Our Faculty
Alan Obuzor - Artistic Director
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Alan Obuzor was honored in 2013 by Dance Magazine by being named one of the "Top 25 to Watch". Originally from Pittsburgh, Alan began dancing at the age of nine. Two years later he attended Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School (PBTS), where in 1998 he was a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Foundation Dance Honorarium. Alan received a contract to join Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's (PBT's) professional company at the age of 17. During his seven years in PBT's Company, he danced a wide array of ballets ranging from classical to neoclassical to contemporary, which included principal and soloist roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Carmina Burana and Divertimento 15. In that time he also worked with many world renowned figures in dance, and was selected to originate soloist roles in new works by choreographers Dwight Rhoden, Derek Dean, Matjash Mrozewski and Jiabin Pan. Alan began teaching in 2002; from 2007-2012, Alan was on the faculty of PBTS as one of the primary Pre-Professional Division teachers and choreographers. In the fall of 2012, Alan joined the teaching faculty of Pittsburgh Youth Ballet. Alan choreographed his first work in 2002 on himself and a fellow dancer. Since that time he has choreographed over 55 new works for Texture Contemporary Ballet, PBT, PBTS, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet Company, New Ballet Ensemble, Harvard Ballet Company, Point Park University, Dancers' Trust, Canton Ballet, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and various independent projects. In 2011, Alan won first place in the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters Dance/Choreography competition. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of Texture Contemporary Ballet in 2011.
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Christopher Bandy
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Christopher Bandy grew up in West Virginia and took ballet starting at the age of 9 at the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet School. He would spend several weeks a year in NYC taking classes with David Howard on scholarship. After high school he spent a year at the Princeton Ballet School before beginning a 14 year dance career with American Repertory Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Terpsicorps Theater of Dance in North Carolina, where he serves as ballet master during the month of June each year. He has taught ballet for over ten years for professional dancers from Pittsburgh to San Francisco to Nashville. Bandy co-founded a pre-professional program at Oglebay Institute in Wheeling. He is also an avid choreographer and has created works for Terpsicorps, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Texture Contemporary Ballet in addition to creating an original production of The Nutcracker on commission from the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.
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Abigrace Diprima
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Abigrace is from Lawrenceville, GA and trained under the direction of Lisa Sheppard Robson and Wade Walthall. During this time, she attended the Youth America Grand Prix NYC finals in 2010 and 2014. She continued her studies at University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Dean Susan Jaffe, receiving her BFA in dance. During her time at UNCSA, she enjoyed performing various works including Russian demi-soloist in Balanchine’s Serenade, Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, and the Mazurka variation and pas de deux from Fokine’s Les Sylphides. Abigrace went on to dance with Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company and Ballet Tucson as an apprentice. Following this, she danced as a freelance artist with Kayzer Ballet (Covilha, Portugal), Bluebird Uncaged (Atlanta, GA), Jana Taylor and Dancers, and Pasadena Dance Theatre. Abigrace joined Eugene Ballet as a company artist in 2020 and enjoyed dancing full length classical ballets and contemporary works. Her favorites include soloist roles in Suzanne Haag's Conduct and With Your Own Wings, as well as Haag's Heaven and Earth. She also enjoyed dancing for #instaballet events in Eugene, which used audience participation to choreograph on professional dancers. She is currently a resident dancer with Texture Contemporary Ballet.
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Hallie Neill Leach
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Hallie Neill Leach is a graduate of Duquesne University where she received both her Bachelor and Master degree in Education.
She currently works at St. Therese in Munhall teaching 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts. Hallie’s dance background began as a student of Jean Gedeon’s at age eight and continued for more than ten years. Hallie’s dance training also took her to Point Park Conservatory of Dance, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, North Carolina School of the Arts and the PA Governor’s School for the Arts. Currently she teaches preschool dance at Texture. |
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Christine Rennie Mikrut
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Christine Rennie Mikrut was a professional ballerina for over fifteen years with the Nashville Ballet and the Ohio Ballet. Throughout her career, she danced numerous classical roles including Juliet, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy, and Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, as well as being featured in contemporary works by celebrated choreographers Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and Trey McIntyre. She also performed several leading roles in works by George Balanchine including Serenade, Square Dance, Allegro Brillante, and The Four Temperaments.
