Alessandra Ferri is considered to be one of the most talented dramatic ballerinas of our time. Born in Milan, she began her training at the school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan and then attended the Royal Ballet School in London. In 1980, Alessandra won the prestigious Prix de Lausanne and joined the Royal Ballet that same year. In 1983, she rose to prominence when Kenneth MacMillan, artistic director of the Royal Ballet, selected her for leading roles in his ballets Romeo and Juliet,Manonand Mayerling. MacMillan went on to choreograph a number of roles for Alessandra, making her, at 19 years old, Principal Dancer with the Company. In 1985, Mikhail Baryshnikov, artistic director for American Ballet Theatre, invited Alessandra to join the Company, where she danced as a principal until 2007. She was named Prima Ballerina Assolutaby Teatro alla Scala where she danced from 1992 until 2007. In 2006 Alessandra was presented the Cavaliere della Repubblica Honoris by the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. She has also received numerous prestigious international awards, including the Dance Magazine Award, the Benois de la Danse Prix and Olivier Award in 1983 and 2016. She was the Director of Dance Programming at the Spoleto Festival in Italy from 2008 to 2014. Since 2013, performances include The Piano Upstairs(Spoleto, which she also choreographed), Chéri(Signature Theatre) Duse(Hamburg Ballet) and Woolf Works(Royal Ballet), for which she won a National Dance Award and a second Olivier Award.

Argentine dancer Herman Cornejo has been a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2003. He studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. After receiving a scholarship from the School of American Ballet, he was invited by Julio Bocca to join his company - Ballet Argentino- at the age of 14. He is a Guest Artist with numerous companies around the world, such as Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón, Teatro alla Scala, Universal Ballet of Korea, National Ballet of Japan, Kremlin Ballet, Dortmund Ballett, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, Ballet Contemporáneo de Cuba. In 2012, he began an artistic collaboration with the Italian Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alessandra Ferri, which evolved into new productions such as “Cheri,” “Evolution” and “Trio Concert Dance.”In 2015, he debuted in his role as artistic director at the “Latin American Stars” Gala, held in the context of the event, BalletNow.In 2017, he started a path as an independent producer through his newly created corporation Herman Cornejo Creating Art.

Jeffrey Cirio, Lead Principal with English National Ballet, began his ballet training at the age of nine. He competed and won awards in numerous ballet competitions including a bronze medal at the age of 15 at the USA International Ballet Competition and a gold medal at the 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, among many others. Jeffrey was also awarded the coveted Princess Grace Award in 2009. Jeffrey became a member of Boston Ballet in 2009 and was promoted to Principal in 2012. He joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in 2015 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in August 2016. He was nominated for the Benois de la Danse 2017 for his performance of The Son in The Prodigal Son and Colas in La Fille MalGardee. In the fall of 2017, Cirio was Guest Lead Principal with English National Ballet. He joined ENB as Lead Principal in the fall of 2018. Jeffrey has danced a wide variety of classical, neo-classical and contemporary repertoire world-wide.

Marcelo Gomes, a native of Brazil, began his dance studies at the age of 5 at the Helena Lobato and Dalal Aschcar ballet schools in Rio de Janeiro. Upon winning the Revelation Prize at the Festival of Dance in Joinville in 1993, he traveled to the United States to continue his training at The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, as well as at the schools of the Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Cuballet, where he studied under Alicia Alonso. Mr. Gomes was awarded second place at the National Society of Arts and Letters in 1994, and was the recipient of the Hope Prize at Lausanne in 1996, after which he spent a year at the school of the Paris Opera Ballet. Mr. Gomes joined American Ballet Theatre in 1997 as a member of the Corps de Ballet, and rose quickly through the ranks, being promoted to Soloist in 2000 and Principal Dancer in 2002. He has performed in virtually every full-length classical ballet in the company´s repertoire, including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Siegfried, Benno, and von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Solor in La Bayadere, Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty, Franz in Coppelia, Espada and Basilio in Don Quixote, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Onegin and Prince Gremin in Onegin, Conrad, Ali the Slave, and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, the Cavalier in The Nutcracker, the Moor in Othello, Jeanne de Brienne and Abderakman in Raymonda, and Lescaut and Des Grieux in Manon.

