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 fifth season with PBT. Aygul and PBT principal dancer Nurlan Abougaliev are married and have a young daughter, Diana.
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 professional photographer and he has co-founded MDK studios with Aaron Ingley.
Amanda Cochrane
Amanda Cochrane, a native of Spokane, Washington, is in her second season with PBT. She received her training at PBT’s graduate program, Ballet Arts Academy, and Sandra Olgard’s Studio of Dance. She has also studied at summer programs such as Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, and Ballet West.
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 third 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 fourth season with the company.
Stephen Hadala
Stephen Hadala, now in his 13th 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, “Oh Johnny” in Paul Taylor’s Company B, and “Stomper” in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. and his favorite, Drosselmeyer in Terrence S. Orr’s The Nutcracker. Stephen lives in Polish Hill with his wife Maghen.
Ted Henderson
Ted Henderson, a native of El Paso, Texas, joins the company for his first season. Ted first began his training at the Champion Studio in Texas and the University of Texas. He then trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School from 2007 - 2010. Ted Henderson has danced in past PBT performances of The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.
Olivia Kelly
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, she began her training at Ballet Tech Ohio under Claudia Rudolf Barrett. When she was thirteen she was awarded a scholarship to study ballet at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. After graduating from the Kirov, Olivia trained in PBT School’s Graduate Program. Olivia has attended summer programs at Julliard, American Ballet Theatre, and the Joffrey Ballet School. This is Olivia’s first season with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Yoshiaki Nakano
Yoshiaki Nakano, a native of Japan, joins PBT this season as an apprentice. He received his early training at the Elite Ballet Studio in Osaka, Japan. He later trained at San Francisco Ballet School and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School's Pre-Professional Graduate Program. Yoshiaki has danced in PBT's past performances of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
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 sixth season as a PBT corps de ballet member.
Joseph Parr
Joseph Parr is from Wooster, OH and joins PBT for his third season. 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.
Caitlin Peabody
Caitlin Peabody, of New Hampshire, is in her second season with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She receiving 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.
Gabrielle Thurlow
Gabrielle Thurlow is a native of Buffalo, New York and is in her fourth 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 Wegman
Ashley Wegmann joined PBT in 2007. 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.
Cooper Verona
Cooper Verona, from Connecticut, is thrilled to be joining Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as an apprentice this season. He received his training from David Lawrence and Wendy Fish-Lawrence, Ethan Stiefel (at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts), and Claudio Munoz and Andrew Murphy (at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy). Cooper has aspirations as a choreographer as well, creating three pieces so far as part of the American Festival for the Arts collaboration project in Houston.
Molly Wright
Molly Wright, originally from Tampa, Florida, is in her first season at PBT. Molly first began dancing at the Diane Partington Studio of Classical Ballet before joining the Pre-Professional Graduate Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. Molly has also participated in extensive summer programs at Chautauqua Institution, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Kaori Yanagida
Kaori Yanagida, from Osaka, Japan, is in her first season with PBT. She began her training at the Mitaka Ballet Academy in Japan and the Hungarian National Ballet Academy in Hungary. In 2007, Kaori joined Columbia Classical Ballet where she was a company member for three years and performed such roles as Satanella in Carnival of Venice and the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker.