The Directors
Margaret Mullin
Margaret Mullin studied on scholarship at the Ballet Arts School in Tucson with Mary-Beth Cabana and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She was the recipient of a Thurber Scholarship Award in 2003 and 2004, and the 2007 Founding Director Scholarship Award from Angela Whitehill. Ms. Mullin joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2008, was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009 and was promoted to soloist in 2014. She was the recipient of a prestigious Dance Fellowship Award from the Princess Grace Foundation USA in 2011. She was also the subject of Dance Magazine’s “On the Rise” feature in 2011, appeared in Pointe Magazine in 2012 and 2016, and was featured on The Balancing Pointe podcast in 2016.
She has performed leading roles in Balanchine’s Apollo, Agon, Jewels, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Coppelia, Peter Boal’s Giselle, Crystal Pite’s Emergence, Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land, Petite Mort, and Sechs Tanze, David Dawson’s A Million Kisses To My Skin, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo et Juliette, Ulysses Dove’s Vespers, Paul Gibson’s The Piano Dance, Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room and Nine Sinatra Songs, Benjamin Millepied’s 3 Movements, Victor Quijada’s Suspension of Disbelief, Kent Stowell’s Cinderella, Carmina Burana, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, Susan Stroman’s TAKE FIVE… More or Less, Nacho Duato’s Rassemblement, and Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces. She has originated leading roles in Marco Goecke’s Place A Chill, Justin Peck’s Debonair, Victor Quijada’s Mating Theory, and Mark Morris’ Kammermusik No. 3. Ms. Mullin has choreographed for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Choreographers Showcase and Next Step performances. In 2012 she became a repertory choreographer for PNB with the premier of her ballet Lost in Light, created for the company as a part of its fortieth anniversary season. She has also choreographed works for and served as a guest artist for Ballet Tucson, and serves as a guest instructor for the Ballet Arts School in Tucson, AZ. Ms. Mullin is also a representative and model for Discount Dance Supply and Dance Life.
Nel Shelby
Nel Shelby demonstrates her dedication to the preservation and promotion of dance through excellent documentation of live performances, the creation of smart and engaging marketing videos, and the making of original documentaries and films covering a variety of topics in the field.
Nel produced and directed New York Emmy-nominated PS DANCE!, an hour-long documentary about dance education in NYC’s public schools, created with Jody Gottfried Arnhold and Joan Finkelstein and narrated by veteran television journalist Paula Zahn. PS DANCE! had its premiere broadcast on THIRTEEN/WNET in May 2015 and has since aired on public television networks across the country. PS DANCE! has also screened at a variety of educational and cultural panels for Dance/NYC, Teachers College at Columbia University, the University of Maryland, National Dance Educators Organization, Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center and more.
Nel’s half-hour dance documentary Where Women Don’t Dance featuring Nejla Y. Yatkin has had screenings at Links Hall in Chicago, Reston Center Stage in Virginia, Dance Place in Washington DC and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires. Nel has also created four short films for Wendy Whelan’s Restless Creature, and she collaborated with Adam Barruch Dance on a short film titled “Folie a Deux,” which was selected and screened at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York City and San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
Her New York City-based video production company, Nel Shelby Productions, has grown to encompass a diverse list of dance clients. Since 2004, Nel has served as Festival Videographer for the internationally celebrated Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires. Each season at the Pillow, Nel’s responsibilities include documenting aspects of festival culture in addition to its 20 mainstage dance performances, filming and overseeing documentation of more than 100 free performances and events, managing two dance videography interns and an apprentice, and educating students about the technical and philosophical aspects of filming dance.
She also serves as Resident Videographer at the Vail International Dance Festival where she creates short dance documentary films and marketing videos about the festival in addition to documenting its events and performances. Her longer-form, half-hour documentary on Vail’s festival, The Altitude of Dance, debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS in May 2013.
Nel has a long personal history with movement – she has a B.F.A. in dance and is a certified Pilates instructor. In addition to her dance degree, Nel holds a B.S. in broadcast video. She lives in New York City with her husband, dance photographer Christopher Duggan, and their kids Gracie and Jack.
The Cast
Leineke Matte
Verb Ballets
Lieneke Matte grew up in the Bronx and received her early training at Ballet Tech and the School of American Ballet. She then attended Fiorello H. La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York. Lieneke studied for a semester at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and graduated summa cum laude with a B.F.A in dance from SUNY Purchase College in May of 2013. There she also received the President’s Award for the dance conservatory. She has performed in works by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Nicolo Fonte, Nicholas Villeneuve and Xiao-Xiong Zhang. This is Lieneke’s fourth season with Verb Ballets.
