Born in Hiroshima, Japan Aoi began his ballet studies at his mother`s school, the Hiro Anraku Ballet Studio. A Gold Prize winner in the All Japan Ballet Competition in Nagoya, he went on to study at the San Francisco Ballet School, Miami City Ballet School, Washington Ballet School, and Pittsburgh Ballet School as a full scholarship student and then joined Texas Ballet Theater. We welcome Aoi to his first season as a professional dancer with Columbia Classical Ballet.

A native of Szombathely, Hungary. Daniel graduated from the Hungarian Dance Academy in 2009. He toured throughout Malta and Japan while studying at the Academy. His stage experience includes: Chinese solo dance in Robert Lingdren's Nutcracker and dolls pas de deux from the first act, additionally the Cousin from the same ballet; Bluebird male variation from Sleeping Beauty, Air pas de deux choreography by Laszlo Seregi and music by J. S. Bach. James variation from Bournonville's La Sylphide, Solo boy from Saint-Léon's La Viviandiere (Pas de six), the "Bastard" from George Vamos's Carmina Burana. He was awarded 2nd place in the Internal Competition of Hungarian Dance Academy in 2008. We welcome Daniel to his first season as a professional dancer with Columbia Classical Ballet.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Zoltan studied ballet at The Hungarian Dance Academy. In 1998, he was accepted in the Hungarian National Ballet where he performed in many classical and neoclassical ballets such as Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Spartacus, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Onegin , Five Tangos, and Meyerling. He has toured through Austria, China, Holland, Mexico, Portugal, and Turkey with the Hungarian National Ballet. In 2005, Zoltan joined the Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theater in Houston, Texas, where he was an Artist in Residence, dancing solos in such ballets as Nutcracker, Cinderella, Edward Scissorhands, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Symphony in C, Prince Igor, and Eternal. In the 2006 RDA/SW Festival, Zoltan was selected to perform in Jimmy Gamonet`s Prokofiev`s Piano Concerto and at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Zoltan joined Columbia Classical Ballet in 2008.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ms. Burks was trained by Magda Aunon and Magaly Suarez, spending summers at the School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin, Miami City Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 2005, she was awarded first place in the pre-professional division of the American Ballet Competition. The following year, she was invited to dance the role of Kitri in Don Quixote with Rolando Sarabia at the Topf's Center Spring Gala in Boston and appeared as Aurora at the International Ballet Festival in Miami. In August 2008, she performed Dying Swan at Gala de Estrellas de la Danza Mundial in the Dominican Republic. Ms. Burks has spent time in Cincinnati Ballet, Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, and is now returning for her second season with the Columbia Classical Ballet. In Columbia, she has performed principal roles, such as Sugar Plum in Radenko Pavlovich's The Nutcracker, Blanche DuBois in Mark Diamond's production of A Streetcar Named Desire, and Dorothy in Simone Cuttino's The Wizard of Oz.

Began her dance training under Ballet Master Henry Danton. She was awarded a scholarship to Bossov Ballet Theatre and studied under Andrei Bossov and Natalya Getman. During her four years there, she danced leading roles in ballets such as the Nutcracker, Giselle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Paquita and many contemporary works. Anna Marie also attended various summer programs such as the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, as well as five Bossov Ballet summer intensives. Anna Marie also was selected to dance twice in St. Petersburg with the Dance Open ballet festival. She began her professional career with Milwaukee Ballet II. She is happy to return this year for her second year with Columbia Classical Ballet.

A native of Brazil, she began studying ballet at Centro Mineiro de Danças Clássicas in Brazil. She has danced professionally with Sesi Minas Dance Company. She credits her training to such prestigious instructors as Maria Clara Salles, Ofélia Gonzalez and Pablo Moret. In 2006, Renata was awarded Second Place at the Joinville International Competition in Brazil. Her professional repertoire includes such roles as Medora in Le Corsaire, Kitri and Cupid in Don Quixote, Clara in Nutcracker, Diana and Acteon, Paquita, Flames of Paris, and others. Renata returns for her third season with the company.

A native of Houston, Texas, Lauren returns for her second year with Columbia Classical Ballet. Lauren studied ballet at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where her principal teachers were Miroslav Bart and Milena Leben. Lauren’s training has also included American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives, as well as coaching from Alla Osipenko, Gabriella Komleva, Tatiana Legat, Alia Shirkevitch, and Bernara Karieva. Lauren was invited to the 2005 Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York following her semifinal performance of Kitri’s Variation from Don Quixote and Gamzatti’s Variation from La Bayadere. That same year she also danced the role of Medora in an Academy presentation of the Dream Scene from Le Corsaire. Lauren’s stage experience with Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre includes corps and soloist roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Alan Hineline’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Miroslav Bart’s Dracula, and performances of Amber Thornton’s Contemporary Project. She appeared with Lone Star Ballet (The Nutcracker) and Tulsa Ballet (The Sleeping Beauty) before joining Sarasota Ballet in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, Lauren was a Company Member with Sarasota Ballet and performed in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Ashton’s The Two Pigeons and Facade, and Robert de Warren’s Coppelia, Firebird, Suite from Don Quixote, Othello and The Nutcracker.

