Company Dancers

Ms. Austin is a founding member of Missouri Ballet Theatre and hails from Dallas, Texas. For Missouri Ballet Theatre she has danced the leading roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy in MBT’s The Nutcracker and Titania in MBT’s World Premier of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ms. Austin has danced many roles in the MBT repertoire including the pas deux “Hoop”, “Porteno Fantastico”, “Masquerade”, ”Baroque Fantasy”, “Opus18” and “Swing”.

She received her early training at Dallas Metropolitan Ballet with Anne Etgen and Bill Atkinson and graduated from Virginia School of the Arts. Grace was chosen to perform at the 2006 International Ballet Competition in Jackson Mississippi and was a finalist at the American Ballet Competition in Miami Florida in 2008.

Ms. Beasley McCart is a native of St. Louis and joined Missouri Ballet Theatre in 2010 after dancing with St. Louis Ballet, where she also received her formal training. Lauren has performed the leading roles of Snow Queen in MBT’s The Nutcracker and Puck in the world premier of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

She has performed the lead in George Balanchine’s “Valse Fantasies”, Pas de Trois in “Swan Lake” as well as in various roles in “Giselle”, “Cinderella” and “The Sleeping Beauty”. She has also performed in MBT’s “Opus 18” and “Swing”.

Caitlin is a native of Orlando Florida and joins Missouri Ballet Theatre after dancing with the Next Generation Ballet for the 2010 – 2011 season. She was a member of Orlando Ballet II from 2008 – 2010 and trained at the Orlando Ballet School under Bruce Marks and Peter Stark.

She has performed the role of Dew Drop in Next Generation Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” and as Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. While with Orlando Ballet she danced in “The Nutcracker”, “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella” and “Don Quixote”. Ms. Birt has been a finalist at the American Ballet Competition and was awarded the Silver Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition in 2007.

Mr. Bishop joined Missouri Ballet Theatre in 2010 after graduating from Oklahoma City University with a B.A. in Dance. He has danced the leading roles of the Cavalier in MBT’s “The Nutcracker” and Lysander in MBT’s world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. He has danced in MBT’s “Masquerade”, “Opus 18” and “Swing”.

Dexter hails from Clinton, Mississippi where he received his early training under Jennifer Beasley, Artistic Director of Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet. As a former member of the award winning show choir “Attache” he is in demand as a choreographer and has set pieces on the Clinton High School show choir as well as the Brandon Elementary and Middle Schools show choirs in Mississippi.

Bailey hails from Rochester New York where she received her early training with the Timothy Draper Center for Dance Education. She went on to become a member of the Rochester City Ballet before attending the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music’s Dance program. Bailey is in her first season with MBT after most recently dancing as a member of Nashville Ballet 2.

She has performed in Nashville Ballet’s “Swan Lake”, “Giselle” and “The Nutcracker”. While at the University of Cincinnati CCM she danced in “Pas de Quatre, “Swan Lake”, “Paquita” and Les Sylphides”.

Ms. Fantauzzo was selected to participate in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix International Competition as a member of the “Hoedown” Ensemble. “Hoedown” was awarded first place and was honored with an unprecedented appearance at the AGP Lincoln Center Gala in 2004.

Ms. Hamann is in her second year with Missouri Ballet Theatre after dancing with Ballet Quad Cities. She has performed the role of Clara in MBT’s “The Nutcracker” as well as in “Opus 18”, “Swing” and as the Fairy Moss in the world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Ashley received her formal training with the Orlando Ballet School and has performed with the Orlando Ballet in “Swan Lake”, “Don Quixote” and “La Fille Mal Gardée” as well as in “The Nutcracker”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Great Gatsby” and George Balanchine’s “Serenade” while with the Graduate Program at Pittsburg Ballet Theatre.

Ms. Hasse is in her first year with MBT and is a native of St. Louis. She received her formal training with Nathalie LeVine, and with St. Louis Ballet under the watchful eyes of Ellen Costanza, Lisa Wolfsberger, Jennifer Welch Cudnick. She also attended the internationally renowned Alonzo King Line Ballet’s summer program in 2009.

After graduation in 2008 she moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah’s ballet department where she furthered her education in dance until 2010. Irene has performed various roles in St. Louis Ballet’s “Swan Lake”, “The Nutcracker”, George Balanchine’s “Valse Fantasies” and “Serenade”, “Giselle” and “Sleeping Beauty”.

