Trainees & Apprentices

The Trainee & Apprentice Program offers talented students the opportunity to train in the highest level of the school as part of the Conservatory Program and work with the North Carolina Dance Theatre dancers and directors. The Conservatory Program is an all day study program that offers students the opportunity to integrate their academic studies with their dance training.  

Click here to learn more about the Trainee, Apprentice and Conservatory Programs.

Apprentices

	Grayson Driver Originally from Apex, NC, Grayson began dancing at the age of 5 at Cary Ballet Conservatory where she trained with Rossana Machi. In 2007 she continued her training at University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied with Ethan Stiefel, Warren Conover and Susan McCullough. During her 3 years at UNCSA she performed in The Nutcracker, Fanfare and Les Patineurs, among others.  She then studied at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in the Graduate Program with Dennis Marshall, Marjorie Grundvig and Janet Popeleski. Grayson has attended summer intensives at Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and North Carolina Dance Theatre. This is her second year with North Carolina Dance Theatre and her first year as an Apprentice.
	Chelsea Dumas Chelsea Dumas began her training in Fort Wayne, IN at New American Youth Ballet and Conservatory under the direction of Beth McLeish. She spent the last year studying at Indiana Universities Jacob’s school of music for ballet. She has spent her summers at The Chautauqua Institute and School of American Ballet. Some of her favorite ballets to perform were Serenade, Donizetti Variations, Concerto Borrocho, and Bolero choreographed by Mark Diamond. This is her first year here at North Carolina Dance Theatre as an Apprentice.
	Alexa Goldberg Originally from Columbus, OH, Alexa began dancing at age 4. At age 11, she began training at BalletMet Columbus and then Columbus City Ballet School. She participated in many BalletMet company performances. Some of her favorite roles are the lead from the ballet Carmen and the solo role in Who Cares?. She has attended summer programs at Miami City Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and North Carolina Dance Theater. This is her third season with North Carolina Dance Theatre and her first year as an Apprentice.
	Alexis Matthesen Alexis Matthesen, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, started dancing at the age of 3. During the last five years, she trained under Maniya Barredo at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, as well as Andrea Pell, Roscoe Sales, and Orlando Molina. Alexis has also attended summer programs, such as The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Walnut Hill, Kaatsbaan, and Atlanta Ballet. She has danced at several SERBA festivals and participated in Youth American Grand Prix. Her favorite roles have been Swanhilda in Coppelia, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, Arabian Lead, Snow Queen, Spanish Lead, and Clara from The Nutcracker, Odette from Swan Lake, and the lead roles in Paquita, and Graduation Ball. She has also performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy, as a guest artist, in the Southeast Alabama Dance Company’s Nutcracker in 2009 and 2011. She has two years of experience teaching ballet to younger children at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. This is Alexis’ first year as an Apprentice with North Carolina Dance Theatre.
	Elizabeth Truell Elizabeth Truell, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, began her ballet training with Debra Bricker at the age of 4. She continued training with Mrs. Bricker until she moved to study for one year at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities in Greenville, South Carolina. After attending a summer course at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Elizabeth decided to make the move there to complete her training with Janet Popeleski, Marjorie Grundvig, and Dennis Marshall. While in Pittsburgh, Elizabeth had the privilege of performing in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s productions of The Nutcracker and Coppelia. In addition to performing in several PBTS community outreach performances in Pittsburgh, she was offered the opportunity to perform excerpts from The Nutcracker with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. Elizabeth also spent summers at the Harid Conservatory and the North Carolina Dance Theatre. Currently she is in her first season with North Carolina Dance Theatre as an Apprentice.

