Dorothea Garland
Dorothea Garland is from Framingham, MA and trained at New England Ballet, Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, and later Mercyhurst College, where she danced various roles including Elegy Lead in Serenade and Myrtha in Giselle. Ms. Garland then went on to dance for Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina and Jose Mateo’s Ballet Theater of Boston, where she recently returned for their 2025 Nutcracker season. She has spent the last 20 years dancing in New York City working with various choreographers and companies, most extensively with Ballets with a Twist and she is proud to have been a founding member of East Coast Contemporary Ballet.
Katelyn Somers
Katelyn studied dance at Interlochen Arts Academy, where she performed roles such as Giselle and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She proceeded to receive her BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of music. While there, she performed leading roles in contemporary works by Anthony Krutzkamp, Victoria Morgan, and Andre Megerdichian. Katelyn spent her final year of university dancing with the Cincinnati Ballet ll before moving to New York City in 2016. She has since performed with Connecticut Ballet, MorDance, Abanar Dance Films, and various other companies. She is a founder member of East Coast Contemporary Ballet.
Haley Neisser
Haley began her dance training at Los Angeles Ballet Academy. She later graduated from Virginia School of the Arts and then spent two years as a trainee with The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago where she performed in works by Ray Mercer, Carlos dos Santos, and Ma Cong . Haley then danced for four years with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center, dancing in various Balanchine works including Swan Lake, Emeralds, Stars and Stripes, and Serenade. Haley has appeared as a guest artist with State Street Ballet, the National Dance Institute, and in various productions of The Nutcracker. As a freelance dancer in New York City, Haley has worked with choreographers such as Karole Armitage, Donna Salgado, and David Fernandez. Haley currently dances with Ballets With a Twist and East Coast Contemporary Ballet while also attending Columbia University.
Cassandra Punzo
Began as a gymnast and transitioned to a formal ballet education at age thirteen with the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts. Here, she trained under great ballet mentors such as Eleanor D’Antuono, Alexei Tchernichov and Kirk Peterson, and performed in roles including Sugarplum, Juliet, Soloist from Les Sylphides and Shades Soloist from La Bayadere. During her high school years, she also studied the Vaganova ballet technique with the masterful Bolshoi Ballet in New York City under mentor Svetlana Ivanova. Upon graduation in 2016, she studied as a Trainee with Charlotte Ballet where she was able to work with Balanchine and contemporary ballet masters such as Patricia McBride, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and Dwight Rhoden. In Charlotte, Cassie furthered her dance knowledge in Ballroom Show Dance where she and her partner performed and competed in professional shows and competitions across the country, including Entertainer of the Year 2018 in Louisville, where they were the winners. Along with her travels, she danced as a soloist with Columbia Classical Ballet and Virginia Ballet Theatre. Now, she is pursuing her career in NYC and the surrounding area, having danced with numerous companies and shows, including Connecticut Ballet, Ballets with a Twist, Dances Patrelle, and a solo in New York Fashion Week.
Mackenzie Maier
Is a native of Connecticut and a recent graduate of Darien Arts Center Dance Academy. Having studied under Deborah Wingert at Manhattan Youth Ballet during the summer, Mackenzie has trained extensively with Claire Mazza and Alejandro Ulloa. Alongside her commitment to ECCB, Mackenzie is currently enrolled at Fordham University in NYC.
William Herrera Gutiérrez
A ballet dancer and teacher from Managua, Nicaragua. He studied and graduated as one of the best of his generation from the National Ballet School of Nicaragua. At the age of 9, he started dancing in the Gran Ballet Quezalnahuatl, a traditional Nicaraguan dance company, and started ballet professionally at the age of 15. After graduating, he started dancing professionally as a soloist dancer in the Compañía Ballet de Nicaragua under the direction of William Herrera and quickly became a principal dancer, interpreting leading roles in the classical repertoire and contemporary works by Eduardo Blanco. William joined Mystic Ballet in 2013 under the direction of Goran Subotic and danced for two full seasons performing leading roles of classical repertoire and contemporary works by Sergei Vanaev, Gabrielle Lamb, Laura Edson and Austin Mckormick. He has been a guest principal dancer in companies in Central America performing classicals such as The Nutcracker,Carmen, Le Bayadere, and Swan Lake and performed in The Nutcracker production in Costa Rica under the direction of the former American Ballet principal Wes Chapman. In 2022, he was invited by the artistic director Jan Fousek of the Moravian Ballet Olomouc in Czech Republic to join the company as a soloist where he performed leading roles in classical repertoire such as The Nutcracker, Le Bayadere and Giselle by Michal Štipa and in contemporary works: Solo for Three by Pter Zuska, Bolero by Riccardo de Nigris and Blood Wedding by Alena Peškova. He has performed in several galas in Germany, Serbia, Hungary, USA, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
Santiago Jiménez Vargas
Born in Colombia, Santiago Jiménez Vargas launched his artistic career at 15 and began his ballet training at 17. He initially studied at Ballet Anna Pavlova, joining the “Alma en Movimiento” program in collaboration with the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater in Bogotá. In 2018, he relocated to New York City to attend Ballet Academy East, from which he graduated in 2020. During his training, he collaborated with esteemed choreographers such as Darla Hoover, Lia Ciro, Alan Hineline, Silas Farley, Maina Gielgud, Ariel Rose, and others.After his tenure with Barcelona Ballet during the 2021-22 season, Santiago continued to advance his craft in New York City as a freelance dancer, focusing on professional technique and interpretive skills. He has performed prominent roles in productions such as Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, Romanza, In Excelsis, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where he notably portrayed Puck. His credits also include solo and demi-soloist roles in the Nutcracker for Brooklyn Ballet. Since his time at Brooklyn Ballet, Santiago has danced for Ballet des Américas, featuring in roles such as the Snow King in The Nutcracker and various contemporary productions. He has also performed with the Staten Island Ballet and recently joined the East Coast Contemporary Ballet in 2024 coinciding with the fifth anniversary showcase season. Currently, Santiago is exploring new dance forms, specifically in the realms of neoclassical and contemporary dance.
Bret Coppa
Has participated in summer intensives and competitions around the U.S. as well as internationally. He attended UNCSA and performed many leading roles: Principal Man in Donizetti Variations, Waltz Boy in Serenade, Solor in La Bayadere, The Poet in Les Sylphides, plus numerous roles from The Nutcracker. After graduating from UNCSA he attended Ballet Heritage in St. Petersburg, Russia, receiving a teaching certification in the Vaganova Method. Starting his professional career as a member of Atlanta Ballet, Bret originated in roles such as Gaston in Bruce Well’s Beauty and the Beast, later also performing as the Beast. Other works at Atlanta Ballet include pieces by Ricardo Amarante, Yuri Possokhov, Mark Morris, Johan Kobborg, Claudia Schreier, Lar Lubovitch, Alexander Ekman, Liam Scarlett, and Dwight Rhoden. Post Atlanta Ballet, Bret freelanced in Atlanta and danced with Terminus Modern Ballet Theater. He is now living and working in NYC.
