Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announces the 2019–2020 season roster. A total of 69 dancers make up the Company roster, with 56 in the main company and 13 in Boston Ballet II (BBII), Boston Ballet’s second company.
Eleven nationalities are represented, with dancers hailing from Armenia, Australia, Brazil, China, England, France, Georgia, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the United States. BBII alumni comprise 36 percent of the Company, and 25 percent are Boston Ballet School alumni.
“I am thrilled to welcome these talented and diverse new dancers to our Company,” said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. “There are plenty of opportunities during Boston Ballet’s exciting and versatile 56th season, which features an array of classical and contemporary works, for audiences to become enamored with our newest members.”
Boston Ballet welcomes new dancers to the Company including Tigran Mkrtchyan (Yerevan, Armenia) as a soloist, Chisako Oga (Carlsbad, California) as a second soloist, and Madysen Felber (Jacksonville, Florida), Louise Hautefeuille (Burlingame, California), Sangmin Lee (Seoul, South Korea), Soo-bin Lee (Seoul, South Korea), Mallory Mehaffey (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Lily Price (Winter Park, FL), Fuze Sun (Shandong, China), Jorge Villarini (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Paulina Waski (Westport, Connecticut), and Joy Womack (Beverly Hills, California) as artists of the Company. New dancers to join as members of BBII include George Chadick (Denton, Texas), Austin Dabney (Youngstown, Ohio), Juliette Jones (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Suzanna Lathrum (Tustin, California), Soana Madsen (Toulouse, France), Nikolia Mamalakis (Boston, Massachusetts), Grace Mullins (Bloomington, Indiana), Molly Novak (Santa Monica, California), Jethro Paine (London, England), Mia Steedle (Weston, Massachusetts), and Paul Zusi (South Bend, Indiana).
Joining the Company as artists from BBII are Tyson Ali Clark (Somerville, Massachusetts), Georgia Dalton (Columbus, Ohio), Ryan Kwasniewski (Cincinnati, Ohio), and My’Kal Stromile (Dallas, Texas). Nissinen also previously announced the following promotions: Chyrstyn Fentroy (Los Angeles, California), Addie Tapp (Glenwood Springs, Colorado), and Lawrence Rines (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) were promoted to soloist; and María Álvarez (Madrid, Spain), Dawn Atkins (Chesterfield, Virginia), Emily Entingh (Orange County, California), and Matthew Slattery (Cooma, Australia) were promoted to second soloist.
BOSTON BALLET II
George Chadick of Denton, Texas, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. His dance training includes the Moscow State Academy of Choreography and Canada’s National Ballet School. In the summer of 2018, he participated in the student exchange program with the Royal Danish Ballet School.
Austin Dabney of Youngstown, Ohio, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. His dance training includes studies with Ballet Western Reserve and Interlochen Arts Academy. He attended summer programs at Cleveland Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, and Boston Ballet School. While at Interlochen Arts Academy, Dabney was awarded the Young Artist Award upon graduating in 2019.
Juliette Jones of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. She began her dance training at Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania. She continued her studies at the School of Pennsylvania Ballet. She later joined Philip Neal and Ivonne Lemus’ Next Generation Ballet as an artist before enrolling in Miami City Ballet School’s pre-professional program. Jones was an apprentice with Miami City Ballet from 2018 to 2019.
Suzanna Lathrum of Tustin, California, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. She began her studies with jazz, tap, and lyrical at Lovett Dance Center. She competed at the Youth America Grand Prix New York Finals, where she earned a full scholarship to attend Canada’s National Ballet School. Lathrum was a Trainee with San Francisco Ballet School from 2018 to 2019.
Soana Madsen of Toulouse, France, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Her training began at age four with the VM Ballet Toulouse and she joined the VM Ballet Junior Company at age 15. She has attended summer programs at School of American Ballet, Royal Ballet School, and Princess Grace Academy.
Nikolia Mamalakis of Boston, Massachusetts, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. She began dancing at New England Movement Arts in Burlington, Massachusetts. She later attended Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy in Austria. She returned to Massachusetts to study at Integrarte under Erica Cornejo, a former Boston Ballet principal dancer. In 2018, She joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company.
Grace Mullins of Bloomington, Indiana, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Mullins started dancing at age four and in 2009, began training at Indiana University in the Pre-College Ballet Program. She was later offered the opportunity to begin taking college technique classes to further her training. She attended Miami City Ballet School in 2016 and was offered an apprenticeship with Miami City Ballet in 2017. In 2018, Mullins was accepted into Boston Ballet School’s trainee program.
Molly Novak of Santa Monica, California, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. She trained at Westside School of Ballet under the direction of Martine Harley. Novak attended summer intensives at School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and Boston Ballet School. In 2017, she was invited to join the trainee program at BBS and was later named the Pamela Jones Scholar of 2018–2019. In 2018, Novak participated in a five-week exchange with the Dresden Semperoper Ballet as a guest apprentice for the company’s production of La Bayadère.
Jethro Paine of London, England, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. He began dancing at Saravejo National Theatre in 2009. In 2011, Paine enrolled in the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory in Slovenia. He was later accepted to The Royal Ballet School, which he attended for six years.
Mia Steedle of Weston, Massachusetts, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. She attended Boston Ballet School for 15 years in the Pre-Ballet and Classical Ballet Program before joining the Pre-Professional program. As a trainee at Boston Ballet School, Steedle was named a Laura Young Scholar for the 2018–2019 season and was also chosen to work with Principal Dancer Lia Cirio for her work, the peppermint wind, as part of the 10th anniversary Next Generation performance.
Paul Zusi of South Bend, Indiana, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. He began his training at Southold Dance Theater in 2009 and joined the Illinois Youth Dance Theater in 2018. In 2019, Zusi received first place in the senior classical division and third place in the senior contemporary division at the Youth America Grand Prix Chicago/Indianapolis.