About The Ballet Herald®'s Diverse Team

OUR MISSION

The Ballet Herald is an independent voice in the cultural conversation. We are influenced and motivated only by the desire to share our passion for the arts and to express the impact they have – or have had – on our lives.

The views expressed in any given non-news article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire team. It is with this individual and company-wide integrity that we bring you stories related to the dance industry.

OUR HISTORY

The Traveling Ballerina was a seed planted in Fall 2018 as a result of not having access to a consolidated site to find ballet performances worldwide. Over time, it has grown in team size, content, and readership as well as gone through a couple of makeovers.

It is now being cultivated into a more encompassing online newspaper – The Ballet Herald – with a more sophisticated design aimed at enhancing the user experience and creating a space for future expansion.

OUR TEAM

Editor-in-Chief

Cherilyn J. Lee

Cherilyn's lifelong passion for ballet has opened the door to the next chapter of her journey. Her strong foundation includes training at the School of American Ballet, being a featured dancer with Hartford Ballet and Carolina Ballet, and being co-director/owner of City Ballet Raleigh. She was granted the Affiliate Teacher Award after successfully completing the ABT National Training Curriculum®. A professional career in the industry along with extensive global travel provide her with a unique set of experiences to draw upon as a journalist and audience member. Cherilyn is excited to be sharing her insight about ballet around the world.

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Contributors

Kasey Broekema

Kasey Broekema is a reporter for The Sun US, as well as a freelance writer with work published from her fiction appearing in literary magazines, to getting the latest dance scoop, to neuroscience journals. She found her passion for dance twirling in a small studio in Kalamazoo, Michigan and her training included time with The School of Nashville Ballet, Vanderbilt University Dance Program, New Dialect, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Broekema attended summer programs with Suzanne Farrell on Cedar Islands, with Brooke Desnoës and Violette Verdy at L’Académie de Danse de Paris, Joffrey Ballet NYC, Ellison Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She obtained her BA in English from Columbia University, Class of 2021. She is also a freelance dancer based in New York City and loves supporting small local companies. You can often find her scheming up story plots in dimly lit coffee shop corners, goggling in awe at her favorite dancers at Lincoln Center, and geeking out over Ancient Egyptian art at The Met Museum. Photo by John DeAmara

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Oksana Khadarina

Oksana Khadarina is a Washington, DC–based dance writer. She has been covering dance at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as in New York City and internationally, since 2006. She has written for Dance Magazine, Pointe , DanceTabs, and Fjord Review, among other publications.

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Gavin Larsen

Gavin Larsen is a writer, teacher, and former professional ballet dancer. During her 18-year career, she performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet, as a soloist with Alberta Ballet and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and as a principal dancer with Oregon Ballet Theatre. Since retiring from the stage, Gavin has written for numerous dance and literary journals, including Pointe, Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit, From the Green Room, Oregon ArtsWatch, Dancing Times, Artslandia, Threepenny Review, Page and Spine, and The Maine Review. Her memoir, Being a Ballerina: The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life, was published in 2021 by the University Press of Florida. She loves living, teaching and writing about dance from Asheville, NC.

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Stone Meredith

Stone Meredith is the founder of The Clever Chicas Project, a collaborative network that highlights ordinary women doing extraordinary things. The project promotes cultural literacy through a series of educational initiatives. Initiative collaborators include The Florida State Theatre and The Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest Georgia. She is an accomplished online instructor of college-level literature, philosophy, and writing.

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Stefan Smith

One of Stefan Smith's proudest professional accomplishments has been helping create a start-up venture called Music Audience Exchange that has pioneered ways to connect musicians with new audiences through innovative brand partnerships, multi-media content creation, and live stream and other events. In that role, he has developed expertise in the areas of music and personal image licensing. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Avant Chamber Ballet and volunteer with youth groups in the Dallas area. Stefan is a practicing attorney who studied at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas School of Law. In his spare time he loves travel, cooking, fitness, nature, and the arts.

