TACOMA PERFORMING DANCE COMPANY MEMBERS
	Gabrielle Beardemphl is thirteen years old and an eighth grader attending Mason Middle School. She has been dancing since she was four years old and has been attending Jo Emery's Ballet School for four years. Gabrielle was accepted to the Rock School of Ballet summer program. Gabrielle also plays the harp when she is not dancing.
	Mireya Beltran has been dancing with Jo Emery for six-teen years. She is a seventh year company member. Mireya has been accepted to Cornish school of the Arts. In 2008, Mireya Attended PLU and now in 2009 she is attending Tacoma Community College. She plans to transfer to Pacific University of Oregon next fall. Mireya is currently employed at the Harmon Brewery Company.
	Tess Bentley is fifteen and attends Stadium High School in Tacoma. Tess has been dancing for eleven years all of which have been at the Jo Emery Ballet School. Other than dancing she enjoys writing, photography, and bead-ing. In this year's Nutcracker, she will be performing as a Doll, Snow Princess, Winter Fairy, and the Chinese Soloist.
	Carrie Condon started dancing at age four with Jan Collum. At age seven she came to Jo Emery and in 1994 joined TPDC when she was fourteen. After dancing in the company for three years, Carrie joined the WHS Dance Team and cheered at TCC from 2000 to 2002. Carrie returned to Jo Emery in November of 2006 after a ten year absence and rejoined TPDC. In this seasons Nut-cracker Ballet, she will dance in Spanish, Waltz of the Flowers, and Snow.
	Maggie Sue Cox has danced with Jo Emery for thirteen years and is a fifth year company member. She is a Jun-ior attending Wilson High School. Maggie Sue has been accepted to The Rock School of Dance Education, Burk-lyn Ballet Theatre, School of Ballet Chicago, attending American Ballet Theatre for which she spent two sum-mers in Detroit, Michigan, and last summer attending Dance This 2009 at Pacific Northwest Ballet. In the 2009 TPDC Nutcracker, Maggie Sue will appear as Snow Queen and in Spanish.
	Teresa Dobbins has danced exclusively with Jo Emery for over 30 years. She was accepted to Dance with the Greg Thompson Follies and attended the Marin Ballet School in California. Teresa was the Sugar Plum Fairy for ten years and has choreographed several works for TPDC includ-ing: No Air. She is a resident ballet instructor for the Jo Emery Ballet School and a certified Zumba instructor. Teresa is a den-tal consultant and speaker for Linda Miles & Associates and resides in Gig Harbor with her husband, Kevin, and her two children, Heather and CJ.
	Nadia Glaude has danced with Jo Emery for seven years. She is thirteen years old and attends Truman Mid-dle School as a seventh grader. In her spare time she plays the violin, sings, and acts. In her first year as a company member she will dance in the Nutcracker as a ballerina doll in dolls, Snow Angels, Snow Princesses, and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Jasmine Gruenstein is a senior at Tacoma School of the Arts. She has danced with Jo Emery Ballet School for ten years. To strengthen her dance experience she teaches ballet, jazz and hip hop for MetroParks. Her other passion is volunteering at the Pierce County AIDS Foundation; she has gotten her varsity letter in community service two years in a row. This year she can be seen as a Rat and as Mother Ginger in the Nutcracker.
	Julia Hernandez has been dancing with the TPDC for five years and has taken lessons from Jo Emery since she was four. Julia is a senior at Curtis Senior High School where she is excelling in all of her classes includ-ing AP courses. Julia has attended many summer inten-sives including School of Ballet Chicago, American Ballet Theater - Detroit, the Joffrey Ballet School, and most recently The Northwest Dance Intensive at which she was instructed by Gelsey Kirkland. In this year's production of The Nutcracker,
	Anna Herron has been dancing for twenty years, begin-ning at the age of six at Suburban Dance Studio in Puy-allup where she studied ballet, tap and jazz. During her college years at UPS, although not dancing ballet, Anna enjoyed studying acting, particularly musical and Shakespearian theater. After a ten year absence from dance she returned to her first love, ballet, after the birth of her first child in 2000 and has been a company dancer with TPDC ever since. Anna choreographed Another Small Adventure for the dance company in 2005 and has served on the TPDC board. Professionally, Anna is a preschool teacher for a co-op preschool in Tacoma. Af-ter dancing many different roles in the Nutcracker over the years, Anna will be appearing this year in Dance of the Flutes and as the Snow Angel soloist.
