OBT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Finance Professional
Job Titles:
- School Receptionist
- School Registrar
Annabel Kaplan (she/her) began her dance training in Portland Oregon at Classical Ballet Academy under the direction of Sarah Rigles. She then went on to receive her BFA in Dance with a minor in Early Childhood Education for Diverse Learners from George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia. Annabel has had the opportunity to choreograph and perform a variety of diverse works and she will be performing with Portland-based Shaun Keylock Company for their 2023-2024 season.
Annabel has experience teaching various styles of dance to children ages three to eighteen in different communities across the United States. She is passionate about increasing access to dance education and sharing the joy of dance with children of all backgrounds. Annabel is thrilled to be a part of OBT's Education and Community Engagement team!
Beca began dancing at the age of three, after her clumsiness sent her to the emergency room four times that year. She immediately fell in love with the art form, and has remained in that love ever since. She received her BFA from Missouri State University in 2009, in Musical Theatre with an emphasis in Dance. There she danced with Inertia Dance Company, Tent Theatre, and God and Country Theatre. She began teaching in 2010, highlighting the body's inherent joy of movement. Beca has taught Ballet, Contemporary, Creative Movement, HipHop, Tap, and Jazz to ages 2 - 18 in various studios, community centers, and summer camps across the Portland Area. In 2019 she started Firefly Dance, a silly - yet structured - Ballet and Creative Movement studio, while running a dance program at Childpeace Montessori School as well as choreographing for the Portland Lesbian Choir. She is elated to join this team of fantastic educators, and happy to report she now has enough grace to keep her out of that emergency room!
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Technical Director
Job Titles:
- Ballet Historian & Teaching Artist
- Lecturer & Ballet Historian
Brook began her dance career with Los Angeles Ballet, training with John Clifford and Irina Kosmovska and performing with the company in Petipa and Fokine ballets. She performed for many years as a soloist with Palos Verdes Ballet and danced solo roles in the works of Donald Hewitt and Arturo Fernandez, and in feature film and music video work.
Brook was awarded a scholarship for excellence in dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and earned her Master's Degree in Performance Studies. She has taught ballet at Bates College, University of Hawaii and Portland Community College. She has travelled to 25 countries in order to experience dance and theatre in its cultural context.
As a Teaching Artist, she has the pleasure of teaching and talking about dance with all ages during Field Trips to OBT and Touch Tours at the theatre.
Cam (they/he) is a joyful, expressive mover from Salt Lake City, Utah, who participates in dance as an educator, performer, and choreographer, specializing in modern, contemporary, musical theatre, hip hop, creative movement, and more. He graduated from Westminster University with his BFA in Dance (2021) and MAT in K-12 Dance Education (2022). Since moving to Portland in 2023, he has taught at Rising Heights Dance, senior centers, Ready Set Grow, and throughout Portland Public Schools, and founded Into-ition Movement. They value creating a safe, honest, and brave space to fail, learn, and grow, and providing healing through movement. Outside of dance, he enjoys personal training, hiking, crocheting, baking, and anime.