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Nadia Vostrikov

Nadia Vostrikov is a former television actress and dancer for Boston Ballet II, Alberta Ballet, and numerous freelance dance companies. She currently works as a Digital Marketer in NYC. (Photo by: Katrina Cunningham)

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Eugene Barnes

Eugene Barnes, a Baltimore native, received his formal ballet training at The Baltimore School for the Arts studying under Norma Pera, Tony Wilson, and Debra Robinson. In 2003, at the request of Carolina Ballet's founding Artistic Director Robert Weiss, Mr. Barnes auditioned for the company. In 2004, he joined Carolina Ballet and danced there until 2014, rising to soloist in 2009. During his tenure, he originated many roles by Weiss, Tony Award nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and current company Artistic Director Zalman Raffael. It was also there where Mr. Barnes developed a greater understanding of George Balanchine's style and ballets, working one-on-one with some of the most incredible Balanchine dancers. Since his departure from Carolina Ballet, Mr. Barnes has appeared as a guest artist with Paul Mejia International and Grand Rapids Ballet (under the direction of Patricia Barker). He transitioned into corporate management working for 7-Eleven, Macy’s and Gap Inc., and worked as an Aftercare Specialist/Facilitator for a prominent drug rehabilitation center in Northern Michigan. Currently, Mr. Barnes is the Director of Training and Principal Dancer with Avant Chamber Ballet where he continues to share his love for classical and neo-classical ballet.

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Gilda Edelman

Gilda Edelman trained pre-professionally with Boston Ballet School and attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre. At 17, she decided against pursuing dance professionally, and in 2017 earned her B.A. in political studies and Arabic from Bard College. She initially attempted to find herself outside of dance, but soon realized ballet would always be a part of her life. She will never stop thinking about political culture, aesthetic theory, and ballet. She works in nonprofit fundraising, and lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and puppy.

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Willie Hinton

Willie Hinton, a native of New York, began dancing at the age of 16 and went on to attend the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts. As a performer, educator, and choreographer he has traveled nationally and internationally to work with acclaimed companies and organizations.Among his many accolades, he has received the Presidential Citation from Governor’s School for Humanities and Visual & Performing Arts at Christopher Newport University, was awarded the Chuck Davis Scholarship from the American Dance Festival awarded Willie, and has received the Trustee’s Scholarship from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.Presently Willie is on staff at City Ballet of Raleigh, Cary Ballet Conservatory, and Graceful Expressions Dance Education.

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Kendall Terashima

Kendall grew up in Raleigh, NC where she studied ballet, modern, and jazz under the direction of Sandra Zellinger, Cherilyn Joy Lee, and Andrew Lamar. She has performed with Carolina Ballet in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid on various occasions. In 2016 and 2017, Kendall taught alongside Willie Hinton at the Carolina Ballet Summer Intensive. After acceptance into the Joffrey school at age 10, she decided to stay in North Carolina to complete a study of the Cecchetti Method with Rosina DeVries. She has completed grades I-VI, scoring Highly Commended or Commended on all levels. She is now working toward undergraduate degrees in Advertising and Public Relations as well as a minor in dance at Appalachian State University while in her third year of teaching at a local studio.

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Jillian Verzwyvelt

Jillian Verzwyvelt trained with Lafayette Ballet Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana and attended summer programs with The Rock School for Dance Education, Houston Ballet and Boston Ballet before matriculating to Fort Worth, Texas to pursue two bachelors in economics and communications from Texas Christian University. She currently writes for Fort Worth Magazine and has contributed to A Ballet Magazine as well as WDW Magazine’s Blog.

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Fannie Wang

Fannie Wang started her journalism career specializing in artistic sports. Soon she developed a passion for stage art, which drives her to read scripts, travel abroad to watch plays, and even sit for a LAMDA exam for acting. Her natural sensitivity and empathy find a home in the theatre. She now writes regularly and has published show reviews and exclusive interviews for a variety of media including the Chinese web portal Sina.com, the Chinese National Theatre Magazine, and the International Figure Skating Magazine.

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About Us

OUR MISSION

OUR HISTORY

OUR TEAM

Editor-in-Chief

Contributors

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