Dancers

idtt

Yurek Hansen

A Boise native, Yurek has received all his training in the city of trees, particularly with his parents, Fred and Marla Hansen, the BSU Summer DanceFest workshop with numerous guest instructors, and study in multiple martial arts and dance forms: capoeira, break dancing, tai chi, aikido, and hip hop. Most recently Yurek has been training in West African dance and drum with Manimou Camara from Guinea. This is Yurek’s eleventh season with IDT during which time he
has performed in over sixty-five works, choreographed six, and performed nine years in IDT’s Educational Outreach Program, illuminating dance for thousands of Idaho’s youth. He is an adjunct instructor of ballet at Boise State University
and also teaches for Treasure Valley Institute for Children’s Arts and Ballet Idaho. He has also taught a ballet intensive and choreographed for Columbia Dance in Vancouver, WA., appeared as a guest artist in Kodiak, Alaska and with Ballet
Idaho. Yurek enjoys broadening his experiences and recently performed in Pippin, where he sang and danced, acted in an original play, Robots in the Ring, for the Boise Experimental Music Project 2009 and studied with SITI Company from
NYC in Suzuki actor training and Viewpoints. Yurek is a barrista, a musician, a sculpture, a composer, choreographer, an energy worker, but most of all a dancer.

Alia Kelley

Alia is an Idaho native who started pre-professional training at the age of thirteen at Ballet Idaho and Eagle Performing Arts Center and has been a member of both performing Ensembles. She also trained in Seattle at Pacific Northwest Ballet and on scholarship in the Professional Division of Houston Ballet Academy. Summer training includes BSU Summer DanceFest, Ballet Idaho, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet School of Canada,
Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Ballet Adriatico in Italy. In addition to her performances with IDT, Alia has performed with Ballet Hawaii in their production of Cinderella under the direction of Victoria Morgan, Ballet Adriatico
under the direction of Anna-Marie Holmes, and Ben Stevenson’s Nutcracker with the Houston Ballet. She has been a Dance Intern for the Usdan Center for Creative and Performing Arts in New York where she trained with and performed under the direction of Dennis Nahat. Last summer Alia was back in Hawaii performing with Ballet Hawaii in Peter Pan under the direction of Johanna Bernstein Wilt and Septime Webber. This is Alia’s third year with Idaho Dance Theatre.

Mary Kate Sickel

Mary Kate Sickel was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin where she began her training in classical ballet. She spent the last two years of high school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan where she had the chance to perform lead roles in classical works while developing a love of modern dance. Mary Kate attended Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania to focus on classical ballet technique, and then transferred to the University of Utah to fulfill her movement potential. She graduated from the University of Utah cum laude BA Anthropology and BFA Modern Dance in 2009. Her summer was spent working with internationally recognized teachers and choreographers at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. This is her first season with Idaho Dance Theatre. She would like to thank
her family for their continued support in all of her pursuits.

Caitlin Stanley

Caitlin is happy to return to the company for her third year. Beginning at the age of four Caitlin has experienced many wonderful opportunities in dance along the years. She began training at Mauldin’s Dance Academy in Twin
Falls, Idaho with Kelli Turner where she developed her passion and drive for dance particularly in tap and jazz. While dancing with Turner until her senior year, Caitlin attended workshops, master classes, summer camps, and served as the choreography captain of her high school dance team. After graduation Caitlin trained with Carol Roderick as a Ballet Idaho trainee, studied at Eagle Performing Arts Center, and then began comprehensive training with Marla Hansen at Boise State. Idaho Dance Theatre has given Caitlin the career in dance that she has strived for while also providing her with scholarships for her pursuit of a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education. Caitlin loves to laugh, watch and later quote movies, read great books, and play in the great outdoors. Above all she enjoys spending time with her friends and family.

