Through the years, Pas de Vie Ballet has been dedicated to the art of dance through education and entertainment, and we remain committed to the four pillars of our mission.
● Preserve the tradition of classical ballet.
● Build original choreography to awaken a range of emotions.
● Develop and entertain new audiences.
● Educate and inspire dancers of all ages and abilities.
We ask for your support to help us continue to grow so we may create new works, reach new heights, and enlighten new audiences to the extraordinary and beautiful world of dance. By supporting our efforts, you are helping to preserve the art of dance through the education and inspiration of today’s youth. In every culture, art provides the life-giving veins of expression and growth. Pas de Vie means “step of life” – with each one we take, let us dance to celebrate its beauty and wonder.
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Artistic Director Natalia Botha
Ballet Master Charles Hagan
Stage Manager Scott Freese
Production Manager Charles Hagan
Company Coordinator Caroline Holden
Wardrobe Coordinators Jayne Gerard Nikki Smith
Wardrobe Assistants Leah Benoza ~ Irina Grigoryan
Stefanie Hayes ~ Elaine Hwang
Cathy Neel ~ Fran Tejero
Company Pianist Sudarat Songsiridej
Promotions Karen Jeong
Fundraising Alison Denny
Advance company photographer Melissa Donaldson
Poster Photography Dave Barfield, The Lonely Fox
Videographer Chris Flood
Program Allan Jeong
Theatre Director Brad Brock
Production Manager Josh Wickham
Lighting Supervisor Todd Teagarden
Sound Designer Zach Cramer
For the safety of our dancers, out of courtesy to our audience, and to protect the art of our choreographers, no photography or video is allowed. Please silence and darken all cell phones.
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The Company Advanced Company
Liam Anderson
Anastasia Atayants
Hanna Benoza
Rick Clark
Kate Denny
Josef Drinkard
Amalia Garces
Kaitlyn Gerard
Charles Hagan
Madeline Holden
Anna Jeong
Isabel Lin
Hailey Nolder
Gabrielle Peammon
Nicholas Peammon
Sylvie Williamson
Returning Artists
Joshua Ethridge
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Bryn Cintrón
Garland Valse from Sleeping Beauty
Music
Choreography
Costumes
Peter I. Tchaikovsky
Traditional
Pas de Vie Ballet Wardrobe
Kaitlyn Gerard ~ Josef Drinkard
Anna Jeong ~ Anastasia Atayants ~ Isabel Lin
Madeline Holden ~ Hanna Benoza
Hailey Nolder ~ Gabrielle Peammon ~ Kate Denny
Amalia Garces ~ Sylvie Williamson
Liam Anderson ~ Nicholas Peammon ~ Oliver Holden
Eli Kern ~ Leighton Calhoun ~ William Calhoun
Spring Waters
Music
Choreography
Staged By
Costumes
Sergei Rachmaninov
Asaf Messerer
Natalia Botha
Michele Belson
Bryn Cintrón ~ Joshua Ethridge
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Swan Lake - Act 1 Pas de Trois
Music Peter I. Tchaikovsky
Choreography
Traditional
Staged by Charles Hagan & Natalia Botha
Costumes Michele Belson
First Variation ~ Isabel Lin
Second Variation ~ Anna Jeong
Third Variation ~ Josef Drinkard
*Anastasia Atayants, Madeline Holden, Liam Anderson
Totemotion
Commissioned by the Chattanooga Ballet in 2007
Music
Choreography
Costumes
Marc Grauwels
Marie Josee Simard Kodo
Natalia Botha & Charles Hagan
Claire Marty Walker
Through ceremonial dances, four spiritual girls and their corresponding animal totems are guided by a divine Shaman who unites their souls in harmony as they celebrate and honor Earth and Sky.
