Studio Company

Linnea Andersen is originally from Denmark. She started dancing ballet at the age of 7 at The Royal Danish Ballet School until the age of 13 where she then started at Tivoli Ballet School. In the season 20/21 she attended their Pre-Professional Program and danced with Tivoli Ballet company the summer of 2021. She then spent half a year at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and is now looking forward to dancing at Ballet Arizona.

When she isn’t dancing, Linnea loves being creative in various ways like painting, crafting or trying out new recipes in the kitchen with her friends.

Martina Azzolini is from Italy, where she started her ballet training at the early age of 3, and immediately fell in love with it.

Already at the age of 12, she knew she wanted to become a professional ballet dancer.

After few years of professional training, she then moved to Basel, Switzerland, in 2017 to attend the Ballettschule Theater Basel, where she then graduated 3 years later, in 2020.

During her time in Basel she had the opportunity to get in touch with Balanchine’s repertoire and style, contemporary and modern classes, in addition to Forsythe workshops, Heinz Spoerli’s Chäs and performed Kenneth MacMillan’s Soirées Musicales.

She later joins the Joffrey Academy of Dance Chicago’s Trainee Program in 2021, where she performed Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi, Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote in the role of Cupid, George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes and contemporary works.

After completing Joffrey’s Trainee Program in June 2023, she joins Ballet Arizona’s Summer Intensive.

Outside of ballet, Martina enjoys baking, reading, working out and spending time with friends. She is excited to be dancing with Ballet Arizona this Season!

Brooke Bendick is from Columbus, Ohio where she studied in the academy with BalletMet. She then went on to be a trainee with BalletMet for 2 years. She has spent her summers training with Houston Ballet, The School of Ballet Arizona, and City Ballet of San Diego.

In her free time, Brooke enjoys sewing, fashion design, enjoying time in nature, cooking, and spending time with friends and family!

She is very excited to work and perform alongside the company of Ballet Arizona this year!

Ashlee-Paige is excited for the opportunity to perform this season with Ballet Arizona.

When Ashlee-Paige isn’t in the studio she likes to go on long runs, listen to music, and hang out with friends.

Grace was born in Ontario, Canada and grew up in Erie, Colorado. She began her ballet training at the Colorado Conservatory of Dance. She later moved to Middleton, Wisconsin where she trained with Central Midwest Ballet Academy for 4 years. She spent the past year in Colorado Ballet Academy’s Pre-Professional Division. She has spent her summers dancing at Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and Ballet Arizona.

When she is not in the studio, Grace likes to read, hang out with friends, and spend time with her cat.

This season Grace is looking forward to the many opportunities to perform alongside the Company and the School. She is excited to be surrounded by so many talented and inspiring individuals.

Natalia began her training at Arizona School of Classical Ballet and later studied under Georgi Rusafov at Youth American Ballet Company. During the summers, she continued her training at Ballet Austin, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Boston Ballet. She has had the privilege of training privately with such masters as Rudolph Kharatian, Rinat Imaev, Xiomara Reyes, and John Clifford. She was a participant in the international “ballet olympics”, USAIBC, and a soloist for the 2022 and 2023 Youth America Grand Prix finals in Tampa, Florida.

In her free time, Natalia enjoys spending time with her family, caring for her bearded dragon, reading, knitting, and sleeping.

Kasey Fox is from Denver, Colorado and began her classical ballet training at Colorado Ballet Academy at the age of 15. Previously a competition dancer, she then went on to train in the pre-professional program for three years at Colorado Ballet Academy. Kasey also attended summer intensives at Boston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet on scholarship.

In her free time Kasey enjoys reading, baking, hiking, and spending time with friends and family!

This is Kasey’s first season with Ballet Arizona and she is looking forward to working closely with both the company and the school!

Marco Giuriato is originally from Budapest, Hungary and started studying ballet at Hungarian Dance University in Budapest at the age of 10, where he trained for 6 years. During his time in Europe, he trained at Edas Siba Salzburg Ballet Summer Intensive on scholarship in Salzburg, Austria in 2015. The following summer, he performed in the Hungarian Dance University’s productions of Romeo and Juliet and Carmen and with a number of Slovenian ballet companies in Piran, Slovenia. He then began his training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2022, he received a full scholarship for the summer intensive and the year-round program at Miami City Ballet School. There, he performed in The Four Temperaments with the school and in Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story with Miami City Ballet.

In addition to ballet, he is a makeup artist and works with the world-famous cellist, Hauser. In addition, he has worked on photo and video shoots, was a leader at Miss Royal Hungary’s beauty competition, a makeup artist with EuropeFace Model Agency, and L’Oreal Paris. He also started teaching at Glamour Makeup International Academy in Budapest, Hungary. He joined the Company as a Trainee for the 2023-24 season.

Alexandra Hoffmann is an Arizona native and began her professional ballet training at the School of Ballet Arizona. At the age of 10, she was cast as Clara in the company production of The Nutcracker. Following this, she danced in New York for two successive years as Clara in Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular on Broadway.