Gonzalo Valdez

Gonzalo returns to IDT for a fifth year. He began dancing as a senior in high school after the persuasion of a classmate to take a couples swing class. After that one class he discovered his passion for dance and began to train with the local studios in his hometown of Wendell, Idaho. Along with local and national competitions, he has also attended dance workshops and master classes including Regina Williams, Tremaine in Las Vegas and BSU Summer DanceFest
in Boise. Currently, he is under the direction of Marla Hansen at Boise State. In his four years with the company he has been featured in new original pieces such as 1964, Ties That Bind, Silent Past, Tenacious and The Journey Home among others. Gonzalo has also begun a new facet in his dance career as a choreographer. He has set two new pieces on the company, one of which was selected to take on a Northern Idaho tour, and will premiere a new piece this season. Gonzalo also performs in Idaho Dance Theatre’s Educational Outreach Program “Leaps and Bounds”. In addition to dancing, Gonzalo enjoys photography and spending time with family, friends and his pet Chihuahua, Daisy.

Jeremiah Robert Wierenga

Sometimes a homecoming begins far away. Born and raised in Boise, he began his life on the stage playing Michael Darling in Boise Music Week’s 1992 production of Peter Pan. He continued to be active in the community theater
scene, playing Winthrop Paroo in Boise Music Week’s The Music Man (1995), and was a member of the Opera Idaho Children’s Chorus, appearing in Madama butterfly, H.M.S. Pinafore, Tosca, and Hansel and Gretel. An accomplished
cellist, he was a member of the Meridian Symphony of Idaho between 1997 and 2000. After moving to Oregon in 2001, he stayed active in theater, performing with Lane Musical Arts, Lord Leebrick Theatre, and the Very Little Theatre of Eugene. He began dancing in the fall of 2002 and has studied on scholarship at the Eugene Ballet Academy, LINES Ballet School, and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. In Oregon, he performed with Dance Theatre of Oregon, Traduza Dance Company, and Rita Honka Dance. Now back in his home state, Jem works as a freelance writer for the Boise Weekly and is a bookstore clerk. He wishes to thank his sister Sarah for her encouragement to take residence in this exciting world of dance.

Apprentices

Lia Mrazek (apprentice)

Lia was born and raised in Vancouver, WA where she graduated from Prairie High School in June, 2009 while attending Running Start classes at Clark College. Lia began taking ballet, jazz, modern and tumbling at age six. She joined Columbia Dance Company in 2000 where she performed lead roles such as Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Black Swan pas de deux, excerpts from Coppelia and other original works, including a Bob Fosse piece
set by Laura Haney. Lia’s experience has been enriched by participating annually in Regional Dance America festivals and attending summer intensives with Summer Dance Lab (Walla Walla, WA), Joffrey Ballet (New York), International Ballet Competition and Summer Dance Program (Jackson, MS), Ballet Idaho, Long Beach Ballet’s Ambassadors to China program during the Beijing Olympics (2008) and Milwaukee Ballet. She also had the opportunity to perform with the professional modern company BodyVox of Portland, OR. Lia enjoys creating choreography and has entered several competitions receiving first place in the Weiler Choreography Competition 2009. Lia is thankful for the professional training she received from Columbia Dance artistic director, Jan Hurst, who encouraged her to pursue her passion for dance. As an IDT apprentice, Lia is enrolled at BSU as a full time student, thanks to the IDT/BSU President’s scholarship and the Kathy Troutner Dance scholarship. She is excited to have this opportunity to explore contemporary dance. Someday she hopes to also become an interpreter in American Sign Language.

Melynda Fischer (apprentice)

Melynda Fischer grew up in Idaho and is very happy to join IDT as an apprentice this year. Melynda has enjoyed dance since she was three years old. For the past five years Melynda was a member of the Ballet Idaho Academy Ensemble
where she had the opportunity to dance in a variety of performances. She also appeared in The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and Carnival of the Animals with Eugene Ballet’s Artistic Director Tony Pimble In the last few years she has
been exploring modern dance. She is currently a freshman at Boise State University, is a dance scholarship recipient and is pursuing a Dance Minor and a Major in Interior Design. In addition to dancing Melynda enjoys camping,
painting, and spending quality time with her family.

................................................................................................................................................................................

Idaho Dance Theatre 405 South 8th Street Suite #363 Boise, Idaho 83702 (208) 331-9592 Contact Us

**Photography courtesy of John Kelly - BSU Photographer. On location at the Aspen Lofts - Downtown Boise.

**Website Design by Brandi Breshears