Carly Wheaton is from Marin County, Calif., where she trained with Stapleton Ballet School, Marin Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School. Carly went on to dance with Ballet Memphis as a Trainee and danced with The Washington Ballet's Second Company and Company for a total of three seasons. Prior to joining OBT, Carly danced with BalletMet from 2015-2022. She has had the pleasure of performing works by choreographers Julia Adam, Jiří Kylián, Val Caniparoli, Alexander Ekman, Matthew Neenan, Christopher Wheeldon, Andi Schermoly, Ma Cong, Septime Webre, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Edwaard Liang, James Kudelka, and George Balanchine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Officers Team
- Secretary
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Classical Ballet Professional Community Leader
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Professor of Law Emeritus Willamette University
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance & Operations
Job Titles:
- Patron Services Representative
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Officers Team
- Treasurer / Principal Portland Family Office
Job Titles:
- Assistant Music Librarian
Job Titles:
- Orchestra Personnel Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Officers Team
- Vice Chair / Retired Professional Ballet Dancer
Job Titles:
- Assistant Production Electrician
Jessica Post holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan (2013) and a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts (2006). Jessica is a dedicated dance educator with a wide range of teaching experience including Oregon Ballet Theatre School, BODYVOX, Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland Community College, Eastern Michigan University, and Hillsdale College. She performed professionally for five years in Chicago with The Dance COLEctive and Esoteric Dance Project. Her choreography focuses on cross-disciplinary collaborations, which she has presented in Portland, San Diego, Detroit, and Chicago. In addition to dance, she is certified in Pilates and GYROTONIC® and teaches at Kinespirit Circle in Portland. Jessica loves working with dance students of all ages to fine tune their technique, creativity, and artistry.
Jill is a passionate creative with a focus on movement, dance and cultural exploration. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Directing. In her youth, Jill was a member of the American Contemporary Ballet Company where she trained with Elizabeth Abts. She also studied and performed African dance with Obo Addy.
Jill taught, directed and choreographed musical theatre for over a decade at Park Academy. She currently gets energized teaching Ballet to enthusiastic Portland Public Schools students through the community outreach program with OBT. She also is a resident artist with Young Audience where, through creative movement, she teaches programs that honor the African American experience and the lessons of resilience. She recently began working with the powerful and talented group at PassInArt, who embodies her mission in bringing awareness to the community about the invaluable contributions, history and culture of African Americans' in the arts.
Joined OBT in 2023
John-Paul Simoens began his dance training at age seven under Diane Lauridsen in Los Angeles, California. In 2012 he was a semi-finalist in the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland where he received a scholarship to attend the San Francisco Ballet School. In 2014 He was named an apprentice with the company.
John-Paul has enjoyed nine years with the San Francisco Ballet during which time he has been privileged enough to perform principal roles in many ballets including Helgi Tomasson's Don Quixote, Concerto Grosso, and Fifth Season; Jerome Robbin's Fancy Free and The Cage; Val Caniparoli's Ibsen's House; Benjamin Millipied's The Chairman Dances; Arthur Pita's Bjork Ballet; Yuka Oishi's Bolero; Liam Scarlett's Fearful Symmetries and many other featured roles.
John-Paul has also been involved in the process of creating new works with many renowned choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, William Forsythe, Cathy Marston, Justin Peck, David Dawson, Danielle Rowe, Yuri Possokhov, Robert Garland, and Myles Thatcher among others.
Job Titles:
- Sensory Friendly Consultant
Job Titles:
- Consultant and OBT Ambassador in Bend, or
Job Titles:
- Social Media and Marketing Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Global Vice President of Men 's Apparel Nike
Job Titles:
- Director of Sales and Patron Services
- Patron Services
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Vice President, Global Employment Counsel Nike
Joined OBT in 2021
Leigh Goldberger is from West Palm Beach, Florida, where she trained with Deborah Marquez of the School of Ballet Arts while attending A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts. As a student, she was fortunate to have worked with many artistic directors and guest choreographers in all styles of dance, and has had the honor of performing roles in many classical ballets including George Balanchine's Serenade, and Valse Fantaisie, and pieces set by Lloyd Culbreath of the Fosse Trust. She has attended summer programs with Houston Ballet Academy, Milwaukee Ballet School, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and CuBallet with Laura Alonzo. In 2018, she joined Nashville Ballet's training program for two seasons before joining OBT2 for the 2020-21 season. She was promoted to company apprentice in the 2021-22 season and to a Company Artist for the 2022-23 season
Job Titles:
- Archivist & Ballet Historian
- Speaker and Ballet Historian
Linda Besant graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a Bachelor of Music degree and taught for several years in the Beaverton School District. She left music education to work in the not-for-profit sector, including co-founding and serving as executive director of Shared Outdoor Adventure Recreation, a therapeutic recreation program for people with physical disabilities. After falling in love with ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre in 1994, Linda made a lateral shift from music history to dance history. She began volunteering with OBT in 1997, and has worked for OBT as a ballet historian and speaker since 2004.
