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Administrative Staff and Faculty
The faculty and staff of Pacific Northwest Ballet School are dedicated to training fine, professional dancers and to bringing a vital art form to our community.
Administrative Staff
Peter Boal, Director of the School
Denise Bolstad, Administrative Director
Abbie Siegel, School Principal
Nicholas Ade, Eastside School Principal
Carrie Rowe, School Supervisor
Wendy Casper, Assistant to the Administrative Director
Jennifer McLain, DanceChance Manager
Suzanne Singla, Children's Division Coordinator
David Jensen, Eastside Administrative Assistant & Summer Residence Director
Kerrie Thornton, School Registrar
Andrea Bauer, PNBConditioning Coordinator
Naomi Botkin, Assistant Registrar
Carrie Cullom, Administrative Assistant
Barbara Nakatani, Administrative Assistant
Brittany Schank, Administrative Assistant
Staff
Peter Boal in rehearsal. (Photo: Angela Sterling)
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Peter Boal serves as Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest
Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Mr. Boal assumed the directorship of Pacific Northwest Ballet
in 2005 following a successful career with New York City Ballet as a principal dancer, and as a faculty member at The School of American Ballet. He received his dance training from SAB under the directorship of George Balanchine. His performance career spanned 22 years with New York City Ballet and he was a frequent guest artist with national and international companies. In 2002 he founded Peter Boal and Company, a critically acclaimed chamber ensemble. Mr. Boal joined the faculty of The School of American Ballet in 1997, teaching technique, variations, men’s and women’s classes and partnering. He was a guest teacher at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet School.
Denise Bolstad, Administrative Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School,
was trained as a dancer in Spokane with Thelma Young and performed with Spokane
Concert Ballet. She studied on scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School and
continued her training in Seattle with Perry Brunson and First Chamber Dance Company.
Ms. Bolstad has been on the staff of Pacific Northwest Ballet School since 1980.
Abbie Siegel, School Principal, performed with Connecticut Ballet, then went on to serve as the company's Associate Ballet Mistress. A former faculty member of the Harkness School, Eliot Feld Ballet in New York and Connecticut Ballet, Ms. Siegel joined PNBS faculty in 1991. In addition to teaching, she served as Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School's DanceChance program from 1999-2002, and was appointed Principal of The Francia Russell Center in the summer of 2002.
Nicholas Ade, Principal of the Eastside School, joined PNB as a company member in 1996. He was trained at San Francisco Ballet and attended summer courses at School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet School and Boston Ballet School. He
began teaching in the School in 2005, teaching Men’s Division and Open Program classes. He is from Los Angeles, California.
Faculty
Abbie Siegel. PNB photo. |
Marisa Albee joined PNB as an apprentice in 1989, became a full Company member in 1990 and was promoted to Soloist in 1994. She was born in Brooklyn and studied at the School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s Summer Course. Prior to joining the faculty at PNBS she taught at the Washington Academy of Performing Arts.
Ines Andrade is native of France. She studied at The Academie Internationale de Danse with Irina Grjebina, Solange Golovine, and Nelly Kolichev. Ms. Wilczewski received her BFA from University of Florida/New World School of the Arts. She joined the PNBS faculty as a Creative Movement teacher in 2001.
Patricia Barker, former Principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet, is considered one of the world's most gifted ballerinas. Trained on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Ms. Barker has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. She collaborated with Freed of London on the video, Patricia Barker on Pointe Shoes.
Elaine Bauer was a principal dancer with Boston Ballet and received her BA in Dance from Butler University. During her 20 year performing career she toured internationally with Rudolph Nureyev. Ms. Bauer went on to serve as ballet mistress for Boston Ballet and taught at Boston Ballet School, Boston Conservatory, Ballet Austin, Milwaukee Ballet, Butler University, and locally at Cornish and the Washington Academy of Performing Arts.
Kelly Boal trained at the School of American Ballet and joined New York City Ballet in 1984, earning a promotion to soloist in 1989. She left NYCB in 1993 to pursue guesting opportunities that included performances with Dutch National Ballet and Ballet Manila and participating in the Gala des Etoiles in Montreal, Canada. She taught at School of American Ballet and has served PNBS as a part-time faculty member for two years.
Peter Boal serves as Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Mr. Boal assumed the directorship of Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2005 following a successful career with New York City Ballet as a principal dancer, and as a faculty member at The School of American Ballet. He received his dance training from SAB under the directorship of George Balanchine. Mr. Boal was a faculty member at The School of American Ballet since 1997, teaching technique, variations, men’s and women’s classes and partnering. He was a guest teacher at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet School.
Kayti Bouljon joined the PNBS Children's Division faculty in the Spring of 2005. A native of Illinois, she studied at Kate Carol and Company Dance, Gus Giordano Dance Center in Chicago, and graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Dance. In addition to teaching for PNBS, she is a member of the PNB Outreach faculty and is the manager of PNB’s Education and Community Programs.