	Diane Holmstrom began dancing when she was three, and started with Jo Emery when she was eleven. She has performed in ballets ranging from the traditional Nutcracker and Cinderella to clowning around in "Circus," "Colors" and playing Rudolph at the Boeing Christmas Show. A gymnast through high school and college, she also coached gymnastics and choreo-graphed dance for gymnasts for many years. She is delighted to perform again in many of Jo Emery’s jazz dance works, and to be among the tumbling Rats and Russians in TPDC’s Nutcracker Ballet.
	Amity Howell-Sloboda began studying ballet and jazz with Jo Emery at the age of six. She joined TPDC in 1989. Amity attended the University of Washington where she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance. While at U.W. she studied dance techniques from various innovative instructors and choreogra-phers. In 1998, Amity choreographed Night. Night. for the Dance Majors Concert at U.W. Amity returned to the Company in 2000 and has since appeared in TPDC’s Chicago, Americana, Moulin Rouge, and choreographer Matt Nelson’s Fosse. Since 2003, she choreographed Souffrir en Silence, Move, and Committed for TPDC. Committed will be performed again in the 2010 TPDC Dance for the Cure performance. Amity is the resident Modern dance teacher for the Jo Emery Ballet School.
	Amity Kernen has danced with Jo Emery for seventeen years and a Tacoma Performing Dance Company member for eight years. This is her third year serving as dancer's representative for the board. She is a ballet instructor for the ice skaters at Sprinker. She loves performing and has enjoyed being a part of musical theater such as the Wiz-ard of Oz, Cinderella, and Gypsy at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. She was accepted to Joffrey Ballet, Worchester Ballet, Jillana, and the Kirov Academy's ballet summer workshops. Amity is currently working on her first self-choreographed ballet which will be a part of "Dance for the Cure" this Spring 2010.
	Kathy Kimpel has danced ballet for thirteen years; eleven of which with Jo Emery. This is her third year as a TPDC company member and she is a sophomore at Annie Wright School. In the summer of 08’ she attended Ameri-can Ballet Theater’s summer intensive in Detroit Michigan, and in the summer of 06’ she attended the Rock School for Dance Education’s summer intensive in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. In addition to ballet, Kathy also studies advanced jazz dancing with Jo Emery. Outside of the dance studio, she acts, sings, plays the guitar. Her other passions include reading and writing short stories (possibly a novel someday). In the 2009 Nutcracker she will perform in Snow, Snow Angels, Waltz of the Flowers and Dance of the Flutes.
	Mahealani King has been dancing for twelve years, eleven of which have been with Jo Emery. She has been a com-pany member for four years and attends Puyallup High School as a junior. Mahealani has been accepted to sev-eral summer intensive programs, such as The Rock School for Dance Education 2006, Whitman Summer Dance Lab 2005, and School of Ballet Chicago in 2006. This year, Mahealani will be performing as an Arabian Dancer and Snow.
	Ellie Lehman has been dancing for seven years. She at-tends Tacoma School of the Arts and is in the tenth grade. In the 2009 Nutcracker, Ellie will be dancing the role of Clara for her third year. This is her fifth year of studying with Jo Emery, and has been part of the Tacoma Performing Dance Company for four years. Ellie has at-tended summer intensives at Classical Youth Ballet, Evergreen City Ballet, The Rock School of Dance, Milwaukee Ballet, American Ballet Theatre/Alabama, The Portland Ballet Master's Workshop and the Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive.