During her tenure at the School of Ballet Arizona, Alexandra was chosen to perform featured roles including Tavern Girl and Bridesmaid in Don Quixote, and Cygnet and Pas de Trois in Swan Lake. She graduated from Colburn Dance Academy in Los Angeles. Under the direction of Jenifer Ringer and James Fayette, she was chosen to perform a lead role in Time Out by Price Suddarth, and the Fascinatin’ Rhythm solo in Balanchine’s Who Cares.

Alexandra’s summer training includes intensives at School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre JKO, Houston Ballet Academy, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and School of Ballet Arizona.

In 2022, Alexandra moved to Germany, to join the Junior Company at Ballett Dortmund. While there she performed with the main company in Director Xin Peng-Wang’s Faust I, and as both a Capulet Lady and a Montague Lady in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo and Juliet.

Maren Horejs is from Phoenix, Arizona. She began training with The School Of Ballet Arizona at the age of 10, and has been dancing there ever since. After participating in SBAZ’s Don Quixote in 2019, it became her favorite ballet.

Outside of ballet, Maren enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking, listening to music, and baking.

Maren is eager to be working along side the company and the school this season and is grateful for the opportunity to grow as a dancer.

Jordan Islas was born and raised in Phoenix AZ.
He has been dancing with The School of Ballet Arizona for 7 years. Prior to attending The School, he danced with Miss. Lloyd at Clarendon Former Ballet Program.

Outside of ballet, Jordan enjoys running, gaming, hanging out with his friends, and reading manga. He is looking forward to dancing with the company this season and growing his skills as a dancer.

Mary Jane is from Mesa, Arizona and has lived all around the valley. She grew up dancing on and off until, in 2015 she began her training with Ballet Etudes, performing with them until 2023. This is her first year with Ballet Arizona’s Studio Company.

Aside from dancing, Mary Jane loves reading, writing, and sewing, among other creative ventures.

Anna Kaestner is originally from St.Louis, Missouri where she studied at the Center of Creative Arts under the direction of Antonio and Kirven Douthit-Boyd. She danced in the Professional Program during the 22-23 school year before joining Studio Company for the 23-24 season.

Her favorite ballet is George Balanchine’s Jewels and her dream role has always been Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. She is excited to be a part of Ballet Arizona and has been given the opportunity to work alongside the company.

Outside of ballet, Anna enjoys playing with her golden retriever, Ruby, cooking, and sunset hikes.

Devin Lentz was raised in Phoenix Arizona. She has been doing ballet for 13 years now and started when she was 3. She has been a member of the School of Ballet Arizona for 5 years now.

In her free time Devin enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing with her cats, and baking.

Devin is most looking forward to the opportunities to perform with both the school and the company this season alongside other talented dancers.

Delfina was born in Pleasanton, California and raised in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Delfina started her ballet training with Faubourg School of Ballet in Illinois. She then trained at The HARID Conservatory for two years, and graduated from the Houston Ballet Academy two years later.

Delfina is looking forward to working and performing alongside Ballet Arizona’s Company and experience new repertoire.

In her spare time, Delfina enjoys playing tennis, running, cooking, swimming, and keeping in touch with her family in Argentina. She also loves spending time with her friends and dogs!

Tatiana Marsalli is from Naples, Florida where she studied for nine years at a Vaganova-based studio, Naples Ballet. She has spent her summers training at Ballet Arizona, Sarasota Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Houston Ballet.

She is looking forward to learning the company’s rep for the season as well as performing in studio company and company productions.

Outside of dance she enjoys watercolor painting, baking for her friends and family, and staying active outdoors.

Olivia Myers is from Fort Wayne, Indiana where she studied in the academy with the Fort Wayne Ballet. She has spent her summers training with Ballet Austin, Richmond Ballet, The Washington Ballet, and The School of Ballet Arizona.

Outside of ballet, Olivia enjoys grabbing a coffee with friends and watching movies with family. Her favorite movies are La La Land and Mamma Mia!

Olivia is most excited to begin her dance career by working and performing alongside Ballet Arizona!

Natalie Nerat is from Madison, Wisconsin and moved to Denver, Colorado in 2021 to train at Colorado Ballet Academy. She has spent summers training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Boston Ballet and Ballet Arizona. In her free time Natalie enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

She is looking forward to continuing to challenge herself in technique and artistry and to dance in a professional company environment.

A native Arizonan, Brianna began dancing at the age of 3. Declaring her love for ballet at 9 years old, Brianna received her foundational training at Ballet Etudes. She further refined her craft by joining Master Ballet Academy in 2019. Later, performing with the Phoenix Ballet, Brianna had the pleasure of performing numerous leading roles, such as The Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and Waltz Queen. Last year, Brianna danced with Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, where she gained valuable professional dancing experience.

Brianna is absolutely thrilled to return to her home state and join Ballet Arizona this season! She is excited for the opportunity to dance with the company and share the beauty of ballet with Arizona.

In her spare time, Brianna is an avid hiker, enjoys cooking, and loves to work out.

Akari Tagawa was born and raised in Kanagawa, Japan, where she began her training at the age of 5. She moved to The Rock School in Philadelphia at the age 16, she performed the role of Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. In 2022, she moved to The Washington School of Ballet, she performed the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. In the summer of 2023, she participated in The School of Ballet Arizona. She then joined the Studio Company. This is her first season as a Ballet Arizona Studio Company member.