Katie Puder is the founder of Avant Chamber Ballet and serves as its Artistic Director and primary choreographer. She has created over 30 ballets with ACB and collaborated and choreographed with Rapides Symphony Orchestra, International Music Festival in San Antonio, American Baroque Opera Company, Orchestra of New Spain, Abilene Ballet Theater, Verdigris Ensemble and many more.

She started dance with Wichita Falls Ballet Theater and moved to Fort Worth to continue training where she studied with Maria Terezia Balogh and Paul Mejia. She was a member of Metropolitan Classical Ballet for six years and danced in classics such as Raymonda, La Bayadere, Paquita, Don Quixote, and Spartacus as well as a dozen Balanchine ballets including Agon, Four Temperaments and Bugaku. In 2007, she moved to Athens, Greece and studied ballet and contemporary dance at D.A.N.C.C.E.

In 2012 she founded Avant Chamber Ballet and has developed it into a professional company known for exciting new commissions and live music as well as the industry-leading Women’s Choreography Project. Under her leadership, ACB has garnered national attention as an example of a modern ballet company that reflects the future of the art form.

Paul Mejia, born in Lima, Peru, joined the School of American Ballet in 1958, where he first appeared as the "Little Prince" in the New York City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. While a student, he was invited by George Balanchine to attend his seminars on teaching and on choreography and to study music with the acclaimed Russian piano teacher Kiriena Siloti. At age fourteen, Paul Mejia choreographed his first ballets, which were performed by dancers from the School of American Ballet. 

Mr. Mejia joined the New York City Ballet as a professional dancer in 1964. During the next five years, he danced principal roles in many Balanchine ballets, including A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Nutcracker, Agon and Symphony in C. In 1972, Paul Mejia joined Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century where he danced many principal roles through Europe. He created two ballets for ballerina Suzanne Farrell and himself, which were presented in Belgium and in Monte Carlo. 

In 1977, Mr. Mejia staged a season of ballet in Guatemala, were he created four new ballets including Romeo and Juliet, the first of his Shakespearean ballet series. Additionally a ballet was created in Cuba for American Ballet Theater's ballerina Eleanor D'Antuono. During this time period, Mr. Mejia directed "Stars of the American Ballet" through its United States tour. 

Paul Mejia joined the Chicago City Ballet as co-artistic director with Maria Tallchief. During the next seven years, Mejia created fifteen new ballets, including his full-length Cinderella. First created for ballerina Suzanne Farrell, this audience favorite toured nationally and internationally in New York City, Japan and Taiwan to great acclaim. His ballet Eight by Adler, set to music by Richard Adler, was later filmed for PBS and won an Emmy Award for Suzanne Farrell. 

From 1987 to 1998, Paul Mejia was the artistic director of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. During these ten years, Mejia added thirty-two of his own works to the company's repertoire, including sixteen world premieres. The extensive repertoire also included thirty-five Balanchine ballets, with Mejia staging of Prodigal Son, Firebird, and Bugaku, making Fort Worth Dallas Ballet one of the world's premier Balanchine companies.

Dedicated to the artistic vision and philosophy of George Balanchine, Mejia has choreographed works in the neoclassical style, as well as dramatic story ballets such as Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet. Mejia's Webern Pieces, performed with ballerina Maria Terezia Balogh and Dallas Cowboy football star Herschel Walker, garnered national media attention. Under Mejia's direction, Fort Worth Dallas Ballet enjoyed the distinction of not only artistic excellence, but also financial excellence by producing on-budget and finishing with a yearly surplus. 

In addition to ballet, Paul Mejia has choreographed several operas for Chicago Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera and San Antonio Festival, as well as for musical, theater and fashion. In 1984, he was selected by Esquire Magazine as one of the "Outstanding Americans under 40".

Paul Mejia is currently a guest teacher and lecturer throughout the United States.

Fernanda Oliveira was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she trained at the Escola Estadual de Dança Maria Olenewa before earning a scholarship to complete her studies at the Washington School of Ballet. She began her professional career with The Washington Ballet as a Studio Company member before joining Colorado Ballet in 2014. Throughout her career, Oliveira has had the honor of performing works by George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Twyla Tharp, Val Caniparoli, Septime Webre, Clark Tippet, Michael Pink, and Trey McIntyre, among others, as well as classical ballets such as Don Quixote, Giselle, Le Corsaire, and Sleeping Beauty on renowned stages including Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. In 2020, she joined Philadelphia Ballet (formerly Pennsylvania Ballet), expanding her repertoire to include works by Juliano Nunes, Angel Corella, and Alvin Ailey.