	Savannah McGowen is thirteen years old and a seventh grader at Mason Middle School. She has been dancing for ten years, four of which have been with Jo Emery. Savan-nah attended the Rock School’s summer intensive in Phila-delphia, Pennsylvania. She will perform in the roles of a Doll, Kingdom of Sweets and Flowers in this year’s produc-tion of Nutcracker.
	Zoe Meade is 15 years old and a freshman at Stadium High School. She has danced with Jo Emery for ten years and is a first year company member. In her free time she enjoys archery and musical theater and is a member of the Stadium Knowledge Bowl. In the 2009 TPDC Nut-cracker Ballet, Zoe performs as Russian Doll, Rat, Snow Angel, Kingdom of Sweets, Russian Dancer and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Carrie Micallef has danced with Jo Emery Ballet School for over five years. Carrie has many style of dance ex-perience in jazz, ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, hip hop, ballroom and tap. Carrie attends many dance conven-tions where she has received gold and judge's choice awards. She performed in the Sounds of the Season Talent Show for two years in a row. Carrie was accept and attended American Academy of Ballet in New York and Summer Dance Lab in Walla Walla. Carrie performed as Sugar Plum, Spanish, Doll, Rus-sian, Chinese, and Arabian in previous studios. In TPDC's 2009 Nut-cracker Ballet she will dance as Snow Princess and Arabian.
	Jasmine Miller has danced with Jo Emery for seven years. This is her first year as a company member. In this years Nutcracker she will appear in Dolls, Snow, Russian and Waltz of Flowers.
	Anna Needham currently attends Stadium High School where she is in the ninth grade. This is Anna's tenth year dancing with Jo Emery. In addition to dancing, Anna loves to play soccer and the flute. In the Nutcracker Bal-let, Anna will be performing in Dolls, Snow Angels, Snow and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Meriel Peterson has studied ballet for ten years, eight of which have been with Jo Emery. Meriel is fourteen years old and a freshman at Stadium High School. Outside of dance, Meriel studies the violin, plays sports and has an interest in photography. In the 2009 Nutcracker Ballet, Meriel will be performing in Dolls, Snow Angels, Snow Princesses, and the Waltz of the Flowers.
	Maddie Porter is a first year company member and has danced for eight years, the past four of which with Jo Emery. She is in the eighth grade at Mason Middle school where she enjoys playing the flute in band. In the sum-mer of 2008 she attended the Summer Intensive Pro-gram at the Rock School of Ballet in Philadelphia, PA. In TPDC’s 2009 production of the Nutcracker Ballet, Maddie will per-form in Dolls, Snow, and the Waltz of the Flowers.
	Riley Ranch has danced with Jo Emery for eleven years and is a third year company member. She attended the 2009 ABT Summer Intensive in Detroit, the 2008 ABT Summer Intensive in Alabama and has attended pro-grams at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and Evergreen City Ballet. She was also accepted to programs at Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Ballet Austin, Walnut Hill, Milwaukee Ballet, The Jillana School, and Burklyn Ballet. She is a freshman at Stadium High School and is a JV cheerleader. In this season’s production of the Nutcracker, Riley will be appearing as a Ballerina Doll and in Snow and Flowers as well as understudying the role of Clara.
	Janis Robinson has been dancing for twelve years and has been a member of the Tacoma Performing Dance Company for eleven years. In 2005, she choreographed a ballet "A Day Together" in memory of her son, Lloyd A. Robinson. In 2006 she choreographed a Country-Western Couples and Line Dance, "The Country Club" and in Spring 2009, a jazz work entitled "Halo." In this year's Nut-cracker Janis will dance the role of Clara's Mother in the Party Scene. She will also appear in Spanish, Snow and The Waltz of the Flowers.
