Lauren Post is an accomplished dancer, educator, and arts leader based in Minneapolis. With 16 years as a member of American Ballet Theatre in New York City, she has performed in over 200 productions worldwide, taking on roles from Corps de Ballet to Principal. As the founder and Artistic Director of CoLab Dance, Lauren has commissioned 15 new works and grown the company into a thriving non-profit, significantly increasing its funding and expanding performance opportunities. She is a certified ballet teacher through ABT's National Training Curriculum, has coached and mentored countless students, and served on the negotiating committee for the American Guild of Musical Artists, where she was an elected advocate for the rights and interests of artists. Lauren holds a certification as a personal trainer and completed the Crossover into Business Program at Harvard Business School.

Caroline Bundschuh began her dance training at St. Louis Ballet under the artistic direction of former New York City Ballet principal Gen Horiuchi. At sixteen, she was invited to join the company as a trainee, performing alongside the professional company in productions such as Who Cares, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Caroline continued her education at the University of Utah, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet and a Bachelor of Science in Family, Community, and Human Development. 

She first began teaching at 18 while attending college at a local studio in Salt Lake City, where she got her first opportunities to set and choreograph works for The Nutcracker and other full length ballets. Following her graduation, Caroline joined Roanoke Ballet Theatre under the artistic direction of Rolando Sarabia as a company artist, performing in both featured and corps de ballet roles over two seasons as well as setting her first two professional pieces on the professional company. During that time, Caroline also guested with Krolewski Ballet, a Polish company, in their American tour of Swan Lake. She later moved to Minneapolis to dance with Continental Ballet Company and is now pursuing a career as a freelance artist in the region. 

She is very excited to continue teaching and sharing her expertise and love of dance with the students at Minnesota Dance Theatre.

Hannah Benditt graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance earning her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography with a dual emphasis in Ballet and Modern. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hannah began dancing at Ballet Arts Minnesota under the direction of Bonnie Mathis and Marcia Chapman and later Minnesota Dance Theatre School under the direction of Marjorie Thompson and Gloria Govrin. As a student, Hannah trained at American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, Washington Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Milwaukee Ballet summer programs. Upon graduating from college Hannah joined Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company, where she performed world premiere works by Jessica Lang; Anonymous and Uri Sands; One. Additionally, Hannah performed with Consuming Kinetics Dance Company in St. Louis, MO during its inaugural season, as a guest dancer with Kansas City Ballet and as an artist with Saint Paul Ballet. 

Hannah continues to enjoy a diverse freelance career; teaching, choreographing and performing with independent artists and choreographers across classical and contemporary genres. She recently acted as choreography associate for Anything Goes at Lakeshore Players, choreography assistant in Theatre Latte Da’s 2024-25 production of Cinderella and choreographer for Lakes Area Music Festivals 2025 production of Hansel and Gretel. 

Hannah is an ABT Certified Teacher in Pre Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum and is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. Her teaching perspective emphasizes a reverence for the love, history and expression of classical ballet in combination with a holistic understanding of alignment and expansion through space. 

Megan Dunn is a dancer, teacher, and arts administrator. As a member of the Colorado Ballet she performed in ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, and Stars and Stripes. She received much of her training at Ballet Arts Minnesota with Bonnie Mathis and Lirena Branitski, while spending summers at the San Francisco Ballet School, Milwaukee Ballet School, Hartford Ballet and Ballet Austin. Following her dance career, she received a BA in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, and an MA in Arts Administration from New York University. An accomplished administrator and fundraiser, she spent a decade at Works & Process, the performing arts program at the Guggenheim, and has worked as a fundraising consultant for choreographers such as Pam Tanowitz and Kate Weare. She currently works in development at the Walker Art Center.

Marie Finley grew up dancing at MDT, performing repertoire by Loyce Houlton, George Balanchine, Lise Houlton, and many local choreographers. She earned her BFA in Dance at Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco. Marie also trained in GYROTONIC ® and GYROKINESIS ® and developed an extensive knowledge of the body’s functions and movements inside the studio and out. After college graduation, she moved to Salt Lake City to dance with SALT2 and was immersed in the realm of contemporary dance. Missing the ballet world and California, she moved to Santa Barbara to dance with State Street Ballet and revisited the classical variations of Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, and the beloved Nutcracker.

