Centralia Ballet Academy - 1629 Kresky Ave, Centralia WA 360-623-9010 info@centraliaballet.com
Mick Gunter (Owner) - Boys Explore Dance and Ballet
Mick began training in ballet in 1998 with Ballet Northwest in Olympia, WA. During that time, he has performed in The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and many others. He also served on the board of Ballet Northwest for several years. Mick has been involved as a teacher and panelist for the Male Dancer Conference and has consulted with dance studios aiming to grow their boys programs. He is also the author of Fritz the Rat King, a re-telling of The Nutcracker from the point of view of Clara's younger brother.
Nancy Gunter (Head Teacher) – Ballet, Pointe, Partnering, Musical Theatre, Jazz
Nancy began her training at The Dance Factory in Springfield, VT studying with Susan Hagen. Went on to receive her BA with honors in Dance from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Began teaching at the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet. Choreographer-in-residence for Burklyn Ballet Theatre 1998-99, directing their Emerging Choreographer's Showcase in 1999. A founder of City Center Ballet, a non-profit student ballet company based in Lebanon, NH, where she served as choreographer-in-residence and assistant to the directors. Locally, has choreographed for the Evergreen Playhouse, W.F.West High School, Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre, Centralia College Theatre Department. Teaching experience includes ballet, pointe, creative dance, and jazz to students of all ages and levels at schools around New England and western Washington.
Autumn Anderson - Contemporary Workshops
Bio coming
Jaysten Barada - Boys Ballet
Jaysten trained at Centralia Ballet Academy, studying ballet, jazz and hip hop. He attended the Male Dancer Conference in New York City for two years. Jaysten's roles included Chef Ginger, the Snow King and the Cavalier in The Nutcracker and a step-sister in Cinderella, as well as excerpts from Giselle and many original works.
Aris Brown - Moving Together, Explore Dance, Kids Hop
Aris started dancing at age 7 at Allen Creek Dance. Taking jazz and lyrical classes she began ballet and contemporary at age 11 and started point at age 13. Aris took gymnastics from ages 4-7 at Thorbecks fitness center. Aris grew up in a musical and theater loving family. She was in band from the age of 9-15 and started playing piano at the age of 3. Aris was part of the theater tech at Shelton high school; running lights sound and video production as well as making sets, doing costume makeup, and sewing costumes. Aris started training in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) in January 2019 and began assistant teaching in 2013 and teaching ballet, jazz, lyrical and contemporary in 2015.
Sondra Forsyth - Ballet, Pointe and Character
Sondra Forsyth trained with notable teachers including Mme. Gabriela Darvash and David Howard. She founded Ballet Ambassadors, an outreach company in New York City, and served as the Artistic Director. The company was funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Department of Education. During her performing career, she danced principal roles with Thalia Mara’s Ballet Repertory in New York City, New York Dance Theatre on Long Island, and Dance Vectors in New York City as well as with the Huntington Ballet Theatre, the company she co-founded with Jan Hanniford Goetz. She was the Ballet Mistress of Ovations Dance Repertory Company on Long Island. She has served as a guest teacher for the American Ballet Theatre open classes and on the faculty of Studio de Ballet Opera in Beirut, Lebanon; Interlochen Center for the Arts; Steps on Broadway in NYC; The Harkness Dance Center of the 92nd St. Y; Ohman School of Ballet; Huntington School of Ballet; and Ovations Dance Academy. Her articles have appeared in Dance Magazine, Dancer Magazine, and many major publications. She is the author or co-author of twelve books.
Emmy Larson - Lyrical 1 & Lyrical 2
Emmy Larson has been dancing for 14 years. Starting at Southwest Washington Dance Center in Chehalis and continuing at Allen Creek Dance in Napavine. Throughout this time she has completed 12 years of classical ballet, 3 years of Pointe, 5 years of lyrical, 5 years of contemporary, 1 year of jazz, and 1 year of hip-hop. Along with her yearly recitals, she has also performed in the 2019 World of Dance, in Morton and in Ballet Theatre of Washington's "The Nutcracker." She is a graduate of Centralia College. When she is not dancing she enjoys playing piano and ukulele.
Theresa McMurry - Tap
Theresa received her dance training from the Shell Dance Studio and Vancouver Dance Academy. She was a member of the Linfield Dance Ensemble at Linfield College, performing Tap, Jazz, Modern and African dance. She has choreographed in Tap and Jazz styles for both the Linfield Dance Ensemble and the Vancouver Dance Academy. Theresa also taught tap at the 2016 SOTA/Evergreen Playhouse Youth Musical Theatre Program.
Lisa Sundstrom - Ballet and Pointe
Lisa Sundstrom Lisa Sundstrom received her early training in her hometown of Astoria, Oregon and at The Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California. At fifteen, she was hand-picked by international ballet star and American Ballet Theatre Director, Mikhail Baryshnikov, to dance on full scholarship at ABT School in New York. Ms. Sundstrom went on to tour the US with ABT II, making her New York debut at the Joyce Theater in the role of Lucille Grahn, coached by Robert Joffrey, in the revival of his Pas de Déesses. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Baryshnikov invited her to join ABT, where she gained knowledge of the great classical and romantic ballets as well as modern and contemporary styles. Ms. Sundstrom joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a soloist and was quickly promoted to principal dancer. After eight seasons, she rejoined American Ballet Theatre and toured worldwide performing featured roles.
Ms. Sundstrom has danced the principal roles in the classics: Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Giselle as well as numerous ballets by George Balanchine and works by William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Alonzo King, John Neumeier, Jose Limon, and John Butler. In addition, she has worked with choreographers Kenneth MacMillan, Anthony Tudor, Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and James Kudelka, and been coached by ballerinas Irina Kolpakova, Gelsey Kirkland and Suzanne Farrell. Ms. Sundstrom has been interviewed for radio, featured in Dance Magazine and appeared on PBS “Dance in America” with American Ballet Theatre and Pennsylvania Ballet.
After retiring from the stage, Ms. Sundstrom taught full time at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She then moved to her home state of Oregon, where she attended college and directed Portland Festival Ballet. She has been on the teaching staff of School of Oregon Ballet since 2015 and was named Program Director of OBT2 and Principal Instructor in 2016. In addition, she has been a guest teacher at numerous ballet schools around the country and abroad. Passionate about sharing her knowledge, Ms. Sundstrom is committed to helping dancers of all levels reach their highest potential.
Lisa Weber - Floor Barre®, Explore Ballet, Ballet
Lisa Weber Cochran has been dancing off and on since age 3. She is a certified instructor for the Zena Rommett Floor-Barre® Technique. Her childhood training was under Annie Galle, former dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, and Ed Collins, former Broadway dancer and actor. Throughout the years she has also studied with the School of the Hartford Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the University of Washington Dance Department, Johansen Olympia Dance Center and Centralia Ballet Academy.
Magenta Wilhelmi - Explore Dance, Explore Ballet, Ballet
Magenta has sixteen years of ballet and Irish dance training. Most of her ballet training was through the Johansen Olympia Dance Center and she was a member of Ballet Northwest for five years. Her roles there included Snow corps and Marzipan in "Nutcracker." Magenta also took some classes at Centralia Ballet Academy and danced in a few productions with CBA, including our first major production, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She is a student at Centralia College.
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