Mykaila Blumhardt
Mykaila is a fourth year Company member with CCB and a sophomore at CSU. Known for her lyrical style and pristine technique, Mykaila is a perennial favorite in principal classical roles such as the Snow Queen and Arabian Princess in The Nutcracker, Pas de Trois in Sleeping Beauty, and Summer Fairy in Cinderella. She has appeared in several of Alicia Laumann’s contemporary works, including Al-Andalus, Jane Eyre, and where others end and she begins.
Nicole Ferreri
Nicole is a 5th year Company member with CCB and a senior at CSU. With CCB, Nicole has performed a variety of principal parts, including The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Juliet in excerpts from Romeo and Juliet. Known for her versatility, she has also appeared in many of Alicia Laumann’s contemporary works including Al-Andalus, where others end and she begins, and Here Comes the Sun.
Marisa Johnson
Marisa is a first year Company member at CCB. She is a Pilates Instructor in Fort Collins, and holds a BS in Psychology from CSU. Marisa began her training at CCB, and then furthered her training at the Colorado Ballet Academy and the University of Utah. She spent summers at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in New York, and American Ballet Theater in Orange County.
Giorgia Menetre
Giorgia is an International Baccalaureate Diploma Student. Her love for dance is driven by the notion that she embodies her emotions through her movement and hopes that the audience sees her passion in every move. Giorigia has performed a variety of classical and contemporary principal roles in her 3 years as a Company member. She received a Platinum Award for her Giselle Solo, 1st Place Overall and Title of Teen Miss Legacy 2016. She has attended Ballet West’s Summer Intensive Program for two consecutive years in Salt Lake City.
Isabella Northburg
Isabella is a 3rd year company member with CCB. She has performed in numerous CCB productions, and has enjoyed working with Artistic Director Alicia Laumann, and guest choreographers such as James Wallace, Judy Bejarano, and Nick Blaylock. She attended Houston Ballet’s summer intensive the past 3 summers. In 2016 and 2017, she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix Denver, where she placed both years in the top 12 classical and top 3 contemporary. She was invited to New York for the 2016 YAGP finals.
Tessa Rehbein
Tessa graduated this spring from the University of Arizona with her BFA in Dance and is currently the Ensemble Director at Canyon Concert Ballet. While a student at the UofA, Tessa performed in pieces by illustrious choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Jerome Robbins, Alonzo King, Yin Yue, and Paul Lightfoot. She has attended a wide array of summer intensives including Boston Ballet and LINES Ballet, and recently finished a choreographic residency at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.
Alta Thuesen
Alta is a second-year Company member with CCB and a sophomore at CSU studying to earn her BS in Computational Mathematics. A versatile dancer, Alta is especially known for her comedic roles such as the Rat King in the Nutcracker and the Grandfather in Peter and the Wolf and her contemporary roles in pieces by guest artists Judy Bejarano and James Wallace. She is also on CCB’s teaching faculty working with her students in lyrical, musical theater and jazz.
Chamber Company
Emily Bergum
Emily received her dance training at Evergreen Ballet Center in Washington State. She left dance at 17 to attend college and start a career. After a long hiatus, she returned to dance in 2011 with Canyon Concert Ballet and joined their Chamber Company the following year. This will be her 7th CCB Nutcracker. She has also performed in CCB’s Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Paquita, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. She has a wonderful husband and two amazing girls who “keep her on her toes”.
Cara Doyle
Cara is in her 26th season with CCB. She began her dance training under Fernando Schaffenburg in Fort Worth, Texas. Her notable roles include the Ballerina Doll and Chinese Soloist in Randy Wray’s Nutcracker, Modern Couple in Passing Fancies, Red Riding Hood in Sleeping Beauty, Peasant Pas in Giselle, and the Evil Stepsister in Cinderella. She is a graduate of CSU and holds a degree in Art History. When she is not performing onstage with her kids, Calla and India, Cara can be found operating Summit Hardscaping alongside her husband at their farmhouse.
Kristen Hill
Kristen received much of her formative training from Lorita Travaglia with Colorado Ballet. She has attended Vail and Ballet Austin’s summer intensive programs. She has been a Company or Chamber company member for 10 years and performed in over 35 productions with Canyon Convert Ballet. Kristen favorite roles have been Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and little Swans. Kristen appreciates her husband and three young boys for supporting her with dance. Dancing keeps her young and vibrant!
Travis Hlvaka
Travis is an entrepreneur with a background in marketing and business strategies. An award-winning powerlifter, Travis is passionate about continuously learning and aspiring as a human being. This passion led him to move to both Mongolia and New Zeland. He has been a ditch-digger, bull rider and now an Arabian Prince. Travis’ life philosophy of trying new things led him to take up dancing in 2016 with CCB. He has since performed in Alice in Wonderland and several Nutcrackers. He is thrilled to be a first-year Chamber Company dancer.
Brannon Hughes
Brannon began his training with CCB and became a Chamber Company member in 2014. Brannon comes for a family of dancers, his mom and dad having both been company members, and is joined by his sister, Sadie, who is an apprentice. Brannon perennially shines in dance and character roles such as the Prince in The Nutcracker and Smee in Peter Pan. Brannon is a freshman political science major at CSU and earned his 2nd Degree Black Belt from Karate West in August 2015.
Rikke Liska-Goodrich
Rikke joined the company in 2002 and after taking time to begin her career as an attorney, joined the Chamber Company in 2015. Rikke grew up watching CCB Company dancers achieve a lifelong love for and participation in dance while also developing professional careers and hopes she can inspire other young dancers to do the same. Rikke’s favorite roles include Odette in excerpts from Swan Lake and Dew Drop Fairy, Russian, and Marzipan in The Nutcracker.
Apprentices to the Company
Sadie Hughes
Sadie is a second-year Apprentice with CCB. Excelling at a wide variety of styles, Sadie has danced roles in works by Judy Bejarano and Nick Blaylock. She has attended summer intensives at the Colorado Ballet Academy, Boston Ballet School and Kaatsbaan’s Extreme Ballet program. She competed in YAGP for the past two years and will be competing again this year. Favorite roles include the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and Russian and Arabian Attendant in The Nutcracker.
Kennedy Polovich
Kennedy is a second year Apprentice with CCB, and former member of CCB Youth Ensemble. She has attended summer intensives at Ballet Arizona, Colorado Ballet and Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet. She has also received supplemental training with instructors from New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Martha Graham Dance Company. In 2017, Kennedy placed in the Youth America Grand Prix Denver Regional Top 12 for her contemporary solo. Favorite roles include Tweedle Dee in Alice in Wonderland with the Youth Ensemble, and Coral in Peter Pan.
Claudia Strobel
Claudia is a second-year apprentice with CCB and a junior at Poudre High School. She has appeared in numerous CCB productions and last year had the privilege of being invited to participate in both visiting choreographers’ pieces by Judy Bejarano and Nick Blaylock. She has attended summer sessions with Ballet Hispanico in NYC and the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
