Company

Ballet Arkansas II

Marla Edwards, Ballet Mistress

Marla began her classical ballet training with Susan and Buddy Trevino in San Antonio, Texas. After graduating from high school in three years, she trained full time in the Level Eight program at the Houston Ballet Academy with Clara Cravey. During her continued study of classical ballet, she performed pieces by Sandra Organ in the contemporary dance scene of Houston. She also choreographed the play, "Write on Water" at Rice University. While in Houston, she performed in many of Houston Ballet's productions under the direction of Ben Stevenson.

After completing the two year program, Marla accepted a soloist position with Ballet Arkansas under Artistic Director Kirt Hathaway, and then Olivier Munoz. During her career at Ballet Arkansas, the region enjoyed Marla's performances in many ballets, including her roles as Diamond in the Diamond Pas De Trois from Sleeping Beauty, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Marla was known in the region for her roles in contemporary ballets, including "Solstice," "Wings on Wind" and "Left the Building," among many others.

Since her retirement from Ballet Arkansas, Marla earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from UALR, and has taught at several local studios where she is proud to pass on the tradition of classical ballet. Marla is married to Chad Edwards and together they have three children: Rene, 15; Austin, 6; and Ella, 2.

Lauren McCarty Horak

Lauren McCarty Horak, a native Arkansan, received her early dance training at Shuffles and Ballet II Dance Studio. She graduated with honors from Butler University in 2006 with a BFA in Dance Performance and has since then been pursuing her dance career in Chicago, Boston, New York, Indianapolis and Little Rock. Lauren has performed with Chicago's Theatre at the Center in their production of CATS (Victoria), as well as Arkansas Repertory Theatre's production of Hello Dolly! She also performed Sawnee Ballet Theatre's (Atlanta, GA) production of Les Sylphides. Before returning to Little Rock, Lauren studied with the modern company Dance Kaleidoscope, under the direction of David Hochoy and taught ballet classes at various studios in the Indianaplois area. Over the past two seasons with Ballet Arkansas, Lauren has had the opportunity to dance the role Clara in The Nutcracker and has also performed in Love Stories, Kisetsu, Risk and Snapshots: Siblings Journey by Arleen Sugano, Amici Per Sempre by Shawn Stevens, Pressing On by Kiesha Lalama-White and Fab 4X6 by Ron de Jesus. Lauren also teaches ballet and modern at Shuffles and Ballet II.

Leslie Dodge

Leslie Dodge, began her dance training at a young age in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2010, Leslie graduated with high honors from Butler University with a Bachelor's in Dance Pedagogy. For Butler Ballet, Leslie performed in Coppelia, Cinderella, Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies as well as lead roles in original works by Susan McGuire an Cynthia Pratt. In 2009 she performed as the lead Arabian in The Nutcracker, and , in 2010, as Odette in Swan Lake. Additionally, Leslie assisted in choreographing and coordinating a Laban-inspired movement choir organized by Cynthia Pratt, which was later adapted for the ORANJE Festival along with musical group Basilica. While at Butler, Leslie also taught dance and movement classes for the Butler Community Arts School throughout the Indianapolis area. Most recently, Leslie performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker as a part of Dancers' Studio, Inc. in Columbus, IN.

Toby Lewellen

Toby Lewellen, began his serious dance training at the Peoria Ballet Academy in 2002 under the direction of Erich Yetter and Rebekah von Rathonyi. He performed in various performances such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Giselle, The Firebird, Dracula, and The Nutcracker. There he also competed in the Youth American Grand Prix in 2006, where he was named one of the top twelve males. Toby is a recent graduate of Butler University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Dance Arts Administration. He furthered his technique there under the instruction of Michelle Jarvis, Derek Reid, Tong Wang, Marek Cholewa, Stephan Laurent, Cynthia Pratt, and Susan McGuire. There he performed in Anthony Tudor's Dark Elegies, as the Nutcracker Prince in The Nutcracker, the Lead Mazurka male in Swan Lake, as well as lead roles in various faculty works at Butler University.