Michele Curtis trained on scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Merce Cunningham Dance. She received a BA in Dance from UCLA. Ms. Curtis has performed with various dance companies including Connecticut Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group and Donald Byrd/The Group. She served on the faculty of Connecticut Ballet and worked as a freelance teacher at various studios in New York, Connecticut and throughout the Northwest. Ms. Curtis joined the PNBS faculty in Spring of 2006.
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Sonia Dawkins
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Sonia Dawkins joined the PNBS faculty in 1997. She is founder and artistic director of S.D. Prism Dance Theatre, artist-in-residence at Duke Ellington School of the Arts and has taught at Hudson Repertory, Pennsylvania Ballet and University City Arts League. A native of Orange, New Jersey, she received her BFA from the University of Arts and her MA from SUNY. Ms. Dawkins danced with the National Dance Company of Jamaica and with independent choreographers in New York and Philadelphia.
Sara deLuis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She danced with Teatro del Baile Español, Madrid and was also a principal dancer with Ximinez Vargas Ballets Español. Ms. deLuis danced with the First Chamber Dance Company and was co-founder of the Seattle Dance Lab. In recent years she has performed with her own company and toured with her production of Homenaje. Ms. de Luis joined the PNBS faculty in 1986.
Alexandra Dickson joined PNB in 1990, danced with Ballet British Columbia from 1992 to 1995 and returned to PNB as a Soloist in 1995. Ms. Dickson was trained at the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, B.C. and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She joined the faculty in 2003 and served as PNBConditioning Manager from 2004 until 2007.
Lisa Dillinger received her training at San Francisco Ballet School and danced as an original member of Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1974-1980. Ms. Dillinger has been on the faculty at Chicago City Ballet School, Kansas City Ballet and Butler University. She was artistic director of Butler Ballet II and ballet mistress of Butler’s Jordan College Academy of Dance. A former faculty member, Ms. Dillinger returned to PNBS in 2000.
Oleg Gorboulev, former soloist with Pacific Northwest Ballet, received his dance training from the Ballet School of Uzbekistan (he is originally from Seattle's sister city of Tashkent) and danced professionally with Moscow Classical Ballet before coming to the USA. He was a member of Ballet International until 1999 when he joined PNB.
Susan Gorter studied at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and performed as an apprentice with Pennsylvania Ballet. She danced with the Basel Ballet in Switzerland and taught for the Basel Ballet School. Ms. Gorter joined the PNBS faculty in 2001.
Dane Holman
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Dana Hanson began her training on Vashon Island, Washington with John Wilkins and continued her studies at Olympic Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1990, appearing in numerous featured roles in the Balanchine repertoire and touring throughout the world. Prior to joining the PNBS faculty in the fall of 2006, Ms. Hanson was a frequent guest teacher at the School of American Ballet.
Dane Holman trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, American Ballet Theatre and School of American Ballet. She danced with American Ballet Theatre II and the Cleveland Ballet. Ms. Holman joined the faculty in 1997.
Carrie Imler trained on scholarship at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School and attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 1995. In 1996, she was promoted to corps de ballet. She was made a Soloist in 2000 and Principal in 2002.
Timothy Lynch trained on full scholarship at The School of American Ballet, Mr. Lynch received his BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. He joined PNB as an apprentice in 1993 and was promoted to full company member in 1994, retiring at the end of the 2002-03 season. Mr. Lynch began working with PNB's Education and Outreach program in 2001, teaching and choreographing for the REACH Student Performance Group and joined the faculty in 2003.
Dina McDermott holds a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School, and also an MFA in dance performance/choreography. She has been teaching, choreographing and dancing for over 20 years. She joined the PNBS faculty in 2001 as a Creative Movement teacher. Ms. McDermott is also a member of the PNBConditioning staff.
Jennifer McLain is from Lincoln, Nebraska. She studied on scholarship at State Ballet of Missouri, Boston Ballet, and Milwaukee Ballet and graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts with a ballet concentration. She danced with Nashville Ballet and served on the faculty of the School of Nashville Ballet. Ms. McLain joined PNBS in 2002 as DanceChance Manager and as an instructor in the Children's Division.
Rachel Närhi holds a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She has performed with Cornish Dance Theater, Pacific Dance Company and with choreographers David Dorfman (NYC) and Gerard Theoret (Cirque de Soleil). Ms. Närhi is the Founder and Artistic Director of Open Flame Dance Theater. Her choreography has been performed in Seattle, San Francisco, Nevada, and Vancouver, BC. Ms. Närhi teaches Children's Division classes at PNB School.
Molly McNeill trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, graduating from the Professional Division. She participated in summer programs with The Ailey School, San Francisco Ballet School, Suzanne Farrell and the School of American Ballet. Ms. McNeill currently studies dance at the University of Washington, as she works towards degrees in Arts Management and Biology. She joined the School faculty in the fall of 2008, after working as a marketing intern for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Ms. McNeill teaches Children's Division classes.
Stanko Milov was trained in his native Sofia, Bulgaria at the State Choreographic School, where he graduated with honors. He danced professionally with the National Theatre for Opera and Ballet in Sofia before coming to the United States. He was a principal dancer with Pittsburgh
Ballet Theatre until joining PNB in 1999. Mr. Milov is a Principal with the Company and became a PNBS faculty member in 2001.
