Ryland acree
Ryland Acree began his dance training in his home state of Virginia. As a student he had the opportunity to train with Peter Boal, Oliver Munoz, Le Yin, Alexei Kremnev, and Sandra Meythaler. He attended summer intensives at Boston Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, and Pacific Northwest Ballet all on full scholarship. He graduated from the Professional Division of Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Acree joined Oklahoma City Ballet in the 2021/22 season as a member of the corps de ballet. Prior to joining the company, he danced with Ballet San Antonio for four seasons. His repertoire includes works by Gerald Arpino, Robert Hill, Edward Liang, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Bruce Wells, Brian Enos, and George Balanchine.
He has performed leading roles including White Rabbit and The King in Brian Enos’s Alice in Wonderland, Benvolio in Edwards Liang’s Romeo & Juliet in addition to featured roles such as Snow Prince in Gerald Arpino's The Nutcracker, Demi-Soloist in Gerald Arpino's Round of Angels, and Four Men in George Balanchine's Rubies.
International highlights include performing as a guest artist with the Alberta Ballet in Bruce Well’s A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as performing Alexei Kremnev’s Cinderella at the Bravissimo International Festival in Guatemala City.
Ethan Ahuero
Ethan Ahuero began his ballet training with Roanoke Ballet Theatre as a member of the City Youth Ballet under the direction of Sandra Meythaler and trained with Rolando Sarabia. Mr. Ahuero has attended summer programs at Richmond Ballet, The Rock, Orlando Ballet, and Boston Ballet. In 2017 Ethan moved to the Orlando Ballet School as a trainee and in 2018 he was promoted to the second company. There he has danced under the direction of Diedre Miles Burger, Phillip Broomhead, and Robert Hill. Since his time in Orlando, Ethan has competed in the Youth American Grand Prix, performed Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream, soloist roles in Arcadian Broads ‘Seasons.’ In 2019 he moved to Kansas City to join as a second company member and performed in Devon Carneys Swan Lake and Nutcracker. In 2020 Ethan joined Dayton Ballet and has had the opportunity to perform in pieces by Gerald Arpino and “Calling” by Ma Cong. This will be Ethan’s third season with Dayton Ballet.
Molly Cook
Molly Cook trained at the American Dance Center in Overland Park, Kansas before joining Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company in 2017 after attending the Oklahoma City Ballet Summer Intensive. She was promoted to Apprentice in 2019.
During her three seasons with Oklahoma City Ballet, Cook performed in Robrert Mills' Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet, in addition to Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, and Michael Pink’s Dracula. She was also featured in Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments.
Corrick jones
Corrick Jones started dancing at the age of 7 at Ballethnic Dance Academy in East Point, Georgia. In 2010, Corrick continued his training with Metropolitain ballet theatre. Corrick received a full scholarship to Nashville ballet(NB2), He has appeared in productions such as The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Leopard Tale to name a few. Currently Corrick enjoys performing as a guest artist with various companies throughout the U.S
Nicholas keeperman
Nicholas Keeperman, from Illinois, trained at Main Street Dance, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and the Plainfield Dance Academy. In 2014 he moved to Connecticut to continue his training full-time at the Nutmeg Conservatory. While there, Keeperman performed various feature roles including Basilio in Don Quixote, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, as well as Prince and Cavalier in The Nutcracker.
Keeperman then trained at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where he performed in John Neumeier’s Yondering, and Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker, A Dance in the Garden of Mirth, The Long and Winding Road, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and Brigade. During his time there, he also created, staged, and debuted original choreography in collaboration with a composer from American Festival for the Arts.
In 2018 Keeperman joined Kansas City Ballet as an Apprentice. There he performed in David Parson’s A Play for Love, Septime Webre’s the Wizard of Oz, Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, and Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker during the 2018/19 season before joining Oklahoma City Ballet for the 2019/20 season.
autumn klein
Autumn Klein trained at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy then became a member of Houston Ballet II before joining Texas Ballet Theatre. During this time she won several awards, including first place at the Youth America Grand Prix in Denver, Colorado.
Klein joined Oklahoma City Ballet in 2012 and was promoted to Soloist in 2016. In 2022 she was promoted to Principal. Her repertoire with the company includes Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, Helen Pickett’s Petal, Margo Sappington’s Cobras In The Moonlight, Amy Seiwert’s Dear Miss Cline, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Nacho Duato’s Without Words, George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, and Robert Mills’ Pushing Pennies, Our Private Rooms, and The Means To Fly. She has also created roles in works by Yui Sato, Matthew Neenan, Brian Enos, and Sarah Tallman.
Additionally, Klein has performed lead and feature roles that include the Cowgirl in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Russian Girl in George Balanchine’sSerenade, Wendy in Paul Vasterling’s Peter Pan, Madge in August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, the Pas de Trois in Robert Mills’ Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in Mills’ The Nutcracker, and Carabosse in Mills’ The Sleeping Beauty.
Outside her dance experience, Klein studied biochemistry and genetics at Texas A&M University and received presidential and congressional medals for volunteer service. Last summer, she was awarded by NBC’s World of Dance for a dance film she created and she was featured on The Ellen Show for another.
grace manuel
Grace Manuel, began her training after moving to Houston, Texas at Excelsior School of Dance in 2011. She then went on to attend Houston Ballet Academy in 2015. During this time, she attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre as well as Kirov Academy in D.C.
Manuel then joined Oklahoma City Ballet as a trainee in 2018, was named Studio Company in 2019 and promoted to apprentice in 2021. Her repertoire includes works by Stanton Welch, Michel Fokine, August Bournonville, Michael Pink, Robert Mills, Austin Hartel, and Septime Webre. Her favorite roles include Friend of Juliet in Robert Mills’ Romeo & Juliet and Little Flamingo in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland).
