Faculty

Douglas Martin (Artistic Director) started his ballet training with Dimitri Romanoff at the San Jose Ballet School and was one of six dancers selected by Mikhail Baryshnikov to study in the newly-formed American Ballet Theatre School. He was invited to join the Joffrey Ballet in 1984 where, as a principal dancer, he performed roles in ballets by Ashton, Arpino, Cranko, Balanchine, Joffrey, Taylor, Pendleton, Kudelka and many other great 20th century choreographers.  Martin was featured in performances of Dance in America on PBS and was an original cast member of the historic recreation of Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps. He was among the last dancers of the Joffrey Ballet to spend the majority of his career in the company working under founder Robert Joffrey. Martin joined the Cleveland Ballet in 1991 and danced an array of principal roles including the Minister in Agnes deMille’s Fall River Legend. In 1993, Martin was invited to join the American Repertory Ballet.  As leading dancer and Ballet Master for ARB, Martin collaborated with directors in creating ballets, including productions as the original cast lead in Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Dream and The Nutcracker. Martin continued to be a principal dancer in the company as well as Ballet Master for ARB and PBW and Principal Faculty for the Summer Intensive until his retirement from performing in 2002. After retiring from ARB as a performer, Martin expanded his teaching, production and choreographic work. Martin has been an integral part of the teaching staff at the Princeton Ballet School, Rutgers University and Westminster Choir College, and has also served as the School’s Music Director and PBW Ballet Master. He has staged full-length and repertory ballets for several companies, including Romeo and Juliet and Philip Jerry’s Our Town. Additionally, Martin has choreographed for several Princeton Ballet School productions, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Coppélia. In 2010, Mr. Martin became Artistic Director of American Repertory Ballet. Since then, he has premiered a new production of Nutcracker, choreographed several new works including Ephemeral Possessions, Pathways, Rite of Spring, Firebird and a full-length Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pride and Prejudice, and has commissioned 29 company premieres, including 19 world premieres.

Aydmara Cabrera was born in Cuba, and began her ballet studies at the age of nine. She studied at the The National Ballet School in Havana and became bailarina principal at the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of the famous Alicia Alonso. Currently is part of the faculty for Princeton Ballet as well as with the American Repertory Ballet. She has performed in several International Ballet Festivals in Havana and on worldwide tours the leading roles of all classical and contemporary ballets of the Cuban National Ballet repertoire and Ballet Hispanico of New York. She has studied with Alicia Alonso, Loipa Araujo, Josefna Mendez, Ramona de Saa, Joaquin Banegas, and Alina Matienzo. Some of Ms. Cabrera’s dance partners were Jose Carreño, Carlos Acosta, Lienz Chang, Orlando Salgado, Jorge Vega, Lazaro Carreño and Pedro Ruiz. She has worked with choreographers Alicia Alonso, Alberto Mendez, Ann Reinking, Gustavo Herrera, Ivan Tenorio, Maria Rovira, and Ramon Oller. Ms. Cabarera has served on the faculties of Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Ballet Hispanico of New York School, Ballet Academy East New York, Princeton Ballet School and American Repertory Ballet. Has owned her Ballet studio while living in Miami.