As a freelance choreographer, Oliveira has been commissioned to create works for Colorado Ballet (Saudade, 2017; All Strings Attached, 2018), Avant Chamber Ballet (Homebound, 2019; Jeux, 2022), and Philadelphia Ballet II (Aruanda, 2024). She has also served as a guest ballet instructor and coach since 2013, mentoring pre-professional students and leading workshops in both the U.S. and Brazil.

While performing professionally, Oliveira pursued her bachelor's degree part-time, ultimately graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. She is currently earning her Juris Doctor as an AnBryce Scholar at NYU School of Law.

Christina Ghiardi is originally from Morgantown, West Virginia. She studied with the Joffrey Ballet School Trainee Program on full scholarship for one year before being invited to attend the School of American Ballet’s Winter Term, where she completed four years of pre-professional training. 

Upon graduating from SAB in 2012, Christina joined Boston Ballet II where she performed with Boston Ballet and in 2013 appeared as a guest artist with Pennsylvania Ballet. Christina joined Nevada Ballet Theatre (NBT) in 2014 where she is currently a company artist. Since joining NBT, she has performed principal roles in ballets such as Ben Stevenson’s Dracula, Cinderella, Septime Webre’s Alice (In Wonderland), The Wizard of Oz, Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, James Canfield’s Giselle, Cinderella, The Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s Serenade, Allegro Brillante, Western Symphony, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Rubies, The Four Temperaments, Who Cares?, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  She has also originated featured roles in Matthew Neenan’s Until December, Trey McIntyre’s Crown Shyness and Lauren Lovette’s Back When.

During Christina’s final year at SAB, she was one of two advanced students selected by Peter Martins and Kay Mazzo for an inaugural student teacher program. Christina joined the faculty of Boston Ballet School’s pre-professional division for the 2013-2014 school year and has appeared a guest teacher at SAB’s Summer Course, Boston Ballet School’s Summer Dance Program, The Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre, Dallas Ballet Center and The University of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia. As a choreographer, Christina has choreographed over 20 works for companies and schools including Nevada Ballet Theatre, Ballet West II, The School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet School, Ballet Project OC, artÉmotion, Neville Dance Theatre and Dallas Ballet Company. In 2022, she was selected as a choreographic fellow for the University of Utah’s Choreographic Institute and her works, Nuvole Bianche, Prayer for Peace and Chronos, have appeared as finalists at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival.

Born and raised in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Anastasia Markina started playing piano at the age of four, and gave her first public performance at the age of 10, when she won her first piano competition. Her talent has been recognized at numerous international piano competitions, and she has received top prizes in Europe, Russia, and the United States, including 1st prize at the 1st Maria Yudina International Piano Competition, 1st prize in both solo and chamber music at the “Beach of Hope” International Music Competition in Dobrich-Albena, Bulgaria, 1st prize at the International Peter the Great Music Festival in Groningen, the Netherlands, 1st prize at the San Angelo Sorantin International Music Competition, 1st prize at the 1st Boesendorfer International Piano Competition, 1st and Grand prize at the Yound Texas Artist Music Competition, 2nd prize at the 1st, 2nd and 4th Jose Iturbi Music Competitions.

Ms. Markina has performed with the Jalisco Philharmonic under Joolz Gale in Guadalajara, Mexico; the San Angelo Symphony under Lawrence Golan. She has performed solo, orchestral, as well as chamber music works in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Russia, including performances in the Barge Music Series and Summit Music Festival in New York City, NY; ISB Convention in Rochester, NY; Sitka Festival in Anchorage, AL; concerts in Los Angeles and San Diego, CA; and Vetta Chamber Music Series in Canada. Other collaborations include, among others, recitals with Paul Rosenthal, Mark Peskanov, James Galway, Alexander Kerr, Emmanuel Borok, Bonita Boyd, and Joseph Alessi. In collaboration with the cellist Eugene Osadchy she recorded two CDs – “Russian Romances” and “Nacht und Traume”.

Anastasia received her Bachelor’s, Master’s and Artist Certificate Degrees in Piano Performance at University of North Texas, studying with Vladimir Viardo, as well as Bachelor’s Degree from Saint-Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music, where she studied with Mary Guseva. Her other teachers include Alexander Mndoyantz, Maria Mekler, and Tatiana Shrago.

