WINTER CONCERT

Ellie Barry (She/Her - Ames, IA) ) trained from the age of 4-18 at Robert Thomas Dancenter under the direction of Maureen McGrath, Robert Thomas, and Miyoko Kato Thomas. She additionally attended School of Classical Ballet and Dance in West DesMoines, IA from 2017-2021 under the direction of Lori Grooters and Serkan Usta. In 2025, Ellie received her BFA from the University of Arizona where she trained in modern, contemporary, jazz, and ballet techniques under a number of distinguished faculty including Tamara Dyke-Compton, Sarah Lisette Chiesa, Sam Watson, and others. While at the School of Dance, Ellie was honored to perform in several works by Kevan Sullivan and Cat Cogliandro, both of whom were instrumental figures in her artistic development. She also enjoyed performing in jazz and tap works by Sam Watson, Michael Williams, and Halston Strange, as well as in a number of her fellow undergraduates’ works. Ellie choreographed several pieces during her undergraduate studies, designed lighting for the Student Spotlight concert of fall 2024, and participated in community outreach as a member of the University of Arizona traveling ensemble. She is thrilled to continue performing and exploring her artistry as a trainee for Saint Louis Dance Theatre.

Lillian Beeler (She/Her - Chicago, IL) discovered her passion for dance and movement at a young age. She received versatile training from Forte Arts Center including contemporary, ballet, jazz, tap, acro, and more. Lilli graduated from  Point Park University in 2025 and earned her BFA in Dance with a Modern concentration. While at Point Park, she had the opportunity to perform in works choreographed by Omar Román De Jesús, Ronen Koresh, Christopher Huggins, Jason McDole, and more. She has furthered her training at summer programs including SALT Contemporary Dance, Visceral Dance Chicago (professional division), and UNCSA. In her spare time, she enjoys sharing her love for dance and creativity by teaching at a local dance studio. Lilli is eager to explore her professional growth and artistry with Saint Louis Dance Theatre as a Trainee for their 2025-2026 season!

Bianca Brown (She/Her - Los Angeles, CA) started dancing at the age of three at Legacy Dance Academy, under Lisa Diaz where she learned all of her performance skills. She then transitioned over to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy at the age of seven where she grew her passion for concert dance. During this time, Bianca trained heavily in Ballet and Modern dance while learning many other styles like Flamenco, African, Hip Hop, Tap, and Latin Fusion. At fourteen years old, Bianca had the opportunity to join the DADA Ensemble, a youth pre-professional company, performing at different outreach shows, events, and performance spaces locally and around the US. This allowed her to perform at the 62nd Annual Grammys at the Crypto Arena as well as perform at the Kennedy Center. During her summer months, she continued her studies at Alonzo King Lines Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem allowing her to work closely with Alonzo King, D Montalvo, Maurya Kerr, Robert Garland, and Virginia Johnson. Bianca graduated from the Boston Conservatory Summa Cum Laude in May of 2024 earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance. She has had the opportunity to work with choreographers like Darrell Grand Moultrie, Kurt Douglas, Victor Quijada, Crystal Perkins, Ruka Hatua-Saar White, Doug Varone, and Aszure Barton. Over the last few years, Bianca has been able to expand her belt repertoire by performing works by world-renowned choreographers like Amy Hall Garner, Spenser Theberge, Kyle Abraham, Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin, and Rami Be’er. This past year she has enjoyed her time teaching at Dancer 4 Life Dance Studio under the direction of La Toya Bellamy. She is currently with the Saint Louis Dance Theatre Trainee Program to further her performance career and is excited about her journey ahead.

Claire Bryant (She/They - Lexington, KY) graduated from The School for the Creative and Performing Arts in 2021. Over the years she has received training from The Martha Graham Dance Company, Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, the Louisville Ballet School, and more. In April 2025, Claire graduated summa cum laude from Point Park University, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. During her time at Point Park, she performed works by several choreographers including Martha Graham, Jesse Factor, Jason McDole, Daniel Karasik, and Jay Kirk. She also had the opportunity to perform on screen as a featured dancer in Ethan Hawke’s 2023 film Wildcat. Moving forward into her professional career as a trainee at Saint Louis Dance Theatre, Claire is eager to share an authentic sense of storytelling through her sensitivity and exploration of movement.

Mady Buerck (She/Her - Farmington, MO) is a dancer, choreographer, and creative based in St. Louis. In 2022, she received a Bachelor's in Communications with an emphasis in Professional Communication from the University of Missouri-Kansas City before graduating in May of 2024 from the Conservatory of UMKC with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. Upon graduating, she joined Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where she completed their (Em)Brave 2024-2025 Trainee Season. She has worked closely with and performed works by a variety of professionals, including Geoff Alexander, Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Avree Walker, Brandon Fink, Gary Abbott, Kam Sanders, Ray Mercer, Nicole Clarke Springer, and Christopher Huggins, among others.