Mary Barton (Ballet Master & Resident Choreographer) received her dance training at The Washington School of Ballet under the direction of Mary Day and participated in summer courses at the School of American Ballet and Joffrey Ballet School. Her professional experience began when she performed with The Washington Ballet as a soloist in Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony and in the principal role in Tom Paczik’s Tzigane. Early professional credits include the Oldenburg Staat Ballet in Germany and several seasons with Dayton Ballet. In 1986, Ms. Barton joined the Joffrey Ballet/NY where she performed a variety of roles in the great ballets of the 20th century. Robert Joffrey created the role of Clara for her in the world premiere of his new Nutcracker. Ms. Barton was featured along with Gerald Arpino in an interview with Charlie Rose for the world premiere of Robert Joffrey’s Nutcracker. Ms. Barton TV credits include performances in Dance in America on PBS and she was an original cast member of the historic recreation of Nijinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps. From 1993–2004, Ms. Barton was a principal dancer with American Repertory Ballet where notable roles include Sugar Plum Fairy, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Emily in Our Town and leads in Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, Rubies, Concerto Barocco and Serenade. Ms. Barton has been on the faculty of the Princeton Ballet School since 1994 and is one of the primary teachers and choreographers for the Summer Intensive. She is a former ballet faculty member at Princeton University and current faculty at Rider University’s Music Theater Department. As Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master of ARB, Ms. Barton’s works include Straight Up with a Twist, Five Men and a Concerto, Faerie Tyme, Fantasy Baroque, Shades of Time, A Shepherd Singing (And I Still Heard Nothing) and her newest work Scarlet Sonata. She has also choreographed over two dozen works for Princeton Ballet School’s spring full-length ballets and Summer Intensive.

Kathleen Moore  trained with Dame Sonia Arova and Thor Sutowski at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) School.  She graduated from ASFA as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and moved to NY to join ABT II in 1980. Invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to become a member of the corps of ABT in 1982, Ms. Moore was appointed soloist in 1988 and Principal dancer in 1991. Her work included roles across the classical, dramatic, modern and contemporary repertory. Agnes de Mille, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris and other respected choreographers created roles for her and she was a member of the premiere tour of the White Oak Dance Project under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris in 1990. Ms. Moore has appeared in several dance documentaries, the Herbert Ross movie  Dancers, and was interviewed on The Charlie Rose Show. Ms. Moore began teaching for Princeton Ballet School in 1993 as a guest teacher and has worked with ARB since 2006. She is also a member of the ballet faculty at the Lewis Center of the Arts at Princeton University.  Ms. Moore is certified to teach all levels of ballet through the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Kirk Peterson had a distinguished career for 17 years with American Ballet Theatre as principal dancer, choreographer, Artistic Director of ABTII, Ballet Master, Principal Character Artist and as Master Teaching Associate. Peterson was also Artistic Director of the Hartford Ballet for five years. As a choreographer, Peterson has created over 50 ballets including new versions of The Firebird and Le Sacre du Printemps. His choreography has been seen with San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Washington Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, BalletMet, San Francisco Opera and The Royal Ballet School. He is a specialist in re-staging the full-length classical repertoire such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Giselle utilizing original choreography and technique. He was nominated for the prestigeous Prix Benois de la Danse in Moscow for Othello, created for Alberta Ballet. Peterson was resident choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet for six years and he is also a repetiteur for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. American Repertory Ballet restaged Peterson’s Glazunov Variations for the 2010-2011 Season and The Eyes That Gently Touch for the 2011-2012 Season. In 2013, Peterson choreographed Tears of the Moon for American Repertory Ballet, fulfilling his long-held desire to create a work to music by Beethoven.

Cheryl Whitney (PBW Juniors Ballet Master, PBW Administrator) received an M.S. in Ballet from Indiana University and a B.A. in English Literature and Music from St. Lawrence University.  She was trained and performed professionally in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. For more than 25 years, she has taught in Princeton Ballet School’s Student Division also serving as rehearsal director for the ARB productions of The Nutcracker. Guest teaching credits include Brandywine Ballet, Peabody Conservatory and NJ Governor’s School. Her teaching in academic settings includes Princeton University, Howard University, Indiana University, The Lawrenceville School, Foxcroft School and Latin School of Chicago. She is an associate professor in the dance program at Rider University. Ms. Whitney has received grants from the New York and New Jersey State Councils on the Arts, and is the 2008 recipient of the Audrée Estey Award for Excellence in Dance Education.  She is Artistic Director of Reverence Dance Company.

Maria Youskevitch (ARB Workshop Ballet Mistress, Ballet), the daughter of legendary ballet star Igor Youskevitch, was a soloist with American Ballet Theatre and Maryland Ballet, and ballerina with Youskevitch’s concert group, Ballet Romantique. She was company teacher, rehearsal assistant and senior faculty member at Hartford Ballet under the Artistic Direction of Kirk Peterson. She has been ballet mistress for BalletMet, Nevada Dance Theatre and coach for the New York International Ballet Competition. In addition, Ms. Youskevitch has taught at such prestigious schools as the David Howard Dance Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Virginia School of the Arts under the direction Petrus Bosman, The Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy and The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. A celebrated teacher and coach for over 40 years, she was featured in the June 2002 issue of Dance Teacher magazine. Well versed in the classical ballet repertoire, she has mounted versions of Giselle, Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée and her father’s one-act Romeo and Juliet. She has also staged Michel Fokine’s Spectre de la Rose and Les Sylphides, and the children’s roles in Kirk Peterson’s Nutcracker. Ms. Youskevitch was also on faculty for ABT’s Young Dancer Summer Workshop in Manhattan for eight years, and is an ABT Certified Teacher, having completed the ABT National Training Curriculum.

KATHLEEN A. SMITH-LOMBARDO Email: ksmith@arballet.org   |   Phone: 732.249.1254, ext. 10

Audrey Yeager began her formal dance training at the New Jersey School of Ballet under the direction of Ms. Carolyn Clark. Audrey went on to join the New Jersey Ballet Company’s Junior Company, performing in the corps of ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty, and danced featured roles in The Nutcracker (Clara, Mirlitons). She spent summers training with Roberto Muñoz, Melinda Roy, and members of the New York City Ballet. Audrey was named a New Jersey Governor’s School Dance Scholar in 2008. She was accepted to Rider University’s dance program under the direction of Dr. Kim Chandler Vaccaro. During this time, Audrey studied in the Professional Training Program at Princeton Ballet School and was named a Mildred C. Hawkins Dance Scholar and an Andrew J. Rider Scholar. She graduated summa cum laude in 2013. Audrey loves working as a dance educator and arts administrator in central Jersey.

Jenny Daino began her dance training very young, studying throughout Central NJ. She has performed as a member of Bordentown Ballet Theatre and as a Senior Apprentice with Suburban Dance Force. Teaching has always been her passion.  Mrs. Daino is certified by examination in the Dance Educators of America Teacher Training and Certification Program levels I and II. She has studied with Master Teachers in the area of Dance Education: Raymond Lukens, Eileen Juric, David Scala, Steve Sirico, Angela D’Valda Sirico, Rhee Gold, and the Legendary Teacher of Teachers, Charles Kelley. Recently, Mrs. Daino was chosen to participate in the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Teacher Workshop with Marcia Dale Weary, Darla Hoover, Melinda Howe, Bruce Thornton, Alan Hineline, and Simon Ball. For the past 12 years Mrs. Daino has designed and planned curricula for all levels of students at a growing studio in South Jersey, where she has trained students in Classical Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, and Musical Theatre techniques. In her time there, she also worked with their youth dance company as a Choreographer, Rehearsal Assistant, and Company Director. Mrs. Daino assisted in creating the school’s Student Teacher Program, of which she was the Director, and worked closely with students, as a mentor, in the Student Choreography Program. Her students have been awarded scholarships to prestigious summer intensive programs and workshops from New York City to Las Vegas, and several are pursuing careers in dance, attending some of the best college dance programs in the country. Mrs. Daino has been sharing her love of dance with students for over 14 years. She lives in Lower Bucks County, PA with her husband and two children.

Brianna Colwell, of Point Pleasant NJ, graduated from Rider University in May 2015 with a B.A. in Dance Performance and a minor in Arts Administration. She started dancing when she was three years old at Dance For Joy in Brielle, NJ. She was trained in many different dance genres including ballet, tap, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, and hip-hop. She continued her dance studies at Rider University in the Fall of 2011 taking classes at the Princeton Ballet School. While studying at Rider, Brianna was signed to the Trenton Freedom Xtreme Dance Team in January 2014 where she danced on the team for two years. Brianna also performed in Rider’s annual show Rider Dances for four years. After graduating from Rider, Brianna taught for one year at New York City Performing Arts Center. Brianna also taught at Shore Dance Center in Pt. Pleasant NJ and Manasquan Music and Dance from 2015 to present.

