2018 Season Company Dancers
​

 Zac Bigbee

 Zac Bigbee was born and raised in New Mexico. A series of coincidences influenced him to take his first ballet class as a senior in high school. He went on to study Russian Language and Mathematics at the University of Arizona, while continuing his dance training in the U.S. and abroad. Since then he had worked as a dancer, aerialist, choreographer, and producer on several small projects across the Midwest and is looking forward to his first season with Zikr Dance Ensemble.

Arianna Ciccarelli

Arianna Ciccarelli is from Bristol, Connecticut. She began dancing ballet at age 12 and studied in the pre-professional resident program at The Nutmeg Conservatory for The Arts. She also spent her summers training at The School of American Ballet, English National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Washington Ballet. Arianna was a member of the Colorado Ballet Studio Company during the 2013-2014 season. Before joining Colorado Ballet in 2016, she spent two years dancing with Ballet Arizona.

This is Arianna's first season with Zikr Dance Ensemble.
​
Arianna appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

Photo by Michelle Reid

 Marian Faustino

Marian began her career in the Philippines, training and performing with the country’s two premier dance organizations: Ballet Manila (2002-2007) and Ballet Philippines (2008-2010).  She has danced soloist & principal roles in full-length classics which include The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire; and has been a part of the creative process for a number of original neo-ethnic Filipino works that have been showcased across the Philippines, South East Asia, Russia, and the United States. As a representative of the Philippines, Marian was also awarded semi-finalist and finalist certificates respectively from the Moscow and Nagoya International Ballet Competitions. After relocating to the United States, Marian danced for Dance Theater of Tennessee (2010-2011), Ballet Nouveau Colorado (2011-2013), and was a pioneering member of the collaborative contemporary ballet company, Wonderbound (2013-2016).  Marian is a recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission (2011), and was a finalist for the Denver Art Museum Creative-in-Residence Grant (2016).  Recent freelance work includes Farewell,My Lovely for choreographer Kevin Jenkins and The Pearlfishers at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, choreographed by John Malashock.
​
Kindly sponsored by Peter Gilbert***

Sara Jumper

Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sara Jumper began dancing at the age of 4. She began her serious training in her hometown, with Antonia Freehling. From 2011-2017 she attended various summer intensive programs with different ballet companies all around the country, including American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet. In 2014, Sara placed top 12 at the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Denver, Colorado. Upon graduation, she accepted a trainee position with the Nashville Ballet, where she trained for two more years. In 2016, she joined the Colorado Ballet Studio Company, where she has been given the opportunity to perform in company productions such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. Sara recently had the opportunity to perform with Colorado Ballet at the 2017 Vail International Dance Festival. She was an apprentice with Zikr Dance Ensemble for the 2017 season, and is very excited to return as a company member this year!

Kindly sponsored by Patty Jumper*

Madeleine Kuebler

Madeleine was born in Denver, Colorado. She began her early ballet training at the age of 3 and studied at various studios in Colorado. Then at the age of 14, she trained for two years at the HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Meelis Pakri, and Alexey Kulpin on full scholarship. She continued her training at summer intensives including the Paris Opera Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet, and Ellison Ballet. She returned to Colorado to complete her training in 2017 as part of Colorado Ballet’s pre-professional division. There she trained under the direction of Mrs. Erica Fishbach, and was given the opportunity to dance with the company, as well as work with resident and incoming choreographers such as Jayne Persch, Robert Sher-Machherndl, and others; performing soloist and principal roles before graduating in 2018. This is Madeleine’s first season with Zikr Dance Ensemble.

Kindly sponsored by Juergen Kuebler ***

Francesca Martoccio

Originally from Miami, Florida, Francesca Martoccio received her early ballet training at Thomas Armour Youth Ballet and at the New World School of the Arts. In May 2016, Francesca graduated from SUNY Purchase where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a Ballet Concentration. She performed several roles with Purchase Dance Company. In 2014, Francesca was chosen by the faculty to study abroad in Hong Kong, China at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. After graduating, Francesca joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company for the 2016-2017 season and was promoted to the Company in 2017. 
​
This is her first season with Zikr Dance Ensemble. 

Francesca appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

 Bryce Lee

Bryce Lee was born in Missouri and started his professional training at 12 at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy in Laguna Hills, CA. In the summer of 2011, he attended School of American Ballet, then was asked to stay for the Winter Term program from 2011-2012. He attended several summer courses on full scholarship including SAB, Miami City Ballet and Colorado Ballet. Bryce has received several awards in classical and contemporary forms of dance as well as 1st place, semi-finalist at YAGP Europe, and two-time YAGP Finalist Qualifier. He joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company in 2013 and was promoted into the Company in 2015.