Shaman - Anna Jeong
Deer - Isabel Lin Girl - Gabrielle Peammon
Snake - Madeline Holden Girl - Amalia Garces
Fox - Anastasia Atayants Girl - Hanna Benoza
Eagle - Hailey Nolder Girl - Kate Denny
*Sylvie Williamson
~ Intermission ~
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Music
Choreography
Costumes
Music
Choreography
Costumes
Last Call
H. Scorzo, Jr. & E. Garner
Natalia Botha & Charles Hagan
Claire Marty Walker
Kaitlyn Gerard ~ Rick Clark
An Album
Claude Debussy ~ Ernesto Nazareth
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Amilcare Ponchielli
Natalia Botha & Charles Hagan
Pas de Vie Ballet Wardrobe
Page 1 ... I'd rather BEE fishin'
Nicholas Peammon ~ Hanna Benoza ~ Hailey Nolder
Page 2 … Friendship … a rain shower … a rainbow of memories
Anna Jeong ~ Anastasia Atayants ~ Kaitlyn Gerard
Isabel Lin ~ Madeline Holden ~ Hailey Nolder
*Gabrielle Peammon, Hanna Benoza, Kate Denny
Page 3 ... A little secret
Eli Kern ~ Hanna Benoza ~ Kate Denny ~ Gabrielle Peammon
*Hailey Nolder
Page 4 ... My little friend
Hanna Benoza
Page 5 … Feelin’ Groovy
Liam Anderson ~ Bryn Cintrón ~ Josef Drinkard
Isabel Lin ~ Madeline Holden ~ Gabrielle Peammon ~ Hanna Benoza
Kate Denny ~ Hailey Nolder ~ Amalia Garces ~ Sylvie Williamson
Oliver Holden ~ Leighton Calhoun ~ William Calhoun ~ Eli Kern
*Nicholas Peammon
Page 6 … Who’s the Fairest
Anna Jeong ~ Anastasia Atayants
Collage…
Ensemble
* = Understudy
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Artistic Director – Natalia Botha
Natalia Botha, born in Pretoria, South Africa, began her training in Canada as a chosen scholar at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. At age 11, she was awarded a full scholarship for the summer to attend the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Also on scholarship and under the continued tutelage of her mother, Gwynne Ashton, the esteemed, worldrenowned teacher and coach. Ms. Botha studied at the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois, training both in the United States and abroad with many famous teachers and choreographers. She soon became a member of the National Ballet of Illinois. To further her career, Ms. Botha joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater in 1976 under the direction of Patrick Frantz and later Patricia Wilde. During her tenure, she danced many soloist and principal roles of varied repertoire from the great classics (Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker) to original contemporary works by Alvin Ailey, Agnes de Mille, Domi Reiter Soffer, Ohad Naharin and George Balanchine. Natalia has performed locally as a guest artist with FSU Dance Repertory Theater and Evening of Dance. Currently, Ms. Botha teaches, directs, and choreographs locally for Pas de Vie Ballet, she and her husband Charles Hagan also staged an original work, Totemotion, for Chattanooga Ballet.
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Ballet Master – Charles Hagan
Charles Hagan began his early training with Sylvia Watters in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana. At age 16, he was awarded a full scholarship to attend the National Academy of Arts under the direction of Michael Maule. After graduating from the Academy, Mr. Hagan joined the National Ballet of Illinois and in a short time became soloist. In 1978, he joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and in 1980 was named soloist. Because of his versatility in dance, mime, makeup, and dramatic ability, Mr. Hagan was promoted to principal character dancer in 1985 – a title created for him. During his tenure, he danced all the principal character roles along with many leading classical roles ranging from the Blue Bird Pas de Deux (Sleeping Beauty), Pas de Trois (Swan Lake), Peasant Pas de Deux (Giselle) and a variety of Balanchine repertoire. His many guest appearances include a return invitation with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Prince Sigfried from Swan Lake with Southern Ballet Theatre (now Orlando Ballet) and numerous Nutcracker engagements. On the administrative side, Mr. Hagan served locally, statewide and nationally for the American Guild of Musical Artists and a company manager for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre on tour. Mr. Hagan has performed locally as a guest artist with FSU Evening of Dance and Tallahassee Ballet Company. In addition to his position as ballet master for Pas de Vie Ballet, he teaches locally, choreographs and serves as ballet master for Ballet Theatre South and enjoys a second career as a piano technician.
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Returning Artists
Bryn Cintrón has danced with Pas de Vie Ballet for eleven years under the guidance of Natalia Botha and Charles Hagan. Her favorite performances include Flight, an original work by Natalia Botha, and Snow Queen from The Nutcracker. Bryn has attended intensives at the Orlando Ballet School on scholarship, as well as the Sarasota Ballet, and performed with Camerata South. She is currently studying at the University of Cincinnati, where she is training in the Ballet program at the University’s College-Conservatory of Music, and obtaining a degree in German Studies. Bryn's other interests include traveling and volunteering in the community.
Joshua Ethridge began Ballet at the age of five. He started to study at Pas de Vie at the age of ten under the instruction of Charles Hagan and Natalia Botha. Some of his most enjoyable performances include Arabian from The Nutcracker, the Tragedy of The Queen's Game, the energetic excitement of Giggling Rapids from The River, and the blast from the past that is Tuned in Time. Some of his other interests include biking, music engineering, cabinetry, mathematics.and programming. Josh has currently been training in New York with the New York Dance Project and is excited to be back dancing with his Pas de Vie Ballet family.
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Principal Dancers
Rick Clark began his love of movement and dance at the age of 10 as a clogger and martial artist. In college he took up interest in competing in country western dance and got noticed by the Director of Mobile Ballet. He was offered a scholarship to dance with their company and performed with them for three years before moving to Tallahassee in 1998 where he joined Pas de Vie. Over the past 25 years he’s performed a variety of corps de ballet and principal roles with Pas de Vie. He also performed as a guest artist throughout the southeast with several other regional companies. His career highlights include lead roles in The Nutcracker, Spring Waters, Vessel, Hoedown, Last Call, Giggling Rapids, Danzón, Elemental Rhythm, Flight, Queen’s Game and many others. Throughout that time he continued to compete on the United Country Western Dance Association circuit and won two world titles in the classic division and tied for the World Championship title in the Showcase Division with fellow dancer Seah Hagan. He enjoys spending time with friends and family, gardening and works as an Environmental Scientist for WaterIQ Technologies.
