Staff/Faculty

Staff

Doug Fullington

Education Programs Manager and Assistant to the Artistic Director

Doug Fullington was named Education Programs Manager of Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2005 and Assistant to Artistic Director Peter Boal in 2006. He is responsible for developing PNB's audience education programs and overseeing the Company's Outreach programs. Mr. Fullington is also on the consulting staff of Pacific Northwest Ballet School as dance historian. He has been with the PNB since 1995, working first as a pianist for Pacific Northwest Ballet School (1995–1997), then as Executive Assistant to Artistic Directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell (1997–2000) and also as Lecturer (2001–2005). As a dance historian, Mr. Fullington is a fluent reader of Stepanov notation, a classical ballet notation system developed in Russia and used in the Imperial Theatres, St. Petersburg, between about 1985 and 1915. In 2000, he contributed reconstructed dances to the Bolshoi Ballet's revival of Marius Petipa's The Daughter of Pharaoh, and in 2004, he reconstructed Petipa's Le jardin animé for Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He mostly recently reconstructed 25 dances from Petipa's Le Corsaire for the Bavarian State Ballet. His writings on the Stepanov notations have been published in Ballet Alert!, Ballet Review, Dance View and Dancing Times. In 2000, he was named a principal researcher for The George Balanchine Foundation's "Popular Balanchine" project. Mr. Fullington is also a professional musician. In 1993, he founded the Tudor Choir, a professional vocal ensemble based in Seattle which he continues to direct. Doug can be reached at 206.441.2445 or dougf@pnb.org.

Kayti Bouljon

Manager, Community Education Programs
Teaching Artist

Kayti Bouljon joined Pacific Northwest Ballet Outreach and Education in August 2004. Additionally, she teaches as a member of the PNB Outreach Faculty and is also a faculty member of Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Kayti graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Dance and a BA in Public Health in 2004. A native of Illinois, Kayti has studied dance under various instruction, including Kate Carol & Company Dance and Gus Giordano Dance Center in Chicago. While at PNB, she has also worked with the DanceChance program and coordinates the Enrichment Program for the PNB School Summer Creative Movement Workshops. Kayti continues to teach, choreograph, and perform locally. She can be reached at 206.441.2432 or kayti@pnb.org.

Shannon Barnes

Coordinator , Community Education Programs
PNB Teaching Artist

Shannon Barnes first worked with Pacific Northwest Ballet's Education & Community Programs from 2002–2004. She left to pursue a post-graduate certificate in Community Dance at Laban in London. While in England, she had the opportunity to intern with the inclusive dance company Candoco and also worked as a dance specialist in primary schools in Bath. She returned to Seattle and PNB in 2006 and is currently a Teaching Artist and Community Programs Coordinator for the Education Programs at PNB. Shannon is committed to making dance accessible to a broad range of people and focuses much of her independent work on creating inclusive dance opportunities for people with and without disabilities. Shannon completed her undergraduate degree in 2001 at the University of Washington, earning a BA in Dance and Psychology. She continues to study, perform, and choreograph dance locally. Shannon may be reached at 206.441.2432 or sbarnes@pnb.org.

Rochelle Rapaszky

Assistant, Community Education Programs
PNB Teaching Artist

Born in Fallbrook, CA, Rochelle Rapaszky began her dance training at the age of seven. The most prominent school in her pre-college experience was Ballet Society of North County, where she studied under the tutelage of Jacqueline Hepner-Thurston. She received her BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle in 2007 and thoroughly enjoys the fine arts of choreographing, teaching, performing, and making dance accessible to the community. Rochelle holds awards from San Diego Dance Alliance, as well as Cornish College of the Arts. She has attended teacher training workshops with prominent education foundations, such as VSA Arts Institute and Creative Dance Center of Washington. Rochelle joined PNB as Outreach Intern in 2006 and was hired as Outreach Teaching Artist and Outreach Assistant in 2007. Rochelle may be reached at 206.441.9411 x4229 or rrapaszky@pnb.org.

Faculty

Judith May Austin earned a BA in Dance and Political Science from the University of Washington in 2003. She is also a graduate of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics in Vancouver, Washington where she trained in dance and theater performance. Her movement background includes ballet and modern techniques, as well as traditional Irish step dancing. Ms. Austin joined the PNB Teaching Artist Faculty in 2008.

Laura Jewett's movement background began with intensive ballet training at age 11 in Lakewood, WA. She studied dance at the Washington Contemporary Ballet School with Kay Englert and Noel Mason and performed in the Washington Youth Ballet Company until the age of 16. Additional dance training included two summer sessions at San Francisco Ballet School and one with Doug Varone and Dancers is New York. In 2004, Laura earned a BA in Communications with a Minor in Dance from the University of Washington. Laura is a Stott trained certified Pilates instructor and is currently pursuing a degree in Physical Therapy.

Lauren Kirchner began her dance education at the Center for Dance in Issaquah/Preston where she trained in ballet, jazz, and musical theatre. At Connecticut College, she minored in dance and received her BA in Sociology-based human relations in 2009. While at Connecticut College she studied modern dance and ballet, was an active member of the dance club, and captained the school dance team, studying with artists such as David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Robyne Watkin, Lisa Race and JT Jenkins. Ms. Kirchner also spent a semester abroad in Sydney, Australia studying dance and sociology at the University of New South Wales, working with Australian choreographer Sue Healy. She has worked as an intern and instructor for Pacific Northwest Ballet's Community Education Programs since 2008.

Sarah Shira. Originally from the Bay Area, Sarah Shira studied at the San Francisco Ballet School, Contra Costa Ballet Centre, and Joffrey Ballet's Summer Course. After attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she received a BFA in dance and received the J.S. Siedman Award upon graduation. Ms. Shira has performed in original works by Yasmeen Godder, Doug Varone, Douglas Becker, and various other independent choreographers. While in New York, she performed in the company premiere performance of Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and was a member of Gina Gibney Dance Company.

Suzanne Singla trained with Columbia Dance Ensemble in Vancouver, Oregon Ballet Theatre School and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, where she received a Certificate of Dance. She performed with dance ensembles in Oregon, New York and South Africa. Her teaching credits include faculty positions at Connecticut Dance Theatre, School at Steps and Ballet Hispanico. Ms. Singla joined the PNBS faculty in 2004 and served as Children's Division Coordinator from 2005–2009.

Accompanists

Seattle born drummer Adam Kessler studies, teaches, and performs music from around the world. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Adam plays a wide variety of drum set and percussion musical genres including jazz, Brazilian, reggae, middle eastern, funk, rock, blues, and klezmer. He has performed with several dance companies and currently works with Washington Middle School's afterschool jazz band. Adam has been an accompanist for Pacific Northwest Ballet since 2006.

Bob Rees is well known around the Pacific Northwest for his work as a free jazz drummer and as an improvising percussionist, as well as for performing with jam bands Beecraft and Flowmotion. His work with the Wally Shoup Trio has received critical acclaim as has that group's two CD releases on London-based Leo Records.

Denali Williams has been an in-demand percussionist in the Pacific Northwest since receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Eastern Washington University in 2000. He has performed with groups, including the percussion trio Loop 2.4.3, the Tacoma Symphony and the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra. He regularly performs and records with a large variety of rock, jazz, and country bands, including Bicuspid, Goat, the Staxx Bros., and Carrie Cunningham.