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Ian Debono is a native of San Francisco and currently attends the Juilliard School working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. In his three years there, Ian has been fortunate enough to perform new works and repertoire of Ohad Naharin, Trisha Brown, Paul Taylor, Donald McKayle, Andrea Miller, Sonya Tayeh, Amy Hall Garner, and Norbert De La Cruz III. In his hometown, he trained in ballet and contemporary dance at San Francisco Academy of Ballet and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, working with Alonzo King LINES Ballet faculty Arturo Fernandez and Gregory Dawson. In 2016, he performed in the Oakland Ballet Company’s 2016 production of The Nutcracker, and in 2021, he performed in West Edge Opera’s production of Eliogabalo. This is his second season with Chamber Dance Project.
Photo by Eduardo Patino.NYC.
Julia Erickson received her training on scholarship with Pacific Northwest Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School. She toured to Europe and Asia with PNB and danced with Texas Ballet Theater for two seasons prior to joining Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2001. She was promoted to soloist in 2004 and to principal in 2009. Julia has performed principal roles in Swan Lake La Bayadère, The Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide Le Corsaire Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Western Symphony, Who Cares?, Prodigal Son, Sylvia Pas de Deux, Agon, and Serenade; and Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite In the Night, and Fancy Free among many others. Her contemporary repertory includes Paul Taylor’s Company B; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Nine Sinatra Songs, and Octet; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Sinfonietta. Julia also dances for Santa Monica-based Barak Ballet, received Pittsburgh’s 2014 BRAZZY Award for outstanding female dancer and is an entrepreneur and writer. This is Julia’s fourth season with Chamber Dance Project.
Photo by Rebecca Huffman
DAVIT HOVHANNISYAN began dancing in his native Armenia at the age of six and attended the National Ballet School of Armenia on full scholarship. At 16 he began his career with the National Ballet of Armenia. He joined Milwaukee Ballet in 2004, where he is in his 11th season as a principal. His repertory includes leading roles in Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Dracula, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, La Bayadère, Swan Lake and Coppélia. This is his fifth season with Chamber Dance Project
Sophie Miklosovic, Michigan native, is currently a Company Artist with BalletMet.
Since joining BalletMet in 2017, at age 17, she has performed leading roles in Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quixote, among others. She has also performed works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Edwaard Liang, David Nixon, Christopher Wheeldon, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Ulysses Dove, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Alexander Ekman. As a professional guest artist, she has performed principal roles from Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris, The Nutcracker.
Her awards include the Gold Medal at the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, the Morning Star Foundation Award at the Beijing IBC in China, 1st Place, Gold Medal at the Cuban IBC & festival in Havana. In 2019, Sophie was named as one of Dance Magazine’s Top 25 to Watch.
Photo by Eduardo Patino.NY
Patric Palkens is in his first season with Atlanta Ballet after having been a Soloist for Boston Ballet, with over a decade of experience performing both classical and contemporary repertoire for ballet companies around the world. Patric is known for his charming stage presence, dynamic jumps and athletic partnering. He has performed leading roles by choreographic greats such as Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Victoria Morgan and Val Caniparoli. Patric Is excited and grateful to return to Chamber Dance Project this summer for his fifth season to be a part of creating new work and revisiting some old favorites.
Photo by Eduardo Nile Scott Photography
LUZ SAN MIGUEL (Ballet Master) was born in Madrid and trained at Carmina Ocana Ballet School and the Municipal Institute of Ballet in Antwerp. Before joining Milwaukee Ballet in 2005, she danced with BalletMet Columbus, Charleston Ballet Theater, Tulsa Ballet, Dresden Ballet, and Germany’s Leipziger Ballet. At Milwaukee Ballet, she has performed in Dracula, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Peter Pan, Coppélia, Cinderella, Esmeralda, Romeo and Juliet, and La Bohème. This is her sixth season with Chamber Dance Project.
Fuki Takahashi was born Yokohoma, Japan, and began training at age 3 at Yuzue Ballet Academy. She moved to the United States in 2010, and trained at Princeton Ballet and Hariyama Ballet in New York. Ms Takahashi competed in the International Ballet Competion in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2014 she earned silver in the Tanzolymp International Dance Festival. Through American Dance Competition Fuki joined Orlando Ballet’s second company. She joined Atlanta Ballet in 2018. She’s had the opportunity to perform works by renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Liam Scarlet, Justin Peck, Yuri Possokhov, Lar Lubovitch, Dwight Rhodes and Claudia Schreier.
Michael Cherry was born and raised in Springfield, Virginia. He is currently a senior at George Mason University and is working towards receiving a BFA in Dance and Choreography as well as a minor in Arts Management. Michael has had the opportunity to dance in works created/set by Camille A Brown, Alejandro Cerrudo, Doug Varone, Manuel Vignoulle, Rafael Bonachela, Rena Butler, Fiona Jopp, Susan Shields, Shaun Boyle-Darcy, and Christopher d’Amboise. During past summers he has had the opportunity to attend the Juilliard summer dance intensive in 2018 and 2019, the Complexions Summer Intensive and winter intensive, as well as the LINES Summer dance intensive. He has had the opportunity to create works on dancers in the DMV area and is beyond excited to continue creating works in the future.
Odin, was a high school scholar athlete, started dancing at 17 and is a senior at George Mason University’s School of Dance. He has worked with choreographers Rena Butler, David Parsons, Kate Skarpetowska, Ronald K. Brown, and among others. He also plays the cello and piano. This is his first
season with Chamber Dance Project.