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Josef Drinkard began dancing at the age of 12 with HipHop, Tap, Jazz, Clogging and Gymnastics. Becoming fascinated with ballet, he began taking as many ballet classes as he could, and at age 15 was selected to be a member of Pas de Vie Ballet. He also attended Joffrey Ballet School’s summer session where he received a scholarship to join their intensive training program in New York city. Josef has enjoyed many notable roles in The Nutcracker such as Waltz of the Flowers, Snow King, Spanish & Russian, along with several original choreographic works, Vessel, Simian Line, Lalena and Danzon. When Josef is not dancing, you will find him working at the Courthouse in the Leon County Clerk’s Office or hanging out with his family and friends. Josef enjoys playing video games, Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the card game and Vanguard.
Kaitlyn Gerard began her training under the expert tutelage of Natalia Botha and Charles Hagen. Over her past 13 years in the company, she has danced in the annual production of The Nutcracker, performing a variety of roles from Tiny Angel, to Snow Queen and Arabian. Since 2018, Kaitlyn has been a member of Spotlight on Dance, performing repertoire from classical ballets such as Giselle and Raymonda. Additionally, she has enjoyed performing many of Pas de Vie’s original works, including Sur la Plage, Vessel and The Critic. Currently, Kaitlyn is continuing her passion for movement as a freshman at the FSU School of Dance. She was recently a part of Evening of Dance, dancing in Suzanne Farrell’s restaging of Divertimento No. 15.
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Graduating Seniors
Anna Jeong has been dancing with Pas de Vie for as long as she can remember. Over her 12 performance seasons with the company, Anna has had the honor of dancing a multitude of roles, her favorites including Rose pas de deux from The Nutcracker and Tomboy from the company’s original Saturday Night Hoedown. She has also had the privilege and pleasure of attending summer programs at Orlando Ballet School, Boca Ballet Theatre, and Louisville Ballet this upcoming summer. Anna is a senior at Lincoln High School and works as a part-time account coordinator at the Moore Agency. This fall, she is excited to pursue her Ballet BFA at the University of Utah. Anna would like to thank her family, mentors, and friends for their unwavering support, without which she would be lost.
Isabel Lin began dancing at the age of 3, where she learned to compete in numerous dance styles. At the age of 10, she began studying at Pas De Vie Ballet under the instruction of Charles Hagan and Natalia Botha. Amazed by all the talent held by each dancer at Pas De Vie, she knew this was where she wanted to perform. Isabel is grateful for all the opportunities given to her to perform a variety of roles in the annual productions of The Nutcracker and Spotlight on Dance. She is beyond thankful for all the irreplaceable friendships she has made and the knowledge she has gained through this company. Isabel is currently a senior at Florida State University Schools, where she attends classes at the school and through Dual Enrollment at Tallahassee Community College. Outside the studio, Isabel also enjoys participating in her school's marching band, color guard, symphonic band and orchestra.…………………………………………………
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Advanced Company 2023-2024
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Liam Anderson Anastasia Atayants
Hanna Benoza Rick Clark
Kate Denny
Josef Drinkard
Amalia Garces Kaitlyn Gerard
Madeline Holden
Anna Jeong
Isabel Lin Hailey Nolder
Gabrielle Peammon
Nicholas Peammon Sylvie Williamson
Junior Company Guests
Board of Directors
Caroline Holden, President
Nikki Smith, Vice-president
Alison Denny, Secretary
Crystie Voehl
Tanya Peres-Lemons
Natalia Botha
Charles Hagan
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Leighton Calhoun
William Calhoun Oliver Holden Eli Kern
2023- 2024 Season Sponsors
Pas de Deux
BowStern Marketing Communications
Greg & Jayne Gerard
Pas de Bourrée
Maria and Jeff Anderson
In Memory of Jo Anne Bollivar
Pas de Poisson
A.T. Home Contractors, Inc.
Del and Leah Benoza
Deese Elite Concrete Coatings, LLC
Brett and Courtney Ewing
The Jeong Family
Tim Murphy
Gaylynn Resener
Emaline, Allen and Nikki Smith
TLC Chiropractic
In Memory of Karl Zimmer
15 am running few minutes late; my previous meeting is running over.
2023- 2024 Season Sponsors
Pas de Cheval
Arron’s Fine Custom Clothing
The Brennan Family
Adam Brown
Akerman LLP
Madison *Michele* Garber
Sara Gerard
Katy McGlynn
Radcliffe Engineering - Ocala, Florida
Mrs. Delorise Rush and In Memory of Pastor F.R. Rush
Ron and Bettye Watkins
Pas de Chat
Suzie Bowling
The Edenfield Family
Lynda deMarsh-Matheus
Austin and Jessica Ingram
Talaya Jessie
LaShun Osborne
Greta White
A sincere thank you to our sponsors and volunteers!
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