Since 2010 Ms. Markina has been serving as an Executive Director of the Argyle Music Academy.

Alexander McConkie is a New York City based actor and fiancé of ACB’s very own, Sydney May. Over the years, Alexander has been a proud patron of Avant Chamber Ballet and even made his debut with the company in their 2022 production of The Nutcracker as a Party Parent and Rat (One of his finest moments). Alexander earned his BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Utah and has since worked as a performer on cruise ships and stages in New York. He is currently playing Cosmo in “Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing” Off-Broadway at the Theater Center in NYC. 

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Caroline Atwell received much of her formal training at Charlotte Ballet under the direction of Patricia McBride, Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Mark Diamond, and Kathryn Moriarty, and attended various Summer Intensives at the Chautauqua Institution, San Francisco Ballet, and Houston Ballet. Continuing her training as a Ballet Major at Indiana University in 2014, she had the opportunity to train under Violette Verdy, Michael Vernon, and Shawn Stevens. While at Indiana she performed in numerous ballets including George Balanchine's Serenade, Raymonda Variations (5thVariation), Swan Lake & Emeralds, the world premiere of Saudade by Sasha Janes, and as ‘The Harp’ in Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare among others. Caroline graduated with distinction in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet and Business and a Minor in Spanish. In May of 2017, she spent a Summer Season as a Company Artist with American Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Lincoln Jones. That fall, Caroline joined Nevada Ballet Theatre while finishing her University studies from afar. In her time at NBT, Caroline had the pleasure of performing in various ballets including Balanchine’s Serenade, Western Symphony, and Raymonda Variations, Lew Christensen’s Beauty and the Beast, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel. A few of her favorite roles include ‘Big Swans’ in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake, the Pas De Trois in Ben Stevenson’s Dracula, and ‘Phlegmatic’ in George Balanchine’s Four Temperaments. In the Fall of 2018 Caroline debuted her choreography at the Mystére Theatre for NBT’s annual collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. She premiered another work for the collaboration in the Fall of 2019.

This is Caroline’s third season with Avant Chamber Ballet.

Mackenzie Bartlett, originally from Detroit, Michigan began her ballet training at Valentina’s School of Ballet under the direction of Valentina Barsukova. Along with her daily classes, she built her solid classical background and technique through her participation in several summer programs: The Kirov Academy (Washington DC), Bolshoi Ballet (NYC), A&A Ballet (Chicago), and Ballet West (Salt Lake City).

Following Ballet West’s 2017 SI, she joined the Company as a trainee for 3 seasons.  Mackenzie was hired into Ballet West II in 2020. Highlights of her professional career include performing as the 4th  Movement Principal in Balanchine’s Western Symphony, 1 st  Variation Soloist in Swan Lake Pas de Trois, Spring Fairy and Fairy Godmother in Pam Robinson’s Cinderella.  She also performed with Ballet West in several full-length productions, including Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet, Adam Sklute’s Giselle, William Christensen’s The Nutcracker, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, and Jerome Robins’; Glass Pieces. She is pleased and proud to join Avant Chamber Ballet for the 2022-2023 season as an apprentice.

Madelaine Boyce began her training with the academies of Ballet Arkansas and Ballet Memphis. She also trained with Dennis Poole, Alexei Moskalenko, The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet, Metropolitan Classical Ballet Academy. In 2005 she joined Metropolitan Classical Ballet in Arlington, Texas under the direction of Alexander Vetrov and Paul Mejia. She also was a member of Madison Ballet in Wisconsin for four seasons. Her repertoire consists of works from many choreographers including George Balanchine, Yuri Grigorovich, Vladimir Vasiliev, Paul Mejia, Peter Anastos, Terry Fox, and Guy de Bock. She is a founding member of ACB.

Born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Madeline Colesano began her dance training at Atlantic Coast Academy of Dance under the direction of Tanya and Coby Vincent. Madeline performed featured roles such as Swanhilda in Coppelia and Alice in Alice in Wonderland, as well as earning recognition from ballet competitions such as YAGP, Connecticut Classic, and the National Ballet Competition. She continued on her training at Ballet Rhode Island, formerly Festival Ballet Providence as a trainee under Kathleen Breen Combes and Yury Yanowsky. Madeline studied ballet at the University of Utah where she had the opportunity to perform roles such as Princess Florine in Sleeping Beauty as well as contemporary works by Susan Haag and Bashaun Williams. She joined Avant Chamber Ballet this past season as a trainee and is excited to join the company for the upcoming season as an apprentice!

