The Dancers
Darren Anderson
Born in Edmonton, Canada, Darren Anderson trained on scholarship with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the American Ballet Theatre. He danced with the Cincinnati Ballet and as a soloist with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet prior to joining Smuin Ballet in 2008. Since joining he has been featured in Michael’s Dances With Songs, Fly Me to the Moon and Bouquet as well as danced roles in ballets by, Amy Seiwert, Trey McIntyre and Robert Sund. Prior to joining Smuin Ballet, he danced in a variety of works by George Balanchine, Agnes De Mille, Rudi Van Dantzig, Jiri Kylian, John Neumeier, Val Caniparoli, Stanton Welch and Itzik Galili. Darren has performed as guest artist with numerous companies internationally. In addition to dance he also has an extensive background performing in film and television.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Ryan Camou
Mr. Camou was born in Honolulu, Hawaii where he received his training from John Landovsky. He developed further through studies at San Francisco Ballet School and during an apprenticeship with the Houston Ballet in 2004/2005. Mr. Camou joined State Street Ballet in 2005 where he appeared in principal roles in Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Black Swan Pas and Carmina Burana in addition to being featured as Don Jose in State Street Ballet’s production of Carmen by choreographer William Soleau. Mr. Camou joined Smuin Ballet in 2008.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Robin Cornwell
Born in San Rafael, Ms. Cornwell started training with Marin Ballet at age three. Her various teachers included Leslie Crockett, Robert Sund, Cynthia Lucas, Joanna Berman, Evelyn Cisneros, Lawrence Pech, and Michael Smuin. Since joining Smuin Ballet in 2002 she has been featured in Michael's Carmina Burana, Schubert Scherzo and Fly Me to the Moon as well as Amy Seiwert's Falling Up. Robin is honored to have experienced the overwhelming enthusiasm for dance that Michael Smuin shared with all and she is looking forward to being a part of the future legacy of Smuin Ballet.
Photo by Marty Sohl
Terez Dean
Ms. Dean was born in Poughkeepsie, New York where she trained with the Ballet Arts Studio. At the age of 15 she went on to study with the School of American Ballet where she performed in various Balanchine ballets such as Western Symphony, The Nutcracker, Union Jack and Tribute by Christopher d’Ambois whilst spending her summers with the Chautauqua Institute, Miami City Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet School. Ms. Dean joined Smuin Ballet in 2008 after having danced with State Street Ballet beginning in 2005. At State Street she danced in many leading roles including Rodney Gustafson’s Nutcracker, Napoli and Margot Sappington’s Shed Your Skin.
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Photo by Scot Goodman
Shannon Hurlburt
Mr. Hurlburt received a BS in Dance from Skidmore College, and subsequently performed with Hartford Ballet for two seasons. Mr. Hurlburt joined Smuin Ballet in 1998 and has been featured in numerous ballets including To the Beatles Revisited 2001 and Zorro! among many others. He has choreographed several ballets for the company including {a}part, Dumky and Max3.
Photo by Marty Sohl
Ted Keener
Originally from Philadelphia, this is Mr. Keener’s second season with Smuin Ballet. He received his high school diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Dance, and went on to graduate from Indiana University with high distinction in Ballet and Business. Prior to joining Smuin, Mr. Keener apprenticed with the Richmond Ballet, and was a company member of the Sacramento Ballet. He has also participated as a dancer in the 2008 and 2009 National Choreographers Initiatives.
Photo by Marty Sohl
Matthew Linzer
Mr. Linzer was born in Washington, DC and received early his dance training at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet. He then went on to study at The Juilliard School in New York City. Before joining Smuin Ballet in 2007, he danced with Diablo Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and Ballet Memphis. Mr. Linzer received his BA in Performing Arts from the LEAP Program at St. Mary’s College of California in June, 2009.