Mady is the Creative Director, lead choreographer and instructor for Studio E Dance. She set choreography on the 2024-2025 Saint Louis Dance Theatre Trainees and was also selected to present her work at the 2025 St. Louis Contemporary Dance Festival. She completed a choreographic residency with Space Station in August 2025, and has traveled throughout the country, teaching and choreographing for both creative and competitive projects. She is beyond excited for a second year traineeship with Saint Louis Dance Theatre and hopes to expand her artistry throughout all her current and future endeavors.

Julia Dawson (She/Her - San Diego, CA) began her training at the California Ballet School, while also attending summer programs with American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, and the Joffrey Academy in Chicago. She later attended the Conservatory Program at the Joffrey Academy of Dance under the direction of Karin Ellis-Wentz and Kyle Seguin. Julia went on to earn her BA in Mathematics, with a Correlate in Dance Performance, from Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, where she was a member of the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre, lead by John Meehan, Stephen Rooks, and Miriam Mahdaviani. With the company, she performed in original works by Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Amy Hall Garner, Mike Tyus, Yoshito Sakuraba, Leslie Partridge-Sachs, Skyla Schreter, and Souleymane Badolo. In her first year as a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, Julia had the pleasure to perform works by Brandon Fink, Carly Vanderheyden, Geoff Alexander, Ashtyn Babb, Madalyn Bailey, Mady Buerck, and Logan Guerra. She is thrilled to be returning for her second year.

Emma Debski (She/her - Canal Fulton, OH) began her dance training at the age of 9 in Canal Fulton, Ohio at Natalya’s Turning Pointe School of Dance. At 16 she received a scholarship to train year round at The Ailey School in New York City and did so her last two years of high school. Emma continued her training at Dominican University of California in the Alonzo King LINES Ballet program under the direction of Marina Hotchkiss. She graduated summa cum laude with honors receiving a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance in May 2023. During her time in college, she had the opportunity to work closely with many former company members of Alonzo King LINES Ballet as well as the opportunity to work directly with Alonzo King. She performed original pieces by Brett Conway, Gregory Dawson, Dexandro Montalvo, Carmen Rozestraten, and Liv Schaffer. After graduation, Emma danced with Philadanco’s second company, Danco 2, under the direction of Donald Lunsford. She then danced with Whirlwind Dance Company for their third season in Columbus, OH. Emma has participated in various summer intensives with companies that include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, NW Dance Project, and Orsolina28 in Montalvo, Italy. Emma is excited to join Saint Louis Dance Theatre as a trainee for their 2025-2026 season. 

Randi Jenkins (She/Her - Washington, MO) began dancing at age 6, fostering her love for performance. In 2015, Randi started training at Dance Craze, where she was taught contemporary, hip hop, and acrobatics, while furthering her studies in her core styles of jazz, tap, and ballet. While at Dance Craze, she was awarded the Clare Blaze Scholarship. In 2020, she performed for Six Flags St. Louis’ Fright Fest in their dance show, Dead Man’s Party, choreographed by Kelly Daugherty and Alexis Roberts. After high school, Randi pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Bachelor of Arts in Accounting at Lindenwood University. There she danced under Tricia Zweier, Janet Strzelec, Miranda Payne, Mariko Kumanomido, and Amy Gammon. During her time at Lindenwood she was involved in the university’s fall, winter, and spring dance concerts, and choreographed for the 2025 Lindenwood University Spring Dance Concert. While at Lindenwood, Randi danced for four years on the Lindenwood University Lionettes Dance Team. The team had earned a total of four NDA Division 2 National Championship titles - two in hip hop and two in jazz.

After graduating, Randi continues to immerse herself in the dance community in the St. Louis region. For the 2025-2026 season, she is the assistant coach for Nerinx Hall High School Dance Team, dance teacher and choreographer for Dance Art Studio, and a member of the Spirit of St. Louis Dancers. Additionally, Randi is choreographing for studios in Missouri and Illinois. Randi is eager to dance alongside the trainees this season.