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sophia Irene Davis began her training with The Rock School of Dance Education before joining Pennsylvania Ballet (now Philadelphia Ballet) in the reopening of their school in 2012 under the direction of Roy Kaiser and Kyra Nichols. While at Pennsylvania ballet Sophia attended summer intensives including The School of American Ballet and Miami City Ballet. In 2016, Ms. Davis joined the Pre-Professional II division with Miami City Ballet under the direction of Lourdes Lopez and Arantxa Ochoa in 2015 -2019 and performed George Balanchine's Raymonda Variations (5th variation) and Serenade in the school productions.  Continuing her training and education, Ms. Davis earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance and Outside Field in Kinesiology from Indiana University (IU), Jacobs School of Music. While at IU, Ms. Davis received training from Sarah Wroth, Kyra Nichols, Sasha Janes, Michael Vernon, and Christian Claessens. During her time with IU Ballet Theater, she had the opportunity to perform in several pieces including George Balanchine ballets: Valse Fantaisie,Serenade, and Donizetti Variations. Ms. Davis also had the privilege to perform in three World Premiere ballets including Jupiter Number 5 by Gianna Reisen, 19 by Sasha Janes, and Autumnsongs by Christian Claessens. Some of her favorite memories on stage include Justin Peck's Heatscape and Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s Swan Lake.  

Ruiko Jacobs, an Eastern North Carolina native, received her early classical ballet training at the Greenville Civic Ballet under the direction of Kim Saad. She also trained privately with the late Kennet Oberly in the Bournonville school. She left home her senior year to attend the high school program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). Upon graduation, she continued on to their college program, where she pursued her B.F.A. in Ballet on the Susan Jaffe Endowed Scholarship and graduated in three years in May 2023. Ruiko’s performance highlights at UNCSA included the Dark Angel in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Swan Lake Pas de Trois, a soloist in Napoli Act III, and Kitri in Don Quixote Act I. She also originated the role of Dewdrop in Ilya Kozadayev’s new production of The Nutcracker. In 2021, Ruiko represented UNCSA in the YAGP competition, where she placed Top 12 in the Senior Division and advanced to the Finals held in Tampa, FL.

Following graduation from UNCSA, Ruiko danced with Ballet Tucson as an Apprentice for one season. In Tucson, she performed in Eternal Love, a world premiere by Chieko Imada, and made her professional choreographic debut with Chamber Concerto in the Footprints at the Fox Choreographic Concert. She is excited to dance with Avant Chamber Ballet as an Apprentice this season.

Olivia Mann was born and raised in Dallas, Texas where she grew up dancing at Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, Dallas Ballet Center, as well as her high school, Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in Dallas, Olivia trained under the direction of Ann and Bill Atkinson, Judy and Brent Klophenstein, Catherine Lewellen, and Emily Hunter. From the age of thirteen, Olivia has attended various summer intensives including Miami City Ballet, The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s “Company Experience”, and Grand Rapids Ballet. Olivia recently graduated from Point Park University, where she received a BFA Dance Major, with a concentration in ballet, and a Business Management Minor. While at Point Park she performed in numerous ballets including Christopher Wheeldon’s, The American, Edwaard Liang’s Art of War, and Adam Hougland’s Cold Virtues. Olivia spent this past summer dancing professionally with the Sierra Nevada Ballet in their performance of Giselle. This is Olivia's second season with ACB.

Sydney May, originally from Dallas, Texas, is very excited to be dancing with Avant Chamber Ballet. Prior to this season, she was dancing with BalletNext in New York City as well as at the University of Utah in the School of Dance. She has performed a variety of roles in both contemporary and classical ballet, and recently performed the principal role of Giselle last fall. She has trained with prominent institutions such as American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Boston Ballet, and San Francisco Conservatory. She also attended Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts while growing up in Dallas, where she was able to further her dance training before attending the University of Utah for a BFA in Ballet Performance. Some of her favorite roles have been the leading duet in Stephen Petronio's MiddleSex Gorge, Fannie in La Vivandiere, and Giselle in Giselle. This is Sydney's second season with ACB.