Job Titles:
- Payroll & Benefits Specialist 503.290.0018
Job Titles:
- Executive Rehearsal Director
Job Titles:
- Accounting & Business Office Manager
Joined OBT in 2020
Mathilde Lambert began training at the Washington School of Ballet, directed by Kee Juan Han. Shortly after moving to Paris, she joined the CRR de Paris before training professionally at La Scala Ballet School in Milan, Italy. She then joined the Dutch National Ballet as a trainee. She received a direct entry award to the summer intensive at The Royal Ballet School. At 18, she became an apprentice with Northern Ballet, in Leeds, England. She danced in David Nixon's The Little Mermaid as well as in Kenneth MacMillan's Concerto, and the title role in Northern Ballet's Ugly Duckling. Mathilde continued her career dancing with Columbia Classical Ballet where she performed the roles of Snow White in Mark Diamond's ballet, the Snow Queen in Radenko Pavlovich's The Nutcracker, the soloist girl in Rick McCullough's Triptych Life Chance Gala, and the Second Odalisque in Le Corsaire. With the Minnesota Ballet she danced some of her favorite roles including: the Sugar Plum Fairy in Allen Fields' The Nutcracker, and the role of Tatiana in Bruce Wells' A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Job Titles:
- Speaker & Historian - in - Training
Melanie began her dance training in Graham Technique as a member of the Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble and later continued her ballet training at Minnesota Dance Theater under the tutelage of Marjorie Thompson and Gloria Govrin. She excelled as a principal artist with MDT under Artistic Director Lise Houlton, performing in both classical and contemporary works by choreographers such as Dwight Rhoden, Elliot Feld, Hope Boykin, and many others.
Transitioning from the stage, Melanie founded "I Speak Organized," a professional organizing company specializing in organizing/productivity strategies for ADHD and other neurodiverse clients. As a nationally recognized organizing expert and public speaker, her insights have been featured in Forbes, Martha Stewart, USA Today, and more. She shares her expertise through her popular podcast and YouTube channel, offering valuable guidance on the business of creating organized, harmonious spaces.
Melanie continues to inspire through speaking engagements and coaching, leveraging her artistic discipline and organizational acumen to guide a diverse range of audiences toward success. She is thrilled to work alongside all the inspiring artists and staff at OBT.
Melissa Chapski was born in Medfield, Massachusetts. In 2015, she graduated from the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York City under the mentorship of Erin Forrest and Edward Ellison. That same year, she was awarded a gold medal at Indianapolis International Ballet Competition and YAGP's Boston semi-final, as well as a contract to the Dutch National Ballet's junior company at YAGP Finals. Chapski danced in Europe for nine years with two leading ballet companies: the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam and the Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet) in Munich.
Chapski's noteworthy repertoire includes the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine and Petipa's versions of The Nutcracker, the title role in Vaganova's La Gioconda, Coppelia's Friends in Roland Petit's Coppelia, Zulma in Giselle, the Pas de Cinq in David Dawson's Giselle, Snow Queen and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, and Cygnets in Swan Lake. Chapski's favorite performance memory is Trois Gnossiennes, a famous duet by legendary Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen. Chapski was coached on the piece by Hans during her time in Amsterdam. Melissa also really enjoys work by George Balanchine and loved dancing Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds in Jewels, the demi-soloists in Symphony in Three Movements, and Ballet Imperial. Chapski's expansive gala repertoire includes several classical pas de deuxs including Don Quixote pas de deux and Le Corsaire pas de deux. She has also danced Embers, a neoclassical duet choreographed by Dutch National's Ernst Meisner, in dozens of international galas since her premiere in 2015.