Photo by Scot Goodman
John Orr
John trained at Dance Theatre Seven in Fairfax, CA under the direction of David Roxander. Following his training, he was invited to become a trainee with Ballet Memphis for their 06-07 season. While there, Mr. Orr was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by the Greater Memphis Arts Council. Most recently, John spent the last two seasons with the Sacramento Ballet, where his highlights included various soloist and principal roles in works such as The Sleeping Beauty (The Bluebird), George Balanchine's Donizetti Variations, Ron Cunningham's Alice in Wonderland (The White Rabbit), John Clifford's Mozart Divertimento and Septime Webre's Fluctuating Hemlines.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Olivia Ramsay
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Olivia received her training primarily from Marin Ballet. Olivia went on to dance for Ballet Pacifica and State Street ballet with whom she toured throughout China and Taiwan, and had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Jimmy Gamonet, William Soleau, Lawrence Pech, and Robert Sund. Since joining Smuin Ballet under the direction of Michael, Olivia has most enjoyed dancing in Smuin’s Mambo, Fly Me to the Moon, and in Robert Sund’s Carmen. This is Olivia’s fifth season with the company.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Brooke Reynolds
Ms. Reynolds was born and raised in California while receiving her training in Fairfax. After spending one year with Boston Ballet II she joined San Francisco Ballet in 2000 where she appeared in the original casting of Possokhov’s Study in Motion and Helgi Tomasson’s productions of The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle and Chi-Lin as well as George Balanchine’s Rubies, Ballo della Regina, Symphony in 3 Movements and Symphony in C. Additionally, at Natalia Makarova’s request she performed the pas de trois and variation in Paquita. Ms. Reynolds joined Smuin Ballet in 2008 after dancing for Boston Ballet where she was featured in Jirí Kylián’s Falling Angels and Helen Pickett’s Etesian.
Photo by Marty Sohl
Susan Roemer
Originally from Milwaukee, Ms. Roemer began her ballet training at the Academy of Dance Arts and the Milwaukee Ballet School. She has participated in summer workshops with the Boston Ballet and Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. After joining Milwaukee Ballet II, she danced with Ballet Quad Cities, Augusta Ballet, Northern Plains Ballet and summers with Artisan Dance. Her favorite roles include Lar Lubovitch's "My Funny Valentine" and Lila in Michael Smuin’s “St. Louis Woman.” Ms. Roemer joined Smuin Ballet in August 2007.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Jean Michelle Sayeg
Originally from Glendale, CA Ms. Sayeg began her early career performing on Star Search. After receiving training at Le Studio and San Francisco Ballet she was named soloist at State Street Ballet. Her multifaceted career includes performing internationally and throughout the US with CATS and Camelot. Ms. Sayeg has been featured in various aerial ballets and productions with the Hollywood Bowl, LA Opera and Lincoln Center. Ms. Sayeg is Pilates Certified, a recipient of the Music Center Spotlight Award and the 2006 Lester Horton Award. She is also a member of AEA, SAG and AGMA. Her diverse artistic journey brought Ms. Sayeg to Smuin Ballet in 2008.
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Photo by Scot Goodman
Erin Yarbrough-Stewart
Ms. Yarbrough-Stewart received her training in Fresno and was a dancer with Oakland Ballet for five years, where she performed many leading roles including Cinderella and the Sugarplum Fairy from The Nutcracker. In 2003, she received the Isadora Duncan Award for her rendition of Giselle with Oakland Ballet. Ms. Yarbrough-Stewart joined Smuin Ballet in 2003 after having danced most recently with Diablo Ballet.
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Photo by Terry Gannon
Shane Tice
Mr. Tice began training and performing in ballet at the age of 6 with his parents, former American Ballet Theatre dancers Magali Messac and Ronn Tice. He studied on full scholarship with American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Houston Ballet. Mr. Tice joined Smuin Ballet in 2008 after having danced with Minnesota Dance Theatre and State Street Ballet during which time he performed works by Limon, Tetly, Feld and others.
Photo by Scot Goodman
Aaron Thayer
Mr. Thayer grew up in Reston, Virginia training with Cynthia Donavin at the Classical Ballet Academy. After attending summer programs in Princeton, Chatauqua and San Francisco, he graduated high school early to attend San Francisco Ballet School for two years. Some of his favorite roles include the lead pas de deux from Kirk Peterson's Amazed in Burning Dreams, I Won't Dance from Michael Smuin’s Fly Me to the Moon and the balcony pas de deux from Smuin’s Romeo & Juliet. Mr. Thayer joined Smuin Ballet in 2005.
Photo by Marty Sohl
Jessica Touchet
Ms. Touchet was born and raised in New Orleans where she trained at the Giacobbe Academy. She studied with the Hartford and Joffrey Ballets until joining Delta Festival Ballet to dance professionally. She performed as a principal dancer with Delta and with La JAZDANZ for six years and was a faculty member of the Cincinnati Ballet School. Since joining Smuin Ballet in 2004, she has been featured in Zorro! and Revealing the Bridge among other works.
Photo by Marty Sohl