Anna Kirkes

Anna Kirkes, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas received her dance training from Shuffles an Ballet Arkansas. In 2005, Anna graduated with a BA in Dance and Psychology from Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. While pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Iowa, Anna had the privilege of performing Jose Limon's Psalm under the direction of Nina Watt. Anna was chosen to work with renowned choreographer and theater artist Martha Clarke on a newly created work entitled "In the Night," which premiered at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2010 through the Iowa Partnership in the Arts. As a member of the University's resident repertory company, Anna performed and toured across Iowa in work by guest Carl Flink and faculty choreographers Eloy Barragan and Armando Duarte. In January 2011, Anna traveled to Chennai, India for a three-week intensive study of the classical Indian dance form Kuchipudi under the expert teaching of Madhayapeddi Murthy. Since recently completing her Masters in Fine Arts in Dance Performance, Anna has moved back to Little Rock and is thrilled to be dancing with Ballet Arkansas. Anna loves taking and creating opportunities to participate in collaborative projects involving the larger community in making and sustaining hopeful and creative changes through the arts.

Sean Porter

Sean Porter, a native Arkansan, received his dance training from The Center for the Arts under the instruction of Michael Tidwell. Sean continued his dance training at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he received his BA in Theater Arts and Dance. Sean has been a member of the Tidwell Project dance company for multicultural youth for the past nine years. Over the past eight years Sean has mentored students toward self-development and personal achievement through coaching and choreographing for Cheer City United. In addition, Sean has expanded his breadth of choreography experience by working with various high schools throughout the state of Arkansas

Amanda Sewell

Amanda Sewell, of Annapolis, Maryland, began her professional performance experience with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland. As an apprentice she performed in various performances such as Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, The Nutcracker and Firebird. Amanda graduated from Butler University, Indianapolis, IN with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in spring 2011. She performed in many ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Giselle, Swan Lake as well as contemporary works during her time at Butler. In the 2010-2011 season, Amanda performed with the Sarasota Ballet as a trainee. She performed in ballets such as Frederick Ashton’s The Two Pigeons, William Tucket’s Speilende Kinder and Mathew Hart’s Tchaikovsky Ballet Fantasy. She is very excited for her first season dancing with Ballet Arkansas.

Laurel Dix

Laurel Dix is originally from Seattle, WA where she studied at Pacific Northwest Ballet School under the instruction of Elaine Bauer, Bruce Wells, and Victoria Pulkkinen. Prior to that, she began her ballet training in Williamsburg, VA at the Eastern Virginia School of the Performing Arts with Sandra Balestracci. Laurel recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s School of Dance with a BFA in Ballet Performance and a BS in Multidisciplinary Studies: Technical and Critical Theatre. While at the university, she was able to dance in a variety of classical works, including original choreography by department director Mary Margaret Holt and professor Jeremy Lindberg.

Katchiri Feys Tillman

Katchiri Feys Tillman was born in Belgium, and started her professional ballet training at the Royal Ballet school of Antwerp. She moved to Washington D.C. when she was twelve to train at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. Other year round programs attended on scholarship include The John Cranko School, The Rock School for Dance Education, and Miami City Ballet School. Summer Programs include Royal Ballet School of Antwerp, Ecole Superieure de Danse de Monte Carlo, Rosella Hightower (Cannes), Kirov Academy of Ballet, The Rock School, and Miami City Ballet School. She has performed as the Snow Queen, Dolls, and Marzipan in The Nutcracker, lead role in Divertimento No 15, Allegro Brilliante, Sleeping Beauty, and Symphony in C.

Paul Tillman

Native to Texas, Paul Tillman grew up in the Dallas area. At age 7, he began dancing at Dallas Ballet Center, until he became a member of the pre-professional Dallas Ballet Company. When he was 14, Paul performed many full length ballets such as; Don Quixote, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, Le Corsaire and several others. He also performed original choreographer by Jason Fowler, Thom Clower, Reginald Harris, and Judy Klopfenstein. When Paul was 17, he began training with Boston Ballet's pre-professional program, where he had the opportunity to perform with Boston Ballet in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker and In the Middle Somewhat Elecated with the Boston Ballet School. When 19, Paul joined Ballet Arkansas for two season performing original choreography by Kesha Llama-White, Arleen Sugano, Shawn Stevens, Ron de Jesus and Jana Beard. For the past year, Paul has been performing for the Allen Civic Ballet, and the Dallas Ballet company in the Nutcracker and Allen Dance Festival as Siegfried in the Black Swan pas de Deux. Aside from performing, he has also been teaching and choreographing for the Allen Civic Ballet. His works include: Cacophony, the winner is..., and Utopia. Paul is also newly married to fellow company member Katchiri Feys Tillman.