Deanna Doncsecz
Ballet Tucson
Deanna Doncsecz received her early training at Nardi’s Dance & Gymnastics Center in Easton, Pennsylvania. She attended the highly competitive Governor’s School for the Arts and was also chosen to return as an assistant. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona with a B.F.A. in dance. After college, she continued her training with Jeanne Isaacs in San Diego, ODC in San Francisco, and with Mary Beth Cabana, Chieko Imada, and Mark Schneider at Ballet Tucson.
Since joining Ballet Tucson in 2002, she was featured in numerous roles, including in Esmeralda and the Hunchback, Laura’s Women, Three Virgins and a Devil, Fandango, Don Quixote, Dracula, and In Mercury. An audience favorite, she is recognized for her strong dramatic ability and versatility.
Ms. Doncsecz serves as Company Regisseur for Ballet Tucson, Ballet Tucson II, and the Children’s Ensemble. Recently, she successfully presented BLEND, a new contemporary dance group, showcasing a full evening of her choreography. She will also contribute a new contemporary work for Dance & Dessert 2016.
Margaret Mullin
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Margaret Mullin studied on scholarship at the Ballet Arts School in Tucson with Mary-Beth Cabana and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She was the recipient of a Thurber Scholarship Award in 2003 and 2004, and the 2007 Founding Director Scholarship Award from Angela Whitehill. Ms. Mullin joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2008, was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009 and was promoted to soloist in 2014. She was the recipient of a prestigious Dance Fellowship Award from the Princess Grace Foundation USA in 2011. She was also the subject of Dance Magazine’s “On the Rise” feature in 2011, appeared in Pointe Magazine in 2012 and 2016, and was featured on The Balancing Pointe podcast in 2016.
Benjamin Griffiths
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Benjamin Griffiths is from Boise, Idaho, where he received his early training with Lisa Moon. He also studied at the School of American Ballet, where he was a 2001 Mae L. Wien Award recipient. He attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School. After dancing with Boston Ballet, he joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2005 and was promoted to soloist in 2008.
Mr. Griffiths is a 2003 Princess Grace Award recipient.
Benjamin Griffiths is sponsored by Pagliacci Pizza.
Ezra Thomson
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Ezra Thomson is from San Bernardino, California. He studied on scholarship at Riverside Ballet Arts, Orlando Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School and attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet School (Canada), the Rock School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre. Mr. Thomson was a 2009 recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School. He danced with Orlando Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2009. He was promoted to corps de ballet in 2010.
In 2007, Mr. Thomson won the gold medal in the regional Youth America Grand Prix competition.
Ezra Thomson is sponsored by Tom Douglas Seattle Kitchen.
Elivelton Tomazi
The Joffrey Ballet
Mr. Tomazi is from Santa Catarina, Brazil. He began his studies at age 9 with the School of the Bolshoi Theatre. As a student, he was awarded a Medal of Honor for receiving top marks in all disciplines. He performed as a soloist dancer in all of the ballets from the school’s repertoire and graduated in December 2009. He joined the Paulista Company of Dance/ Ballet Adriana Assaf in 2010, where he received his professional training with the Academy and Company Directors, Adriana D Alessandro Assaf, and Luna and Hebert Caetano. He danced as a soloist in the Company’s productions including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire and La Bayadère.
He competed in Prix de Lausanne and the Joinville Dance Competition where he received 1st prize and named one of best dancers of the competition. He went on to compete in the Youth American Grand Prix NY in 2012 and as a result, was offered a full scholarship to the Trainee program at the Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. During the Trainee Program, he danced with the Company in The Nutcracker and Othello.
Elivelton Tomazi is sponsored by Agave Cocina & Tequilas.
Andres Garcia
Boston Ballet
Andres Garcia began his training at Ballet Austin in Texas. In 2008 he received a scholarship to the Professional Division Program of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, Washington. Garcia attended summer programs at Boston Ballet School, School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School on full scholarships and was selected to attend Canada’s National Ballet School summer program in 2011 as an exchange student. In 2014, Garcia was invited to the Professional Dance program at the Banff Centre for the Arts where he performed in George Balanchine’s Divertimento No.15, Toer van Schayk’s Seventh Symphony, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance).
While with Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Garcia had the opportunity to perform many works with their company and school including George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Western Symphony and Coppélia; Kent Stowell’s The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Carmina Burana; Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces; Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote; Christopher Wheeldon’s Variations Sérieuses and Carousel (A Dance); Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Peter Boal’s Giselle; and Bruce Wells’ Pinocchio and Snow White. Garcia also participated in Next Step, a program of new choreography created by company dancers, performing in eight world premiere ballets. Garcia was also featured in a new work for the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Institute of Canada’s National Ballet School.