Louise Nadeau trained at the Alexandra School of Ballet in St. Louis and the School of American Ballet. Ms. Nadeau danced with Basel Ballet and Kansas City Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as a Soloist in 1990. She was promoted to Principal in 1992. In 2000, she participated in The George Balanchine Foundation's Interpreters Archive series dancing excerpts of Agon. She has toured extensively nationally and internationally throughout her career, and in 2005 performed with Peter Boal and Company. She began teaching for PNBS in 2006.
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Meg Potter
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Anton Pankevitch is from St. Petersburg, Russia. He trained at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, the School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School. He danced with New York City Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and the Royal Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2005. Mr. Pankevitch has been a guest teacher in Europe, Asia and throughout the U.S. He joined the PNBS Faculty in Fall 2007.
Meg Potter trained on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School. She performed with the Joffrey II, American Ballet Theatre and Oregon Ballet Theatre where she also served as ballet mistress. Ms. Potter taught at the school of Oregon Ballet Theatre School before joining the PNBS faculty in 1998.
Victoria Pulkkinen studied with Vera Volkova, David Moroni and Perry Brunson. She was a principal dancer with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a soloist with Hamburg State Ballet and a Soloist and Principal Character Artist with Pacific Northwest Ballet. Ms. Pulkkinen has guest taught at San Francisco Ballet School. She joined the PNBS Faculty in 1981.
Sarah Shira. Originally from the Bay Area, Sarah studied at the San Francisco Ballet School, the Contra Costa Ballet Centre and attended the 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 coordinates the Children’s Division.
Melanie Skinner trained on scholarship at School of American Ballet and North Carolina School of the Arts. She joined PNB as an apprentice in 1990 after completing her training on scholarship from Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She became a full company member in 1991 and was promoted
to Soloist in 1994. Ms. Skinner retired from the Company at the end of the 2003-04 season, and began teaching for the School and Outreach in 2004.
Marjorie Thompson trained at the School of American Ballet and danced with New York City Ballet. She has served on the faculty of the School of American Ballet, Ballet Arts Minnesota, Eliot Feld Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. She first joined the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in 1996, where she was also Director of Therapy and Conditioning. She went on to serve three years as Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, then moved to Minneapolis where she was School Principal of Minnesota Dance Theatre. She returned to the PNBS faculty in the Summer of 2007, and is PNBConditioning Program Director.
Julie Tobiason studied on scholarship at the School of American Ballet. Prior to joining PNB, Ms. Tobiason danced with Chicago City Ballet under the direction of Maria Tallchief. She joined PNB in 1986, was promoted to Soloist in 1989 and became a Principal in 1992. Ms. Tobiason joined the faculty in the fall of 2002.
Bruce Wells
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Bruce Wells was born in Tacoma and trained on scholarship
at the School of American Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet in 1967 and was promoted to soloist in 1969. He was resident choreographer and principal dancer with both Connecticut Ballet and Boston Ballet, and served as interim and associate artistic director for the Boston Ballet from 1984-89. He went to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as resident choreographer in 1989 and joined the PNBS faculty in 1997.
Irv Huck began as an accompanist at Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1978 and was appointed Principal Accompanist in 1985. Born in Chicago, he graduated from the University
of Washington with an MA in English and began playing for ballet classes after a career as an English teacher at Bellevue Community College.
GUEST FACULTY
2008–09 Guest Faculty
Flemming Halby; Faculty, Pacific Northwest Ballet School (1986–2006)
Violette Verdy; Distinguished Professor of Music (Ballet), Indiana University and former Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet
2007–08 Guest Faculty
Darla Hoover; Associate Artistic Director, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Academy East
Mark Morris; Artistic Director, Mark Morris Dance Group
Elizabeth Cooper; Dance Department Chair, University of Washington
Noelani Pantastico; Principal Dancer, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and former Principal Dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet
Kaori Nakamura; Principal Dancer, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Bill Evans, Artistic Director, Bill Evans Dance Company
Mikhail Ilyin; Dancer, American Ballet Theatre
Olga Kostrizky; Faculty, School of American Ballet
Meredith Webster; Dancer, LINES Ballet
Accompanists:
Irv Huck, Music Staff Supervisor
Ray Allan, Dayton Allemann, Kofi Anang, Leanne Anderson, Stephen Barnes, Carol Buschmann, Sue Clifford, David Clodfelter, Tatyana Dadayeva, Yelena Golets, Marina Ketsel, Marleen Land, Ryan Love, BethAnn McKelvey, Brad McRae, Bob Rees, Katja Rubin, Nancy Slanina, Danny Sullivan, Don Vollema
Consulting Staff:
Toby Diamond, Ph.D., Psychologist
Peggy Otto Swistak, M.S., R.D., C.D., Nutritionist
Alan S. Woodle, D.P.M., Podiatrist
Karen Clippinger, M.S.P.E., Kinesiologist
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