Barak's Telemann Overature Suite in E Minor. PBC repertoire includes The Victorian Nutcracker, Pas de Quatre and Bolero, and she debuted the role of Katrina in the 2010 production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Caroline Shelton has studied at various classical ballet schools including Academy of Ballet Arts in Chelmsford, MA; Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C.; North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte; Ballet Workshop of New England in Waltham, MA, with Jacqueline Cronsberg; and the University of New Hampshire with the Dance Company while majoring in Theatre and Dance. This is her second season dancing with Portland Ballet Company, and she has appeared with them in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Victorian Nutcracker and By Request. Katrina Smedal Katrina began her training with Ivy Forrest in Bangor, ME before furthering her studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA). In 2001 she joined the Festival Ballet of Providence, RI. Katrina spent her summers at ABT, Boston Ballet, Central PA Youth Ballet, NCSA, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and in Maine with Bossov Ballet Theatre. In 2006, Katrina graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in kinesiology. She is also a certified pilates instructor. Katrina joined PBC as a Company member in 2007. Mary Stride first performed with PBC in their 1987 production of Don Quixote. Since then she has danced in many of PBC's classical and contemporary pieces, including in Mozart's Requiem and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Andrea Tracy was trained at School of American Ballet in NYC, Bossov Ballet, Portland Ballet, and Kennebec Dance Center. She was the youngest American dancer to represent the USA in Japan at the International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition. Andrea joined PBC in 1992 and her credits include The Victorian Nutcracker, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Carmina Burana and many other ballets. Andrea is also Ballet Mistress of Kennebec Dance Center. 2011-12 Apprentices: Lauren Achey, Emily Avery, Quincy Dean, Jenny Johnson, Abby Menard, Ashton Plummer, Mattie Woodside