Olivia Mason

Olivia grew up dancing in Napa Valley CA, where she trained at an RAD school until high school. She then attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts and Marin Ballet. During the summers Olivia attended intensives at ABT, American Repertory Ballet, Kaatsbaan, Ballet Austin, State Street Ballet and City Ballet of San Diego. She has a BFA in Ballet and Minor in Business from the University of Utah, as well as an Associates Degree in Fashion Design. Since graduating Olivia has been a dancer and choreographer with Municipal Ballet Co. for 6 years and has grown her fashion and costume design business, Olly Designs. During the day you can find her on the U of U campus. For the last 3 years as a draper/designer for the School of Dance and very recently she has moved to Tanner Dance to Co-Direct their costume shop. Olivia is thrilled to be part of SLBC’s first season and to be working with such a fun and dedicated group of people.

photo credit @cprowephoto

Abby Brumbeloe

Abby Brumbeloe was born in Birmingham, Alabama and trained with Briarwood Ballet. She has a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance at Troy University and is currently dancing with Wasatch Contemporary Dance Company. She enjoys hiking, cooking, and drinking coffee. Some of the few things that give her the greatest joy are her husband, German Shepherd, and friends.

Karina Biancone

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Karina danced with State Street Ballet's school Gustafson Dance. She then moved to Utah to study at the University of Utah's Ballet Department and the Engineering School. In 2017, Karina danced with Dissonance Dance Theater in Washington D.C. for two seasons. Now, she works for BioFire Diagnostics as a Software Test Engineer and dances in her free time!

Michaela Gerard

Originally from Boise, Idaho, Michaela moved to SLC to attend the University of Utah where she graduated with a BFA in Ballet as well as a BS in Psychology. Since graduation, Michaela danced locally with Municipal Ballet Co prior to joining SLBC. She has also explored her interest in early childhood development as a behavior technician and early childhood classroom teacher. Michaela is thrilled to join SLBC for its inaugural season and hopes to have the ability to continue dancing and collaborating with the many talented artists involved in bringing this concept to fruition.

Sierra Govett

Sierra grew up in Boulder, CO dancing with Boulder Ballet. She attended the University of Utah and graduated in 2018 with degrees in Ballet and Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is currently working for the International Rescue Committee, a refugee resettlement organization, coordinating their community garden program and food security efforts for refugees and new Americans. Along with dancing in her free time, she loves to travel, read, knit, ski, bike, and spend time outdoors hiking and camping with her fiancée and dog.

Tristana Black

Tristana is originally from Colorado, but moved to Utah in 2012 to pursue a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Ballet and a Bachelor's of Science in Economics from the University of Utah. Upon graduating in 2016 she began dancing with Municipal Ballet Company, where she spent most of her free time until her final show with them in 2020.  Tristana has also taught dance to children of all ages throughout the Salt Lake Valley, and currently teaches at the Waterford Dance Academy and Tanner Dance at the University of Utah.  In addition to dance, Tristana traveled to Thailand to study Yoga and earn her 200 RYT certificate in 2021 and is currently working on a certificate in  “Applied Stretching Theory and Practice” from StretchLab. She is very excited to be a part of Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative's world premier of "Stay" and is always proud of how the artists of Salt Lake keep making cool stuff for their community! 

Photo is @cprowephoto

Stacie Riskin

My name is Stacie Riskin. I grew up in Poulsbo, WA, a small town outside of Seattle. I have lived in Salt Lake for the past 12 years. I grew up dancing at Liberty Bay Danceworks, a small local studio, and participated in all forms of dance. Around age 10 I decided to focus on ballet, and my passion and love for the art form only grew from there. I graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Ballet and Exercise and Sports Science in 2014. I have been married to my husband, David, for just shy of 10 years and we have 4 children: Liam, Kayden, Avery, and Riley. When I am not at home working as a full time mom, I can be found teaching ballet, reading, hiking, and taking the occasional ballet class with SLBC. 

