Ashley Blade-Martín, Soloist, returns for her ninth season with Tulsa Ballet.  Her professional career also includes Boston Ballet, Ohio Ballet, and Louisville Ballet.  Recent feature roles include Myrtha in Giselle, Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote, Dream Marguerite in Lady of the Camellias, Petal in Cinderella, Michaela in Carmen, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, and Marie in Marcello Angelini’s The Nutcracker.  Blade-Martín has also danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade and Concerto Barocco, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night and Fancy Free, Stanton Welch’s Fingerprints and Bruiser, Nacho Duato’s Without Words, Duende and Por Vos Muero, Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading and Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs.  She has appeared in world premiere works by Ma Cong, Jorma Elo, Val Caniparoli, Lucinda Childs, Nicolo Fonte and Heinz Poll.  Blade-Martín trained with private teacher and coach, Deborah Palesch, and as a scholarship student at the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education and San Francisco Ballet School.  Her hometown is Sonoma, California.  Offstage she is married to Principal Dancer, Alfonso Martín.

Michael Eaton, Soloist, joined Tulsa Ballet after dancing with San Francisco Ballet.  His repertory includes Pas de Six and Suitor in Helgi Tomasson’s Sleeping Beauty, Green Man in Lila York’s Celts, Snow King in The Nutcracker, Pas de Trois in Silver Ladders, and the trio in Nacho Duato’s Arenal.  He also appeared in Duato’s Without Words and L’amoroso.  Michael has recently been featured in lead roles in Val Caniparoli’s Torque and Lambarena, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, Young Soon Hue’s Backstage, George Balanchine’s Western Symphony, andNacho Duato’s Por Vos Muero andTwyla Tharps’ Nine Sinatra Songs.  He also performed Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty and has been featured in other works by Balanchine, Hans VanManen, and Stanton Welch. Last season he brought his years of experience in tap dancing to a Tulsa stage as the Champion Roper in Agnes deMille’s Rodeo.  During his career, he has toured internationally to England, France, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, and Scotland performing in famous venues such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Paris Opera House.  Michael earned the bronze medal at the 1995 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, was a finalist at the 1999 Jackson International Ballet Competition and performed a tap solo for First Lady Barbara Bush at the 1992 Republican National Convention.  Michael’s hometown is Dallas, Texas.

Karina Gonzalez, Soloist, Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Karina joined Tulsa Ballet in 2005 as a member of the Corps de Ballet and in a little more than a year was promoted to Soloist. Before arriving in Tulsa, Karina was with the National Ballet of Caracas after studying classical ballet at the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School.  As a Soloist she has danced, Copellia, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Van Gogh, Diana and Actean, Paquita, Carsario Pas de deux and Lento, Tempo and Appassionato.  She has danced principal roles in The Nutcracker, Western Symphony, Por Vos Muero, Nine Sinatra Songs, Swan Lake, Serenade, Carmina Burana and been featured as Aurora and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty.  Karina was invited to dance for the Dance Choreographic Festival of Caracas and the International Gala of Colombia. This past summer, she won the silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.

Wang Yi, Soloist, joined Tulsa Ballet last season from Zurich Ballet in Switzerland where he was a soloist.  Prior to the time spent in Zurich, he was a principal dancer with Universal Ballet in South Korea from 1999 to 2004.  Yi trained at the Beijing Dance Academy from 1992 to 1999 and graduated with honors.  He is the recipient of several awards including a gold medal at Tao Li Cup of the National Ballet competition in China in 1997, a finalist in the Paris International Ballet competition in France in 2000, and he won a bronze medal at the Helsinki International Ballet competition in 2002.  His repertory includes lead roles in Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quixote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations and many others.   He has worked with choreographers and teachers internationally such as Heinz Spoerli, Oleg Vinogradov and Jiri Killian. Yi’s hometown in Chong Qing, China.

Serena Chu, Demi-Soloist, joined Tulsa Ballet in 1999 from Sarasota Ballet. She has also danced with Gettysburg Ballet Theatre, Huntington Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow and in Vail, Colorado. She also danced in the School of American Ballet 1990 Workshop performance of Puss in Boots by Robert LaFosse. Her repertory includes the Trio in Arenal, Na Floresta, Rassamblement, Fingerprints, Company B and the Autumn Fairy in Cinderella. More recently, Tulsa audiences have seen Serena in Serenade and Backstage as well as lead roles in L’amoroso, Lambarena, Western Symphony and Precious Stones from The Sleeping Beauty.  Last season, Serena danced a featured role in Nacho Duato’s Por Vos Muero and was seen on the cover of The Tulsa World in Carmina Burana.  She was an NFAA Arts Award recipient. Her hometown is Long Beach, New York.

Deng Mi, Demi-Soloist, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from the National Ballet of China where she was a soloist.  Mi graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 2002 and joined NBC the same year.  She has toured many countries where she danced a range of roles in both classic and contemporary ballet including Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, Le Corsaire, Sylvia, Etudes, Don Quixote, Serenade, Four Temperaments, Theme and Variation, Carmen and many others.