Kate Honea, of Longboat Key, Florida, is a Principal Dancer and Assistant Ballet Mistress at The Sarasota Ballet of Florida under the direction of Iain Webb. She is currently in her 17th season with the company and has been part of The Sarasota Ballet since she started her training in the school in 1995. Kate trained at prestigious summer programs including School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and participated in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's pre-professional graduate program. She began her professional career with The Sarasota Ballet in 2002 and was promoted to Soloist in 2006, then to Principal in 2009. Kate has performed lead and featured roles by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Hans Van Manen, Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, Matthew Bourne, Jerome Robbins and Martha Graham. Roles were created on Kate by Matthew Hart, Will Tuckett, Dominic Walsh, and Ricardo Graziano.

Ricardo Graziano is a Principal Dancer with The Sarasota Ballet and the Company’s Resident Choreographer. Born in Brazil, Ricardo started his studies in his hometown of Mogi das Cruzes at the Marcela Campos Escola de Bailados, finishing his studies in Germany at the Akademie des Tanzes Mannheim. He danced with Tulsa Ballet in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 2005-2010 before joining The Sarasota Ballet as a Soloist and being promoted to Principal in 2011. His repertoire includes works by renowned choreographers including Jirí Kylian, Nacho Duato, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Kenneth McMillan, Val Caniparoli, Frederick Ashton, Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Antony Tudor, Twyla Tharp, David Bintley, Sir Peter Wright, Paul Taylor and Marcelo Gomes. As a choreographer, Ricardo has created eight ballets for The Sarasota Ballet, with three additional smaller works for galas and one ballet for the Margaret Barbieri Conservatory. Ricardo’s ballets have also been performed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theatre in New York City and The National Choreographic Festival presented by Ballet West in Salt Lake City.

Misa Kuranaga began her training at the Jinushi Kaoru Ballet School and later continued at the School of American Ballet. In 2001, Kuranaga joined San Francisco Ballet as an apprentice after winning the professional scholarship award at the Prix de Lausanne. In 2003, Kuranaga was offered a corps de ballet position at Boston Ballet. She quickly rose through the ranks after performing the Sylph in August Bournonville's La Sylphide as a corps member. She was promoted to Second Soloist in 2005, soloist in 2007, and to Principal Dancer in 2009. Kuranaga is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a gold medal in the junior division of the Ninth Moscow International Ballet Competition and the gold medal in the senior division of the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition. She was nominated for a Benois de la Danse award for her portrayal of Tatiana in John Cranko’s Oneginand Medora in Ivan Liška’s Le Corsairein 2017.

Oksana Maslova is from the Ukraine. She is a former soloist of the Odessa National Opera House and was a guest artist with Moscow Ballet. She is an international award winner. She danced in Europe, the United States and in Canada. Her early  engagements were with the Kiev Youth Ballet and the Suziriya Dance Theater. Her artistic development includes an early training in rhythmic gymnastics which led to an intensive ballet program with Irina Sycheva, former ballerina of St. Petersburg Ballet. Maslova studied with great teachers and artists, including Anna Petrechuk, Nina Kosenko and Sergei Bondur. In addition to a large classical repertoire: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty, she performs neoclassical and modern works. Maslova was a principal dancer with the Grand Rapids Ballet and the Connecticut Ballet. Ms. Maslova joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a Soloist for the 2014-2015 Season and has since danced featured roles in Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia and the role of Odile/Odette in Wheeldon's Swan Lake, Kitri in Angel Corella’s production of Don Quixote. In 2016, she was promoted to Principal Dancer. Her other works includes Cinderella in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Medora in Angel Corella’s La Corsair, Sugar Plum in Gerorge Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Juliette in Robert Macmillan's Romeo and Juliette and many others.