A native of Brazil, he began training in Academia Toute Forme in Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil. He later performed professionally with Sesi Minas Dance Company. His prestigious instructors include Tércia Cançado, Pablo Moret, and Ofelia Gonzalez. Waldilei has been awarded various achievements in South American ballet competitions, such as the Joinville International Competition in Brazil. His repertoire includes performances in the Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Paquita, La Bayadere, Coppelia, Cinderella, Streetcar Named Desire and Wizard of Oz. Waldilei returns for his third season with Columbia Classical Ballet.

Hailing from Nagoya City, Japan, Kazuki studied ballet at Reiko Matsuoka Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Miami City Ballet School, and has danced with Orlando Ballet. His repertoire includes Golden Idol in La Bayadere, Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Russian dance, Spanish dance, Chinese dance, among other roles in the Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Who cares?, Borelo, and many other contemporary roles. Kazuki’s achievements include: 1st Prize in Kobe All Japan Competition, 1st Prize in Nagoya All Japan Competition, 3rd Prize in Saitama All Japan Competition, and 5th Prize in Japan Grand Prix. We welcome Kazuki for his first season with Columbia Classical Ballet.

A native of Japan, who speaks Japanese, English, and Czech, Akari received training from 1989-2000 at the Hiraki Ballet School Japan, 2000-2002 at the English National Ballet School, and from 2007 to 2008 at the Aoyama Dancing Square. Akari’s performance experience consists of the National Theatre of Prague, Czech Republic (2002-2003), Brno National Theatre, Czech Republic (2003-2006), Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava (2006-2007). Her repertorie includes: Le Corsiare, La Bayadere, The Taming of the Shrew, The Child and Magic, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Onegin, Giselle, Bolero, La Fille Mal Gardee, Ivan the Terrible, The Merry Widow, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Wizard of Oz and Streetcar Named Desire. In 2001, she won the award of Suzanna Oram (English National Ballet School), in 2002 was awarded the Benesh Movement National Elementary Solo, and in 2003 first prize in the International Ballet Competition in Brno (Czech Republic). Akari became a company member of Columbia Classical Ballet in 2008.

Born in Detroit, Michigan. He received his training at Canada's National Ballet School, The Northeast Academy of Dance, and American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School where he was awarded a National Training Scholarship. Edward also attended one summer with the School of American Ballet. In 2006, he joined Houston Ballet II where he danced roles including Majisimo, The Sleeping Beauty, Napoli, Conservatoriet, and several works by Stanton Welch and Claudio Munoz. In 2007, Edward joined the Sarasota Ballet for two seasons where he was in productions such as Anthony Tudor's Lilac Garden as Hussar, Facade and The Two Pigeons by Sir Frederick Ashton, Scottish Dances by David Bintley, Anna Karenina by Andre Prokovsky, and was featured as Fritz and a Russian Dancer in the Nutcracker. In June of 2009, as principal guest artist for Arts Ballet Theater of Florida, he traveled to Odense, Denmark to perform in the International Young Dancers Festival. Columbia Classical Ballet welcomes Edward to his first season with the company.

A native of North Carolina, returns for her second season with Columbia Classical Ballet. Dee Dee attended North Carolina School of the Arts for five years and graduated in 2006. Her personal coaches include Nina Danilova, Jenny Chiang, Brantley Shapiro, and Kee-Juan Han. She has attended summers sessions at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Oregon Ballet Theater School, and she spent a year in Switzerland studying at L’ecole de Rudra-Bejart.

Hailing from the Ukraine, Oleksandr returns to Columbia Classical Ballet for his second season with the company. Oleksandr studied classical ballet and graduated from the Ballet Academy of Ukraine in 2001. From 2001 through 2002 he was a soloist dancer with Classical Ballet of Kiev under the direction of Valeriy Koftun. His principal roles include La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet. In 2002 he joined Donetsk Ballet Company under the direction of Vadim Pisarev. While with the Donetsk Ballet Company he toured in Japan, United States, China, Greece, Bulgaria, and Levon. His principal roles include The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Chipolina, Per Gunt, Don Quixote and Spartacus. Mr. Vykhrest was a guest artist with the Terada Ballet Art School in Kyoto, Japan, the Ochy Ballet Art School in Japan, New Jersey Ballet Academy, and Baltimore Ballet School. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, he was an artist in the International Festival “Stars of the World Ballet”. Oleksandr joined Sarasota Ballet of Florida in January of 2005 as a Soloist. He has danced Soloist roles in Robert de Warren’s Mid Summer Night’s Dream, Carmina Burana, Catasan, La Buetic Fantastic, Firebird, Othello, The Nutcracker and Coppelia. He has been a guest dancer with Russian Academy of Ballet in Orlando, Florida as well as Ohio School of Ballet.

