Tennessee
ballet
theater
COMPANY dancers
Alyssa Abbas
Alyssa is a seasoned, veteran TBT company dancer and choreographer since 2013. She has a passion for classical ballet, contemporary, ballroom, and musical theater. Some of her highlighted roles include: Dewdrop Fairy, Snow Queen, Arabian Princess, Cinderella, Giselle, and Princess Flourine. She has also appeared as a featured lead dancer in various musicals at Theatre Memphis and Harrell Theater. “Miss Alyssa” is also a beloved teacher for the Children’s Ballet Theater School since 2009 specializing in intermediate and advanced ballet and is the artist director of Memphis Youth Musical Theater.
BRANDON KING
Brandon G. King, known simply as B.K., a native of Memphis, TN and a graduate from CBU with an Electrical engineering degree. This amazing Talent is known as one of the Premier JOOKERS in the Memphis Community and world-wide having shared the stage with such greats as Yolanda Adams, Tye Tribbet, Grizzlies NBA half-time entertainment and more.
He is a protege of Howard PHeelgooD who has personally trained and produced his staged performances such as Memphis MorphTWINS, More Than I Expected, and more.
Not only is BK an incredible Dancer/Jooker, but a busy choreographer and Tapper.
A well versed entertainer, BK, is thrilled to be joining the ranks of TBT's esteemed dancers!
Hanna Imm, bio coming soon!
Meagan Cobb
Meagan Cobb is a recent graduate from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned her BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography, as well as a minor in psychology. She has served as Vice President of the Student Dance Organization and has trained professionally in ballet, modern, and jazz. Meagan was a member of USM’s Repertory Dance Company from 2020-2023, where she grew her love for performing and choreographing dance. Meagan is currently a ballet and jazz instructor at Germantown Performing Arts Center. She is looking forward to her first season dancing with Tennessee Ballet Theater.
Ashley Hannah Davis
Ashley Hannah, a native of Memphis Tennessee, began her training at Classical Ballet under Pat Gillespie at the age of 2. She then went on to train with Ballet Memphis for 6 years before joining the company and dancing professionally for 9 seasons. There she danced in classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Giselle. She also preformed in many contemporary works including Mark Godden’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gabrielle Lamb’s I Am a Woman, and many others. Ashley Hannah also attended summer training programs with Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Charlotte Ballet.
Rachel Davis
Born and raised in Memphis, Rachel began her dance training at Classical Ballet at the age of 2, under the tutelage of Pat Gillespie. At the age of ten, she began her formative training with Ballet Memphis under director Janet Parke. Rachel also attended summer training programs with Boston Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Nashville Ballet. Rachel danced with both Oklahoma City Ballet and Georgia Ballet as a trainee before coming to dance with Tennessee Ballet Theater.
JD Bryant
With a background in all-star cheerleading and competitive dance, JD is Co-Owner and instructor at Esprit de Corps Dance Company.  He is also a Certified Teacher with Southern Association of Dance Masters (SADM). This is his second year performing with Tennessee Ballet Theater. Memphis audiences will recognize him as the lead in 'Addiction' in TBT's '22 production, the Secret World of Jack Robinson.
Dariia Andriienko, Guest Artist
Dariia began her rhythmic gymnastics training at the age of 5 going on to compete in this realm in her hometown of Kyiv, Ukraine, winning first place in several competitions. As a college student Dariia attended for her first 3 years, the prestigious Kiev National University of Theater and Film. Now as a senior in college, she has lived in Memphis for 8 months where she discovered her love of dance and musical theater at the University of Memphis. She is in her first season with Tennessee Ballet Theater and looks forward to sharing her athletic, artistic style with their audience.
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Liliana McKenna, Second Season Apprentice
Liliana has danced with Tennessee Ballet Theater since 2021. She has performed the principle and soloist roles of the Arabian Princess, Snow queen, and Little Bo Peep in Clara and the Nutcracker at the Cannon center, as well as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and the lead in Cinderella as part of Children’s Ballet Theater’s Le Spectacle performances. She has attended the Sarasota Ballet International Intensive for the past 3 years and has been accepted to attend this upcoming summer as well. Liliana teaches at several dance schools in the area, including Children’s Ballet Theater, Tennessee Ballet Theater’s partner school. Liliana is also pursing a bachelors of science in nursing and a minor in dance at the University of Memphis!