Hayden Jensen (She/Her - Clive, IA) attended the University of Iowa, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. As a student at the University of Iowa, Hayden has had the opportunity to work and learn with Stephanie Miracle, Mindy Meyers, Tony Orrico, Kieron Dwayne Sargeant, Aaron Samuel Davis, Alice Klock and Florian Lochner (FLOCK), Virginie Mécène (Martha Graham Dance Company), and many more. She enjoyed performing in the Dance Gala (2021-2023), Martha Graham's Panorama (2024), and many more.  During the 2024-25 season Hayden was a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre under the direction of Brandon Fink, Director of Education. She was blessed to work with Geoffrey Alexander, Avree Walker, Brandon Fink, Carly Vanderheyden, and Kirven Douthit-Boyd.

Sammy Lawson (He/Him - Wildwood, MO) began his dance training in the Spring of 2020, graduating from Southeast Missouri State University in 2023 with a BSE in Secondary Education and minors in Dance and Music. During his time at SEMO, Sammy performed works by Alyssa Alger, Philip Edgecombe, Hilary Peterson, and Fernando Bujoñes while training in ballet, modern, aerial, and partnering. He started his professional career as a guest company member with Ballet 314 (2022-2024) performing as the Sugar Plum Cavalier, and in original works by Marcela Gómez Lugo and director Robert Poe. Additionally, Sammy was accepted as a trainee by the Saint Louis Dance Theatre for the 2023/2024 season where he performed under the direction of Brandon Fink, performing works by Maggie Dueker, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Emmi Small, Robert Poe, Leonides Arpon, Yuka Oba-Muschiana, and original works by Brandon Fink. Sammy was offered a contract by the Whirlwind Dance Company where he performed rep by Joshua Manculich, Hannah Brixton, Johnson Litzler & Cody Szarko, and Yinqi Wei & Maggie Liang. He's excited to return as a second year trainee!

Meghan Lensmeyer (She/Her - Port Huron, MI) began dancing at age three at a studio in Michigan. As she became more serious about her dancing, she began her pre-professional training at Spotlight Dance Works, a highly ranked competition studio in Michigan. There, she studied many different styles of dance including ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, lyrical, improvisation, ballroom, and hip-hop. While training at Spotlight, she participated in many acclaimed pre-professional intensives including: Hubbard Street’s Advanced Summer Intensive, Peridance Teen Summer Intensive, Complexions, and The Dance Sessions. 

Following her high school years, she furthered her training at University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem North Carolina. There she studied to obtain a BFA in Contemporary Dance and a minor in Arts Management. While studying at UNCSA, she was exposed to a range of dance styles and techniques, some including counter technique, West African, Limón, Trisha Brown technique, Cunningham, Horton, floorwork and Ballet. Her performance opportunities have included new works by Anthony Brynat, Jim Vincent, and Gina Patterson and repertory works by choreographers such as Shen Wei, Ming Lung-Yang, and José Limón . During her breaks from school she has attended several dance intensives, some being Hubbard Street Create Summer Dance Intensive, BODYTRAFFIC intensive, Orsolina28 ‘23, and WHIM Summer Intensive. Following her graduation from UNCSA she danced and performed with Whirlwind Contemporary Dance. While working with Whirlwind she created a duet alongside another artist that went on to perform in Saint Louis Dance Festival. She is now dancing as a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where she continues to hone her art. Meghan is excited to further her potential and push boundaries through learning new ideas from different companies and dancers around the world. She plans to do this through hard work and connections made within the industry.

Camille Loftis (She/Her - Navarre, FL) spent the majority of her formal training at Northwest Florida Ballet under Todd Allen and Dorothy Lister. She attended the Northwest Florida Ballet Académie from grade 3 until she completed their Pre-Professional Program. With NFB, she performed corps and soloist roles in classical and contemporary works and has since returned as a guest teacher, performer, and choreographer. She has also attended summer programs at ABT, The Washington Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Danse à la Carte in Montréal.

Camille holds a BFA from Butler University where she graduated cum laude with high distinction in both Dance Performance and French. While at Butler, Camille furthered her studies in classical ballet, jazz, modern, and Laban movement analysis. She performed as a soloist in various classical and original contemporary works by the faculty, notably that of David Ingram, Susan McGuire, Cynthia Pratt, and Marek Cholewa. She also presented her original choreography annually and showcased two collaborative works with artists of other mediums, including one that was presented as her Senior Choreography Project. Camille received the Butler Ballet Director’s Award for Choreographic Excellence, the Jenny Brunsma Scholarship for the Performing Arts, and a dance Performance Award during her time in Butler Ballet. Her professional performances have included classical and contemporary roles with Ballet INitiative and Northwest FL Ballet, and she has presented her original choreography in the Synergy Series showcase in Cincinnati, the IndyFringe festival, and the Penrod Arts Fair in Indianapolis.