Garcia joined Boston Ballet II in 2012, and became a company dancer in 2014.
Guillaume Basso
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Guillaume Basso, The Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet: Guillaume Basso is from Dijon, France. He trained with Sylvain Boniface at the Conservatory of Dijon and with Bernard Boucher at the Paris Opera Ballet School, and he attended a summer course at Houston Ballet School. Mr. Basso joined Houston Ballet II in 2010 and the Joffrey Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2012 before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2015.
Mr. Basso was a semi-finalist in the 2010 Prix de Lausanne and 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition. He has also performed as a guest artist with the Grand Theatre of Dijon.
While a member of Houston Ballet II, Mr. Basso performed leading and featured roles in Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli’s Giselle, John Neumeier’s Nijinsky, Marius Petipa’s Paquita, Raymonda, and Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux); Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker; and Stanton Welch’s Blue, Brigade, and Long & Winding Road. At Joffrey Ballet, he performed leading and featured roles in Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Alexander Ekman’s Episode 31, Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker, and Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU.
Christian Poppe
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Christian Poppe is from Lake Stevens, Washington. He studied on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Cornish College of the Arts Preparatory Dance, as well as the Dance School in Everett, Johnson and Peter’s Tap Dance, Ballet Bellevue, and Betty Spooner’s Creative Arts Foundation. He attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, National Ballet School (Toronto), Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, and Goh Ballet Academy, and he was a 2013 recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School. Mr. Poppe joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2013 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2014.
In addition to performances with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Mr. Poppe has performed for Dance! Fremont and the Men in Dance Festival—Against the Grain.
The Stagers
Dr. Margaret Carlson
Verb Ballets, Laura’s Women Stager
Dr. Margaret Carlson has worked internationally in performing, teaching, choreographing, and in arts administration. Dr. Carlson was an original member of the Cleveland Ballet, serving as a Principal dancer from 1972-1983. Also a member of Actors Equity, she performed in numerous musical theatre tours throughout the 1970’s, including Sweet Charity, Ballroom, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Brigadoon, Mame, Hello Dolly! and The Merry Widow. For many years, she choreographed for the Cleveland Opera. Dr. Carlson served as Director of the School of Dance at the University of Akron from 1985-1993. In 1993, she became Dean of the School of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, until she returned to Cleveland in 1999. She then served as the Development and Education Director for the Cleveland San Jose Ballet. She consulted both nationally and locally through her company, Carlson Consulting Group, Inc., with groups that have included The American Dance Guild, Chinese Performing Artists of America, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Ohio Ballet, Dancing Wheels, Ohio Youth Ballet, Ohio Conservatory of Dance, Tom and Susana Evert Dance Theatre, and White Cloud Studios. Dr. Carlson founded the American Alliance of Dance Artists and served as its first President. She has served as a Board member and officer for Kids on Broadway, DANCECleveland, the Cleveland Ballet Council, the American Dance Guild, the Council of Dance Administrators, the Hong Kong Ballet, the Hong Kong Dance Company and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund. She served as the secretary of the International Organization for Transition for Professional Dancers, a sub-committee of UNESCO, based in Switzerland from 1998-2006, and was a Board member of the American Dance Guild in NYC for 20 years and served as its Treasurer and vice-president for 10 years. Dr. Carlson currently serves on the board of trustees of Fairmount Center for the Arts, Cleveland Dance Movement and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. She is known for her work as the regisseur for the works of Ian (Ernie) Horvath and has been working with Ballet Tucson on the restaging of Horvath’s work, Laura’s Women. She received her doctorate from Durham University in the United Kingdom.
Paul Gibson
Pacific Northwest Ballet, No Dominion Stager
Mr. Gibson was named assistant ballet master immediately upon retirement from PNB in June 2004. He joined the Company in 1994 as a soloist and was promoted to the rank of principal in 1996. His choreographic work includes ballets for PNB and works for PNB School’s Professional Division, as well as works for San Francisco Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet Choreographic Workshop, and Allegheny Ballet Company. Mr. Gibson has also been a participant in the New York Choreographic Institute. Originally from Altoona, Pennsylvania, Mr. Gibson began ballet training at Allegheny Ballet Academy and later went to summer programs at the School of American Ballet. He won a scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School and joined that company in 1988, where he rose to the rank of soloist. Mr. Gibson assists the artistic director in teaching, rehearsing, and the scheduling the Company and rehearsing PNBS students in their roles for Company productions.