Sierra Bates

Sierra grew up in Boise, ID and came to Utah for her BFA at UVU. After graduating she has enjoyed teaching ballet in the area and dancing with Municipal Ballet Co and Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative. She also has a passion for coffee and is a barista at La Barba Coffee! In her free time you can find her out in the beautiful Utah mountains hiking, camping, and spending time with her husband, Brandon and their two little kittens! 

Photo is @cprowephoto

Sarah Mateer

Hailing from Chicago, Sarah moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah as a double major in Ballet and Environmental and Sustainability Studies.  While at the U, she has had the opportunity to perform works by Penny Saunders, Alejandro Cerrudo, Anouk van Dijk, Melissa Bobick, and Christine McMillan. She is set to graduate this spring, 2022.  Sarah received her earlier training at Dancenter North under the direction of Stacy Keller, and attended summer programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Indiana University, and Ballet Chicago.  Outside of school and dance, she currently works as a server at Vertical Diner.  Sarah is looking forward to her continued work with Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative as both a dancer and choreographer.

Photo by @aubrienieldphotos

Ellie Hanagarne

Ellie received a BFA in ballet and modern dance from The Boston Conservatory. Her performance in Anna Sokolow’s Magritte Magritte was lauded in the Boston Herald as a solo that provided “a deep command of Sokolow’s highly expressive lyrical style.” In 2012 she completed her MFA in teaching and choreography from the University of Utah’s department of Ballet where she was awarded a teaching assistantship to teach ballet and modern classes to undergraduate dance majors. She currently enjoys being a mother as well as choreographing and teaching. This is her 8th year as an adjunct professor in the Musical Theater Department at the University of Utah.

Sayoko Knode

Before calling Salt Lake City home, Sayoko experienced her formative years in Tokyo, Japan and Seattle, WA. She studied at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and received her BFA and MFA in Ballet with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of Utah. She danced professionally for LED Boise, Idaho Dance Theatre, and Ballet Bellevue while choreographing for many schools and companies such as Ballet Idaho, Ballet Arkansas, University of Utah, MOGA Conservatory, Barlow Arts Conservatory, Idaho Dance Theatre, Idaho Regional Ballet, Ballet Bellevue, Salt Lake City Ballet, Municipal Ballet Company and Independent artists and students. She is the winner of the YAGP choreographer award in San Francisco (2010), Denver (2012), and Salt Lake City (2019, 2022) and finalist of Ballet Arkansas’s Visions Choreography competition (2014).

With a toddler and an almost 1 year old baby, Sayoko lately finds herself being the supporting dance partner and climbing furniture more often than the supported dancer on the dance floor (aka the “play-zone”) However, she is beyond grateful and humbled by the “demotion” to be able to be a mother and continue to choreograph and work with beautiful dancers and artists.

Cary Schaub

Carly Schaub has directed Westminster Dance Company for two years and with the help of the wonderful staff and community directed Glint and One-Shot. Carly completed her M.F.A. at the University of Utah in Modern Dance with Screendance Certification and a B.F.A. in Theatre and Dance from the University of Wyoming. Currently she works as an adjunct faculty member at Westminster College, and Salt Lake Community College and is on faculty at Wasatch Arts Center in addition to teaching Dance for Parkinson’s for Grey Matters for the University of Utah Skagg’s Wellness Center.

Before attending graduate school, Carly danced, choreographed and served as the Education Coordinator at Northern Plains Dance in Bismarck, ND which led her all over the state performing and guest teaching with North Dakota Ballet and Red River Dance and choreographing numerous musicals for Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre, Bismarck State College and area high schools.

She more recently choreographed and directed for DEXO, Snow College, Cache Valley Civic Ballet, Northern Plains Dance, North Dakota Ballet, Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative, and spent a summer teaching for ArchesSports in Chengdu, China, and also directs Dance Balletti, a Renaissance and Baroque ballet reconstruction ensemble.

She is proud to serve on the board of directors for Deseret Experimental Opera (DEXO) and Lyrical Opera Theater of Utah.  In her spare time she loves hiking, caring for her menagerie of animals, and following cats on Instagram.

