Artistic staff
Kathy Chamberlain
Founder | Artistic DirectorKathy Chamberlain is the founder and owner of the Chamberlain School of Ballet and the founder and artistic director of Chamberlain Ballet. A Texas native, she began her training in Dallas at the Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet. She received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet in New York before ultimately returning to Texas to teach dance.
The Chamberlain School of Ballet is focused on teaching and working with young dancers of all ages to instill and nurture a love of the art and beauty of dance. Excellent ballet technique is the cornerstone of all dance genres offered at the school, and the school is known for its excellence in dance instruction.
Kathy founded Chamberlain Ballet in order to provide performance opportunities for pre-professional student dancers. Under her leadership, the non-profit has initiated outreach programs to support the community including benefit performances of full productions, dance programs for at-risk youth and special needs children and young adults.
During the 20-21 pandemic year, Kathy was instrumental in developing a new outreach endeavor, creating a special pilot program that provides the fundamentals of dance to increase balance, strength and flexibility for neurological patients.
Kathy Chamberlain is a nationally recognized figure in the world of classical ballet, and is consistently recognized for her contributions to dance and the community, including lifetime achievement awards from the City of Richardson and Dance Council of North Texas.
walker Martin
Company & Production Manager | Company Rehearsal AssistantWalker Martin was born in Clinton, Oklahoma and trained at the Western Oklahoma Ballet Academy. In the summers, he studied on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre® (ABT) Summer Intensives in New York City, and was named an ABT® National Training Scholar from 2009 to 2011. Walker continued his training at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where he performed with Houston Ballet in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker and Stanton Welch’s Cinderella.
He then danced with Ballet Quad Cities for a season before joining Oklahoma City Ballet in 2013. He was promoted to Soloist in 2016. With Oklahoma City Ballet, Walker performed leading and feature roles, including The White Rabbit in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Melancholic in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Jonathan Harker and Renfield in Michael Pink’s Dracula, The Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Gurn in August Bournonville’sLa Sylphide, Mercutio and Benvolio in Robert Mills’ Romeo & Juliet, Hans/The Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Cavalier in Mills’ The Nutcracker, Puck in Mills’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Ivan in Mills’ The Firebird, Prince Eric in Mills’ The Little Mermaid, as well as the title role in Paul Vasterling’s Peter Pan.
Additionally, Walker’s repertoire with Oklahoma City Ballet included works by Twyla Tharp, Jorma Elo, Stanton Welch, Helen Pickett, Toni Pimble, and Amy Seiwert, and he has also created roles in works by Cayetano Soto, Matthew Neenan, Brian Enos, Ma Cong, Sarah Tallman, and Robert Mills.
Walker then spent two seasons dancing with Diablo Ballet. With Diablo Ballet, Walker performed George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Stanton Welch’s Orange, and other works by Penny Saunders and Julia Adam.
Walker is certified in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum, and is an ABT® Fellowship Teacher, having successfully presented students for examinations.
Dalia Hay
Nutcracker Rehearsal AssistantDalia Hay was born in Queens, New York and began taking ballet lessons at 3 years old with Hungarian ballerina, Nora Kovach. In 1980, she moved to Dallas with her family and studied with the Tuzer Ballet and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet.
At age 16, Dalia accepted her first contract to dance professionally in Tennessee. At 17, she danced as an apprentice with the Ft. Worth ballet for 6 months before signing a contract with the renowned Milwaukee Ballet. With Milwaukee Ballet she performed many full length ballets and contemporary works. In 1986 the Milwaukee Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet created a first of its kind joint venture. For 3 years the company performed regularly to audiences in both cities. Eventually the companies split and Dalia remained with the Pennsylvania Ballet where she spent 12 years of her career as a Soloist.
During her years as a Soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet, Mrs. Hay was featured prominently in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker performing the principal roles of Sugar Plum, Arabian, and the exuberant Dew Drop. She regularly performed principle roles in many other Balanchine favorites including Rubies, Agon, Square Dance, The Four Temperaments, and Stars and Stripes. A highly versatile artist, Dalia performed in more classical roles often cast as the starring role in Cinderella, and Myrta in Giselle.
Dalia retired from The Pennsylvania Ballet in 1998 to start a family and open a dance academy with Douglas Hay, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet. They operated their academy in NJ for 20 years and trained many professional dancers. Their students have gone on to dance in major ballet companies such as The New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and Dance Theater of Harlem. Not limited to classical dance, some of their students have gone on to enjoy careers on Broadway as Musical artists.
In 2021, their daughter Juliet Hay, joined the Miami City Ballet and Jonathan their son, lives in Memphis and is a professional guitarist and touring musician. Dalia has since moved back to Dallas in 2018 with her dog Shelby to be closer to her family. Dalia guest teaches at various studios in the Dallas Metroplex as a guest teacher and private coach. She loves to inspire her students with her hard earned knowledge of the art form to “just love dancing and be the best they can be” in a positive and fun atmosphere.
Shawn Stevens
Nutcracker Rehearsal AssistantShawn Stevens is originally from Houston, Texas. At age 14, she attended Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts under the direction of Sydelle Gomberg. She continued her training at the School of American Ballet. In 1982, she was chosen by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet (NYCB). During her time with the company, she performed principal roles in Balanchine's ballets, including Symphony in Three Movements, The Four Temperaments, and Symphony in C. She also danced in the original cast and performed principal roles in Brahms/Handel, choreographed by Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins. Stevens has worked with many other choreographers, such as Peter Martins, William Forsythe, Edward Villella, Ib Andersen, and Joseph Duell. During the 10 years she performed with NYCB, she danced in the TV programs Live from Lincoln Center with NYCB and Dance in America. She has also appeared as a principal dancer with the New York City Opera in Cinderella. In 1991, Stevens joined Twyla Tharp Dance, where she performed for five years. With Tharp's company, she performed repertoire works as well as new works as a principal. She was asked to dance in the Cutting Up tour with Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Stevens’ film credits include I'll Do Anything and In the Upper Room, both choreographed by Tharp. Stevens was personally invited to perform in Tharp’s hit Broadway musical Movin' Out. She has been teaching ballet at several schools, universities, and companies throughout the United States. She is approved by The George Balanchine Trust to restage George Balanchine works and also stages works by Tharp through the Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation.