Deanna Stanton is currently in her twelfth season with Ballet Arkansas. She began dancing in her hometown of Clarksville, Maryland. She credits her early training to her time spent at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Deanna graduated with a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati - College Conservatory of Music. During this time, she was also a Trainee with Ballet West for two seasons. Since joining Ballet Arkansas, she has had the opportunity to perform principal or featured roles in George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Gerald Arpino’s Reflections & Birthday Variations, Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet, and Chris Stuart’s Under the Lights. She has also performed Mina in Michael Fothergill's Dracula, Fairy Godmother in Michael Fothergill's Cinderella, Big Swans in Swan Lake, Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty as well as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Coffee & Dew Drop in The Nutcracker. She has had the privilege of working with choreographers such as Yuka Oba-Muschiana, Xin Ying, Madison Hicks, Kiyon Gaines, and Tom Mattingly. In addition to performing, Deanna has a passion for choreographing. She has had the privilege of creating works for Ballet Legato Roots Choreographers Showcase, Texture Contemporary Ballet, New Century Dance Project, the Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project, The Young Choreographers Festival and several works for Ballet Arkansas as well as Ballet Arkansas’ Summer Intensive and YAGP participants. She has also created two full length ballets; The Little Mermaid & Cinderella.

Rashawn Kadeem is a Cleveland Native and graduate of the Cleveland School of Arts. Throughout Rashawn's life he's always felt the importance of creating work with meaning. He's learned from teachers such as Talise Campbell, Michael Medcalf, Lula Washington, and Daniel Ezralow to name a few. Kadeem has had many wonderful opportunities from choreographing "God's Trombone" at Karamu House Theatre Directed by Terrence Spivey, to Choreographing for LA Unbound in Los Angeles, CA. Rashawn Kadeem currently runs the Instagram page @ClevelandVogueNights, where he shines a light on the ballroom community here in Cleveland, OH. One of the ways that light is shined is by him hosting FREE Vogue classes to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

DiBa studied at the Canton Ballet for 14 years and then completed a dual degree at the Ohio State University with a BFA in Modern Dance and a BA in Psychology. In OSU’s dance program, Jessica trained with professors who were principal dancers of Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Mark Morris. She has also danced and choreographed professionally in New York City, Los Angeles, and Columbus, OH with dance companies like Lori Belilove, Anna and the Annadroids, the Backspace Performance Ensemble, Amy Campbell's Crooked Mouth Dance Company, as well as the Kloons production company, Fugitive Kind Live Theater and musicians including Yula Beeri, Basement Batman, Fashion Week, and several drag artists like Thorgy Thor and Acid Betty. Her recent exciting ventures have been collaborating with world-renowned choreographer, Stephen Petronio for DANCE Cleveland's mentorship program and performing, developing work for Krooked Collective, and choreographing on Studio West dancers for the Electric Forest Music Festival.

Joel K. Linebach is an emerging artist based in Northeast, Ohio and New York City, NY. He obtained his MFA from Case Western Reserve University. He was the recipient of the 2021 Lily Dreyfuss Memorial Award, the 2022 and 2023 Kathryn Karipedes Scholarship for Modern Dance, the 2024 Naomi Wolin Award for New Directions in Dance, and a 2023 Baker-Nord Center Graduate Research Grant. Linebach has performed full works by Gary Galbraith, Larry Keigwin, Janice Rosario, Pam Tanowitz, Pascal Rioult, and Bill Wade as well as excerpted works by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Yin Yue, Ronald K. Brown, John Lehrer, and Mark Morris. Choreographically, Linebach holds an interest in combining technology and dance, exploring how the two can exist coherently together while also combining visceral artistry with technical complexity. Most recently, Linebach has joined Inlet Dance Theatre as an apprentice for the 2024-2025 season. (joelklinebach.com)

Bird Thurman is currently an apprentice with Inlet Dance Theatre and a company member with Deno Dance Company. They hold a minor in dance from Purdue University, where they were deeply engaged in the dance community. During their time at Purdue, Bird served as President of the Purdue Contemporary Dance Company, President and Director of XSeries Dance, and Vice President of the Contact Improvisation Club. Their diverse leadership roles reflect a commitment to both artistic growth and community building, shaping them into a versatile and dynamic performer. Primarily a modern dancer, Bird has a vast history with many styles, from ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary, to contact improv and nontraditional partnering. Their love of physics (they also hold a Bachelor’s in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering) spills into their dance space, especially during partnering, as the human body can do amazing things with the right mechanical advantage.

A native of the greater Buffalo, NY area, Cait grew up studying ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip-hop, modern, and African-Caribbean dance styles at her local studio throughout her childhood. She attended college at State University of New York at Geneseo, where she obtained a minor in dance, was a selected member of the Geneseo Dance Ensemble, and performed in multiple pieces adjudicated at the American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA). Since moving to Cleveland, Cait has been an active member of the Cleveland Dance Project, Cleveland’s largest all-adult dance group, since 2019 as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She also recently had the honor of choreographing and performing for the Cleveland Botanical Gardens 2024 FROST exhibit. Cait currently works as a dance teaching artist with both Rainey Institute and Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, fostering a love of dance and movement in children from PreK through 8th grade! Aside from dance, Cait holds a master’s degree in School Psychology and has 10 years of experience working within the field. She is a mom to three young kids with whom she loves to bust a move!

Tea (she/her) hails from St. Petersburg, Florida, and began Scottish Highland dance at age 12. She trained at the Patricia Ann Dance Studio and the Pinellas County Center for the Arts before earning her B.F.A. in 2020 from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and completing Hubbard Street's professional training in the same year. Tea has performed with various companies, including Fukudance, Dance in the Parks Chicago, Little Fire Artist Collective, Aerial Dance Chicago, and Groundworks DanceTheatre. In 2016, she launched Ballet Naked and founded the Pro.noun Dance Project in 2021 to increase visibility of queer and trans artists.