Christine received the Individual Artist Fellowship in Dance awarded by the Tennessee Arts Commission in 2008 and was featured as one of Nashville Lifestyles Magazine's 25 most beautiful people in 2006. She was also awarded an educational grant from the Caroline Newhouse Scholarship Fund in 2010 which enabled her to complete her yoga certification with Sanctuary Yoga of Nashville. While performing, Christine was also an instructor with the School of Nashville Ballet from 2001 until 2014 when she relocated back home to the Greensburg area. She has taught all levels of ballet from baby ballerinas to the Nashville Ballet professional company dancers. |
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Katie Miller
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Katie Miller is originally from Michigan and began taking dance classes at the age of three. She studied for many years at the Paavola School of Dance, spending summers at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s (PBTS’s) Intensive Summer Programs. She continued her studies at PBTS’s Graduate Program for two years where she had the opportunity to perform with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, attended Complexions Contemporary Ballet Summer Intensive, and also received private instruction from Giuseppe Canale of Northeast Academy of Dance.
She has performed with Texture Contemporary Ballet since 2012, danced with the Sacramento Ballet for six years, and had the opportunity to perform in The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Forever Balanchine: Farewell Performances at The Kennedy Center. The performances have ranged from classical, to contemporary, to tap, to neoclassical ballets exemplified by George Balanchine: Serenade, Chaconne, Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, Who Cares?, Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony, and Rubies. Katie has taught at Paavola School of Dance, The School of the Sacramento Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School in their Pre-Professional Division, Summer Intensive, and Community Division. She has also choreographed for Texture Contemporary Ballet’s WIP Choreography Project. For several years, Katie has been doing wide ranging administrative tasks for Texture as an Administrative Assistant and Manager of Outreach & Community Involvement. She is also currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at St. Mary’s College of California. |
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Katie Rotz
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Katie Rotz started her ballet training with the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet under the direction of Jean Gedeon. There she had the opportunity to perform numerous George Balanchine ballets such as Serenade, Nutcracker Snowflakes, Who Cares, Waltz of the Hours, Raymonda Variations, A Midsummer's Night Dream and Harlequinade. In 2009, Katie was chosen to perform with the New York City Ballet in their production of Coppelia at the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center. After receiving a scholarship to study with the School of Pennsylvania Ballet, Katie moved to Philadelphia to train and perform with the Pennsylvania Ballet. There, she had the opportunity to dance the Waltz Girl from Balanchine's Serenade as well as perform and tour with the main Pennsylvania Ballet company in George Balanchine's A Midsummer's Night Dream, Christopher Wheeldon's Swan Lake and Carnival of the Animals, and Balanchine's Nutcracker. Katie soon joined Pennsylvania Ballet II. Along with the Pennsylvania Ballet, she has danced professionally with Texture Contemporary Ballet and American National Ballet. Additional training has included multiple merit scholarships to the School of American Ballet and Boston Ballet. Katie's ballet teaching career includes the Oil Region Ballet, the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet and Improvement Thru Movement. Katie is also an adjunct faculty member of Seton Hill university where she teaches numerous courses, including advanced Ballet Technique, Pointe, and Ballet 1-4.
In addition to her love of ballet, Katie chose to pursue an adjunct career path that will help fellow dancers and athletes; sports massage therapy. As a licensed massage therapist, Katie seeks to help not only ballet dancers, but athletes and artists of all kinds. She has worked with professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes including the University of Pittsburgh football, basketball, swimming, and diving teams. Through her extensive knowledge of ballet training, anatomy, and kinesiology, she is able to cater therapeutic massage to aid in injury recovery, injury prevention, and overall health of the dancer's body. Starting in 2021, Katie is excited to offer weekly massage therapy clinics to Texture students and company members! |
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Madeline Kendall Schreiber
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Madeline Kendall Schreiber was raised in Sacramento, California where she trained from the age of eight at Capitol Ballet Center under the direction of Stuart Carroll and Sharron Newton. In 2014, Madeline moved to Salt Lake City, Utah to dance with Ballet West, where she had the opportunity to perform in productions of Giselle, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, and John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. Over the past two years, Madeline toured the state of Utah as a part of an educational outreach called Ballet West for Children. She also performed as a guest artist in a production of The Nutcracker in Fairbanks, Alaska. More recently, Madeline travelled to Germany where she participated in a Cultural Dance Exchange Program with The Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin.