Missouri Ballet Theatre founding member Caitlin Helton has performed the leading roles of Snow Queen in “The Nutcracker”, Hermia in MBT’s world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” She has performed in “Baroque Fantasy”, “Masquerade”, ‘Swing”, “Porteno Fantastico”, “Opus 18” and “Rays of the Sun”.

 A native of Springfield, Illinois, began her training at the Springfield Ballet Company and competed in the finals of the 2003 Youth America Grand Prix in New York City.

After graduating high school, Caitlin went on to study under scholarship at Nashville Ballet and performed in “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty”. She went on to study under scholarship at Butler University and participated in a study abroad program touring throughout Poland and performing with some of the most prestigious companies in the country.

Ms. Howland is a founding member of Missouri Ballet Theatre and has danced the leading roles of Clara in MBT’s “The Nutcracker” and Helena in MBT’s world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. She has also performed in “Opus 18”, “Porteno Fantastico”, “Baroque Fantasy”, “Swing”, “and Masquerade”. Ms. Howland originated the dancing counterpart role of Juliette, in Opera on the James world premier of “Romeo et Juliette” in Lynchburg Virginia choreographed by MBT Artistic Director Adam Sage.

She is a graduate of Virginia School of the Arts and received her early training at White Star Studio in Sedona Arizona. Katie is also an accomplished choreographer and received a choreographic award in 2009 at the National High School Dance Festival for her work entitled “Metamorphosis” which was featured in MBT’s inaugural season
New Beginnings.

Rachel hails from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and joins Missouri Ballet Theatre after dancing with Nashville Ballet II for the past 3 seasons. During her tenure as a member of Nashville Ballet II Ms. Klisavage performed in “The Nutcracker”, “Swan Lake”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Giselle”, and “Carmina Burana”. She was also featured in the children’s ballets “The Singing Tortoise”, “Ferdinand the Bull”, “Jump Frog Jump” and “Carnival of the Animals”.

She studied with the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet and the Ballet Academy of Pittsburgh. She has also trained with North Carolina Dance Theatre and the School of American Ballet.

Ms. Phillips joined MBT as a founding member after dancing with Richmond Ballet. She has performed the leading roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in MBT’s “The Nutcracker”, Titania in MBT’s world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Masquerade”. She has danced in “Opus18”, “Baroque Fantasy”, “Swing” and “Porteno Fantastico”.

She received her early training at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center in Lynchburg, Virginia and is a graduate of Virginia School of the Arts where she received the Dame Margot Fonteyn Award and the Jan Petrus Bosman Award. While with the Richmond ballet she performed in “The Nutcracker”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Cinderella” and “La Bayadere”.

A native of South Carolina, Mr. Poe joins Missouri Ballet Theatre after dancing with the Nashville Ballet for the past five seasons. He studied dance at Crosby’s School of Dance with Carl Crosby and later at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities with Stanislav Issaev. He has danced with Columbia City Ballet, Cedar Lake II and is a founding member of Nashville in Motion.

Robert has performed with Nashville Ballet in “The Nutcracker”, Salvatore Aiello’s “Rite of Spring” and “Journey”, the role of the Court Jester in “Swan Lake” and Melancholic in Balanchine’s “Four Temperaments”. He is also a co-founder of “Works in Progress” Choreography Project based in Nashville and was invited to choreograph for Emergence: A Studio Series in 2010 for
Nashville Ballet.

Jenny hails from the great state of Kentucky and joined Missouri Ballet Theatre in 2010 after graduating from Oklahoma City University with a B.S. in Dance Management. She has performed the roles of Arabian and Marzipan in MBT’s “The Nutcracker”, Pease Blossom Fairy in MBT’s world premier of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and in “Opus18”, “Rays of the Sun” and “Swing”.

Ms. Rice has danced with Kentucky Ballet Theatre and the American Spirit Dance Company and has performed in “The Nutcracker”, “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, ”Ballet under the Stars” and “Broadway Live” at the Lexington Opera House.

A native of St. Louis, Ms. Watts received her early training at Alexandra Ballet and furthered her training at Patzius Performing Arts. She also attended summer programs at Boston Ballet and Ballet West. She has been awarded scholarships to Boston Ballet, Ballet West, Orlando Ballet, Ballet Met and Pittsburgh Ballet’s summer programs.

While training with Alexandra Ballet she performed in “The Nutcracker”, “Don Quixote”, “Cinderella” and “Les Sylphides”. Lauren has performed in Missouri Ballet Theatre’s productions of “The Nutcracker” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. This is her first year with MBT as an apprentice.