Faculty & Accompanists

Teaching Artists:
Christina Onusko, School Director
Kaylie Bullock
Leanne Campbell-Noonan
Dexter Carlson
Penelope Freeh
Helen Hatch
Alejandra Iannone
Anthony Jones
Krista Langberg
Jill Lile
Jennifer Mack
Blake Nellis
Anna Pinault
Aloe Ao Liu, Guest Artist
Erin Drummond, Guest Artist
Leah Gallas, Guest Artist
Emilia Garrido Vasquez, Guest Artist
Laura Greenwell, Guest Artist

Accompanists:
Amelie Banks
Martha Brown
Michael Koerner
Pat Lyles
Sally Reynolds
Melanie Safar
Joe Strachan
Ian Witry

CHRISTINA ONUSKO, School Director

Christina began her training in her native Pennsylvania. She performed with the Hartford Ballet and principal roles with Ballet West Virginia including Cinderella and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty. For five years she served as the Assistant Artistic Director at Ballet West Virginia. She has been a classical ballet instructor for over 35 years. She was trained in the pedagogy of the Vagonava method, studying with John Barker, during her tenure as an instructor at the School of the Hartford Ballet where she also served as the school director for one of two branch schools of the Hartford Ballet. Christina has also taught for Ballet West Virginia and the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet. She spent a fulfilling 15 years as a core ballet instructor and choreographer for Ballet Arts Minnesota. Using her design and costuming skills, she has created costumes for many different Twin Cities and national dance companies. During her time at Ballet Arts she created most of the costumes, including those for the City Children’s Nutcracker, which was a joint collaboration between Ballet Arts Minnesota and the Minneapolis Parks Recreation Program. Christina also created and directed the Maypole Dances for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival for 13 years.

KAYLIE BULLOCK, Teaching Artist - Ballet

Kaylie Bullock just moved to the area to join James Sewell Ballet. She recently completed her seventh season with Central Illinois Ballet as principal dancer. During her time with CIB, she had the privilege of debuting roles in many of the company’s original works. Some of her favorite featured roles include Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Cinderella as the title role, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, both Christine and La Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera, Lucy, Van Helsing, and Renfield in Dracula, Black swan pas de deux, Myrtle in Gatsby and Edith Frank in Anne Frank. Kaylie received her early training at Kansas Dance Academy under the direction of Diane Gans. As a student she had the honor of being named a recipient of the Koch Cultural Trust. Ms. Bullock attended the School of Classical and Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University on scholarship, graduating with honors. She has also performed with Ad Deum Dance Company, Storling Dance Theater, and Common Thread Contemporary. Ms. Bullock has been teaching dancers of all ages for the past decade. She is thrilled to be joining St. Paul Ballet’s faculty and for the opportunity to share her experiences with the next generation of dancers.

HELEN HATCH, Teaching Artist - Ballet

Helen Hatch is a dancer, choreographer and director 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 repertory 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, 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 and is a teaching artist at Saint Paul Ballet and Community Movement Collective.

ALEJANDRA IANNONE, Teaching Artist - Ballet and Modern

Alejandra was classically trained in the Cecchetti method and obtained her B.F.A in Dance performance from the Fordham University/ Ailey School. She is an ABT® Affiliate Instructor who successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Levels 6, 7 & Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Alejandra is certified in Balanced Body Pilates (Mat 1 and 2)., IM=X Pilates, and Leap ‘N Learn Creative Movement. She also holds an M.A. in Philosophy from Temple University. She has had the honor of performing at venues throughout the United States and abroad. Her favorites have included The Ordway Center for Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall, Jacob’s Pillow, the Versace Mansion, and The Armory, where she got to be part of Jennifer Lopez’s Super Saturday Night during Superbowl LII. Alejandra is thrilled to be joining the Saint Paul Ballet faculty this year! Prior to this position, Alejandra was a member of the faculty at Minnesota Dance Theatre and The Ailey School in New York City. She has also had the pleasure of guest teaching at private and public schools throughout the U.S.A. and in Argentina. When she isn’t at Saint Paul Ballet, Alejandra serves as the Creative Director of Minneapolis-based immersive theatre company Sparkle Theatricals, as a member of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Board of Directors.

