A Message from Josefa Villanueva-Reyes, Artistic Director and Founder: I welcome you with great joy and happiness to celebrate the Santa Clara Ballet’s 45th Anniversary of the Nutcracker Ballet. The Santa Clara Ballet continues the legacy left to us by our late Director and choreographer, Benjamin Reyes, by sharing this favorite family Christmas Ballet with our community, our student and professional dancers and our loyal supporters. The Company’s roots started right here in Santa Clara, and has continued despite the usual problems of obtaining funding and support. We can continue because of all of you who are present in our performances, and through your generous donations and volunteer work. The Company continues its work in spreading the awareness and the love of dance to warm families and contribute to the quality of life of the community. For this Sunday’s performance of our 45th Annual Nutcracker, the stage will be graced by our Alumni who serve as a testament to the success of the company’s influence to the community and the world beyond. Thank you for your presence today and please continue to join us on our journey. Josefa Reyes JOSEFA VILLANUEVA-REYES started her training in the Philippines with Roberta and Ricardo Cassell (a student of Vincenzo Celli). She was formerly a member of the San Francisco Ballet Company and the San Francisco Opera Ballet. Previous to that, she performed as a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet Celeste for four years. Her performing experience included multiple lead roles from the classical repertory. Villanueva-Reyes taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Ballet and Theatre Arts as well as San Jose City College. Her teaching experience is enriched with classes from well known Russian teachers and distinguished teachers in New York City. She has taken classes in New York with Valentina Pereyslavic, Leon Danelien, Frederic Franklin, David Howard, Jurgen Schneider, and master classes with Sergeyev, Dudinskay Golovkina, Kirsten Ralov, and Dina Bjorn. She has also received a Certificate for taking part in the International Vaganova Conference/Demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia, featuring the entire 8-year system which included Classical Dance, Character, History Dance & Variations. Villanueva-Reyes was recognized by the Santa Clara Performing Arts Foundation with the 2013 Arts Pioneer Award and also honored by the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards (the “Izzies”) with its Sustained Achievement Award for her work with the Santa Clara Ballet and for offering instruction and training in classical ballet and performance opportunities for children and Bay Area professional dancers. Villanueva-Reyes holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music and has studied post-graduate in Early Childhood Education and Dance Education at both SF State University and San Jose State University. She holds a Lifetime Credential to teach Dance in Community Colleges. Founding Artistic Directors Josefa Villanueva-Reyes She co-founded the Santa Clara Ballet and with husband Benjamin Reyes in 1973. Benjamin Reyes Guest Artists: ANDRE REYES continues the legacy of the Reyes family as Artistic consultant and coach for the Santa Clara Ballet Company Guest Principal Dancers. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Andre received his early dance training from his parents Benjamin Reyes and Josefa Villanueva-Reyes at Santa Clara Ballet School and continued his training on scholarships at Joffrey American Ballet Center, American Ballet Theater School, School of American Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet School. Andre, a longtime favorite of Bay Area audiences, performed as a Principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet from 1980 to 1993, and Pacific Northwest Ballet from 1994 to 1996. He has worked with numerous world-renowned choreographers including David Bintley, Elliot Feld, James Kudelka, Jiri Kylian, Michael Smuin, and Glen Tetley. His work in television includes Dance in America’s “Cinderella” (Smuin/Christensen) and “The Tempest” (Smuin), as well as appearances in “Suites by Smuin” (KQED) and “Symphony in Three Movements” (KQED, Gladstein). Andre's extensive teaching career includes Boston Ballet School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and guest instruction for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Smuin Ballet, ODC, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Kansas City Ballet School, UNCSA, English National Ballet School, Harvard and Stanford. He has also served as an adjudicator for Dance Masters of America, Denver YDC, and the Japan Grand Prix. In 2016 he and his wife, Cynthia Drayer, were chosen from a national search to direct Tulsa Ballet’s new Hardesty Center for Dance Education. Andre has recently returned to California as Ballet Master for Sacramento Ballet. RILEY HORTON began dancing at the Kansas City Ballet School at age six. He studied at the Kansas School of Classical Ballet for three years then trained at the Houston Ballet Academy with Claudio Muñoz and Andrew Murphy. In Houston, Mr. Horton danced in many ballets including John Neumeier’s