Trainees

	Rachel Dunn Rachel Dunn began dancing at age four and trained with the School of Classical Ballet and Dance in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2011, she moved to Charlotte and began dancing in the Pre-Professional Division at North Carolina Dance Theatre. She has attended summer intensives at Tulsa Ballet, BalletMet, the Chautauqua Institution, and participated in Youth America Grand Prix.  This is her first year as a Trainee at North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance.
	Sara Falstad Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Sara began her training at the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, where she studied for 10 years before relocating to New Orleans, Louisiana. In New Orleans, Sara trained at the New Orleans Ballet Theatre’s Schramel Conservatory under Greg and Marjorie Schramel, and with Kimberly Matulich-Beck.  Sara’s favorite roles have included Clara in the New Orleans Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker and Gerda in Jefferson Ballet Theatre’s The Snow Queen, as well as appearances in The Pearl Fishers and Carmina Burana, collaborations between the New Orleans Ballet Theatre and the New Orleans Opera Association.  She has attended summer intensives at the San Francisco Ballet, the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Harid Conservatory, Atlanta Ballet and Orlando Ballet.  This is Sara’s first year as a Trainee with North Carolina Dance Theatre.
	Jessica Friedman Jessica Friedman is from Bristow, Virginia.  She previously trained at Fairfax Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. Jessica participated in the Dance Theatre of Harlem Residency program at the Kennedy Center where she studied under Arthur Mitchell, Robert Garland, and Lorraine Graves for three years. Jessica has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, SLK Ballet, and North Carolina Dance Theatre. Her favorite roles include Aviary in Terrence Orr’s The Nutcracker and Waltz of the Flowers also in Terrence Orr’s The Nutcracker. This is her first year as a Trainee at North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance.
	Kira Greer-Rice Originally from Spartanburg, SC, Kira started her training at the age of 3 at Ballet Spartanburg. At 12 Kira was invited to join the North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance. Kira has attended summer programs with the Atlanta Ballet and American Ballet Theatre Detroit. She also attended three summers at the Chautauqua Dance Institute where she preformed works by Mark Diamond and Michael Vernon. Her favorite roles include Clara from The Nutcracker and Pus n' Boots from Sleeping Beauty. This is Kira's second year as a Trainee with North Carolina Dance Theatre.
	Miranda Hashemi Miranda was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she began her dance training at Denise Wall’s Dance Energy, studying with Denise Wall and Vicky Cooke. She also participated in various convention/competition venues, receiving a ballet scholarship from New York City Dance Alliance. She then moved to Carlisle, PA, and studied at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for four years under Marcia Dale Weary, Leslie Hench, Laszlo Berdo, Darla Hoover, Alan Hineline, Bruce Thornton, and Melinda Howe as well as guest teachers Merrill Ashley, Julie Kent, Daniel Ulbricht, Nicholas Ade, Michelle Lucci, Tatiana Tchernova, Gennadi Vostrikov, and Rafael Grigorian among others. While at CPYB she performed character, corps, soloist, and principal roles in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker;” Laszlo Berdo’s “Swan Lake,” “Carnival of the Animals,” “Peter Pan;” Alan Hineline’s “Cinderella’s Ball,” “Coppelia,” ”Roseland Pictures,” “Giselle,” among others, and in various Balanchine works such as “Who Cares?,” “Raymonda Variations,” ”Valse Fantasie,” ”La Source”, “Serenade,” and “Divertimento #15.” She also attended summer programs at Virginia School of the Arts, Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Boston Ballet, as well as two summers at San Francisco Ballet. This is her first year as a Trainee for North Carolina Dance Theatre.
	Blake Johnston Blake Johnston started her dance training at age 5 at Gaston Dance Theatre in Gastonia, NC and has trained with the School of North Carolina Dance Theatre since 2005. Blake is 16 and a sophomore in high school. She has attended summer intensive programs at Chautauqua Institution, Magnus Midwest Dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the School of American Ballet. She was awarded a scholarship for her 2011 summer intensive studies by the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association. Blake has performed in classical ballets and original works with North Carolina Dance Theatre, including The Nutcracker, Snow White, Little Mermaid, and Cinderella. During the summer of 2012, she performed for the New York Choreographic Institute at New York City Ballet in a piece choreographed by Silas Farley. This is her first year as a Trainee with North Carolina Dance Theatre.
	Nicole Shank Nicole Shank, originally from Greenville, NC, began her training at The Greenville Civic Ballet at the age of 6. She later became a senior company member of the Dance Collective with Greenville Civic Ballet. Nicole has attended festivals and competitions for SERBA, North Carolina School of the Arts and Youth American Grand Prix. She has attended summer programs at The Rock School for Dance, American Ballet Theatre Detroit, American Ballet Theatre New York, Atlanta Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre. This is her second year at North Carolina Dance Theatre as a Trainee.
	Elizabeth Webb Originally from Troy, Michigan, Elizabeth Webb began dancing at the age of 5. She trained at The Link School of the Arts in the Cecchetti method, and was a grade 7 graduate under the instruction of Betty Mitchell. She was then accepted into Miami City Ballet School's Pre-Professional Division, where she trained for the past year under Carter Alexander and Geta Constantinescu. Elizabeth has attended summer programs with Boston Ballet, along with Boston Ballet's Choreographic Intensive, Texas Ballet Theatre, Kansas City Ballet, and has participated in Ballet Russe's Russian Ballet Festival. She also participated in Youth American Grand Prix as a soloist in an ensemble piece that continued to the New York Finals. Her performance experience includes roles in The Link's Nutcracker as Sugar Plum Fairy, MCBS's Carnival of the Animal's, and Serenade, as well as solo performances for The Austrian Society of Detroit and The French Alliance of Detroit. This is her first year at NCDT as a Trainee.