Dancers at the Kennedy Center. Since joining Colorado Ballet she has performed in works by Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Twyla Tharp and Val Caniparoli, among others. Fernanda has also presented her own choreography with the Colorado Ballet, the ballets Saudade (2017) and All Strings Attached (2018), for Colorado Ballet’s Attitude on Santa Fe program. After performing the lead in Septime Webre’s Sympathique, she received honorable mention in the DC Metro Theater Arts’ review as, “a commanding presence… she is in control, is perfectly poised, and…lets the entire audience know she was born to perform.”
Generously supported by Jan and John Blumer Sean Omandam Sean Omandam is from Fresno, California, where he began his training with Shirley Winters. He later went on to train on full-scholarship at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Olivier Pardina and Svetlana Osiyeva. Upon his graduation in 2004, he joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, and was promoted into the Company in 2005. With Colorado Ballet, Sean has performed a variety of soloist and principal roles including Puck in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, White Rabbit in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Peter in Michael Smuin’s Peter and the Wolf, Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Jester in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Whip Boy in Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, Max in Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are, John Darling in Michael Pink’s Peter Pan, Green Man in Lila York’s Celts and Russian in Martin Fredmann’s The Nutcracker. His repertory also includes featured roles in works by Lar Lubovitch, Val Caniparoli, Amy Seiwert, Edwaard Liang, Matthew Neenan, Jodie Gates, Dwight Rhoden, Darrell Grand Moultire and Jessica Lang, among others. In 2007, he was a competitor and gala performer at the New York International Ballet Competition. In the summer of 2013, he was featured as a contestant on the premiere season of the South Korean television show, Dancing 9. Pointe Magazine featured Sean in their 2014 October/November “Dancer Spotlight.”
Generously supported by Cheri and Alan Rubin Nicolas Pelletier Nicolas Pelletier was born in Quebec City, Canada. He moved to California when he was eight, where he attended the San Francisco Ballet School for 10 years. During his time at the school, he performed in ballets including John Neumeier’s Yondering and Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes. He completed his training with Canada’s National Ballet School in 2010 and joined Alberta Ballet in 2011. During his six years with the Company, he had the opportunity to dance many principal roles including Dracula
10 Sleeping Beauty • Colorado Ballet
in Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and Romeo in Jean GrandMaître’s Romeo and Juliet. Nicolas also had the pleasure of working closely with Jean Grand-Maître in the creation of many new works throughout his time at Alberta Ballet, including pas de deux and solos. Other notable ballets in his repertoire include Divertimento No. 15, Four Temperaments, Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Madame Butterfly, Othello and The Nutcracker. This is his second season with Colorado Ballet.
Generously supported by Carla Dore Tyler Rhoads Tyler Rhoads is from Midland, Texas, where he began his training with Susan Clark at Midland Festival Ballet. He later went on to train on full-scholarship at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Olivier Pardina and Svetlana Osiyeva. After graduating in 2011, he attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied under acclaimed staff Violette Verdy and Michael Vernon. He had the opportunity to perform a variety of works including George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, August Bournonville’s Napoli and Twyla Tharp’s Sweet Fields. Upon his graduation from college, Tyler joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company and was promoted into the Company in 2016.
Generously supported by Naji Ghorayeb Emily Speed Emily Speed grew up in Argyle, TX and graduated from Marina Almayeva School of Ballet. She has qualified and competed in Varna International Ballet Competition, Jackson IBC and YAGP Finals, as well as being a World Ballet Competition Finalist and winning First Place in the YAGP regionals. During her career, Ms. Speed has danced in companies across the country including Alabama Ballet, Boulder Ballet and Ballet Tucson performing numerous soloist and principle roles. Since joining Colorado Ballet in 2014 Ms. Speed has been given the opportunity to dance featured roles in several productions and performed in the Vail Dance Festival in 2015 and 2017. Some of her most notable performances with Colorado Ballet include Scherzo in Wheeldon’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Little Russians in Serenade, Cygnets and Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Pink Couple in Mark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Red Couple in Twayal Tharp’s Brief Fling, Little Sister in Tudor’s Pillar of Fire, Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, Flames of Paris Pas De Deux and Clara and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker.
Generously supported by Heather and Conor McCallin