Mary-Hollis Hundley, soprano, spent the 2017-18 season making company and role debuts as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Virginia Opera, Zerlina in Opera on the James’ Don Giovanniand as a cover for Christine Brewer’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Kentucky Opera. During the summer, she returned to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for her second summer as a Gerdine Young Artist, where she covered Susan Graham in the title role of Blitzstein’s Regina. She spent the remainder of the summer as a Resident Artist at Teatro Nuovo, where she covered Jennifer Rowley in the title role of Mayr’s Medea in Corinto. Mary-Hollis with perform the role of Gertrude in Michigan Opera Theatre’s April production of Hansel and Gretel.

Brandon Stirling Baker is a lighting designer working internationally in the areas of ballet, opera and theater. His lighting can be seen in the repertories of New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Berlin Staatsballet, Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Houston Ballet, Semperoper Dresden, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, Los Angeles Dance Project and many others. Brandon’s lighting has been presented nationally and internationally by major venues including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Theatre du Chatelet (Paris), Sadlers Wells (London), Maison de La Danse (Lyon), Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa) and the Guggenheim Bilbao (Spain). Brandon received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Baker is the Lighting Director for Boston Ballet. He is a recipient of the 2016 Lotos Foundation Prize and a 2018 Resident Artist at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.

David LaMarche has been working as a conductor in the dance field for over 30 years. He served as Music Director for the Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1993 to 1998 and conducted many of the company’s premieres. In addition, he composed and arranged several scores for the repertory. As a guest, he has conducted for New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, The Paul Taylor Dance Company, L’Opera di Roma, Het National Ballet, Les Grand Ballets Canadiens, Ballet British Columbia and Ballet West. The orchestras he has directed include the Houston Symphony, the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago, the Pacific Symphony, St. Luke’s Orchestra, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio Orchestra, the Tivoli Festival Orchestra and the Orchestre Lamoreux of Paris. He is currently in his 16th year on the staff of American Ballet Theatre and is Music Director of the Jose Limon Company.

Marco Pelle, recipient of the 2016 Primi Dieci USA Award, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as one of the ten most influential Italians in the USA, began his dance training in his Italy, continued in Monaco at the Academie de Danse Classique Princesse Grace before moving to New York City to study under several merit scholarships with Merce Cunningham. He’s been one of New York Theatre Ballet’s resident choreographers since 2012. He created several works for the company, among which Solitude, Spaces and Endless Possibilities of Being, whose musics were all composed by his brother, Federico Pelle. In 2013 Mr. Pelle also collaborated with great ballerina Alessandra Ferri on her comeback show The Piano Upstairs presented at the Spoleto Festival, starring Mrs. Ferri and Mr. Boyd Gaine. As an Opera choreographer he has worked extensively in the US and abroad. In Beijing, China, he has choreographed a total of four productions at the National Centre of the Performing Arts, including Aida, with costumes by Academy Awards winner Franca Squarciapino and sets designed by Academy Awards nominee Ezio Frigerio. In 2013 he choreographed Passage, starring Mr. Bolle and Mrs. Semionova, a short movie directed by Fabrizio Ferri, with music by Fabrizio Ferri which opened Venice Film Festival. Passage went on to become a viral video. In 2015, American Ballet Theater soloists, Luciana Paris and Sterling Baca, performed his work Libera! at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. American Ballet Studio Company has performed Libera! extensively ever since. In 2017, Marco Pelle had his directorial debut with Florida Grand Opera, directing and choreographing Un Ballo in Maschera. After that, directed and choreographed contemporary operas like Frida and Song From The Uproar for Cincinnati Opera and Tosca for Michigan Opera Theatre. In January 2018, his new work, Carmen, for American Ballet Theater Studio Company debuted at the Frick Collection before engaging on a national tour. The same year, he became ballet choreographer of Pose, the Golden Globe nominated tv series created and directed by great American tv and movie director, Ryan Murphy. In 2019 he was the Artistic Director of the dance gala Alessandra Ferri: The Art of the Pas De Deux, featuring Alessandra Ferri, Marcelo Gomes and Herman Cornejo, among others. His new piece Shall I breathe?, with original lights by Brandon Stirling Baker, was danced by Sarasota Principal Dancers Kate Honea and Ricardo Graziano.