AMY BRANDT: was born in Libertyville, Illinois, where she received her initial dance training at Dancenter North, the Ruth Page Foundation and the Milwaukee Ballet School. She later joined the Milwaukee Ballet, where she danced featured roles in works by Petipa, Tudor, Balanchine and Alonzo King,among others. She also dances with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Washington, D.C., where her repertoire includes leading roles in BalanchinesAgon, Diamonds, La Valse,andDivertimento No. 15. In 2005, she performed in honor of Ms. Farrell at the nationally televised Kennedy Center Honors. Ms. Brandt also freelances with several other companies in New York City and is a contributing writer forPointeMagazine.
MADELINE DEAVENPORT: originally from San Diego, CA, started her ballet training at the age of 4 at California Ballet School and continued her training at the Rock School in Philadelphia, PA. Upon graduating high school, Ms. Deavenport performed with North Carolina Dance Theater for two seasons. In 2007, she moved to New York City to become a freelance artist. She has performed with The Pennsylvania Ballet, Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Wausau Dance Theatre, Columbia City Ballet, Opera Delaware, and has been a member of the New Chamber Ballet since April 2008. In 2009, Ms. Deavenport returned to school part time participating in the LEAP program for dancers to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts. She is also currently finishing up a 600 hour Pilates Certification at The Fitness Guru in Brooklyn.
JOHN-MARK OWEN: began his dance training in Macon, GA at Dance Arts Studio under the direction of Jean Evans Weaver. After studying at Chautauqua Institute, The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts he joined Nashville Ballet under the direction of Paul Vasterling. From there he danced with Ohio Ballet, Augusta Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Ballet NY, Dances Patrelle and Lydia Johnson Dance. He recently completed his graduate studies and now holds an MFA from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. Mr. Owen is currently pursuing his own choreographic endeavors, and his pas de deux for two men Delirio Amoroso recently had its premier at Jacob&8217;s Pillow Inside/Out Festival. Please visit johnmarkowen.com for more information. This is his fifth season with Ballet NY.
JENNIFER GOODMAN: was born in Romeo, MI and received her training in the Detroit area under the direction of Mary Kashinsky, Mary Geiger, and Cornelia Sampson. She attended the Joffrey Ballet summer program on scholarship in NYC and was then asked to join The Joffrey II dancers under the direction of Jeremy Blanton and Gage Bush. One year later she was asked to join The Joffrey Ballet under former director Gerald Arpino and danced with that company for 16 years. Jennifer has toured internationally with the world renowned rock-ballet Billboards and appeared in Robert Altman&8217;s The Company. She has performed an extensive repertoire including ballets by Gerald Arpino, Mr. Joffrey, George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Nijinsky, Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, John Cranko, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Pilobolus, and had a role created for her by Donald Byrd. She has performed numerous roles in Mr. Joffrey&8217;s Nutcracker and has danced soloist roles in Giselle, Cinderella, The Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. Jennifer is now a freelance dancer in New York and has performed in Aida and Carmen at The Metropolitan Opera, with Avi Scher & Dancers,
VIRGINIA HORNE: began her early dance training in Honolulu, HI, where she studied under Rosalie Woodson, Laurie Lubeck Yeames, and Shamil Yagudin. She has danced with Ballet Hawaii, Colorado Ballet, and Konstantin Uralskys Ballet New York. Ms. Horne has performed as a guest artist with Northeast Youth Ballet, Neglia Ballet Artists, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, and The New England Dance Theater, among other independent choreographers in New York City. She has performed in the National Tour of 42 nd Street, The Musical, and has toured with Jean Ann Ryan Productions. Other international projects include The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, MTV Italia in Rome, Italy, and she was also a guest principal dancer in Fusion in Guatemala City. Ms. Horne has danced many soloist and principal roles at Connecticut Ballet, and is also a principal dancer in her seventh season with Thomas/Ortiz Dance in New York City. She is also a certified GYROTONIC® instructor at Body Evolution.
JOSH CHRISTOPHER: originally from West Michigan. Mr. Christopher trained at North Carolina School of the Arts, with a short exchange with the Hungarian National Ballet Academy. Since then he has performed on four continents with Kansas City Ballet; MOMIX; South African Ballet Theatre; Ballet Tucson; Quixotic Performance Fusion; The Chase Brock Experience; BalletX; Peter Kyle Dance; Johstallings balletn-Mark Owen; The Metropolitan Opera and Lustig Dance Theater. Mr. Christopher was recently Assistant Choreographer for the Off-Broadway musical The Blue Flower. He is happy to be here for his second season with Ballet NY.
KATIE GIBSON: originally from Boston, MA, began her ballet training at Ballet Workshop of New England under the instruction of Jacqueline Cronsberg. Ms. Gibson continued her training at the San Francisco Ballet School where she had opportunity to perform with the San Francisco Ballet. She first danced with Oregon Ballet Theatre under the direction of Christopher Stowell before joining Miami City Ballet. As a member of Miami City Ballet, Ms. Gibson danced an extensive George Balanchine repertoire.
KELSEY COVENTRY: began her dance training in Rochester, NY. She studied under the tutelage of the late Timothy M. Draper and Jamey Leverett at the Draper Center for Dance Education. In 2001, she joined the Rochester City Ballet and danced many soloist roles in classical and contemporary works. Kelsey moved to New York City to continue her dance training with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and performed with their Ensemble. Kelsey participated in numerous summer programs such as Boston Ballet, Paul Taylor, Kaatsbaan, Jacob&8217;s Pillow, and Orlando Ballet on scholarship. In 2006, she was honored by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) and was an ARTS week winner. She made her television dance debut at the 79th annual Academy Awards in a clip fromRehearsing a Dream, an Oscar-nominated documentary. In 2006, she joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet as an apprentice where she performed nationally and internationally. Kelsey is currently also a company member of Janusphere Dance Company and Eryc Taylor Dance.
BRENT WHITNEY: is originally from Traverse City, MI. He danced with the Milwaukee Ballet for four years before moving to New York City. Since moving to the east coast, he has danced with Ballet NY, Ballet X, New York Theater Ballet aDancersnd Connecticut Ballet. Brent has performed in works by Paul Taylor, George Balanchine, Michael Pink, Lila York, Thaddeus Davis and Stephen Mills, to name a few. He recently choreographed his first piece on the Roxey Ballet in New Jersey and has plans to continue choreographing in the future. Brent is currently working on a degree in massage therapy from the Swedish Institute in New York City.
LUKE MANLEY: was born in Dowagiac, Michigan and began his training at the School of Ballet Chicago as a recipient of the Dowd Scholarship. While there he had the pleasure of performing such George Balanchine works as Serenade, Themeand Variations, and Who Cares?. He continued his dance education at the Hubbard Street Dance Center. Luke started dancing professionally with River North Chicago Dance Company where he performed works by Kevin Iega Jeff, Lauri Stallings, and Daniel Ezralow. He then joined American Repertory Ballet giving him the opportunity to perform such works as Twyla Tharp&8217;s Octet and Sinatra Suites. In 2008, Luke began working with Armitage Gone! Dance to perform several works by Karole Armitage including Watteau Duets and Legidi Essays.
Dancers,