Julia Lucarelli (She/Her - Briarcliff Manor, NY) began her dance training at three years old in ballet. She trained at Logrea Dance Academy in Ossining, NY for a majority of her dance education, focusing on ballet, pointe, jazz, and contemporary. Julia holds a BA in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University’s Jordan College of the Arts. She continued her classical ballet training there, as well as learning Taylor-based modern. She has worked with choreographers including Jennifer Archibald, Maria Konrad, Carly Vanderheyden, Geoff Alexander, Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson, and Avree Walker. Julia also teaches dance around the St. Louis area and is a guest artist at Pack Dance. She is excited to continue her training in her second season in the program.

Gianna Nixon (She/Her) began her dance training at the age of four in Washington, D.C. At age twelve, she moved to Los Angeles, California, where she began training at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA). There, she studied a wide range of styles—including modern, ballet, African, Dunham, Latin-fusion, flamenco, jazz, and Broadway—approaching dance as a form of study and artistic expression. In high school, she transitioned to pre-professional training in Vaganova technique at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet. Throughout her training, she engaged in numerous performances and prestigious intensives, such as Dance Theatre of Harlem Summer Intensive, State Street Ballet Summer Intensive, and Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive.

In 2024, she furthered her training at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and Organization and Strategic Management, with a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. At WashU, she encountered new techniques and approaches to movement, exploring Horton, Dunham, postmodern movement practices, Countertechnique, Cunningham technique, and improvisation. As she engaged in the universities’ mainstage productions through Washington University Dance Theater (WUDT) and Washington University Dance Collective (WUDC), she performed various faculty, guest, and student works, including Ron K. Brown’s restaging of “Four Corners.”

Outside of WashU, she is completing her Mat Pilates certification through Balanced Body and pursuing training in movement principles to further enhance her understanding of body mechanics. She is currently a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where she continues to develop her artistry and professional experience.

​​Johnna Opheim (St. Louis, MO) began dancing when she was 2.5 years old at Lucille Rapp Dance Studio, where she stayed until her graduation in 2025 and now continues to be on the teaching staff. In 24/25 she took ballet at Webster University and was able to perform works by MJ Imani and Michael Uthoff. Johnna has had the opportunity to work with STLDT several times over the past couple years through the Elevate Student Project where she performed works by Megan Rancour, Carly Vanderheyden, Erin Prange, Eibhlin Arvizu, and Jacque Hartman, and was the soloist in a piece by Isaiah Valentin. She is excited to continue working with this great company over the 25/26 season.

Ava Partida (She/Her - Brentwood, CA) began her dance training at the age of 3 at East County Performing Arts Center and continued her dance education at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She graduated in 2025 earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She also has had the opportunity to study dance at several summer intensives, such as the Martha Graham School, Houston Contemporary Dance Company and Joffrey Ballet School.

Claire Rineberg (She/Her - O’Fallon, IL) is a dancer, choreographer, and educator who earned her B.F.A in Dance Performance and Choreography with high honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. While at school, she was recognized with the Talented Student Award for all four years and received the Lisa Carducci Memorial Award for her dedication to dance. She was also a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, reflecting her commitment to both academic and artistic excellence.

Her diverse performance background includes working with esteemed choreographers such as Sara Hook, Laura Chiaramonte, Paige Cunningham-Caldarella, Anna Peretz-Rogovoy, and Kemal C. Nance, experiences that shaped her movement vocabulary and choreographic voice. Claire’s newest choreography, Sensitivity (May 2025), premiered at the Krannert Center’s Studio Theatre and explores the butterfly effect through movement. Her original works have also been showcased at The Hettenhausen Center for the Arts and at the Saint Louis Dance Theatre’s Choreographic Festival.

Claire is currently a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre, where she deepens her artistry through rehearsals, performances, and professional development. She also teaches at DanceStation in O’Fallon, IL, fostering growth in young dancers through technical training, creative exploration, and mentorship. In addition, she teaches yoga through Puppies&Yoga,blending her 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) certification with her passion for wellness, mindfulness, community, and love for animals!

Olivia Wilton (She/Her - St. Louis, MO) began her dance training at the age of three at Lucille Rapp Dance Studio in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree in Dance and American Culture Studies, and a minor in Psychological & Brain Sciences. At WashU, Olivia performed in works by Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Stephanie Martinez, and Melanie George among other faculty and student works. She performed in Dune Alpha, choreographed by Elinor Harrison, which was selected for the 2025 ACDA National College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center. Her summer training includes the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina, where she performed in a new work by Dianne McIntyre through the Footprints program. She has also attended the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Explore program. She is so excited to continue growing and learning as a trainee with Saint Louis Dance Theatre.