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Rebekah von Rathonyi
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A native of Rochester, New York, Rebekah began her foundational ballet training at the age of 8 with the Botsford/Orcutt School of Dance under Luba Guleava and Maria Moglivesky, both graduates of the Kirov Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet. After her initial training, she studied ballet at the Draper Center for Dance Education, school to the Rochester City Ballet, under Timothy Draper and Sally Steppnes. At 14, Rebekah joined Compania Nacional de Danzá in Mexico City under the direction of Fernando Alonzo, husband to renowned Cuban ballerina, Alicia Alonzo. In 1994, she was accepted into the year-round apprentice/trainee program at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet under Roy Keiser, performing in many of Pennsylvania Ballet's productions, including several of George Balanchine's ballets. Upon returning to New York, Rebekah joined Rochester City Ballet as a principal dancer performing numerous principal roles in Nutcracker, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Firebird, and Gaite Parisian. It was at this time, Artistic Director Timothy Draper suggested she start teaching in the school.
While in Rochester, Rebekah was invited to join the Rochester City School of the Arts public high school as an Artistic Consultant. While teaching dance to grades 9-12, she formulated a curriculum which included classical ballet technique, pointe, dance history, and music theory. Rebekah served as the Academy Director and Principal dancer to the Peoria Ballet for almost ten years, as well as Interim Artistic Director for two years. In 2006, Rebekah attended the prestigious teacher training program at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada, where she focused on studying the Vagonova and Checchetti syllabus. She is an alumna of The Rock School for Dance Education and feels fortunate to have served as their Artistic Coordinator and Faculty member for a year of training. Rebekah currently serves as the Artistic Director for Central Illinois Ballet and Cornerstone Academy. As a team, Rebekah and her husband Joshua have been managing the professional company and school for 10 years. Together, they have built a team of incredible instructors, an extensive outreach program into the Peoria community, a scholarship program for underprivileged children, and produced numerous classical and contemporary works for the company and academy. A few of her favorite productions, "Women of History", "Anne Frank", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Gatsby". Most recently, Rebekah participated in The Fernando Alonso Cuban Methodology Course, hosted and trained by Laura Alonso, daughter to Fernando Alonso and Alicia Alonso. Upon finalization of the course and after examinations, Rebekah is beyond thrilled to now be certified to teach the Cuban technique in the United States. |
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Mina Willis
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Mina Willis (she/her) is a Pittsburgh-based choreographer, teacher, and performer. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Point Park University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance and Minor in English. While attending PPU, she trained with faculty such as Garfield Lemonius, slowdanger, Jae Man Joo, Jason McDole, and Kiesha Lalama. She has performed in several Student and Faculty/Guest Showcases, working with choreographers such as Penny Saunders. Mina’s additional training includes Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Nova Linea Contemporary Dance, Whirlwind Dance, Broadway Dance Center, American Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Austin. She is a past member of Celebrity Dance Competition’s Junior and Senior Crew where she assisted the instructors, served as convention staff, and performed during the "Nationals at Sea" cruises. She has choreographed for San Antonio’s W-I-P Youth Project/W-I-P Creme, Insight Dance Ensemble, The Switch at the Space Upstairs, and PPU’s Student Choreography Project. She was awarded 1st place for her work "1/3" at SALT's SHAPE Choreography Festival in 2022, as well as showcased her piece "Tooth" at NACHMO Pittsburgh's January Choreographic Showcase in 2023. She has also performed with the Pillow Projects in their full length work, (in person), directed by Pearlann Porter and John Lambert in 2023. Currently, Mina is Adjunct Faculty at Point Park University where she teaches Modern dance and a Flexologist at Stretchlab Mt Lebanon.
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