RaSheema Thomas, Trainee
RaSheema begin her dance journey in Nebraska with the Bellevue Dance Academy. She then turned her attention to modern dance in 2010 by becoming a member of the Moving Dance Company. Throughout her three years with the Moving Company they performed in many shows both locally and regionally. In the Fall of 2013, RaSheema moved to Memphis and had her first dance appearance in Kristin Bihler’s A Dark Night series. RaSheema also performed with Bridging Souls Productions directed by Tamara Parrish on two different occasions. In 2015 she founded and directed the Bing Dance House. This program offered free dance training and Christian servant leadership development to young ladies, 8-18, who were from economically disadvantaged communities in Memphis for eight years. This is her first season with TBT and she feels honored to have the opportunity to dance alongside such talented and gifted individuals.
ARTISTIC STAFF
MARY VAN DYKE, FOUNDING DIRECTOR
Mary Van Dyke trained in classical ballet for 10 years with Pat German, Memphis Ballet under Michael and Judy Tevlin, and at the Alabama School of Fine Arts under Nureyev’s former dancer partner Dame Sonia Arova. Mary had extensive summer training in ballet, jazz and modern including four summers at the Boston Ballet School, at Joffery in NYC, Stanley Holden in LA, and in the Russian Vaganova training in Belgium with ballerina Irina Kolpakova. Mary danced professionally with Tennessee Ballet and Ballet Memphis. Her principal roles have included Tatiana in Midsummer's Nights Dream, the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker and the Swan Queen Odette in Swan Lake. During her years with the former Tennessee Ballet, Mary designed a ballet program for the Memphis City School’s for the visually impaired.
ERIN WALTER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Erin Kenny Walter began her ballet training with Judy and Michael Tevlin at Memphis Ballet. As a teen, she performed with Youth Concert Ballet and Tennessee Ballet Company under the direction of Deena Laska. She attended intensive summer sessions at Ft. Wayne Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theater in Vermont and at the San Francisco Ballet School. Her lead ballet roles include Arabian, Bo Peep and the Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker, and solos in Les Sylphides, Raymonda and Laska's The Colors of Mozart. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1993. Erin performed as a company dancer with Project: Motion and with Sharona Rubinstein's Performance Art Network in Memphis from 2008-2014. Erin has co-directed Tennessee Ballet Theater's evening-length shows with Jade Primicias at Earnestine & Hazel's (2017) and the Annesdale Mansion (2018). In 2019 she was commissioned by The Pink Palace to create "The Legacy," the story of America's first Black millionaire Robert Church, with co-choreographer Kelby Auten and score by Beale Street musician Adam Levin. She co-directed The Secret World of Jack Robinson with McKenzie Day in 2022 and is continuing to work with Ms. Day on the evening-length immersive show 901 Stories at The Medicine Factory in 2023. Erin taught ballet and creative dance at St. Mary's Episcopal School from 2008 to 2022. She was trained as a creative dance practitioner at Luna Dance Institute in Berkeley, CA in 2019 through 2021. In 2021, she became the Director of the Frayser Dance Project, sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Alliance Healthcare and Nike. Erin teaches ballet and contemporary dance at Children's Ballet Theater and co-directs Clara & the Nutcracker with CBT's Artistic Director and TBT Founder Mary Van Dyke. She has served on the board of Borderless Arts of Tennessee since 2021.
MCKENZIE DAY, CO DIRECTOR
McKenzie Day is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in Memphis, TN. In 2022, she co-directed The Secret World of Jack Robinson alongside Erin Walter for the Tennessee Ballet Theater, and in 2018, she stage managed These Walls: Tales from Annesdale Mansion. Her experience as a K-5 and high school dance educator in the public school system has refined her focus as a choreographer: to explore collaborative works as a means to celebrate dancers as valuable individuals. This season as a co-director and choreographer, she is excited to collaborate with so many talented artists to illuminate the rich history and vibrant culture of Memphis through dance.
MARIA HERRERA, COSTUME MISTRESS
