History

Plano based Chamberlain Ballet was established in May 1984 by Artistic Director Kathy Chamberlain. Chamberlain Ballet was formed as a student ensemble dedicated to providing students with a stepping-stone to professional dance careers. During their 10th season, Chamberlain Ballet became a semi-professional company with their debut of the Chamberworks Series in collaboration with the Plano Chamber Orchestra. Chamberlain Ballet is dedicated to serving North Texas and the surrounding community by providing professional quality performances and outstanding outreach programs. Chamberlain Ballet takes great pride in the ongoing efforts to expand its cultural diversity through performance collaborations. Performances are held a many venues throughout North Texas including Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, Courtyard Theater and Frisco Discovery Center.

board of
directors

Administrative

Staff

ArtistIc staff

Kathy Chamberlain

Founder/artistic director

Kathy 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 Rehearsal assistant and company/production manager

Walker 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.

shawn stevens

nutcracker rehearsal assistant

Shawn 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.

dalia hay

Nutcracker rehearsal assistant

Dalia 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.

Julia meister

nutcracker rehearsal assistant

Julia Meister was born in Seoul, South Korea and began dancing at St. Croix Ballet in Stillwater, Minnesota. She continued her training as a New Artist at Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida under Peter Stark, Philip Neal, Laurie Jones, and Ivonne Lemus, performing leading roles in Coppélia, Giselle, and George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations. She also attended summer courses at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, and National Ballet School of Canada. From 2017-2019, Ms. Meister studied on scholarship in the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School under the direction of Peter Boal, performing in both Pacific Northwest Ballet productions and ballets by Margaret Mullin and Kiyon Ross. She then joined Diablo Ballet for two seasons. Her repertoire with the company includes works by George Balanchine, Penny Saunders, and Julia Adam.

Sarah Nell Gable

Shining Stars coordinator

Chamberlain Ballet welcomes Sarah Nell Gable, a long time student at Chamberlain School of Ballet and member of Chamberlain Ballet to its faculty. Actively involved with Chamberlain Ballet's "Shining Stars" program as a teacher for her sixth season, Sarah shares her passion for dance with children with special needs. During high school, she was a member of Plano Senior High School Planoettes and was a member of "Silver Line", an elite jazz ensemble. During her senior year, she was awarded the honor of "Miss Drill Team" for the Planoettes 2017- 2018 season. Sarah attends Collin College with a focus on early childhood education and will pursue a Special Needs Certification.

Annika Haynes

Shining Stars instructor

Annika Haynes was first inspired to dance by her older sisters. When she was too young to take classes like them, she resorted to learning and practicing at home. Then at the age of four, Annika started training with Tuzer Ballet. Annika danced at Tuzer for two years and resumed her training with Chamberlain at seven. Since then, Annika has been a student of Chamberlain School of Ballet and Chamberlain Ballet until graduating high school in the Spring of 2022. During her twelve years as a student, Annika played in the Nutcracker each one of those years. As a Chamberlain Ballet Company member, she took part in numerous performance opportunities. Annika attended The School of American Ballet’s summer program in 2019 and participated in Regional Dance America Southwest for three years online and in person. After her time as a student at Chamberlain, Annika has developed a personal love for the art form. She looks forward to continuing dance and her involvement with Chamberlain now on the faculty.

Amit katz

Relevé Instructor

Meet Amit Katz, a talented dancer and recent graduate from Brenau University (Gainesville, GA). Amit is eager to share her passion for dance with others and inspire young people to explore their creativity and embrace their unique identities. By doing so, she hopes to raise awareness regarding emotional stress that young people experience these days and contribute to improving their quality of life.

Amit means "friendship" in Hebrew and resembles similar meanings in Latin languages (amitié, amici, amistad). She was born in Madrid Spain and raised in Frankfurt Germany, Herzliya Israel (where she attended leadership Jr. High School program), and Plano Texas (where she graduated from Plano West Sr. High School). Amit brings her multicultural experience and friendship into her creation process.

Amit discovered her love for dance at the age of 13 and has since dedicated herself to mastering a range of styles, including ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz. Her rigorous training and dedication to her craft have allowed her to perform on stages both locally and abroad, where she has captivated audiences with her grace, precision, and enthusiasm.

Her professionalism and dedication was noticed by Brenau University’s recruiters, who offered her a full-ride scholarship. She graduated from Brenau University in Fall 2023 with honors and earned a BA degree in Dance with an advanced ballet concentration. Amit is now poised to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer and choreographer, and she is therefore excited to be starting her first season as a professional dancer with 6 O’clock Dance Theater. Amit will dedicate her time between rehearsals and performances to pass her passion for dance to younger dancers as a dance teacher.