Tess Cogley, raised in Arlington, VA, began her dance training at age 5 with BalletNova Center for Dance and remained there until graduating high school in 2021. She is currently working towards a BFA in ballet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Tess has had the opportunity to perform principal and soloist roles in The Nutcracker, La Fille Mal Gardee, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Swan Lake. She has also performed in works by world renowned choreographers George Balanchine and August Bournonville. During her time at BalletNova, she appeared as the titular character, Harriet Strong, in Constance Walsh’s contemporary ballet, Dear Harriet. Tess is honored to be dancing with Chamber Dance Project.
Violinist Sally McLain received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with High Distinction from Indiana University, where she studied with and was assistant to James Buswell. Critically hailed as a “violinist with lots of style” (Washington Post), she has performed as soloist to critical acclaim in a variety of venues that include the Clarice Smith Center’s Gildenhorn Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the Library of Congress, Lisner Auditorium, National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was a member of the Theater Chamber Players, as well as the Potomac String Quartet, which recorded the complete quartets of David Diamond and Quincy Porter for Albany Records. She is a founding and current member of the Left Bank Quartet, which has been praised for its “brilliant focus and timbral variety” (Gramophone magazine). She is also an adjunct chamber music faculty member at the University of Maryland. She was the concertmaster of the Washington Chamber Symphony for ten seasons and is currently concertmaster for Washington Concert Opera. This is Sally’s seventh season with Chamber Dance Project.
A classically trained musician, Karin Kelleher has had a varied and successful career in the symphonic world, playing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and Knoxville Symphony, and holding concertmaster positions with the Woodstock Mozart Festival, Washington Opera Society, the Prairie Ensemble, and Racine Symphony.
Currently she performs with local Washington, DC arts organizations, including the Annapolis Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Washington Concert Opera Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic, to name but a few.
In 2015, Karin released her debut album, Melange, independently created, performed and produced with her husband, Mike Kelleher. Classical and jazz influences come together in Mike’s charts to form a unique style that reflects their personal and musical life. An active educator, she enjoys working with young performers. She teaches privately, coaches master classes, and participates in school educational programs all over Maryland. This is Karin’s third season with Chamber Dance Project.
Violist Jerome Gordon enjoys a diversified career as an orchestral, chamber, and studio musician. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C.
He was a fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. During his tenure in New World he toured Europe performing in concert halls in France, Italy, and Spain. He also performed chamber concerts throughout Italy, and collaborated with members of the Orion String Quartet and the Vienna Philharmonic. In 2014 Mr. Gordon relocated to Washington DC and began playing with the National Philharmonic, Maryland Symphony, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
As a studio musician Mr. Gordon has recorded soundtracks for numerous TV shows, video games, and motion pictures, including such notable titles as Lost, Call of Duty, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Help, Green Book, Frozen 1 & 2, the new live action Lion King, and Minions 2.
On stage Mr. Gordon has performed and recorded with popular artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, and Celine Dion, among others. He recently completed an 8-year run with Celine Dion as a violist in her production in Las Vegas, NV at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. After the residency he served as the violist in her string quartet and has been touring with Ms. Dion since 2018.
Mr. Gordon received his Bachelor of Music degree and Certificate in Music Business from Northwestern University working primarily with Mr. Roland Vamos. He continued his training at University of Southern California earning a Master of Music degree with Mr. Donald McInnes. This is Jerome’s third season with Chamber Dance Project.
Benjamin Wensel is a native of Western New York, and earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music, where he served as assistant to renowned pedagogue Alan Harris. He has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, and has been a member of The U.S. Army Strings, Orchestra and String Quartet since 2003. Dedicated to the creation and promotion of new music, he has performed the world premieres of more than 20 works written by established and emerging American composers as a founding member of the Tarab Cello Ensemble and participated in the ensemble’s residencies at Princeton University, Stetson University, and the University of South Florida. Benjamin performs regularly as the cellist of the Mellifera Quartet. This is his second season with Chamber Dance Project.
Costume Designer, Rebekah Nettekoven Tello, grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania before heading to Ohio where she studied comprehensive theatre and creative writing. Having been in the DC area for nearly ten years she has spread her creative fingers across several artistic and academic opportunities. She has a master’s degree in Theatre History and Literary Criticism from The Catholic University of America where she focused on the intersection of performance and medicine in 18th century London. She has written for DC Theatre Scene reviewing the Fringe Festival, taught elementary and middle school students through CAREActor, and provided costume research for designers. Rebekah joined The Washington Ballet five years ago as a wardrobe assistant after some time at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. While at TWB she has had the privilege of working with designers such as Vandal and Christine Darch, as well as assisting on the build of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Prism, and Septime Webre’s Alice (In Wonderland), The Sun Also Rises, and Sleepy Hollow. This is Rebekah’s sixth season working with Chamber Dance Project and her first foray into costume design with Songs by Cole. Her design work is the culmination of years spent upcycling and experimenting with curtains, lampshades, vintage finds, and thrifted treasures to create garments with a touch of history that tickle her senses.
MAJA E. WHITE has designed lighting for opera, theatre, and dance nationally and internationally. She has worked with the Bolshoi, Kirov, and Royal Danish Ballets; Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Baltimore Opera, and Washington National Opera; Kanji Segawa, Francesca Harper, Alexandra Damani, and Robert Battle. She is an assistant professor at the University of Richmond and a member of United Scenic Artists 829 and the International Association of Lighting Designers. This is Maja’s sixth season with Chamber Dance Project.
(photo by Michael Bailey)
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Chamber Dance Project is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law and most appreciated. Federal Tax ID 13-4109515. Chamber Dance Project is a Resident Company at BalletNova. Chamber Dance Project is supported by The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Diane Coburn Bruning, Artistic Director | Sally McLain, Principal Musician
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