Corps de Ballet
Aygul Abougalieva
Aygul Abougalieva is a native of Ufa, Russia where she began her training at the Rudolph Nureyev Choreographic Academy. Aygul danced professionally for Russian National Ballet and Moscow City Ballet. She has toured extensively in England, China, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and the United States. This is her fourth season with PBT. Aygul and PBT soloist Nurlan Abougaliev are married and have a young daughter, Diana.
Cynthia Castillo
Cynthia Castillo is a native of Habana, Cuba and joins PBT for her first season. She has danced professionally with Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina and the National Ballet of Cuba. Cynthia received her training at the National Ballet School in Habana.
Nicholas Coppula
Nicholas Coppula is a Pittsburgh native who trained at PBT School for five years before joining PBT in 2006. He has performed on local stages including La Roche College, Act One Theatre School, Point Park University and Prime Stage. Nicholas is a part-time student at the University of Pittsburgh. He also co-founded MDK studios with Aaron Ingley.
Amanda Cochrane
Amanda Cochrane joins PBT this season as an apprentice. A native of Spokane, Washington, she received her training at Sandra Olgard's Studio of Dance, Ballet Arts in Spokane, WA and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School's Graduate Program. Amanda also attended summer programs at Ballet West, American Ballet Theatre and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Alejandro Diaz
Alejandro Diaz is from Miami, Florida and received his early dance training with Tony Catanzaro and later trained at the Boston Ballet School. He danced with Boston Ballet II prior to joining PBT in 2008. This is Alejandro’s second season as a PBT corps de ballet member.
Danielle Downey
Danielle Downey was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. She received her early training with the Lake Erie Ballet and attended summer programs with Boston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She studied in PBT’s graduate program prior to joining the company. This is Danielle's third season with the company.
Stephen Hadala
Stephen Hadala, now in his 12sth season, has enjoyed performing a wide variety of roles in PBT’s diverse repertoire. Some of his favorites include elegy boy in Serenade, male lead in Dwight Rhoden’s Carmina Burana, male lead in Twyla Tharp’s Octet, Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia, the Mad Hatter in Derek Deane’s Alice in Wonderland and his favorite, Drosselmeyer in Terrence S. Orr’s The Nutcracker. Stephen lives in Polish Hill with his wife Maghen.
Elysa Hotchkiss
Elysa Hotchkiss is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania and received her early training with the Lake Erie Ballet School. She attended PBT School's Intensive Summer Program and was offered a full scholarship to attend the PBT Graduate Program. Now in her sixth season with PBT, she has enjoyed performing such roles as the lead in Dwight Rhoden’s Carmina Burana and Lady Capulet in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette.
Alison Kappes
Alison Kappes is originally from Milwaukee where she began studying at the Milwaukee Ballet School. She later trained at the National Ballet School of Canada and the Hamburg Ballettschule in Germany. Alison has danced professionally with John Neumeier's Hamburg Ballet, the Sacramento Ballet and the Banff Summer Professional Dance Company in Canada. This is her fourth season with PBT.
Damien Martinez
Damien Martinez joins PBT this season from Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina. Originally from Matanzas Cuba, he received his training from Vocational School of Art in Matanzas, Cuba and the National Ballet School in Habana, Cuba. Damien has also danced with the National Ballet of Cuba.
Robert Moore
Robert Moore of York, Pennsylvania, began his training at White River Ballet School under Shannon Jenkins and at Jordan Academy of the Arts in Indianapolis. He also spent three years at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida before joining Boston Ballet in 1998. This is his third season with PBT. He has danced Dwight Rhoden's Ave Maria, as well as the male lead in Rhoden's Carmina Burana.
Hiroyuki Nagasawa
Hiroyuki Nagasawa was born in Tokyo, Japan and is in his first season with PBT. He received his training at the Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy in St. Leonards, Australia and at the Australian Ballet School, from which he graduated in December 2008 with an Advanced Diploma of Dance with Distinction.
Caitlin Peabody
Caitlin Peabody, of New Hampshire, joins PBT this season from Boston Ballet II. She received her training from Boston Ballet and joined Boston Ballet II in 2007. Caitlin toured to Spain with Boston Ballet in 2007 and in 2006 was awarded the Dierdre Miles Burger Scholarship.
Makoto Ono
Makoto Ono, a native of Japan, trained at the Hisatomi Yoshiko Ballet in Japan before coming to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School in 2002. He has previously performed with K-Ballet Company in Tokyo. This is Makoto's fifth season as a PBT corps de ballet member.
Christopher Ouellette
Christopher Ouellette is a native of San Francisco, California and is in his second season with PBT. He received his training from San Francisco Ballet School, School of the Arts in San Francisco, School of American Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte. He has performed with San Francisco Ballet and ODC (Oberlin Dance Collective).
Joseph Parr
Joseph Parr is from Wooster, OH and is in his second season with PBT. He received his training from Wayne Center for the Arts, University of Akron Dance Program and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School Graduate Program. He has performed with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania and Owensboro Dance Theatre.
Kristen Rusnak
Kristen Rusnak now in her sixth season with PBT, is a native of Dallas, Texas and received her training at the New World Dance Center in Richardson, Texas. She graduated from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School's Graduate Program after which she joined the Company.
Luca Sbrizzi
Luca Sbrizzi is from Udine, Italy and is in his third season with PBT. He trained at Abidance with his sister Alessia Sbrizzi, Danz Forum and Boston Ballet School. He received such honors as Premio Speranza in Merano, Giovanissimi Talenti in Turin and XVII Trofeo Internazionale Citta' Di Palmanova.
Gabrielle Thurlow
Gabrielle Thurlow is a native of Buffalo, New York and is in her third season with PBT. She received her training from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, where she participated in the Graduate Program, and Neglia Conservatory of Ballet in Buffalo, NY. She has also studied at various summer programs, including School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre in New York.
Ashley Wegmann
Ashley Wegmann joins PBT for her third season. She received her training at PBT School, American Repertory Ballet's Princeton Ballet School and the National Ballet of NJ, along with summer training at ABT New York, SF Ballet and Boston Ballet. She has received such honors as NFAA Arts Recognition and Talent Search honorable mention, Merit Scholarships from Audre Estey and Dodie Petit.