Gabrielle Mengden
Gabrielle Mengden trained at the Allegro West Academy of Dance in Houston, Texas before continuing her training on scholarship at Houston Ballet and then the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School. In 2015, she performed by invitation at the International Ballet Festival of Havana in Cuba. During this time, Mengden won various awards in competitions including the Youth America Grand Prix, New York City Dance Alliance, and Dance Masters of America.
In 2018, Mengden attended the Oklahoma City Ballet Summer Intensive and was invited to join the Studio Company in 2018/19. Mengden was an apprentice for the 2019/20 season and has since been promoted to Corps De Ballet for the 2020/21 season. Since joining she has performed in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, Cayetano Soto’s Adam, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Robert Mill’s The Nutcracker (Marzipan and Chinese Tea soloist), Robert Mill’s Romeo and Juliet, Robert Mill’s The Firebird, Robert Mill’s Pushing Pennies pas de Deux, Jonathan’s Batista’s Atè and Robert Mill’s The Little Mermaid.
Ashley Moehlenhoff
Ashley Moehlenhoff began her training at Miller Marley at a young age and continued her training at various summer programs including American Ballet Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Oberlin Dance Collective (ODC), Oklahoma City Ballet, and Kansas City Ballet. Other training opportunities include performing Uwe Sholz’s Santus Y Ave Verum, from “The Great Mass”, at the XVII Cita con la Danza Festival in Benicàssim, Spain, and performing Austin Hartel's Sunrise on Hatteras at the VIII Gala de fi de Curs.
Ashley graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Pedagogy and a Minor in General Business. There she was a member of the Oklahoma Festival Ballet and Contemporary Dance Oklahoma performing works including Firebird, Carmina Burana, La Bayadère, Rags to Jazz Time, The Nutcracker, Brodie’s Introspection, Tethered, and In the Garden. Ashley also had the opportunity to perform as a guest artist in Human After All with Hartel Dance Group. After graduating Ashley spent two seasons professionally as a Company Member with the Ballet Quad Cities (IL) and is now in her fourth season as a Company Member with Störling Dance Theater (KS). Ashley enjoys working for Take The Stage outreach program in the Kansas City public schools and continues to explore her interests as a teacher and choreographer throughout the Kansas City area.
matthew roberts
Matthew Roberts discovered he was bilingual at the age of ten, and his true native language was dance. After studying at an institute, he moved to New York looking to become more fluent and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2013 with a BFA in Dance and Concentration in Choreography. There he performed works by Lar Lubovitch, Robert Battle, Jessica Lang, and Shen Wei. He has dance with Lustig Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet Company, Awakening Movement, Molissa Fenley, Tami Stronach Dance, Neos Dance Theatre, Bruce Wood Dance, and Zion Dance Project. He enjoys teaching ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and hip-hop, but his love for storytelling, choreography and sharing the human experience are what fuel has passion to create.
Carrie Ruth Trumbo
Carrie Ruth Trumbo was born in Orlando, FL and received her training at the Orlando Ballet School, under the direction of Peter Stark. In 2008, she was offered a traineeship with Charlotte Ballet, where she studied with Patricia McBride and Mark Diamond. The following year she joined Tulsa Ballet’s second company, where she spent two seasons before being promoted to the main company in 2011. She then joined Ballet des Moines’ for their inaugural season, and also danced with American Contemporary Ballet In Los Angeles before returning to Oklahoma to dance with Oklahoma City Ballet in 2016, where she spent 5 seasons. Her repertoire includes works by Twyla Tharp, Ronald Hynd, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Ma Cong, Edward Liang, Septime Webre, and John Cranko. Carrie Ruth will be a member of Fort Worth’s Ballet Frontier for the 2021-2022 season and is also a freelance choreographer. She is thrilled to be working with Osage Ballet for the second time.
benjamin tucker
Tucker trained with Grand Valley State University and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. In 2009, he joined Richmond Ballet as an apprentice, where he earned the Malcolm Burn Award from the Kip Kephart Foundation.
Tucker went on to become an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and teacher. He danced with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet during their European Tour performing in several principal roles and joined Ballet Tucson in 2011 as a principal dancer. There he performed a range of ballets including Antony Tudor’s Continuo, Agnes de Mille’s Three Virgins and a Devil, Raymonda, and Carmen.
He then joined Nevada Ballet Theatre (NBT) in 2014 where he performed principal and soloist roles in ballets such as Giselle, James Canfield’s Romeo & Juliet, Jorden Morris’ Peter Pan, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Matthew Neenan’s world premiere Until December, Cynthia Gregory’s Swan Lake, Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), and NBT’s production of James Canfield’s The Nutcracker. During his time at NBT, he has also danced in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Serenade, Who Cares?, Western Symphony, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.
In the summers, Tucker has performed as part of the National Choreographers Initiative (NCI) in Irvine, CA, which promotes the creation and production of original work. In 2017, he was commissioned to create a short dance film for Stolen Angels Inc. The film was designed to bring awareness to human trafficking and victims of domestic abuse and was shown at conventions internationally. His choreographic credits include a new work for NBT’s Studio Series, and a full company work for their annual fundraiser, Black and White Ball. He has choreographed multiple works for NBT's collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, A Choreographers' Showcase. In addition, he has created works on Ballet Tucson’s school and second company.
Tucker has taught for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Spokane Youth Ballet, Ballet Tucson, and NBT’s affiliated Academy.