	Tim Ross has been dancing with the Jo Emery and The Tacoma Performing Dance Company for twenty-two years. Tim has danced many pieces for guest choreogra-phers throughout the years. Tim was featured in TPDC’s 2009 Dance for the Cure and performed in Deanna Ford's; With Love, which was created in support of Susan G. Komen breast cancer awareness. In previous years, Tim has danced many roles in the Nutcracker; such as Harlequin Doll, Rat King, Russian, Spanish, and Arabian. This year; for the 12th season, Tim will be performing the lead role as the Nutcracker Prince. Tim is the owner of Rosco Diversified, LLC, General Contractor.
	Nina Stauffer has been dancing for 15 years, 14 of which have been with Jo Emery. She is a fifth year company member, and has danced in many productions choreo-graphed by Jo. Nina is a senior at Stadium High School, where she participates in the swim and dive team, and is a proud member of Link Crew. In this year's Nutcracker, she will be performing in the Rat Scene, Spirit of Snow, Russian, and as the Dew Drop Fairy.
	Kathryn Vecchiato, a fourth year company member, has danced with Jo Emery for nine years. She has attended Summer Dance Lab in Walla Walla, The Rock School in Philadelphia, PA, and Johansen Ballet School's Summer Intensive in Olympia. She is a junior at Bellarmine Pre-paratory School. In this years Nutcracker, she will per-form in Snow and as an Arabian dancer.
APPRENTICES
	Brooke Call has been dancing with Jo Emery since she was four years old. This is her first year as a company apprentice. She is a sixth grader at Goodman Middle School. In the TPDC 2009 Nutcracker Brooke will be danc-ing in Dolls, Kingdom of Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Lauren Call has been dancing with Jo Emery for eight years and is a first year company member with TPDC. She is currently attending Goodman Middle School as an eighth grader. In this years TPDC 2009 Nutcracker Ballet, Lauren will appear in Dolls, Kingdom of Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Megan Downing is in the 8th grade at St. Charles Bor-romeo School. She has danced with Jo Emery for four years since the age of nine. Megan also enjoys playing basketball, volleyball and being a part of the school musi-cal with her friends. In her first year as an apprentice, Megan will perform in Dolls, Kingdom of Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers in this year's TPDC Nutcracker.
	Molly McVicker is in the 7th grade at St. Charles Borromeo School. She started dancing ballet when she was three years old, and started taking classes at Jo Emery when she was six years old. Molly serves on her student council at school, and enjoys dancing ballet, playing soccer, listening to music, and spending time with her friends. In the 2009 TPDC Nutcracker Ballet she performs in Dolls, Kingdom of the Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Shoshana Schrenk began dancing with Jo Emery at the age of three and is proud to make her debut as a first year ap-prentice in TPDC’s production of the Nutcracker Ballet as a Tacoma Performing Dance Company member. She is a 6th grader at Lighthouse Christian School, where she is an honor roll student and loves to use her free time practicing dance and hanging out with her friends. In the 2009 Nutcracker, she will be appearing in Dolls, Kingdom of Sweets, and the Waltz of Flow-ers.
	Andrew Storvick is twelve years old and a seventh grader at Jason Lee Middle School. He has danced with Jo Emery for nine years. His first Nutcracker role was as a Ginger Baby. He will return to the Nut-cracker this year as Fritz in the Party Scene. In his spare time Andrew enjoys reading he also plays the F-Horn in band and sings during special service at church.
	Isabella Turco has studied ballet and jazz with Jo Emery since she was five. She is in the sixth grade at St. Patrick School where she is an honor roll student. Other activi-ties she enjoys are the school Christmas Pageant, mod-ern dance, basketball, and volleyball. This year as a first-year company apprentice, she will perform in the Nut-cracker Ballet in Dolls, Kingdom of Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers.
	Julia White is dancing her second year with TPDC. She is a sopho-more at Tacoma School of the Arts and has been dancing most of her life. In the 2009 TPDC Nutcracker Ballet she performs in Dolls, Kingdom of the Sweets, and Waltz of the Flowers.