Yondering, Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker, August Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano, Stanton Welch’s Young Person’s Guide to The Orchestra, The Gentleman, The Long and Winding Road, and had the privilege to travel with the company for the Australian tour of Stanton Welch’s Romeo and Juliet. Other credits include Mona Störling-Enna’s Underground and Ave Verum (Störling Dance Theater). Riley then danced for two seasons with The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, where he performed in Krzysztof Pastor’s Romeo & Juliet, Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Mammatus and Christopher Wheeldon’s premier of the Joffrey’s new The Nutcracker. He is currently a Company member with Indianapolis Ballet. This is Riley's first season with the Santa Clara Ballet. (appearance courtesy of Indianapolis Ballet) ROWAN ALLEGRA was born in Seattle and raised in the Bay Area. A third generation ballet dancer, Rowan made her debut with the Santa Clara Ballet as Clara at the age of 10 and returned as the Sugar Plum Fairy, a role she has performed for seven seasons now. She began her ballet training at Volée Dance in Palo Alto with her parents, Andre Reyes and Cynthia Drayer, and continued her training at world class institutions including Boston Ballet School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Rowan has danced professionally with Texas Ballet Theater, Bay Pointe Ballet, and is currently with the Indianapolis Ballet under the direction of Victoria Lyras. Rowan's repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Val Caniparoli, Harald Lander, and Ohad Naharin. She is thrilled to be performing in her eighth season with Santa Clara Ballet. (appearance courtesy of Indianapolis Ballet) Guest Artists: SHARON KUNG was born in New York, and currently resides in the bay area. She received her early training at the Jean M Wong School of Ballet in Hong Kong, and continued in the bay area after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of California, Irvine with a BFA in Dance Performance and BA in Economics. Her repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Lucas Crandall, William Forsythe, Bob Fosse, José Limon, Graham Lustig, Dexandro “D” Montalvo, Robert Moses, Donald McKayle, and Amy Seiwert. Her experience includes Thodos Dance Chicago, Oakland Ballet Company, KAMBARA+ DANCERS, and freelance projects in Amsterdam, Morocco, Hong Kong, and San Francisco. This is Sharon’s sixth season with the Santa Clara Ballet. CALVIN THOMAS, from Maysville, Kentucky, received his early training at the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet. He received further training at Boston Ballet School, The School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin Academy and The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. He has performed with the Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Company C Contemporary Ballet, NY Theatre Ballet, Oakland Ballet Company & Kiandanda Dance Theater. His repertoire includes works by Thang Dao, Gregory Dawson, Yuri Zhukov, and Maurice Causey, among others. He has been on faculty at the Contra Costa Ballet Centre and is currently teaching at the Alameda Ballet Academy. Calvin is currently performing with Dance Theatre of San Francisco. This is his first season with the Santa Clara Ballet. CINDY HEEN has been dancing since the age of 2 and currently teaches, choreographs and dances in the Bay Area. She is director of Emergence Dance Company. She received her MFA in dance from Mills College and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. Cindy danced in the corps de ballet with Space Coast Ballet in Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus and the Nutcracker. She has been a guest performer with Aretuza’s Ballerina Project, Center for Contemporary Dance, and various other companies and choreographers. This is her first season with the Santa Clara Ballet. KAYLA KANE VASKELIS has studied with Josefa Villanueva Reyes from the age of three. She has been featured with the Santa Clara Ballet Company as Clara, The Mechanical Doll, and Rose in The Nutcracker, Blue Bird from Sleeping Beauty, as well as roles from Coppelia, Peter and the Wolf, Les Sylphides, and Alamat. Kayla spent two years with Ballet Arizona in their professional program under the direction of Carlos Varcarcel and Anthony Jones. She performed full length ballets including Cinderella, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, and Giselle. Kayla attended summer intensives at the Kirov Ballet in Washington DC, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and Ballet Arizona and is currently training with Ballet Met. Kayla has been dancing with the Santa Clara Ballet for 16 years. (appearance courtesy of Ballet Met) SIGNA LOVE grew up in Canada and attended summer intensives at The National Ballet School and L’école supérieure de danse du Québec. She trained at Port City Dance Academy and performed with Felicita in Saint John, New Brunswick where her roles included La Sylphide and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She currently dances at Berkeley Ballet Theater. She received her masters in Opera from the University of Toronto. This is Signa's first season with the Santa Clara Ballet.