Meet The Company

Helen Hatch is a recent honors graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program. A Minnesota native, she began studying dance at Ballet Arts MN, and Minnesota Dance Theatre. She also trained at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the LINES Ballet School. Helen has performed works by Helen Pickett, Joyce Trisler, Stefanie Batten Bland, Francesca Harper, Alvin Ailey, and Amy Raymond, and was a founding member of the Lara Wilson Dance Project in New York. Her choreography has been presented at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out Festival, and throughout Mexico and Guatemala by the JUNTOS Collective. Most recently, she has appeared with Minnesota Dance Theatre  in Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy as the Arabian Princess.

Kevin Iverson is a native of the Twin Cities and a graduate of the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and Summit School of Dance. He has performed works by Ashton, Buraczewski, Houlton, LeCrone and Monte, among others. He has also performed with the Minnesota Opera, The Ordway Theater, Chanhassen Dinner Theaters, and Out On A Limb Dance Company. Mr. Iverson is most recognized for his performance as the Godfather Drosselmayer in Loyce Houlton's "Nutcracker Fantasy" and will be performing in his fourth season with MDT.

Katie Johnson has trained in ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, tap, and was a competitive gymnast prior to graduating high school. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa where she was the recipient of the Iowa Center for the Arts scholarship. She studied at The Butterfield School of Dance, Ballet Arts Minnesota, Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, Mark Morris Dance Center, and the Beijing Dance Academy in China. Katie has performed and worked with Tania Perez-Salas, Duarte Dance Works, The Joffrey Ballet, River North Dance Chicago, and Ballet America. She has performed works by distinguished choreographers such as Dwight Rhoden, Nina Buisson, Louis Falco, Jill Sigman, Deanna Carter, Jeffrey Bullock, Gabriel Masson, Eloy Barragan, Basil Thompson, and George De La Pena. Katie has dance with Minnesota Dance Theatre since December 2008.

Justin Leaf began his dance training in his hometown of Hagerstown, Maryland. He continued his training at The Kirov Academy, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, and the Juilliard School, where he received his BFA in 2001. Justin has also studied privately with master teachers Andra and Ernesto Corvino. His performance credits include the James Sewell Ballet, the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. As a creative artist, Justin has developed performance pieces that bridge music, theater, and dance. His choreographic credits include works for Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, the Weisman Art Museum, the Minnesota Orchestra, Patrick's Cabaret, and Junkyard Theater, his own performance company. Justin has been awarded the 2001 Zaraspe Prize for Outstanding Choreography, a 2007 Minnesota SAGE Dance Award for Best Performance, and a 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers, funded by the McKnight Foundation and administered by the Southern Theater. This is his fourth season with Minnesota Dance Theatre.

Justin Marie Miller grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and trained at the Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet. While there she performed with Cincinnati Ballet, the Cincinnati Pops, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Justin attended University of Utah where she received a bachelor's degree in Performance Dance and danced in the university's scholarship company Utah Ballet. After college Justin danced lead roles with Ballet Theatre Midwest for two seasons. Since joining MDT Justin-Marie has danced the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Flower Queen in Loyce Houlton's" Nutcracker Fantasy" as well as rep. by Fricke, LeCrone, and Monte to name a few. This is her fourth season with Minnesota Dance Theatre.

Melanie Verna began training in Graham Technique in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. At age 10 she began touring as the youngest member of the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble under director Dr. Dorthy Floyd. She was a 4-year recipient of the Coca-Cola scholarship with American Ballet Theatre’s summer program and was awarded the Ailey Fellowship through Fordham University. Melanie is a graduate of the School of Minnesota Dance Theatre where she was a member of the Repertory Ensemble. She was an apprentice with Minnesota Dance Theatre for two years before joining the company. Melanie has been a part of Loyce Houlton's "Nutcracker Fantasy"  for 13 years and has performed multiple roles including Marie and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She has also performed repertory by Ashton, Tetley, Rhoden, Barbuto, Balanchine, Monte, LeCrone, Fricke, Hart, Janczewski, Loyce and Lise Houlton, Maginnis, Petipa and Rink since joining the company in 2005.