Andre Blankstein joined the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Germany prior to dancing with the Cleveland/San Jose Ballet and Ballet Arizona.  She was a principal dancer with Virginia Ballet and performed with the Ohio Ballet before coming to Ballet Theatre of Ohio, where she has danced the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Princess Aurora, and, most recently, Prunella, the Ugly Stepsister.

Megan Coleman comes from Michigan where she trained with Samantha Shelton, Sherry Jerome and Christina Kammuller. She has attended summer programs with American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet and on scholarship with Ballet Met. While attending Easterm Michigan University on a dance scholarship, Megan won the Mid-Michigan National Society of Arts and Letters ballet and modern dance scholarship competition.

Meghan Dietz started dancing at the age of four and trained with Christine Meneer for 14 years. She has been a company member of CBT/ BTO for eight years. She is a scholarship student in the Jordan School of Fine Arts at Butler University.

Katie Edmonds has been a member of BTO for 6 years and was trained by Christine Meneer. Katie received additional training as a scholarship recipient at Ballet Met. She has performed lead roles in Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beyond the Stars.

Eryn Hanes has danced with the Nashville Ballet, Gem City Ballet and Ballet Chicago as well as summer studies in the Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.   Eryn has danced in the 2008 Winter Repertory, the Nutcracker and Cinderella with Ballet Theatre of Ohio and is proud to be dancing in her second Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival.

Damien Highfield danced for 7 years with Ohio Ballet. Prior to Ohio Ballet, he was with Atlanta Ballet. Mr. Highfield began dancing at age 6 in his hometown, Columbus, Ohio, where he trained at BalletMET for 10 years. He attended Butler University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. He has performed as a guest artist with Indianapolis Opera, Columbus Opera, Alexandra Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet and the Academy of Ballet Arts. Mr. Highfield has danced lead roles in Hamlet, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Coppelia and Dracula. Courtesy of Groundworks DanceTheater.

Devin Kline began his ballet training at Christine-Jones Meneer School of Dance at the age of 10.  He has studied at San Francisco Ballet School, the Chautauqua Institute, School of American Ballet, Indiana University and in the Professional Division of Pacific Northwest Ballet School.  He will be joining Ballet Arizona as a corps dancer for 2008-2009.  Devin last performed in the Akron area as the Prince for CBT/BTO's 2005 Cinderella. 

Stephanie Krise, born in Akron, Ohio began her training at the Dance Institute at The University of Akron. She attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she trained under Melissa Hayden, and has also danced with BalletMet in their "Pro-Track" program. She has spent summers at San Francisco Ballet and the National Hungarian Ballet. Currently Stephanie is a student at The University of Akron.

Taylor Prusa has been dancing with Christine Meneer since the age of four and has been a member of Ballet Theatre of Ohio for 5 years.  She has danced in the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival and Beyond the Stars, where she originated the role of Pluto.  She has also danced in BTO’s productions of the Nutcracker, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Bernie Richards is performing in his first season with the Ballet Theatre of Ohio. A recent graduate of Kent State University’s dance program, Bernie has studied ballet and modern dance as well as theatre.