Caroline Sheridan 

From Michigan, Caroline began her classical training at the age of 5 in the Cecchetti Method.  In 2013, she graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in Economics and BFA in Ballet.  Since graduation, Caroline has performed as a principal and soloist with Central West Ballet, Ballet Hartford, Syracuse City Ballet, and Michigan Ballet Theatre.  She has performed numerous classical works including, ‘Swan Lake’, ‘Giselle’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Les Sylphides’, ‘Coppélia’, and ‘The Nutcracker’, as well as neoclassical and contemporary works such as George Balanchine’s ‘Who Cares?’ and ‘Valse Fantasie’, ‘Val Caniparoli’s ‘Lambarena’ and ‘Songs’, and Gerald Arpino’s ‘Birthday Variations’.  Most recently, Caroline has accepted the position of Artistic Director of Syracuse City Ballet and will be relocating to New York in June.  Caroline is grateful for the space to create with Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative and for all the wonderful artists involved in the organization. 

Chelsea Vonu

Chelsea grew up in Yorktown, Virginia training with the Eastern Virginia School for the Performing Arts under the direction of Sandra Balestracci. She performed with Rhapsody Ballet Ensemble while studying Spanish and Marine Biology at the University of Virginia. Ski instructing for Aspen Skiing Company brought her out west in 2011, where she’s been a ski bum with a dancing problem for the last decade. Chelsea trained with Boulder Ballet while she was in law school at the University of Colorado. After law school, she danced with Boulder Ballet before turning to law full time. Inspired by Utah’s accessibility to skiing and the arts, she recently moved to Salt Lake where she has been pursuing ballet as a post-work passion.

Photo Credit: @lexi.e.photo

Mary Jessie Floor

Mary Jessie Floor was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT. Mary Jessie started dance at the age of 4 and attended the Ballet West Academy. Mary Jessie graduated from the University of Utah in May 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Public Health. Right now she works as an Epidemiologist for the Salt Lake County Health Department. She enjoys riding motorcycles and being outdoors in her free time.

Alyse Morgan

Alyse is a singer and songwriter from Salt Lake City, UT.  She started her creative journey & found a love for performing first, as a dancer.  When she realized in her college years that ballet was not what she wanted as her career, she started exploring her other passions. This is where she found her love for writing and performing in a different capacity, music. 

You can find Alyse on any music streaming platform or catch her at a local gig.

Natalie Hamilton

Natalie grew up in Logan, Utah, and pursued a degree in Piano Performance before realizing she wanted her life to have other plans. Leaving the music program, Natalie traveled to live in Georgia and Alaska, where she didn’t touch a piano for many years. 

One day, she found an old Steinway piano for sale in a church in Alaska, and she moved it into her small cabin. After work, she began writing music at night to get through long winters and cold spells. Slowly, she fell back in love with playing. When moving back to Utah, she had to choose whether to leave the Steinway behind. She spent a summer building it a crate and moved it back home despite the challenge. She’s been in Salt Lake since, where she plays keyboard in a local group called The Plastic Cherries. She still loves to play with a glass of wine to pass a quiet evening. For Natalie, music is a way of expression to connect with life and others in a way she’s happy to be experiencing. She considers herself a lucky human to experience and make music with her friends, for her friends.

Michele Medina-Ferrone

Michele is a multi-disciplinarian violinist. She loves to play music by ear, improvise, and read notes. To make her art more 3-dimensional, Michele has recently collaborated with Municipal Ballet Company where they performed at Fisher Brewery and Zion National Park. Prior to this, she was affiliated with Porridge for Goldilocks,The Mundi Project, Harmonic Muses, LoveDanceMore's Mudson series, Utah Youth Orchestra and Ensembles, and organized chamber music ensembles to perform local composers' works. Michele studied classical violin with Barbara Scowcroft at the University of Utah and jazz violin improvisation with Nora Germain. Once part of Rakatanga, an Eastern-European inspired jazz folk group, she is now focusing on early music, composition, and other musical skills. She is currently a 6th grade Spanish Dual Immersion teacher at Riverside Elementary.