Company Artists

Rose Engel

Rose danced for 15 years with the New England Academy of Dance in New Canaan, Connecticut under the direction of Ginna Ortiz, Ted Thomas, Frances Ortiz and Christina Fagundes Turner. In 2021 she graduated with a BFA in Ballet from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. During her time there, she trained under esteemed faculty members Shauna Steele, Deirdre Carberry, Jiang Qi, Tricia Sundbeck, Isabele Elefson, Gema Diaz, Shane Ohmer, and Molly Perez. Rose’s additional professional training includes programs with ABT, Bolshoi, University of Utah in Korea, Gelsey Kirkland Academy, CPYB, Cincinnati Ballet, and PMDS in Paris, France. Rose’s most notable performances include The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Serenade, and Death and the Maiden. Since graduating she has danced with Eglevsky Ballet for one season, Chevalier Ballet for two performances, and now dances for Thomas Ortiz.
 

Deanna Garcia

Originally from Miami, Florida, Deanna began her ballet training at age four and was later accepted into Miami City Ballet’s program. After moving to Gainesville, she joined the P.K. Yonge Performing Arts Program, performing in musicals like Hairspray and 42nd Street, and was a member of the award-winning Vocal Ensemble. She trained at Pofahl Studios, the teaching school of Dance Alive National Ballet, where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. By age twelve, Deanna was an apprentice with Dance Alive, touring in productions such as The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and Dracula, and performing with their outreach group, Next Generation. She also pursued dual enrollment in performing arts at Santa Fe College before attending New World School of the Arts on scholarship, where she trained in Ballet and Horton technique. She went on to study at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC, performing classical and contemporary repertoire, and was recently featured in Tony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker with City of Boston Ballet.

Natalie Gasparini

Natalie began studying ballet locally at the age of three. Her serious training and study continued in NYC at Manhattan Youth Ballet, SLK Ballet and with summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre and Complexions. Her many instructors have included ABT Principal dancer Irina Dvorvenko, Sara Knight, Olga Dvorovenko, Deborah Wingert and Marina Stavitskaya. Natalie has been a top competitor at both the Youth America Grand Prix and CT Classic Ballet Competitions. Miss Gasparini is a graduate of SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Certified to teach Adaptive Dance by Boston Ballet, Natalie is the Founder and Artistic Director of Adaptive Ballet and Dance located in Greenwich, CT. Natalie Gasparini is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Miss Gasparini has performed professionally as a company member with Visions Contemporary Ballet and as a guest artist with Chevalier Ballet and Long Island Ballet Theatre.

Mairead Moore

Mairead was born in State College, PA and grew up in Iowa City, IA.  She started dancing at age four and began her serious ballet training at age fifteen at Nolte Academy in Coralville, Iowa under the tutelage of Grace and Tad Snider.  After high school, she continued her training at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she studied under Carla Körbes, Kyra Nichols, Sarah Wroth, Christian Claessens, Sasha Janes, and Michael Vernon.  She graduated in 2022 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Exercise Science.  Throughout her training years, she attended summer intensives at Interlochen Arts Academy, Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, Cincinnati Ballet, and the Chautauqua Institution.  
After college, Mairead began her professional career at Connecticut Ballet and then began freelancing in the New York City metropolitan area and across the country.   Mairead started dancing with Thomas/Ortiz Dance in the Spring of 2024. 

Melissa Weber

Melissa Weber, originally from North Haven, CT, began her formal ballet training in Boca Raton, FL with Boca Ballet Theatre and at Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Her early professional experiences included roles with Louisville Ballet and in Christopher Fleming’s Nutcracker. She later trained with Dayton Ballet II and Nashville Ballet before joining Charleston Ballet Theatre, where she danced soloist and principal roles for eight seasons. Melissa has performed works by renowned choreographers including Balanchine, Tharp, Petipa, Christensen, and Bahr, with favorite roles in Don Quixote, Rite of Spring, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Since relocating to the CT/NYC area, she has performed with Connecticut Ballet, Dance KeyWest, Sarah Berges Dance, and Thomas/Ortiz Dance. Her commercial work includes appearances in Dancers After Dark, music videos for Cal Kehoe and OneRepublic, and CBS’s Elementary.
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Rebecca Tschen

Rebecca graduated Summa Cum Laude from Butler University with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology, attending on a full merit scholarship. Under esteemed faculty, she performed leading roles such as Giselle, Snow Queen, Dewdrop, and in Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain.
She continued her training in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program on scholarship, performing with the Corps de Ballet in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and more. Rebecca also danced principal roles including the Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux, Paquita, and Swan Lake’s Big Swans, and appeared as Sugar Plum Fairy with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Rebecca has trained at top summer programs—many on scholarship—including San Francisco Ballet, PNB, Houston Ballet, Ballet West, and National Ballet of Canada. She is also fully certified in the ABT National Training Curriculum through Level 7 and Partnering

Andrew Demakakos

Andrew Demakakos is a native New Yorker who grew up in Astoria, Queens. A graduate of the Conservancy of Dance at Purchase College (2023), he holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Ballet. Andrew has danced numerous new works with the Purchase Dance Company, including those composed by Eve Chan, Michelle Ulrich Thompson, and Christopher Rudd. He also performed in a staging of George Balanchine’s Serenade as a waltz couple. After graduating Purchase Andrew Madison ballet. As a choreographer, Andrew was selected to be a part of Steps on Broadway Performance Lab, where he showcased his contemporary ballet, Rollercoaster of Love. 

Michael Requena

Michael began his studies in 2005 at the Gustavo Franklin
Foundation Ballet Art School in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2014 he received a
scholarship to study with the Joffrey Concert Group in New York City,
directed by Davis Robertson and Nicole Duffy. Michael was a gold medal
winner in the International Classical Ballet Competition (CIBC) advanced
category in 2015. Additionally, he had the opportunity to work for
professional companies such as the National ballet Of Venezuela (Ballet
Teresa Carreño), New World Ballet of Caracas, Contemporary Ballet of
Caracas, and the Contemporary Ballet of the San Martín Theater in Buenos
Aires, Argentina.

Ian Rothroe

Ian began his ballet training at age 6 with the American Ballet Theatre JKO School and trained for seven years at Manhattan Youth Ballet under Deborah Wingert, Brian Reeder, and Marina Stavitskaya. He attended prestigious summer intensives worldwide, including the Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Ballet, Ellison Ballet, and Hubbard Street. After the 2020 Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) Summer Intensive, he was invited to join PNB’s Professional Division, performing in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and Diamonds, and Stowell’s Swan Lake.
Ian joined Ballet Idaho in 2022, where he has performed featured roles in works by Balanchine, Lubovitch, Peck, Rowe, and Inger, among others. In 2024, he was promoted to Soloist. This is his second season with Thomas/Ortiz Dance.