Began his training in Savannah, Georgia. He received three years of training under the direction of Shannon Greenberg and Dagoberto Nieves. During this time he attended the Boston Ballet summer program. Afterwards, he joined the Signature dance ensemble under the direction of Cindy Mancini and Joseph Carow. Journy returns for his third season as a company member with Columbia Classical Ballet

Born in Osaka, Japan, she began studying ballet at the age of four. Kaori first attended the Mitaka Ballet Academy under the tutelage of Tetuji Adachi and received a strong foundation for her professional career. While studying in Japan, Kaori performed soloist roles in her school’s anniversary productions of Coppelia and Don Quixote. Her repertoire includes the roles of Swanhilda, Cupid, Esmeralda Pas de Deux, Chinese, and other pieces in notable classical and contemporary ballets. Kaori has competed in a number of acclaimed ballet competitions including the Saitama Competition, where she was awarded an Encouragement Prize, the Japanese Nationwide Competition, and the NBA Competition, also held in Japan. Kaori graduated from the Hungarian Dance Academy, and is in her third season with Columbia Classical Ballet.

(1st year Corps de Ballet) Has studied ballet since the age of five. She has studied under Radenko Pavlovich since 2005. In 2008, Katherine danced the role of Clara in Columbia Classical Ballet’s Nutcracker. Her summer intensive training includes Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington, DC and Pavlovich Dance School, Columbia, SC. Katherine is currently a tenth-grade student at Provost Academy High School.

(1st year Corps de Ballet) From Fukuoka Japan, began her dance training with Michiko Komori Ballet School at the age of three. She was accepted to Quinte Ballet School of Canada in 2004. During the next four years, she performed many contemporary pieces including the lead role, choreographed by Owen Montague. She has danced many roles in the Nutcracker, Ragdoll, Ballerina doll, Chinese and Murliton, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Some of her favorite performance opportunities have been: Puss in Boots from The Sleeping Beauty, the Pas Deux from Coppelia, and La Esmeralda. She also danced the lead role of Conservatoire, Fresco, Cygnets, and Cupid. In 2008, she was a member of Columbus Dance Theatre. Riiko has choreographed many classique and contemporary pieces and received the Swarovski figurine for choreographing and dancing in 2006. She also performed in the website commercial for Ogawaya Inn in 2008.

(1st year Corps de ballet) Raised in Madison Heights, Virginia, Anna began taking ballet at Virginia School of the Arts. She has received training at the Washington School of Ballet in D.C., Miami City Ballet School, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, and has also attended summer programs at Joffery NY, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Miami City Ballet.

(1st year Corps de Ballet) A native of East Lansing, Michigan, Natalie began her Vaganova technique training with Barbara Banasikowski Smith at Greater Lansing Ballet Company. She continued her studies when she moved to boarding school in Pittsfield, ME to study under Andrei Bossov and Natalya Getman with Bossov Ballet Theatre. She has also attended summer intensives at Harid Conservatoy, Joffrey Ballet NYC, Jordan Academy of Dance at Butler University, and Bossov Ballet Theatre. Throughout her training, Natalie has performed corps and soloist roles in the full-length classical ballets of Coppelia, Don Quixote, Chopinana, Firebird, Giselle, principal role of Marie in the Nutcracker, the Dying Swan variation, and many other contemporary pieces. She was also given the opportunity to travel with Bossov Ballet Theatre to the Dance Open in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she took master classes, and performed Four Seasons, and Hungarian Dances at the Estrada Theatre.

(1st year Corps de Ballet) A tenth-grade student at Provost Academy High School, Emma has studied ballet with Radenko Pavlovich since age 5. She has received additional summer training at the Harid Conservatory and the Kirov Academy of Ballet. In 2006, she danced the role of Marie (Clara) in the Columbia Classical Ballet production of The Nutcracker.

(1st year Corps de Ballet) Born in Colorado and raised in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Matthew began his ballet training under Tamalyn Blackman of Tamalyn's Dance Centre. During his time there, he also studied under Virginia Hunt-McElveen and Cammie Bunch Reed, as well as attending master classes under Marcus Alford, Anne Richardson, Natalie Hunt, and Rudolph Steven Ferguson. Matthew performed with the Orangeburg Civic Ballet for seven years, in venues such as Amazing Feets and Piccolo Spoleto. He attended the University of South Carolina Summer Dance Conservatory in 2008. It is at the Conservatory that he first studied under Radenko Pavlovich, and began attending the Pavlovich Dance School in the spring of 2009.

(2nd year Corps de Ballet) Originally from New Jersey, Saif began her ballet training in Germany with Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) instructor Lisa Bradley. She continued her training with Shannon Greenberg and Dagoberto Nieves in Savannah, GA. Her summer training includes RAD in London and California, Virginia School of the Arts, Joffrey in NYC, Joffrey South, Steps on Broadway, and North Carolina Dance Theatre.