Kathleen Breen Combs, Principal, Boston Ballet

Kathleen Breen Combs was born in Rockville Centre, New York. She has been hailed by the New York Times as a "ballerina of colossal scale and boldness." She has been a professional dancer for 15 years and a principal dancer with Boston Ballet since 2009. Breen Combs is known for her diverse repertoire which includes the major classical story ballets, as well as works by Balanchine, Cranko, Kylian, Forsythe, Wheeldon, McGregor and Elo to name a few. In 2012, she was nominated for the prestigious Benois de la Danse Award for her portrayal of Juliet in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet and Titania in Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and was invited to dance at the Bolshoi Theater. Throughout her career, Breen Combs has danced in numerous international galas. See her full bio here.

 John Lam, Principal, Boston Ballet

John Lam was born in Marin County, California. Born from immigrant parents from Vietnam, Lam found his passion for life in dance at age 4. Training at Marin Ballet, Lam formed vital relationships that would mold his career and was coached by renowned Svetlana Afanasieva, Cynthia Lucas, and Mikko Nissenen. In 2000, Lam began his tenure with Canada's National Ballet School under the directorship of Mavis Staines. Coached by famous Sergiu Stefanschi, Lam developed a foundation that would launch his career in 2003 with the invitation from Mikko Nissenen to join Boston Ballet.  See his full bio here.

Rolando Sarabia, Washington Ballet

Rolando Sarabia is a Cuban ballet dancer of international acclaim who has danced with companies throughout the world including the Cuban National Ballet, Houston Ballet and Miami City Ballet. He danced with American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist in 2011. Sarabia is often compared to the young Mikhail Baryshnikov and has been called the “Cuban Nijinsky” by The New York Times. He was trained by his father, Alicia Alonso, Lázaro Carreño and Magaly Suarez at the National Ballet School in Havana. He has performed with renowned dancers including Maya Plisetskaya, Patrick Dupont, Farouk Ruzimatov, Alicia Alonso and Tamara Rojo among others. Sarabia is the recipient of the Prix Benois de la Danse, Concours International de Danse de Paris, Varna International Ballet Competition, Gold Medal USA International Ballet Competition, Gold Medal 1998 International Ballet Competition and Grand Prix 1998 International Encounter of Ballet Academies among others. See his full bio here.  

Tamako Miyazaki, Washington Ballet 

Tamako Miyazaki of Tokyo, Japan, is in her fifth season with The Washington Ballet after dancing with Columbia Classical Ballet. Prior to that, Miyazaki was a member of The Washington Ballet Studio Company for two seasons. She has studied at Kaneta Kono Ballet Academy, Michiko Aoyama Ballet Studio and the Reiko Otsuka Ballet Studio. Her many awards include: first place in the Youth America Grand Prix finals in 2002, the silver medal at USA International Competition Jackson Mississippi in 2014, second place at the YAGP regionals in Toyko in 2004 and second place in the All Japan Ballet Union Competition and YAGP finals in 2006. See her full bio here.

 Danica Paulos, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Danica Paulos (Huntington Beach, CA) began her dance training at Orange County Dance Center and continued studying at world renowned institutions such as The Juilliard School, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Kirov Academy of Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Yuri Grigoriev School of Ballet, and The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Ms. Paulos graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in New York and trained at The Ailey School as a scholarship student. Ms. Paulos is a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Level 1 YoungArts finalist award winner. In addition to originating several roles and being featured in the Company’s repertory, Ms. Paulos is also very passionate about her role as photographer for the Company’s Instagram account, sharing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of an Ailey dancer. She has modeled and been featured in Elle Magazine, Double Magazine, Refinery29, and graced the cover of Dance Magazine where she was named “25 to Watch” in 2015. She was a member of Ailey II prior to joining the Company in 2014.See her full bio here.

Manuel Vignoulle, M/Motions

Manuel Vignoulle, French choreographer based in New York, studied at The Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse de Paris and went on to work with different French contemporary companies including Claude Brumachon, Corinne Lanselle and Bernardo Montet. He was a dance artist with both Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève (Switzerland) and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (New York) where he worked with inspiring choreographers such as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Andonis Foniadalkis. Hofesh Shechter, Cisco Aznar, Ohad Naharin, Jo Strongen, Didy Veldman, Carolyn Carlson, Benjamin Millepied, Alexander Eckman, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Malou Airaudo and Benoit-Swan Pouffer among others. Manuel’s work, performed in France, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Canada and USA, has been commissioned by Ailey II, Whim W’Him, Satellite Collective, 10 Hairy Legs, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Peridance Contemporary Ballet Company, Steps Repertoire Ensemble, Periapsis Music & Dance, The Ailey School, Rutgers University, Springboard and Antigel Festival. Read more about Manuel and his company M/Motions here.

Matteo Fiorani, M/Motions

Originally from Italy, Matteo started his dance training in Modena at the age of thirteen. He has won many competitions and received acknowledgments for his dancing. In 2012 he joined the local company MdDanza under the coordination of Veronica Sassi. At the age of eighteen, choreographer Enzo Celli invited him to join the Botega Company for the production of Giselle. During the summer of 2015 he took part in the prestigious iBStage-International summer program. In September 2016, he joined the Certificate Program at Peridance Capezio Center and became a company apprentice in January 2017. See his full bio here.