Rupert Edwards III, Demi-Soloist, a native of Jamaica received his training at the School of the Hartford Ballet in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut.  Mr. Edwards III has performed with Hartford Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Mystic Ballet, Ballet Des Moines and Boston Ballet.  His repertory includes Lambarena, L’amoroso, Fancy Free, The Eyes that Gently Touch, Silk Screen, The Sleeping Beauty, Prodigal Son, Bruiser, Onegin, Por Vos Muero, Troy Game, Backstage, Rodeo, Nine Sinatra Songs and many other classical and contemporary works.

Ricardo Graziano, Demi-Soloist, arrived in Tulsa in 2005 from Germany where he danced with Ballettstudios in the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.  Originally from Brazil, he has performed in Les Sylphides, Cavatine, Graduation Ball, Don Quixote, Giselle and La Bayadère.  Ricardo won first prize in both Santos and Joinville in 2002 and in Ribeirao Preto in 2003.  He was also selected as best up-and-coming male dancer in Joinville, Brazil in 2002.  This was the same year he won the gold medal at the Grand Prix Brazil. Tulsa audiences have seen Ricardo in La Sylphide, Samsara, Nutcracker, Backstage, Western Symphony, Carmina Burana, Nine Lives, Rodeo, Troy Game, Nine Sinatra Songs, and Por Vos Muero.  In his past seasons with Tulsa Ballet, he danced lead roles in L’amoroso, Lambarena, Precious Stones from The Sleeping Beauty, Judd in Oklahoma Suite, and Pas de Quatre and Rothbart in Swan Lake.  In June 2007, Ricardo received the Lefkowitz Award for Artistic Achievement in the 9th New York International Ballet Competition, where he had as a partner Karina Gonzalez.

Ke Da, Demi-Soloist, joins Tulsa Ballet this year from the National Ballet of China where he was a soloist.  He was a soloist with Shanghai Ballet from 2000 to 2004 after graduating from the Beijing Dance Academy. 
He has performed in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Coppelia, La Sylphide, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.  Da won the silver medal in the second Shanghai Ballet Competition and the gold medal in the third Shanghai Ballet Competition.

Megan Keough, Demi-Soloist, joined Tulsa Ballet in 2002.  She trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, with David Roxander in Marin County, California and Houston Ballet Academy with a full scholarship.  Megan's repertory includes L’amoroso, Samsara, Precious Stones in The Sleeping Beauty, Lambarena, Fancy Free, Fingerprints, Without Words, Bruiser, Spring Fairy in Cinderella, Folia, The Nutcracker, Graduation Ball, Celts and Lady of the Camellias. Last season she performed in Serenade, Por Vos Muero, Nine Sinatra Songs and featured roles in Rodeo as The Cowgirl, and in Oklahoma Suite as Laurey. Megan's hometown is Fairfax, California.

Zhang Kai, Demi-Soloist, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from the National Ballet of China where he was a soloist.  In 1997, he joined the Liaoning Ballet after graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory.  Kai has danced in Le Corsaire, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Sylvia, Four Temperaments, Theme and Variation, Carmen La Bayadere and many other classic and contemporary ballets.

Kiri Chapman, Corps de Ballet, joined Tulsa Ballet two years ago from her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  She trained at the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington, DC from 2001 to 2004.  She has received scholarships and awards from the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Universal Ballet Academy and Youth America Grand Prix.  She has danced Nine Sinatra Songs, Carmina Burana, Serenade, Swan Lake as a Swan Princess, the pas de huit in La Sylphide, and Songbird Fairy and Aurora’s friend in The Sleeping Beauty.  Don Quixote, the Nutcracker, Prima Vera, La Fille Mal Gardee, Flames of Paris, and Sursum Corda. Kiri participated in USAIBC in 2006 and was a semi-finalist at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2007.

Soo Youn Cho, Corps de Ballet, joins Tulsa Ballet this year from Leipziger Ballet in Germany. She attended the John Cranko Ballet School in Stuttgart, the Canada National Ballet School in Toronto and several schools and academies in her home country of South Korea.  She has danced Swan Lake, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, Don Quixote, Giselle and many contemporary ballets. She won first prize in the International Dance Festival in Berlin, the Korea Ballet National Competition, the International Ballet Competition Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and third prize in the International Ballet Competition Varna in Bulgaria. 

Leah Gallas, Corps de Ballet, received the majority of her training at Ballet Arts Minnesota while spending summers at the San Francisco Ballet School and the Boston Ballet School on full scholarships.  Leah has danced with the Dayton Ballet Company, Virginia Ballet Theatre, and the Colorado Ballet.  Before joining Tulsa Ballet, she was a principal dancer with the Minnesota Ballet where she performed the title role in Cinderella, Swanilda in Copellia, Odette in Swan Lake Act II as well as many other classical and contemporary works.  This is Leah’s third season with Tulsa Ballet.  She would like to thank her family for their support.

Mugen Kazama, Corps de Ballet, joined Tulsa Ballet last year from the John Cranko Ballet School.  Prior to that, he studied at the Tokyo Ballet School and with the Hoshi Katsumi Ballet Arts under such instructors as Katsumi Hoshi, Shiro Mizoshita, Tadeusz Matacz, and Peter Pestov.  In 2003 he won second prize at the Youth America Grand Prix and in 2005, he won second prize at the Tanzolymp in Berlin.