Helen Hatch is a dancer, choreographer and educator based in Minneapolis. Named as one of Minnesota Monthly’s “10 Artists to Watch” in 2012, Helen was a member of Minnesota Dance Theatre from 2011-2017, dancing an eclectic range of repertoire while also creating her own work. Since then she has worked with various artists in the Twin Cities on projects as a performer, choreographer, and producer. Helen is a graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA program where she was awarded Dance Departmental Honors. Her choreography has been presented at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, the 2011 Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Festival, 2014 MN Fringe Festival, The Southern Theater, throughout Mexico and Guatemala by the Juntos Collective, and commissioned by Minnesota Dance Theatre, Saint Paul Ballet, Mareck Dance, Penelope Freeh, Aveda, and The Cowles Center. Helen is the founder and director of Hatch Dance, whose debut performance Isotope was named a “2018 Top Ten Twin Cities Dance Performance” by the Star Tribune. In 2022, Helen was in residency at University of North Carolina School of the Arts Choreographic Institute. Helen has taught extensively throughout the Twin Cities since 2012.

Alejandra Iannone's classical ballet training was in the Cecchetti Method. She holds a BFA cum laude in Dance from Fordham University/The Ailey School and an MA in Philosophy, specializing in Art and Aesthetics, from Temple University. Alejandra also trained at New Haven Ballet, Dance Connecticut, Ballet Chicago, and The School at Jacob's Pillow. With over two decades of teaching experience, Alejandra has taught at The Ailey School, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Saint Paul Ballet, CREO Arts, and as a guest instructor both nationally and internationally. She is an American Ballet Theatre® Affiliate Instructor, certified through Levels 6, 7 & Partnering, and her classes focus on clarity, expressive movement, and anatomical integrity.  Alejandra's performance career spans over 25 years as a freelance artist in New York City and the Twin Cities. She is a 2025 MSAB Creative Individuals Grantee whose recent notable engagements include work with Pillsbury House & Theatre, Teatro del Pueblo, Minnesota Opera, and the Playwrights' Center. She also had the honor of performing in Jennifer Lopez’s Super Bowl LII Halftime Show. Beyond dance, Alejandra is a published author and an award-winning arts and culture speaker. Since 2015, she has co-directed Sparkle Theatricals, a dynamic performing arts company dedicated to producing original, inclusive, and fun theatre experiences in the Twin Cities. Her personal interests include creating visual art, gardening, swimming, and cooking. She has also recently begun learning to tango.

Benjamin Johnson has taught ballet class for a quarter of a century in the Twin Cities and around Minnesota. He finished a two decade performing career with James Sewell Ballet and stepped into teaching what he had learned on stage to students in the dance studio.  He has taught all levels of ballet, and all ages. Born and trained in Dallas, Texas, his dancing career included Dayton Ballet, BalletMet Columbus, Milwaukee Ballet, Bay Ballet Theater of Tampa, James Sewell Ballet, and guest appearances with other ballet companies around the Midwest. He has choreographed works for the Minnesota Fringe Festival,  The Southern Theater, The O'Shaughnessy Theater, Collective Soles Dance Festival in Tampa, Florida, the James Sewell Ballet Choreographic Workshop sponsored by the Jerome Foundation, and for ballet schools in Texas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Justin Leaf is a ballet teacher and performance artist originally from Hagerstown, Maryland. Justin was a company member of James Sewell Ballet (2002-2008) and Minnesota Dance Theatre (2008-2014) and independently danced original works by John Kelly, Morgan Thorson, and George Stamos, among others. Justin’s formative training included summers at the Kirov Academy and School of American Ballet, before spending a year in the Pre-Professional Division at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, followed by four years at The Juilliard School, graduating with a BFA in Dance Performance in 2001. Since that time, Justin has taught ballet for various schools and companies, including Ballet Co.Laboratory, Ballet Hispánico, James Sewell Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and Minnesota Ballet. Justin's choreography has been presented by Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, and Minnesota Orchestra, among others. Justin was awarded a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2009 and the Zaraspe Prize for Outstanding Choreography in 2001. 