Faith Woodyard, American Repertory Ballet Trainee and Zumba Instructor, was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in the dance prime. She received her early dance training at Carroll County Dance Center and Ballet Conservatory under the instruction of Megan Logee, Paul Wegner, and Jessica Huebner. She trained in many styles of dance such as ballet, modern, tap, jazz, and contemporary. Faith attended summer programs, many on scholarship such as American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and American Repertory Ballet. She was a Trainee with the Richmond Ballet from 2016-17. This season she is a trainee with American Repertory Ballet. She has also received her Zumba teaching certification and is happy to be teaching Zumba at Princeton Ballet school.

A California native, Erikka Reenstierna-Cates received her training under Leslie Ann Larson and Rene Daveluy. She started dancing professionally with Central West Ballet in 2009, and in 2015 joined Oklahoma City Ballet. Erikka will also be dancing with Ballet Ireland in the fall and winter of 2016. Ms. Reenstierna-Cates has been featured in a variety of roles including: Indian Maiden in Paul Vasterling’s Peter Pan; Harem Dancer in Dennis Spaight’s Scheherazade; Soloist Spanish Chocolate in Robert Mills’ The Nutcracker; both a soloist and principal in George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Valse Fantaisie and Serenade; a soloist in Ronn Guidi’s Trois Gymnopedies; Myrtha in Giselle; performed as a soloist in Val Caniparoli’s Songs and Violin; the Sugarplum Fairy, Snow Queen, Flower Queen and Arabian Coffee in Rene Daveluy’s The Nutcracker; Pas de Trois in Swan Lake; the Fairy Godmother in Daveluy’s Cinderella; the Enchanted Garden Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty; and highlighted in Daveluy’s Romeo and Juliet and Peter Pan. Erikka has also performed in many original ballets created by Ms. Reenstierna-Cates, and worked closely with both renowned and emerging contemporary choreographers. Additionally, Erikka is also an up-and-coming choreographer, having created pieces for bills alongside names such as Balanchine and Caniparoli. With ARB: 2016 Hometown: Modesto, California

Shaye Firer was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She received her early training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and attended various intensive programs such as The National Ballet of Canada, Alberta Ballet, Kaatsbaan International Dance Centre, Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, and Ellison Ballet. Shaye joined the inaugural class of ARB/Princeton Ballet School’s Trainee program. As a Trainee, she performed company roles in Nutcracker, Our Town, and Glazunov Variations, as well as the lead role of Swanhilda in Princeton Ballet School’s production of Coppélia. Shaye has received choreographic awards from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and was chosen as one of five choreographers in Houston Ballet  Academy’s collaboration with the American Festival for the Arts. Since she joined ARB, she has performed as The Chosen One in Douglas Martin’s Rite of Spring, Titania in Martin’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featured roles in works by Patrick Corbin, Kirk Peterson, and Trinette Singleton. With ARB: 2011 Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

Emily Parker, from Forbes, New South Wales, Australia, started dancing at Lia’s School of Dance at age five. At age 12 she moved to Sydney to attend The McDonald College Performing Arts School training under Josephine Jason and Jane Kesby, completing all RAD levels with distinctions. She performed in a youth ballet company from ages 13-18 with her most prestigious roles being the Sugar Plum Fairy and Black Swan. Emily attended many summer programs, including Sydney Dance Company and Boston Ballet, and performed as a guest artist with The Australian Ballet. Emily joined the ARB trainee program (she won the Audrée Estey scholarship after her first year as an ARB trainee) appearing as the White Swan with ARB Workshop in the spring, 2016. She performed alongside the company in their productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rite of Spring and Romeo and Juliet.