ANTHONY JONES, Teaching Artist - Ballet

Originally from Minneapolis, Anthony Jones began his early ballet studies at the Minnesota Dance Theatre & School followed by professional training at Canada’s National Ballet School and ultimately The School of American Ballet, where he studied on full scholarship under Stanley Williams, Andrei Kramarevsky, and Richard Rapp. He joined Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet and was promoted to soloist after three seasons. At PNB, he performed a broad repertory that included the works of Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, August Bournonville, Glen Tetley, Jerome Robbins, Lar Lubovitch, and Kent Stowell, among others. After his performing career, he graduated from New York University, became director of The Huntington Ballet Theatre, and worked as an acquisitions associate at the Frick Collection in New York City. He subsequently joined the faculty of the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden (The Palucca School and University of Dance) in Dresden, Germany, as a professor for classical ballet and was the children’s ballet master at the Semper Opera Ballet of Dresden. Since returning to the United States, he has served as school director of Oregon Ballet Theatre School, Ballet Arizona, and the Minnesota Dance Theatre.

JENNIFER MACK, Teaching Artist - Ballet

Jennifer’s 20+ year career in dance includes receiving several notable roles, awards & grants for her work as a dancer/performer, choreographer, instructor and adjudicator internationally in dance, theater, opera, music, film, and commercially with numerous companies, competitions, festivals, schools, studios and universities. Including: Alternative Motion Project (founding dancer), Collide Theatrical Dance Co., Continental Ballet, Curio Dance, Eclectic Edge Ensemble, James Sewell Ballet, Kim Robards Dance Co., Live Action Set, MN Opera, Offleash Area, St. Paul Ballet, Szeged National Ballet, Vox Medusa Dance Co., Deborah Thayer, Dwight Rhoden, Jodi Melnick, Rosy Simas, Vanessa Voskuil, Aby Wolf, Cathedral Dance Festival, Harvest Contemporary Dance Festival, Milwaukee & MN Fringe Festivals, Rhythmically Speaking, Twin Cities Film Festival, Ballet Academy Youth Ensemble, Children’s Dance Theater, Phipps Art Center & Dance Co., Rochester Dance Company (former Assistant Director), St. Paul Conservatory for the Arts, Zenon Dance Co. & School. She holds a certification in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), a BFA in Dance, BS in Arts Management & International Studies with minors in Art, Music & Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from UW-Stevens Point under a Bukolt Scholarship. She also studies Alexandra, Freldenkrais, Gyrotonic, Pilates and Yoga movement philosophies. Most recently her choreographic work appeared in MN Opera’s Flight at the Ordway (Feb ’20) and was awarded a Cowles Center Generating Room Residency (’20-21). She resides in North Minneapolis with her fiancé and daughter who greatly inspire her. She believes dance can be a very transformative and powerful tool for individuals/communities to participate in and enjoys watching where it takes those who do.

JILL LILE, Teaching Artist - Ballet

Jill began her training in Omaha NE with teacher, Valerie Roche and continued her studies in summer programs at Banff and San Francisco ballet schools, the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and in various schools in New York City. She has a BFA and an MFA in dance from and Texas Christian University and the University of Illinois. She has danced with a variety of companies in both ballet and modern including Ft. Worth Ballet, Ballet Omaha, Madison Ballet, Illinois Dance Theatre, Ballet Arts Minnesota, and Beverly Blossom and Company. She has worked with Anna Sokolow, Sally Wilson, and has danced in many of the classic ballets and in Tudor works. Ms. Lile has taught at Ballet Arts MN and University of Minnesota/Mankato, University of NE/ Lincoln, and Creighton, and is currently teaching at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, Macalester, and MDT. Ms Lile is also a practicing chiropractor and acupuncturist specializing in the treatment and prevention of dance injuries.

KRISTA LANGBERG, Teaching Artist - Boomer Ballet

Krista is originally from Long Island, New York and currently lives in Saint Paul, MN. Her professional dance career spans more than thirty-five years, and she was a recipient of the McKnight Dancer Fellow in 2017. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner (GCFP), a method of Somatic Education, which combines her passion for movement and learning with helping others find ease, grace and respite from pain and chronic issues. She currently teaches Awareness Through Movement (Feldenkrais) classes at the Jewish Community Center, East Lake Aikido, Macalester College, and on Zoom, along with working individually with clients. She is an adjunct faculty member in the dance department at Macalester College since 2007, and holds a BA in Dance and the Science of Somatics from Metropolitan State University, and an Associates degree in Occupational Studies from the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences in New York. A majority of her career has been spent performing: she was a creative collaborator and performer in the work of Karen Sherman (Soft Goods), Emily Johnson and Ain Gordon (SHORE) and Chris Schlichting (Stripe Tease and Matching Drapes). Krista was a principal dancer with Susan Marshall & Company in New York from 1994-2002, performing and teaching nationally and internationally. Previous to that, she was a member of New Dance Performance Laboratory (MN), Zenon Dance Company (MN), and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble (CO).