Deirdre Murnane grew up in Los Angeles, CA where she studied ballet from her mother, Eva Ralf and Tania (Riabouchinska) Lichine. After high school, she moved to Minnesota to dance at Minnesota Dance Theatre where she was a member of MDT Company II. After moving back to Los Angeles for a couple of years to study Jazz and teach at Dupree Dance Academy, she moved back to Minneapolis and became a founding member of Zenon Dance Comapany where she danced for six years. She then joined Myron Johnson's Ballet of the Dolls where she danced for six more years. Deirdre has also danced with Minnesota Opera, Sons of Winter Theater, Shawn Mcconneloug and her Orchestra, Children’s Theater Company, and Macy’s Glamorama. Deirdre has taught dance in the Twin Cities since 1984 and yoga since 2009. She has a 500-hour yoga teacher certification from Yoga Center Minneapolis and is certified in Simonson Jazz Dance Technique. Deirdre was the Dance Director for Reif Dance at The Reif Arts Center in Grand Rapids, MN from July 2017 through December 2021 where she had the opportunity to direct and choreograph for several original full length productions. 

Kerry Parker was born and raised in St Paul, MN and has danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, and Ballet of the Dolls, as well as being involved in numerous freelance works. She has been teaching all levels of ballet to all ages for nearly thirty years. She currently teaches for James Sewell Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Center for Performing Arts, and Continental Ballet. Ms. Parker has been certified in the GYROTONIC® method since 2001 and has a private studio in South Minneapolis.

Sally Rousse performs, teaches, choreographs, curates, writes, and advocates dance. She is a two-time recipient of the McKnight Fellowship for Dancers, a Sage Awardee for “Best Performer,” was named “Artist of the Year” (Minneapolis City Pages) and is the mother of two young adults. Rousse’s site-specific works have taken dance off the traditional stage into venues such as the Kwon Tung Pier in Hong Kong and up the tree of a vacant lot and have also been seen in both theatrical and commercial venues such as the Guthrie, Southern, and State Theaters; the Walker Art Center, MASS MoCA, the Cartoon Channel, and Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre. Born in Vermont, Rousse performed as a leading dancer with Ballet Chicago, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, and James Sewell Ballet, the company she co-founded in NYC. She has danced many roles in the classical and Balanchine repertoires, works by Maurice Béjart, Jiri Kylián, and more than 100 new works created on her by contemporary choreographers, branding her “Renegade Ballerina.” As an instructor of classical and contemporary ballet and Zena Rommet Floor-Barre®, Rousse seeks to replace exclusive physical standards with unbiased and somatically sound ones and continues to consider the values of ballet, its lexicon, and history. “Throughout my 50+ years in dance, I have come to feel the outwardly silent, inwardly buzzing life of moving in a studio or onstage as an exquisite, spiritual practice of polishing the soul, the character.”

Kari Schire received her early ballet training as a student in the Cecchetti Method, receiving the grade 'Pass Highly Commended' on all levels in the Elementary through Professional level exams. She furthered her training in MDT’s Performing Arts Division and attended professional workshops with Donald Byrd, Alonzo King, Anouk van Dijk, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Kari has performed professionally with Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, TU Dance, and American Repertory Ballet. With MDT, Kari has performed in works by Loyce Houlton — Knoxville, Summer of 1915, Carmina Burana, and various roles in Loyce Houlton’s Nutcracker Fantasy — as well as works by Lise Houlton, Helen Hatch, Elayna Waxse, Penelope Freeh, Jennifer Hart, Dwight Rhoden, and Uri Sands. Kari is also a certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor. Since her certification in 2012, she has worked with people from all walks of life, though she particularly enjoys helping dancers build stability, strength, and stamina to meet the challenges required of today’s performing artists.

Darrius Strong is a dancer, choreographer, and instructor based in the Twin Cities. He is the founder and Artistic Director of STRONGmovement, a dance company that blends styles such as Hip hop, Ballet, Modern, and West African. STRONGmovement has performed in venues such as the Walker Art Center, and has collaborated with organizations including Schubert Club, Ordway, and Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater.

Strong’s work has been featured at the Walker Art Center’s Choreographers Evening. He has created works for Threads Dance Project, Flying Foot Forum, Alternative Motion Projects, and James Sewell Ballet. He was featured in the 2015 New Griots Festival, and is a recipient of a 2017 Momentum New Works Award, a 2019 Jerome Hill Fellowship, as well as the Choreographer McKnight Fellowship.