This is Bryce's second season with Zikr Dance Ensemble.

Bryce appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet
 

Sean Omandam

Sean is from Fresno, California, where he began his training with Shirley Winters. He later went on to train on full-scholarship at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Olivier Pardina and Svetlana Osiyeva. Upon his graduation in 2004, he joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, and was promoted into the Company in 2005. With Colorado Ballet, Mr. Omandam has performed a variety of featured roles including Puck in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Whip Boy in Glen Tetley's The Rite of Spring, John Darling in Michael Pink's Peter Pan, Green Man in Lila York’s Celts, Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Max in Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are and Russian in Martin Freedman’s The Nutcracker. His repertory also includes works by Lar Lubovitch, Amy Seiwert, Edwaard Liang, Jodie Gates, Matthew Neenan, Dwight Rhoden, Darrell Grand Moultire, and Jessica Lang, among others. In 2007, he was a competitor and gala performer at the New York International Ballet Competition. Most recently, in the summer of 2013, Mr. Omandam was featured as a contestant on the premier season of the South Korean television show, Dancing 9.
Mr. Omandam has been a part of Zikr Dance Ensemble's company for many years and had the honour of travelling to California with artistic director David Taylor to promote the company performing Taylor's P&E pas de deux.

Sean appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

Kindly sponsored by DeLayne Wellen ***

Nicolas Pelletier

Nicolas Pelletier was born in Quebec City, Canada. He moved to California when he was eight, where he attended the San Francisco Ballet School for 10 years. He completed his training with Canada’s National Ballet School in 2010 and joined Alberta Ballet in 2011. During his six years with the Company, he had the opportunity to dance many principal roles. He also had the pleasure of working closely with Jean Grand-Maître in the creation of many new works throughout his time at Alberta Ballet, including pas de deuxs and solos. This is his first season with Colorado Ballet and Zikr Dance Ensemble. 

​Nicolas appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

 

Tyler Rhoads

Tyler Rhoads is from Midland, Texas, where he began his training with Susan Clark at Midland Festival Ballet. He later went on to train on full-scholarship at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Olivier Pardina, and Svetlana Osiyeva. After his graduation in 2011, he attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. There he studied under acclaimed staff such as Violette Verdy and Michael Vernon. He had the privilege to perform a variety of works ranging from George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, to August Bournonville’s Napoli, to Twyla Tharp’s Sweet Fields. 
Upon his graduation from college, Tyler joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, and he was promoted into the Company this year. His notable roles to date include the Chinese, Spanish and Russian divertissements in The Nutcracker and Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort.  
​This is Tyler's 3rd season as a guest artist of Zikr Dance Ensemble.

​Tyler appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

Kindly sponsored by DeLayne Wellen***

Vara Reom

​Vara Shiva Reom is from Mount Dora, Florida, and began dancing at the age of 10 at the Mount Dora School of Ballet. She later trained on full scholarship at the HARID Conservatory, and Orlando Ballet School as a Trainee. In 2015, she competed in the American Dance Competition where she placed top 10 in both the Classical and Contemporary divisions, and received a full scholarship to train at Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education for the following term. While at Tulsa Ballet, she had the opportunity to perform with the company, and work with their resident choreographer, Ma Cong. In 2016, she joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, where she has had the opportunity to perform in productions such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Derek Deane’s Romeo & Juliet, Antony Tudor’s Pillar of Fire, and George Balanchine’s Serenade at the Vail International Dance Festival.​

Ben Winegar

Ben is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He began his training at the School of the Grand Rapids Ballet at the age of 11. There he was trained by Attila Mosolygo, Gaiane Akopian, and Akop Akopian, and was given the opportunity to perform in several ballets with the Grand Rapids Ballet Company. In 2010, Ben spent a year training at the School of American Ballet. Upon graduating, he danced one season with the Los Angeles Ballet under the direction of Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary before joint the Colorado Ballet as an apprentice in 2012.He was promoted to the Corps de Ballet in 2014. His notable roles include the Spanish and Arabian divertissements in the Nutcracker and Kylian's Petite Mort. 
This is Ben's 3rd season as a guest artist of Zikr Dance Ensemble.

​Ben appears with kind permission from Colorado Ballet

.

​*Bronze Sponsor
**Silver Sponsor
***Gold Sponsor