Jeff Ewing (Seventh Season, fourth as a full company member) is from Torrance, California where he began his classical ballet training at the age of six. His family moved to Asheville while he was in high school, where he continued his studies locally with Heather Maloy as his ballet instructor. Jeff currently dances in Chicago with Lucky Plush Productions and Cocodaco Dance Project.  He earned a BFA in Dance Performance at the Boston Conservatory, studied at the Juilliard Summer intensive, the apprentice program at The Chautauqua Institution, and assisted Cathy Young at Bates Dance Festival.  He spent a year dancing with Charlotte Ballet’s second company where he performed the works of Mark Diamond, Dwight Rhoden, and David Ingram.

Emma McGirr (First Season) Originally from Ohio, Emma began her training at the Schrader Youth Ballet.  Graduating with a BFA in dance with a ballet emphasis from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music., she has danced with the Louisville Ballet and the Eugene Ballet, and just finished her 4th season with Nevada Ballet Theatre.  Principal roles have included works by Balanchine, Clara in James Canfield’s The Nutcracker, Tinkerbell in Jorden Morris' Peter Pan, Beauty in Lew Christensen’s Beauty and the Beast, and the title role in the world premiere of James Canfield and Tara Foy's Cinderella. She has enjoyed dancing works by Adam Hougland, Gerald Arpino and Paul Taylor. Emma has performed in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil in A Choreographer’s Showcase at the Mystère Theater and with the unique performance group #instaballet in which audience members help choreograph a ballet in real time with the dancers.  

Matthew Griffin (Second Season, first as a full company member) began his formal ballet training in under Sergiy Mikhaylov and Darya
Fedotova at The School of Russian Ballet in Sarasota, Florida and graduated from Butler
University in Indianapolis in 2017. Upon graduation, Matthew apprenticed with Terpsicorps and then joined the Cincinnati Ballet that Fall. Since joining the Cincinnati Ballet, he has performed in Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker (Russian, Chinese), Nicolo Fonte’s Carmina Burana, George Balanchine’s Rubies, and works by Travis Wall, Penny Saunders, and Garrett Smith.

Samantha Griffin (First Season) Originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Samantha received her preliminary training at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, then continued to dance as an apprentice with Charlotte Ballet before joining The Cincinnati Ballet in 2015. Since she has been with Cincinnati Ballet she has enjoyed dancing roles in Ohad  Naharin's Minus 16, Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, Dark Angel in Balanchine’s Serenade, Tall girl in Balanchine’s Rubies,  Nicolo Fonte’s Carmina Burana and Garrett Smith’s Facades.

Kate Rouzer (First Season) is currently dancing with St. Louis Ballet Company, following a season with both Tulsa Ballet II and Orlando Ballet II. She has performed principal roles in Swan Lake, Don Quixote and The Sleeping Beauty, and in works by Balanchine, Val Caniparoli, Francis Patrelle and Christopher Wheeldon. She has enjoyed performing works by Lyla York, Twyla Tharp, Amy Seiwert, Christopher D’Amboise, Nilas Martins, Pam Tanowitz, Emery LeCrone, and Gen Horiuchi. On Mr. D’Amboise’s suggestion, she was awarded a grant from the Boomerang Fund for Artists in 2010.

Gavin Stewart (Second Season) hails originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a graduate of Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance. Currently a dancer with Company E in Washington. DC, Gavin has also danced with Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, Owen/Cox Dance Group, MOVE: the Company, and Richmond Ballet II. Mr. Stewart's choreography has been presented at Company E,  Richmond Ballet, Richmond Ballet II, Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, Malaywork's INTERSECTIONS, the 15th Annual YES! Dance Invitational, Virginia Commonwealth University, and UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Gavin also works as a singer/songwriter and composer in his free time. 

Marisa Whiteman (First Season)
Born on Long Island, NY, Marisa Whiteman began classical training at Seiskaya Ballet, until joining Next Generation Ballet in 2011, where she also danced with Opera Tampa and at the YAGP Gala at Lincoln Center. She continued her training at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and spent a year training with Ekaterina Shchelkanova of Open World Dance Foundation, before joining the Kansas City Ballet Second Company in 2014. Since joining Kansas City Ballet, she has had the privilege of performing roles by George Balanchine, Todd Bolender, Devon Carney, Viktor Plotnikov, André Prokovsky, Septime Webre, Adam Hougland and Anthony Krutzkamp. She has performed at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended The School at Jacob’s Pillow, where she was featured in Yury Yanowsky’s World Premiere at the opening Gala Performance.