Strong performs and speaks as a guest artist at various schools in Minnesota. He is currently a member of the faculty at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Macalester College, St. Paul Conservatory Performing Arts High School and the TU Dance Center.

Yuki Tokuda is a ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher, based in the Twin Cities.  She is originally from Japan and was trained under Mikiko Dei, Hideo Fukagawa, and  Jun Ishii, internationally recognized dancers, teachers and competition judges. She moved to the U.S. in 2000 to continue her training in New York at the Joffrey Ballet School. Ms. Tokuda has danced professionally with USA Ballet, Peoria Ballet,  Metropolitan Ballet, and she was the principal dancer at Continental Ballet for 7 years.  With diverse training in classical, contemporary, modern and jazz, she is an  international guest dancer and collaborator with many companies, including James Sewell Ballet and Minnesota Dance Theatre. While training in New York, Ms. Tokuda’s  instructors included David Howard, John Prinz, Fabrice Herrault, and Michael Vernon.  At Steps on Broadway in New York she was one of the first International Visa Program students. She has, also, trained with Boston Ballet and Connecticut Ballet. She has  performed many principal roles, most notably in: Le Corsaire, Don Quixote Pas de  Deux, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Princess Aurora, Lilac  Fairy and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in The Nutcracker, Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, Coppelia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, and Giselle. She has performed at The Walker Art Center, The Ritz Theater, The State Theatre, The Tek Box, The Ted Mann Concert  Hall, The O’Shaughnessy, The Pantages Theatre, The Intermedia Arts, The Lab Theatre, Peavey Plaza, and the Cowles Center. 

Michelle Vagi received her early training at Continental Ballet Company under Riet Velthuisen and later at the School of Music at Indiana University under Violette Verdy, Glenda Lucena, Jacques Cesbron and Gouping Wang. After receiving her Bachelor's in Ballet Performance and English Literature in 2006, Ms. Vagi joined Ballet Arizona under the artistic directorship of Ib Andersen and studied under Daniel Baudendistel. While at Ballet Arizona, she performed principal roles in August Bournonville's Flower Festival in Genzano, Jerome Robbins' In the Night, Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia and Andersen's productions of The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty, A Midsummer Night's Dream and in several of Andersen's original creations. Michelle has also performed soloist roles in Alexei Ratmansky’s Carnival of the Animals, Swan Lake, Napoli, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Giselle, Les Sylphides, Raymonda, and Balanchine's Apollo, Divertimento No. 15, La Valse, The Four Temperaments, La Sonnombula and Serenade. Ms. Vagi has performed in several other Balanchine and classical ballets during her career and has performed with Ballet Arizona at the Kennedy Center and the Joyce Theater.

Jacob Walters first began his ballet training at the age of nine at North Ballet Academy in Rogers, MN under the direction of Breanna Dvorak. He was selected to participate in several of the nation’s best summer intensive programs including Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Ballet West on full merit scholarships. Mr. Walters has performed leading guest soloist roles in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker with several professional companies in the metro area. He has recently completed his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and will be working on his Master's Degree in Systems Engineering through Arizona State University.

Sasha Haydn Zitofsky was born in Serov, Russia, and grew up in New Jersey, where he began his dance training. While studying various genres of dance, Sasha appeared in Kids Bop, Toys “R” Us, and various commercial projects. He was in the national tour of the Radio City Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular. Sasha graduated summa cum laude with a B.F.A. in dance performance from the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance under the direction of Jodie Gates. He had the opportunity to work with renowned choreographers like William Forsythe, Matthew Neenan, Barak Marshall, and Dwight Rhoden. Sasha performed at the B12 Dance Festival in Berlin, Germany, appeared in Carolina Ballet’s The Nutcracker, and was a company dancer with Roxey Ballet. Most recently, he was a company dancer with Minnesota Dance Theatre in 2023–2024. In his free time, Sasha likes to be involved in theatre, enjoys writing, and has self-published a poetry book. Sasha is very excited to be back teaching at MDT this year!

Martha Brown, Marya Hart, Eric Jensen, Tom Linker, Pat Lyles, Joe Strachan