Emily joined the Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2012 as an Apprentice and rose through the ranks to Principal in 2017. With BTM she has had the pleasure of teaching the students of the Conservatory and the dancers of the professional company, as well as running student rehearsals for various company productions, including The Nutcracker. This is Emily's eighth year teaching for Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s Conservatory of Dance.
She has performed featured roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère, Paquita, Raymonda, The Snow Queen, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht, Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, and The Nutcracker. She has also enjoyed working with classical and contemporary choreographers Michele Wiles, Jay Kim, James Ady, Melanie Buchanan, Melissa Gould, and Diana Cuatto. Ms. Gutcher joined the Ballet Theatre of Maryland and the Conservatory’s faculty in 2018.
Picture: Nora Lang
Karissa was raised on Long Island, New York where she trained with Mme. Valia Seiskaya until 2010 in Vaganova-based ballet and character techniques. Karissa attended University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Education with a Musical Theater Minor in 2014. There she continued her training under faculty including Christine Cox (BalletX), Eva Szabo, Andrew Pap, Anne White (PA Ballet), and Scott Jovovich (Joffrey Ballet). Karissa studied Modern techniques including Horton with Kim Bears-Bailey (Philadanco) and Graham with Jennifer Binford-Johnson (Martha Graham Dance Company), as well as varied styles of Jazz with Wayne St. David and Donald Lunsford (Philadanco). Karissa joined Ballet Theatre of Maryland as an Apprentice in 2016 and was promoted to Demi-Soloist in 2017 and Soloist for the 2020-2021 Season on Hope.
Mark began his early dance training at the Brisbane Academy of Dance in Queensland, Australia. At 16 he was received a scholarship to the Queensland Dance School of Excellence at the Queensland Ballet under the direction of Angus Lugsdin. Mark then earned his Diploma of Arts also on scholarship, majoring in Classical Ballet from the National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, Australia, under the directorship of Beverly Jane Fry. His international career began in 2007 when he joined Cinevox Dance Company in Switzerland. Since then he has worked with Atlantic City Ballet (New Jersey), Double Take Dance (Manhattan), Galveston Ballet (Texas), Montgomery Ballet (Alabama) and Alabama Dance Theatre (Alabama). He has performed a vast selection of classical and contemporary roles in many productions including; Le Scare Du Printemps, Don Quixote, Dracula, Le Patineurs, Giselle, Cinderella, La Mal Gardee, Sleeping Beauty, Phantom of the Opera, Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, Les Sylphides, Paquita, Concerto Vivaldi, Macbeth and The Nutcracker.
Victoria Siracusa began her ballet training at the Albano Ballet Company under the direction of Joseph Albano and Julia Fredrick. She then joined the Hartt School Community Division to further her training under Samantha Dunster and Eddy Tovar. During high school, Victoria taught ballet at Alyson’s School of Dance at the beginning and intermediate levels. It is there that she gained her passion for teaching dance to the next generation. After graduation, she joined Charlottesville Ballet as a trainee and the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School before joining the Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2017. She has had extensive training in multiple methods and styles of ballet including, the Vaganova, Cecchetti, Cuban, and English methods. This will be Victoria’s second year teaching for Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s Conservatory of Dance.
As well as Pilates, she danced professionally with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland for 13 years. She enjoys working with clients at all levels, especially clients with special needs, “Everything counts. I enjoy supporting and motivating my clients in their own personal Pilates journey and help teach that Pilates can be very functional in people’s everyday life and activities.”
She is a dancer at heart and plans to continue dancing for her own spiritual benefit along with her Pilates practice. Being active and in good health is very important to her as she looks forward to an energetic lifestyle with her son, Jackson.