Chapski was also featured as Emma in the movie High Strung: Free Dance and has done numerous advertisement campaigns internationally for brands like Huawei, Nikon, Discount Dance Supply, Capezio, Russian Pointe, Hotel Bergeblick, and Cartier. She was recently part of a world premiere dance production for Cartier's high jewelry event by choreographer Ilya Jivoy. Chapski was also featured in a short dance film called Lake of Dreams which won over 60 awards at international film festivals around Europe. She is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at Harvard University's Extension School in social sciences and would like to achieve her masters upon graduation.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Executive Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Resident Lighting Designer
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Education & Community Leader
Joined OBT in 2022
Nicholas Sakai was born in Colorado, where he first began training at the Colorado Conservatory of Dance under the tutelage of Julia Wilkinson Manley. He than trained at the Houston Ballet Academy under the guidance of Claudio Muñoz and Andrew Murphy. He began his career at Dayton Ballet under current artistic director Karen Russo Burke. At Dayton, he performed soloist roles such as Escamillo in their production of Septime Webre's Carmen. He then went to Eugene ballet to work with current artistic director Toni Pimble, where he enjoyed performing a variety of soloist roles such as Hans in Toni Pimbles' Nutcracker and Lucentio in her The Taming of the Shrew.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Principal ZGF Architects
Job Titles:
- Institutional Giving Manager
Job Titles:
- Assistant Music Librarian
Job Titles:
- Director of Education and Community Engagement 503 - 290 - 0012
- Education and Community Engagement Director
Robyn Ulibarri began her dance training in SW Washington and began teaching at age 15. She developed a love for musical theater while attending Centralia College and has appeared in and choreographed over 20 productions. Robyn graduated with honors from Columbia College Chicago in 2004 and has taught for various studios, camps, after school programs, and educational facilities for over 30 years. She has been with OBT since 2011 and adores the opportunity to share movement with students in the community. Robyn earned her Elementary Teaching Certificate in 2022. She is grateful to work alongside a beautiful, knowledgeable team and to connect to students through the art form of dance!
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Marketing Development Manager
Job Titles:
- Artist Community Partnership Specialist
- Community Partnership Specialist & Teaching Artist
Sarah has been teaching in schools and community settings for the past two decades. She is passionate about sharing her love of movement and dance with students and encouraging them to find their own creative voice through dance. Sarah has taught children and adults of all ages in private studios, preschools, public schools, community centers and assisted living facilities. She has taught in various studios and schools throughout the Portland area and was previously on faculty with Malashock Dance Company School, Malashock Education Outreach, and Chicago After School Matters.
Sarah holds an MFA in Dance from Mills College with an emphasis in choreography and dance education and a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah. She performed with the Chicago Moving Company 2002-2004 and as a guest artist with Repertory Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also performed in the 2002 Winter Olympics Arts Festival. Sarah loves being part of the OBT Education and Community Engagement team and working to make dance more accessible.
Sava Milojević was born in Serbia where he began his ballet training at age eleven. Throughout his professional career, he has worked for nine seasons with notable companies in Europe including the Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet) and the Stuttgart Ballet. Alongside his company career, Milojević has also been awarded numerous medals at Serbian national ballet competitions.
Some of Milojević's favorite roles include Ali in Le Corsaire, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, the title role in Vaganova's La Gioconda, the four boys in Balanchine's Rubies, the Pas de Six in Swan Lake, and George Balanchine's Allegro Brilliante. Milojević enjoyed the one-on-one creation process with Marco Gecko for a solo in the world premiere of his Sweet Bones Melody. He was also featured as one of the four solo boys in the premiere of Le Parc at Bavarian State Ballet.
