I first came to northern Nevada in 1988 when my then ballet partner, former San Francisco Ballet Principal, Horacio Cifuentes and I were invited to guest perform with composers/musicians Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith on a program supported by the Tahoe Arts Project. It was love at first visit for me, and I hoped that I would somehow be able to return.
The opportunity came when (after retiring from the professional stage) I was invited to become Artistic Director for the newly formed Reno Ballet in 1995 and 1996, presenting a (pre Artown) large Summer Ballet Event at Wingfield Park featuring top dance artists from all over the world with a corps of dancers that I had either trained or had worked with in my career.
The Reno Ballet trained and rehearsed in the SF Bay Area at Peninsula Ballet Theatre School (internationally known for its fine ballet training), where I had taken over directorship. Directing both organizations enabled me to work with dancers from both states and to travel back and forth on a regular basis. When Raphael Barkley (the Reno Ballet Founder and Executive Director) was in a serious car accident, the RB Board elected to temporarily postpone performances in Reno. We continued doing some performing in California under the name Perspectives Dance Theater.
It was (three years later) when the company was performing in the SF Bay Area that I met Steven M. Porter and was invited by Gina Kaskie Davis to direct the ballet program at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center in Carson City, traveling back and forth weekly throughout the year. It very soon became obvious to me that, while there were many talented student dancers in the northern Nevada area, they had little exposure to real professional level ballet. For that reason, when Steve and I married in 2000, we got together with a group of ballet lovers and dedicated ourselves to establishing a professional ballet company in Reno. Instead of resurrecting the Reno Ballet the new board preferred to broaden the community base and officially formed Sierra Nevada Ballet in March 2001 as the professional ballet company for all of northern Nevada.
With wonderful sponsors SNB quickly began to hire professional dancers, presented yearly workshops and regular performances throughout the year and inspired acclaimed music, theater and dance critic Jack Neal to review Sierra Nevada Ballet as a “truly professional dance company emerging in the Reno metropolitan area.”
SNB started an Apprentice/Trainee Program which was a free program (by invitation or audition) offered to talented students in northern Nevada and started the SNB educational outreach program and the young choreography program.
For several years SNB moved around from studio to studio, being housed in many places until we finally found a home in 2016.
Throughout the years SNB began to get a quality reputation in the arts world on both the East and West Coasts due to national auditions and affiliations with ABT, Dance Theatre of Harlem and many other top companies. SNB began attracting more funding from the City, State and other foundations and direct grants from the National Endowment for The Arts (for 3 years) and inspiring people like former Reno Arts and Culture Manager, Christine Fey, to say in 2015: “SNB has raised the bar in the Reno Dance Community.”
The Apprentice/ Trainee program produced quite a number of professional ballet dancers and inspired the board to start an academy in 2012 which was housed at Fascinating Rhythm Preforming Arts Center. When it became apparent that SNB needed a home of its own, the SNB Board elected to try to find a venue for both the academy and company.
With a very short time to move and not a lot of funding in place, it looked like it would be an impossible task for us. But (as my mother always told me) miracles do sometimes take place. We found a great location, and donations began to pour in from throughout northern Nevada. An architect, a building contractor, a painter, a floor specialist, a glass company and many volunteer workers donated their services, and monetary donations came in from several businesses and the Buck and the Marin Foundations.
On June 6, 2016 SNB opened its new home at 3929 S. McCarran Blvd. in Reno.
The miracles did not stop after the venue was constructed. During these challenging COVID times, SNB has survived thanks to our wonderful City and State and many volunteers.
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of SNB. It is a company filled with love and built by love through the dedication of an amazing community.
When I fell in love at first visit with this community in 1988, I did not realize that it would be a love that would grow and last for my lifetime. Thank you – to all of you wonderful people for 20 years of Sierra Nevada Ballet!
Alexander Cain Biber (Principal Dancer/ Ballet Master/ Choreographer in Residence/Teacher) grew up in a performing arts family and has loved theater and performing from an early age. He began his ballet training, at the age of 14, with Rosine Bena at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center – studying ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theater. In 2003, Alexander became an apprentice with Sierra Nevada Ballet and was promoted to the first company in 2006, to soloist in 2008, and to Principal in 2012.
Jennifer Lightfoot-Johnson (Grant Writer and Development Consultant) comes to SNB with 16 years of experience, both professionally and as a volunteer, in grant writing and working in the nonprofit sector.
Jennifer Boyle August (Guest Teacher/Choreographer) discovered her love of dance in Reno, Nev. During her time at Reno High School, Jennifer took a Modern class at TMCC, with instruction in Graham, Luigi, and Horton dance technique. While Jennifer was educated in other areas of dance, she felt these styles spoke to her more than anything else. After graduating from Reno High School, she moved to Boston to study dance with Joan Palladino at Dean College where she received her Associate’s Degree in Dance. She was then hand-selected by Judith Jamison to study at Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Intensive program in New York City.