Michael Nickerson-Rossi, founder of Nickerson-Rossi Dance, is a dynamic dancer/choreographer/master teacher. Nationally, he has premiered work in San Diego, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Tempe, Miami Beach, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, New York, and internationally, Belize and Italy. In July 2014, Nickerson-Rossi Dance created and performed “Deeply Rooted” in the Cape Cod Dance Festival in Provincetown, MA alongside the Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor, American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet and others. In February 2015, the company premiered “CHECKMATE”, their evening length work at the Helene Galen Performing Arts Center in Rancho Mirage, CA. In 2016,  Michael produced “Past and Present,” a performance in the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum, where he also served as the Creative Director of Dance 2015/2016. Michael transitioned to the east coast, where he served as Creative Director of Dance and resident dance company for the, Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center, in Chester County in 2016/2017. 

Michael's work was commissioned in the: Alex Theater,  McCallum Theatre, Annenberg Theater, Marsee Theater - Center for the Arts, Royal Theater (Teatro Regio, Torino, Italy), New York Live Arts,  Barclay Theater,  among many others.

Nickerson-Rossi's extensive teaching experience has focused among 22 universities and community colleges such as: Johns Hopkins University-Peabody Conservatory of Dance, California State University Fullerton, Drexel University, Fresno State University, College of Charleston, Muhlenberg College, Arizona State University, Texas State A&M University, Loyola Marymount University, Santa Monica Community College, and many more. He was also a guest instructor of multiple American College Dance Association (formerly American College Dance Festival).

Commissioned commercial industries: Porsche, Maserati, Marshalton Inn, and Anthony's Cucina and Fresca.

Lastly, Michael is ardent about the company’s outreach program, entitled uNdeRstanD, which is a platform of education for youth designed to provide both physical and emotional liberty through the medium of dance. Students are given the opportunity to perform alongside professional dancers. Michael’s work has been recognized as profound and it is with this passion he founded the Palm Springs Dance Festival. (www.PalmSpringsDanceFest.com) 

Julia began taking dance at age 6 and studied ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, and acrobatics. She began competitive dance at age 8 and won regional and national awards. Based on her dancing at competitions, she was selected to perform with Team Rave NY. Ms. Julia then went onto to Raritan Valley Community College continuing her studies of dance. She received her BA degree in dance at Rider University where she studied dance history, choreography and laban movement. She also studied ballet and modern through Princeton Ballet School. While attending Rider she did student teaching at Princeton Ballet School and began her teaching career at a local dance studio. Ms. Julia currently teaches dance at First Position School of Dance in Milltown, Play S.A.F.E in New Brunswick, and is a Dance Power Teaching Artist. She has a passion for dance and love for working with children.

Nancy Dow received her ballet training in New York City, where her earliest teachers included Vladimir Dokoudovsky and Nina Stroganova, charter members of American Ballet Theatre. She studied and performed with Wilson Morelli during high school, and then attended Smith College, graduating with honors in Dance. While at Smith, Ms. Dow directed the Children’s Ballet Program. She was also a soloist with the Five College Moving Company, a group of dance faculty and accomplished students, who performed throughout New England. While injuries precluded a full performing career, Ms. Dow loved to teach. She completed courses in ballet pedagogy with Don Farnworth, and taught at his school in New York City. Members of the Paul Taylor and Jose Limon dance companies took her classes there. Ms. Dow taught, created and directed ballet programs for ten years in Manhattan, and has continued to do so in Central New Jersey for more than 25 years. She enjoys, and has expertise with all levels of ballet students, from 5 year olds through adult professionals. Former students went on to dance with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and PDX Contemporary Ballet. She was featured in the July 2015 issue of Dance Teacher Magazine. Nancy Dow is an ABT® Certified Teacher, successfully completing the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre Primary through Level 7 of the ABT National Training Curriculum.