ALOE AO LIU, Guest Teaching Artist from CAAM Chinese Dance Theater

Ao (Aloe) Liu, Dance Artist, Choreographer, Dance Instructor from Yunnan Province, China Ao Liu graduated from Denmark International Youth leader Education graduate program and holds a Bachelor of Dance Performance degree from Yunnan Arts University and a Master of Education from Renmin University in China. She performed professionally for 8 years in China’s famous dance company founded by Yang Liping, known as the “Peacock Queen” in China. Since then she continues to professionally perform, choreograph, and instruct dancers of all levels. She has founded her own dance studio, developed multiple curriculums for children including “Awakening the Artist Within Me” and “Physical Play”, and taught at university level for Yunnan Arts Institute. Dancing since age 4, Liu has performed in more than a thousand shows and was the principal dancer in several well-known dance drama productions such as “Dynamic Yunnan”, “A Shangri-La Spectacular”, ” Beautiful South “, as well as modern dance dramas “Bed” and “Lost”. In addition, she has performed at large-scaled national events such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games and Shanghai World Expo. She has choreographed and directed many contemporary dance dramas, including ” Lost in Dream “, “Hidden Emotion “, ” It will pass ” and “You”. Between 2018 and 2021, she was invited as a guest artist to various international art festivals including “Over the Cloud International Live Art Festival”, “MIPAF Macau International Live Art Festival” and “Up On International Live Art Festival”. Recently, she held a Liu Ao Personal Contemporary Art Exhibition “Feed” at the Kunming Kong Space Art Museum.

ERIN DRUMMOND, Guest Teaching Artist

Erin is a director, artist and educator—carries over two decades of professional experience in performing arts as a dancer and choreographer. She cultivates creative inquiry through interdisciplinary and collaborative projects, ever turned on by embodied research as a catalyst for personal, societal and environmental shift. She trained at Ballet Arts Minnesota and Zenon Dance School before earning a BA from Columbia University and an MFA in Dance through Hollins University, in collaboration with institutions in Frankfurt, Germany. She performed for many years with Dancing People Company, based in Ashland, OR, toured with them throughout the Pacific Northwest and to St. Petersburg, Russia, and served as interim Artistic Director in 2016. She danced with a number of companies and collaborators in NYC, Minneapolis, along the West Coast and abroad. As a teacher—most recently as Assistant Professor and interim Dance Program Director at Winona State University—she loves mentoring student development, nurturing radical creativity, and expanding the possibilities of pedagogy.

EMILIA GARRIDO-VASQUEZ, Guest Teaching Artist

Emilia embarked on her dance journey at age 3 in Ecuador. At 14, after relocating to the U.S., she joined the school of St. Paul Ballet, graduating from their pre-professional program in 2019. Prior to her college years, she was awarded a fellowship from James Sewell Ballet. Emilia pursued a major in Psychology at St. Kate’s and another in Theater and Dance at Macalester College. Professionally, she danced with Continental Ballet Company. Emilia has choreographed several pieces, including "Matilda Jr." at Highland Park Community Center Theater. At Macalester, her honors piece, "A Place in Between," earned her the David Wick Choreography Award. Emilia's recent focus is on fostering inclusivity and accessibility in dance education through her community project, Ballet Explorers. Partnering with SPB and collaborating with local nonprofits and businesses, offers free introductory ballet classes to children from minoritized communities.

LAURA GREENWELL, Guest Teaching Artist

Laura is trained in classical dance from Ballet Arts Minnesota, under the direction of Bonnie Mathis, Christina Onusko and Lirena Branitski. She continued her studies with the Butler Ballet, the dance department of Butler University in Indianapolis. For more than ten years she has been teaching Vaganova-based Russian ballet and pointe, and has been creating classical and contemporary ballet works for various dance schools. Laura is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level Seven of the ABT(R) National Training Curriculum. She is also a designated Project Plié ABT ballet teacher, with the ability to identify promising young dancers in order to expand racial diversity and inclusion in the classical ballet community. Laura was a Sage Awards panelist for the Twin Cities community from 2013-2014, guest taught for the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, and danced as a company member with St. Paul Ballet. In addition to ballet experience, she has extensive character dance training, and has been privately coached by Lirena Branitski. She focuses her teaching of ballet and character dance on the unique combination of proper technique, artistry and passion for dance.

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