Melissa is from Vestal, New York, where she has been dancing since age 4. At 14, she began training with Rafael Grigorian at the Rafael Grigorian School of Classical Ballet. She has attended summer programs at the NYSSSA School of Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the Chautauqua Institution and Balletmet. In 2014, Melissa graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet, an Outside Field in Applied Health Science, and a Minor in Psychology. While at IU, Melissa had the opportunity to train under Michael Vernon and Violette Verdy, and danced soloist and principal roles in works by Marius Petipa, Michael Vernon, Peter Martins, Martha Graham, Augustus Bournonville, Nicolo Fonte, and George Balanchine. After graduation, Melissa danced with the Colorado Ballet Studio Company for two seasons, under the direction of Gil Boggs. She has performed with the main company in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Martin Fredmann, Augustus Bournonville, and Septime Webre. Since joining Avant Chamber Ballet, Melissa has originated principal roles in ballets by Katie Puder, Fernanda Oliviera, and Madi Hicks. Melissa has also had the opportunity to dance in featured roles in George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, and Raymonda Variations, and Paul Mejia’s The Nutcracker and Serenade in A. This will be Melissa's seventh year with Avant Chamber Ballet.

Diego Miranda-Monsman began his ballet training at Dallas Ballet Center under the direction of Brent and Judy Klopfenstein. In 2021, Diego graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Ballet Performance. While at OU, he performed in numerous works such as Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker, Gerald Arpino’s Reflections, and Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom. In addition to this training, Diego has also attended summer courses at The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and American Ballet Theatre NY. This is Diego's second season with ACB.

Sean Rollofson is from Redmond, Washington. He began attending Pacific Northwest Ballet School at age seven. He attended summer courses at the National Ballet School (Toronto) and on scholarship at the School of American Ballet. Mr. Rollofson joined Pacific Northwest Ballet at age 18 as an apprentice in 2008 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009.

With PNB he originated leading roles in Marco Goecke’s To Place a Chill, as well as dancing leading and featured roles in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom) and Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Acolyte) Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake (Neapolitan, Principle Czardas) George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty (Puss in Boots), Jiri Kylian’s Sechs Tänze (Six Dances), Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker, and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles.

Since joining BalletMet in 2017, Mr. Rollofson has created featured roles in Edwaard Liang’s Giselle (Peasant Pas de Deux) and Silence Between (Second Pas de Deux). Along with dancing leading and featured roles in Ma Cong’s Eshster Vals, Jerome Robins Interplay (Green Boy), Justin Peck’s In Creases (Pas de Quatre Man), and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain (2 nd Pas de Deux Couple)

Prior to joining Balletmet, Mr. Rollofson danced with City Ballet of San Diego for a season as their Principal Male. While there Mr. Rollofson danced leading roles in Balanchine’s La Source (Principal Couple) and Peter Martin’s Hallelujah Junction (Pas de Deux Couple). Mr. Rollofson also created leading roles in Elizabeth Wistrich’s Bowed Piano and Geoff Gonzales’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Fall).

Mr. Rollofson is featured in the Starz mini drama series “Flesh and Bone” as a season regular, Find Your Fifth DVD, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway as the Slave Master/Soloist dancer, Asolo Rep’s Westside Story as Diesel (Riff understudy). He guested at The Kennedy Center, dancing Don Quixote Grand Pas de deux and Romeo and Juliet’s Balcony Pas de Deux, both with former NYCB soloist Kathryn Morgan for “Bloch’s Evening with Kathryn Morgan”.

Mr. Rollofson danced in the BBC’;s 1999 film version of PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filmed at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.

Kaylee Skelton is from Littleton, Colorado, where she started her serious ballet training at Belliston Academy of Ballet, under the direction of Jeannine Belliston. Ms. Skelton attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet, School of American Ballet, and Boston Ballet. She then continued her training on scholarship in the Professional Division with Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she had the opportunity to perform in ballets with the company, such as Kent Stowell’s "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake", and "Cinderella", as well as world premiere pieces set by PNB’s company members. She also danced as a company member with Nevada Ballet Theatre in Las Vegas, collaborating with Cirque du Soleil and performing roles such as “Big Swans” and “Spring Fairy” in James Canfield’s "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Kaylee then joined City Ballet of San Diego, where she danced in the company for 3 years. There she had the opportunity to dance many roles, including ballets by George Balanchine, such as “Tall Girl” in Rubies, “Choleric” in The Four Temperaments, and “Solo Girl” in La Source. Before joining Avant Chamber Ballet this season, she spent last year as a Principal Dancer with Reformation Dance Company under the direction of Kathleen Vreeland. This is her fifth season with Avant Chamber Ballet.

Bio coming soon