Vitacca Ballet Launches, Announcing the 2022 Company Roster

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

MEDIA CONTACT:  

SHAUNA TYSOR 

PR@VITACCADANCE.COM 

VITACCA BALLET LAUNCHES  

BASED IN HOUSTON AND THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS Announcing the 2021/2022 Company Roster 

HOUSTON and THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS [January 19, 2022]: Vitacca Ballet is excited to share dynamic contemporary ballet performances that combine beauty and  athleticism under Artistic Director Kelly Ann Vitacca. In pursuit of growth and support for  the local arts community, Vitacca Ballet seeks to nurture appreciative, diverse audiences  by contributing entertaining, thought-provoking dance works to Houston and The  Woodlands, Texas arts scenes. 

2020 brought many artists home to Houston. In our efforts to keep dancers employed,  Ms. Vitacca began project-based work. This experience laid the framework for the launch  of Vitacca Ballet. 

Vitacca Ballet | www.VitaccaBallet.org | 713.205.0355 | Info@VitaccaBallet.org Instagram & Facebook – @VitaccaBallet 

Vitacca Ballet is proud to be a fiscally sponsored project through Fractured Atlas. This  allows tax-deductible donations to be made toward Vitacca Ballet’s vision and artistic  growth. 

Vitacca Ballet’s professional company 2021-2022 season roster includes: 

Maddie Medina is from Houston, Texas where she trained at Vitacca Dance Project from  2015–2017. Medina then trained at The Juilliard School working with renowned  choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Andrea Miller, and Brian Arias. There, she also  performed repertoire by Bill T. Jones and Trisha Brown. She has worked professionally  with Brett Ishida in new works titled longing floats around you and dream of black. She  graduated from The Juilliard School with a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts. 

Melanie Ridley grew up in Houston, Texas where she trained at Kennedy Dance Theatre  from 2014 to 2019. She was inspired to pursue ballet after being educated by former  prima ballerina Milena Leben. She then trained at Vitacca Vocational School for Dance  from 2019 to 2021 under Artistic Director Kelly Ann Vitacca and ballet masters Tina Kay  Bohnstedt, Fara Sciulli-Bowen, and Stephen Hanna.  

Coltin Snyder grew up in Tooele, Utah. He began his dance training at age seven. He  then attended The Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts. After graduating, he attended  the University of Arizona (UA) graduating in 2021 with a BFA in Dance and a BSBA in  Accounting. During his time at UA Snyder trained under professionals such as Amy Ernst,  Autumn Eckman, Sam Watson, Melissa Lowe, and other esteemed faculty. He has 

performed in works by Martha Graham, Frank Chavez, Paul Taylor, Larry Keigwin, David  Parsons. While at UA, he also completed the Fletcher Pilates Foundational Program. In  addition to his classical training, he trained for five years in breakdancing under Arik Jack  and the world renowned Bboy Potter.  

International Guest Artist Khen Kurulkar is a native of Israel. He studied in the Maslool  Professional Dance Program, Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts Afternoon  Professional Training, and the Hamisgeret Professional Dance Program. His  performance repertoire includes works by notable choreographers Elie Lazar, Marius  Petipa, George Balanchine, Benjamin Harkarvy, Goyo Monterro, Roy Assaf, Barak  Marshall, Ohad Naharin, and Jiří Kylián. In 2018, Kurulkar was named the Ministry of  Culture and Sport/IDF Excellent Dancer. In 2016 and 2017 he advanced his training at  the American Academy of Ballet in New York.  

Guest Performing Artist Manish Chuahan was born and raised in Mumbai. He is self taught in the urban street dance known as b-boying. His athletic and gymnastic skills  allowed him to compete in popular reality TV shows like India’s Got Talent and Dance  India Dance, where he greatly impressed judges and was awarded the coveted prize  called ‘Taqdeer Ki Topi’ or ‘Hat of Destiny’. Chauhan studied ballet at the Danceworx  School in Mumbai under the Israeli-American teacher, Yehuda Ma’or. He completed his  training at the Oregon Ballet Theater School in Portland and at the Kibbutz Contemporary  Dance Company in Israel. In 2020, Chauhan played the leading role in the Netflix  film, Yeh Ballet, a fictionalized version of his life about his struggle to pursue a dance  career despite his family’s wishes. He has appeared in Elle and Pointe Magazine and in 

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advertisements for Nickelodeon and Torani Menswear. He is currently an apprentice with  the Peridance Contemporary Dance Company in New York City. 

Guest Performing Artist Dwayne Cook began dancing at the age of three at Houston  Ballet Academy and J.C. Sanderson Elementary for the Performing Arts. He continued  his training at Lamar Fleming Middle School Fine Arts Academy and was accepted into  HSPVA. He joined Exclamation Dance Co. in 2006. Cook has also trained at the Ailey  School, School of American Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Complexions, and received  an apprenticeship for Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Cook is a graduate of the  University of Oklahoma, where he received his degree in Modern Dance Performance.  Cook’s professional credits also include being a company member with Philadanco and  MetDance. Cook has performed in the Broadway productions of Kinky Boots and The  Wiz. He has worked with notable choreographers such as: Troy Powell, Earl Mosley,  Christopher Huggins, Derrick Minter, Austin Hartel, Nathan Trice, Arthur Mitchell, Dudley  Williams, Matthew Rushing, and Robert Battle. His commercial credits in BEYONCE,  Chris Brown, Jazmine Sullivan, and Deborah Cox. Cook was also a top 30 semifinalist on  season 9&10 of SYTYCD on Fox. 

Guest Performing Artist Sean Aaron Carmon is from Beaumont, TX, Sean graduated  from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance and performed with the Alvin Ailey  American Dance Theater for seven years. He has performed on Broadway in 2010’s La  Cage aux Folles, The Phantom of The Opera and, most recently, Disney’s The Lion  King. He has appeared as a guest artist with notable companies such as the Cape Dance  Company in South Africa and Joshua Beamish/MOVEthecompany in Vancouver. Mr.  Carmon is a nationally recognized and award-winning teacher and choreographer and is  currently on faculty with HEAT Convention and Competition, among other institutions. 

Vitacca Ballet Pro 2021-2022 season roster includes Madison Acevedo and Clare  McKee. 

The 2021-2022 season will include work by choreographers Tina Kay Bohnstedt,  Andrea Dawn Shelley, and Garrett Smith.  

To learn more about Vitacca Ballet’s 2021-2022 company and choreographers, please  visit vitaccaballet.org/about.  

The 2021-2022 season programming lineup includes:  

Premiere on April 23, 2022 at 7pm 

Charles Bender Performing Arts Center (611 Higgins Street Humble, TX 77338) 

Dance Soiree on May 14, 2022 at 7pm and May 15, 2022 at 2pm 

Charles Bender Performing Arts Center (611 Higgins Street Humble, TX 77338) For more information on Vitacca Ballet, visit www.VitaccaBallet.org.  ###

Vitacca Ballet | www.VitaccaBallet.org | 713.205.0355 | Info@VitaccaBallet.org Instagram & Facebook – @VitaccaBallet