Milojević has made numerous international guest appearances in Europe, Asia, and North America. He enjoyed performing Gopak variation and the Don Quixote pas de deux in a gala dedicated to Rudolf Nureyev in Athens, Greece. He also performed Embers, a duet by Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company director Ernst Meisner, in several galas across Germany, Mexico, France, and Belgium. He participated in tours to Japan and South Korea in productions of both Onegin and Romeo and Juliet with the Stuttgart Ballet. He also danced in Romeo and Juliet at the famous Salzburg Festspiel - a renowned international arts festival featured in the movie The Sound of Music. Soon after, Milojević toured to Hong Kong with the Bavarian State Ballet dancing in La Bayadere.
Milojević was recently part of a world premiere dance production for Cartier's high jewelry event by choreographer Ilya Jivoy. He was also featured in a short dance film called Lake of Dreams which won over 60 awards at international film festivals in Europe. Aside from his normal working schedule, Milojević has a passion for teaching ballet and has taught internationally in Germany, Serbia, Mexico, the United States, and Italy.
Shane Jewell hails from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and has over twenty years of experience working in performing arts administration and producing. He most recently was the General Manager of Gibney Company in New York City, where he built the infrastructure and strategic plan for a newly formed contemporary dance company that performed in NYC and toured internationally. While at Gibney, Shane got to work with such esteemed choreographers as Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Sonya Tayeh, Alan Lucien Øyen, and many more. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director of the Orlando Ballet, Executive Director of Oklahoma City Ballet, and Executive Director of OK Mozart International Music Festival.
Shane has raised over thirty million dollars to the various nonprofits of his employ. He successfully completed two capital campaigns and a multi-million dollar sustainability campaign while maintaining operational contributed income. Both Orlando and Oklahoma City Ballet also saw increased ticket sales and school enrollment during his tenure.
He has been very involved in the communities he has lived. He has served as a member of Leadership Oklahoma City, Leadership Orlando Oklahoma City Rotary, and Bartlesville Rotary. He has also sat on the Price Tower Advisory Council, Oklahoma Contemporary Art Museum Education Committee, Downtown Bartlesville Inc. Advisory Board, and the Oklahoma Presenters Network. He is a member of Dance/USA and served as interim chair of the Managers Council for dance organization with budgets from 3.5 to 15 million.
Jewell has spoken both nationally and internationally at conferences focusing on the dance industry. He spoke at the National Arts Marketing Conference regarding effectively marketing a classical dance company. He also spoke at the Ballet: Why and How Conference in Arnhem, Netherlands on creative marketing strategies for dance.
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing and Communications
Job Titles:
- Prop Artist & Videographer
Taylor McDougall is a Portland native who loves living in the Pacific Northwest. She received her early training at Oregon Ballet Theatre under the direction of Haydee Gutierrez and James Canfield. During high school she became a Jefferson Dancer, and performed all over Portland, as well as Miami, Philadelphia, and parts of France. During this time she studied ballet with Sarah Slipper, jazz with Steve Gonzales, and worked with several internationally recognized choreographers. Taylor is a co-director and dancer with Portland-based TripTheDark Dance Company, working also as a choreographer, and she loves taking classes of all styles around town. She teaches her own pop-culture inspired dance fitness classes and loves showing inexperienced movers that anybody can dance. Taylor also loves sharing her passion for dance with children, and coaxing them to do their very best - she is thrilled to be a part of OBT to show students why dance is so important to our world. She enjoys time with her daughter, large bodies of water, loud music, and fancy food!
Joined OBT in 2018
Zuzu Metzler grew up in Camas, Washington. She trained with OBT School, then joined OBT2. She became an OBT apprentice in 2018 and was promoted to company artist in 2020. She was awarded the Elena Carter Memorial Scholarship and has spent summers at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, and Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell. Her favorite performances and roles include Nicolo Fonte's Accidental Signals, Cupid in the Annual School Performance of the Dream Scene from Don Quixote, and both Harlequin and Marzipan in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker®. She has also enjoyed dancing Winter Fairy in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella and Jewels in Christopher Stowell's The Sleeping Beauty.