Theresa Holland, a Cleveland, Ohio, native, began her training with Joanne Morscher and Ana Lobe in 2002 at The Royal School of Ballet. She attended summer intensives at BalletMet and The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts throughout high school. Theresa continued her training in the Mercyhurst University Dance Department under the direction of Tauna Hunter and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2010.  

Theresa danced professionally as a company artist with Ohio Dance Theatre, North Pointe Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, and Neos Dance Theatre. She performed principal and soloist roles in Paquita (Paquita), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dew Drop), Peter Pan (Wendy), Raymonda (Soloist), and Coppélia (Friend). Noteworthy contemporary repertoire includes Bobby Wesner’s Searching for the Find, Dracula, Homage, Joseph Morrissey’s Suite for Strings, and a featured tango in Ramon Thielen’s My Cycle of Love. Theresa has enjoyed many guest performing opportunities with The Lake Erie Ballet, City Ballet of Cleveland, Canton Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Ohio, Holmes Center for the Arts, Central Ohio Youth Ballet, Dance Arts by Regina, and Ballet Theatre Ashtabula.

Today, Theresa performs as a freelance artist, training with Ms. Pam Pribisco, and is a guest artist with The Cleveland Ballet, under the direction of Timour Bourtasenkov. Along with performing, Theresa is involved in the dance community through teaching and choreographing. She holds a master's degree in educational psychology and teaches a Psychology of Coaching course at Kent State University. Theresa is the Ballet Director at Center Stage Dance Studio and Guest Faculty at a number of studios across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Bethany began her training at the age of three, dancing and competing in North Royalton, Ohio. She went on to further her education at the University of Akron, receiving her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance in 2010. After graduating, Bethany went on to perform in parades at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She returned to Ohio to dance with modern based dance company MorrisonDance for 4 years. Then life moved her to Louisville, Kentucky where she performed with the Moving Collective, started her family and began a seven year dance hiatus. Three more moves brought her back to Cleveland where she began rekindling her love of dance, performing with the Cleveland Dance Project in Fall of 2023 to present day.

Renee Clippinger has been dancing since the age of three, starting her training at Midwest School of Ballet in Amherst, Ohio. She grew up training there in ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, and hip-hop, while competing as a member of their company team for 8 years. She started her choreographic journey at the age of 14 and went on to start choreographing for Midwest’s competition team and recitals. Renee is currently finishing her senior year double majoring in Psychology and Dance, at The University of Akron. In the dance program at UA, she has had the opportunity to perform in numerous works as a member of The University of Akron Dance Company. She is also an active member of Terpsichore Dance Club at UA serving as its current President. Through Terpsichore, she has had the opportunity to choreograph and perform in various works for their Underclassmen Showcase, Fall into Dance, and Spring into Dance concerts. Outside of UA, she performed in CDF Akron with FRTRSS Dance Theatre and had the opportunity to be a Seasonal Trainee with The Movement Project last summer. This fall, she presented her work in Cleveland Dance Fest. Most recently, she presented work representing The University of Akron at the American College Dance Association Conference. She currently works as a dance teacher at local studios in the Akron area teaching young artists to inspire their passion for dance.

Alexandra Martinez, who was born with Spina Bifida, is a 29 year old from Cleveland. She works as a secretary for a local community center and is an avid powerlifter. Alexandra also advocates for disability rights through her daily life helping to organize disability pride events and marching in parades. She was recently awarded the title Ms. Wheelchair Ohio where her platform is Dancing Through Disability, focusing on healing trauma and connectin with yourself again through dance. Her passions for dance and creative arts earned her an Associate of the Arts degree. Alexandra describes herself as Creative, Joyous, Determined, Thoughtful, and Loving.

Heather Sakai serves as the Marketing Director for Cleveland Dance Project, as well as for Cleveland Dance Project Company. Heather has been a part of CDP since its inception, contributing as a dancer, choreographer, and instructor. Heather began her dance journey at the age of three, spending her early years training under Jeanne Ann Corrigan and later receiving the bulk of her education under Arlene Cassara, dancing competitively with the Rocky River Studio of Dance. She continued her studies at Baldwin-Wallace College before earning dual master’s degrees in Social Work (with a focus on Adult Mental Health) and Contemporary Dance from Case Western Reserve University. While at Case, Heather specialized in Graham technique and was selected to attend a summer workshop at the Martha Graham Studio in New York City. Heather began her dance journey at the age of three, spending her early years training under Jeanne Ann Corrigan and later receiving the bulk of her education under Arlene Cassara, dancing competitively with the Rocky River Studio of Dance. She continued her studies at Baldwin-Wallace College before earning dual master’s degrees in Social Work (with a focus on Adult Mental Health) and Contemporary Dance from Case Western Reserve University. While at Case, Heather specialized in Graham technique and was selected to attend a summer workshop at the Martha Graham Studio in New York City. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Heather has taught ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, musical theater, and gymnastics to students of all ages both nationally and internationally. She has also choreographed extensively for children and adults. Heather is also a certified SEATED RHYTHM™ instructor with Active for Life Fitness, a program dedicated to promoting healthy, active lifestyles for seniors and individuals with developmental disabilities. Heather also serves as an adjudicator for the Playhouse Square Dazzle Awards. Outside of her dance endeavors, Heather works as a Social Media Engagement Coordinator for Bright Beginnings. When she’s not dancing or working, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and her dog, Kuppy.