Sara Weir (Demi Soloist) was born in Provo, Utah, and started ballet at age three. She trained in dance with Trisha Wilstead at Rocky Mountain Dance and then trained with Brittany Squires and Heather Gray at Jaquiline’s School of Ballet. She performed professionally with Showcase and Theater Ballet at Brigham Young University, Utah Regional Ballet, and Sacramento Ballet.
Carlee Bertero (Soloist/ Teacher) was born in northern Nevada and began studying dance at an early age at Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts in Reno. Carlee was invited to join the Sierra Nevada Ballet Apprentice program in 2012; was raised to the first company in 2013; to featured corps member in 2016, to Demi-Soloist in 2017, and to Soloist in 2021. She has performed in many SNB story ballets such as Peanutcracker-The Story In A Nutshell, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty-A Fairy’s Tale, A Midsummer Nights Dream- A Steam Punk Ballet, and Twelfth Night-A Ballet Noir. She has performed as a featured dancer with SNB annually in Dancing By The River as part of Reno’s Artown Festival and in SNB’s annual Brew Brats and Ballet in Reno and Carson City.
Domingo Rubio (Second Permanent Guest Artist/Guest Teacher) is SNB’s second Permanent Guest Artist as of May 2005. He has danced professionally for some 30 years. Domingo has danced with the Joffrey Ballet and Ballet Hispanico and was featured in the Robert Altman film, The Company. Rubio danced the role of Maxfield Parrish in SNB’s, A Painter’s Love Story and is a featured artist in SNB’s Dancing By the River and annual ballet classics.
Sam Weber (First Permanent Guest Artist/ Guest Teacher) is SNB’s first Permanent Guest Artist and is a founding member of the Company. He was one of the first permanent guest artists of The Reno Ballet under the direction of Rosine Bena. Weber danced with the Joffery Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and The Jazz Tap Ensemble. Besides being a fine ballet dancer, Weber is considered one of the greatest tap dancers in the world. He is known as “the fastest feet in tap.”
Gina Nelson (SNB Company Coordinator for Carson City and SNB Board Member) is originally from Napa Valley, Calif., and a long-time supporter of the arts and arts education. Gina worked as a crisis prevention specialist in a day treatment elementary school and was a counselor/teacher in a non-public school for at-risk boys.
Steven M. Porter (SNB Board President/SNB CEO) is a long-time devotee of the arts. Originally from the East Coast, Steve was raised with love and devotion to all the arts.
Cathy Mercer (SNB Company Coordinator for Reno/Managing Director/Board Member) grew up in Carson City and is a former dancer with a long-time devotion to the art form.
Ananda Bena-Weber (Associate Director, Dance Artist/ Ballerina/Principal/Teacher) is a principal dancer and NY award-winning artist and the Associate Director of the Sierra Nevada Ballet and a founding member. She has danced professionally as a soloist with the Reno Ballet when it was formed in 1994/95 and 1996. She danced with Perspectives Dance Theatre and Fascinating Rhythm Productions. She has appeared as a featured soloist with Sam Weber performing in Morton Gould’s “Concerto for Tap Dancer and Orchestra” throughout the SF Bay Area. She has appeared in principal roles in several original dance works such as Take Me To The River and Blue Rondo, and classics such as Les Sylphides, Romeo and Juliet, and Paquita.
Rosine Bena (Founder and Artistic Director/Master Teacher)
Sophia Riella (Trainee) was born in Truckee, Calif. She started ballet at the age of two with Sherrie Petersen, Sierra Ballet School and continued there for six years while also studying Irish and Scottish Dance with Lindsey Marccaci in Lake Tahoe and at Truckee Dance Factory doing competition dance. She has also studied classical music, composing, and piano with Elaine Courtney and has studied voice with Stephanie McMoy.
Erin Garman (First Year Company) began dancing at the age of 12 at Scene Stealers Theatre Arts where she trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, musical theatre, and ballet. She later began training with Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts where she continued training in many styles and at Sierra Nevada Ballet Academy where she first met Rosine Bena, and started getting more serious about ballet, also dancing with Spiral Ballet.
Maya Macias (Trainee) was born in Houston, Texas into a military family. While her family was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, at age two and a half years old, Maya began studying dance at the Children’s Ballet Theater because she wanted to go to “ballerina school. “ Maya continued her ballet training at Space Coast Ballet and when she was six years old, she began performing with Space Coast Ballet in the Nutcracker.
Olivia Mann (SNB Summer Demi Soloist) began studying at the age of four at Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, and the Dallas Ballet Center and later trained at Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Heather Rodriguez (Trainee) started dancing at nine years old in Corpus Christi, Texas. She continued studying Ballet, Contemporary, and Jazz throughout her childhood with Corpus Christi Concert Ballet.