Nathan McGinnis, Corps de Ballet, is in his seventh season with Tulsa Ballet.  Nathan came from Kansas City Ballet before joining Tulsa Ballet in 2001. With KCB, he danced roles in Paquita, Donizetti Variations, Serenade and Rodeo. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied intensively under Nina Danilova, Melissa Hayden and Duncan Noble.  Nathan’s repertory includes Celts, Duende, Gustav’s Rooster, and Going for Baroque. Nathan is from Asheville, North Carolina.

Masahiro Momose, Corps de Ballet, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from Colorado Ballet where he danced for five years and earned the rank of Soloist in 2005 after graduating from the National Ballet School of Canada.  Prior to moving to Canada, Masahiro studied with the Takao Hisamitsu Ballet Studio and the Nozomi Haga Ballet Academy in Japan.  He has danced in Swan Lake, Dracula, Where the Wild Things Are, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Gisella, Nine Sinatra Songs, Compay B, Stars and Stripes, Don Quixote, Rodeo and many others. 

Alberto Montesso, Corps de Ballet, came to Tulsa Ballet last season from his home in Italy.  After receiving his training at the Academia Nacionale of Dance in Rome, he performed with Teatro Massimo of Palermo, K-Ballet Company, English National Ballet and Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma. Alberto was a featured guest artist at the Trois Histoires d’Amour gala in Tokyo, Japan where he danced A Month in the Country with Syilvie Guillem. He also performed in Rhapsody at the Ashton Celebration Gala at Metropolitan Opera House New York’s Lincoln Center Festival. His repertory includes Prodigal Son, Swan Lake, Carmen, Coppelia, Solitude, Raymonda, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet.  Alberto appeared in several recorded performances with K Ballet including Coppelia, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

Kate Oderkirk, Corps de Ballet, joined Tulsa Ballet last year from the trainee program with San Francisco Ballet School.  She was a scholarship student both in San Francisco and with Westside Academy of Ballet.  Her repertory includes the first movement  lead in Western Symphony, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Glass Pieces, Street Songs, Sleeping Beauty, and Giselle.  During her first year with Tulsa Ballet, she danced featured roles in  Serenade, Nine Lives, Por Vos Muero and Backstage.

Mikhail Ovcharov, Corps de Ballet, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from Royal New Zealand Ballet.  He also danced with The Buryat State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Buryatia, Russia.  He received his training at the New Zealand School of Dance and The Buryat State Choreographic School.  He has danced Swan Lake, Raymonda, Chipollino, Sleeping Beauty, and many others.

Daiva Preston, Corps de Ballet, joined us from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Manitoba, Canada.  She received her training from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and was a member of the Banff Centre for the Arts summer company.  Daiva was featured as a principal character in The Toy Castle, a Canadian children’s television series.  Her repertory includes Samsara, Allegro Brilliante, Swan Lake, Giselle, and Western Symphony.  Daiva is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Hanae Seki, Corps de Ballet, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from Colorado Ballet.  She studied at the Harid Conservatory and at the Hakucho Ballet Academy in Japan. Hanae has danced in Celts, Giselle, Where the Wild Things Are, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Dracula, and many others.  She won first prize at the Japan Junior Grand Prix, was a Youth America Grand Prix finalist and won the bronze medal at the 8th New York International Ballet Competition.

Joshua Trader, Corps de Ballet, was born in San Francisco where he trained at the Academy of Ballet under Richard Gibson and Zory Karah.  After his training, he joined Eugene Ballet for two seasons before coming to Tulsa Ballet in 2002.  Joshua has performed many classical and contemporary works by today’s leading choreographers including Val Caniparoli, Anna Marie Holmes, Antony Tudor, Lila York, Mauricio Wainrot, Nicolo Fonte, Nacho Duato, Ma Cong, Stanton Welch, George Balanchine, Daniel Pelzig and Robert North.  Joshua recently choreographed Brackets for Tulsa Ballet II and served as a choreographer and faculty member of the Joffrey Workshop Texas.

Marit van der Wolde, Corps de Ballet, joined Tulsa Ballet in 2004. Marit attended The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands under the direction of Marian Sarstädt.  She continued to study during summer courses at Het Stedelijk Instituut voor Ballet in Belgium and The Royal Ballet School in England.  From there she was a guest dancer at the Het Dutch National Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater.  After graduation she danced with The Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium.  Her repertory includes Arcimboldo, pas de quatre in the Sleeping Beauty, pas de deux of La Sylphide, Por Vos Muero, L’amoroso, Torque, Backstage, Folia, Lambarena, Bruiser, and various classical ballets. Marit was born in Schiedam, The Netherlands.

Zhu Jieying, Corps de Ballet, joins Tulsa Ballet this season from Shanghai China where she attended the Shanghai Dance School.  Jieying has toured throughout several countries as part of ballet and dance shows.  She has danced Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Flower Festival and many other classic and contemporary pieces.  She has been a finalist in several dance competitions and was awarded third prize in the August 2006 National Younger Dance Match.