The Mid-Columbia Ballet (MCB) is a nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to foster and advance the art of ballet in its various forms in the Mid-Columbia region. MCB is managed by a Board of Directors and the MCB Guild is responsible for managing volunteers and many fundraising activities.

The MCB consists of young dancers committed to the art of ballet. MCB’s repertoire includes classical, neoclassical, and modern works by choreographers from throughout the United States. MCB has been granted performance rights to several Balanchine works by the George Balanchine Trust and was the first pre-professional group to perform a work by Twyla Tharp.

MCB has performed at Chop Shop: Bodies of Work in Seattle, USA/International Ballet Competition, in Austria at the Tanzsommer Austrian Arts Festival and at SPRING TO DANCE in St. Louis, Missouri. MCB has hosted Regional Dance America/Pacific Festivals four times, each time bringing to the Tri-Cities over twenty amateur and professional ballet companies, internationally known dance teachers and lecturers, and university recruiters for the 4-day convention.

MCB has also grown to be a valuable community resource. MCB received the 2020 STAR award from the City of Richland for pivoting The Nutcracker to a free movie, Clara’s Tri-Cities Nutcracker Dream that had 14,000 YouTube views and featured over 30 local businesses and locations. In addition, MCB was selected as a grant recipient for Gesa’s Local Heroes program in 2020 and 2021 in recognition of the positive impact our outreach and educational efforts have had in our community. We are very honored to be recognized this way.

NICOLE CIAPPONI

Nicole Ciapponi was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and trained with Goh Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and The San Francisco Ballet School. She was a top finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2009 and received the silver medal at the Margot Fonteyn (formerly Genée) International Ballet Competition in 2008. Ms. Ciapponi joined the San Francisco Ballet in 2010, the Joffrey Ballet in 2015 and Diablo Ballet in 2022.

MARCO CLEMENTE

Marco Clemente was born in Chicago and began his dance training at the Ruth Page School of Dance. After his graduation he danced with Dayton Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, and Ballet Nebraska. In addition to company work, he has also performed as a guest artist with Visceral Dance Chicago, South Chicago Dance Theatre, and Chicago Repertory Ballet. This is his first season with Diablo Ballet.

PATRICIA BARKER & MICHAEL AUER

World-renowned ballerina Patricia Barker was born in Richland, WA. Michael Auer was born in Austria. Patricia was the prima ballerina at Pacific Northwest Ballet for two decades and Michael a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet, who was often the partner of Deborah Hadley. After retiring from the stage in 2007, Patricia was Artistic Director of Grand Rapids Ballet for seven years and the Royal New Zealand Ballet for six years, where this dynamic duo led these companies with great successes.

PATRICIA & MID-COLUMBIA BALLET

Patricia was Mid-Columbia Ballets Nutcracker guest artist from 1994-2003. In 1996 Patricia coached MCB’s first production of Swan Lake Act II and arranged a fundraising Barker & Friends performance that was instrumental in spearheading a campaign that raised funds for the creation of our current Nutcracker set. She has been an honorary Board Member of Mid-Columbia Ballet since 2000. We are grateful to have had Patricia coach our dancers for this production of Swan Lake, a role that she learned from Deborah Hadley.

DEBORAH HADLEY, IN MEMORIAM

Deborah Hadley was born and raised in San Diego and began her studies at the San Diego Ballet continuing to the rank of principal dancer. She then became a charter member of Joffrey Ballet II in 1969. Taking time off to marry and have two boys, she returned to ballet in 1979 when she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet where she remained a Principal Dancer for the next thirteen years. In reporting on her retirement, Carole Beers of The Seattle Times described Hadley as “the ballerina who shaped PNB’s look.” Upon retiring from her PNB performing career, Debby found passion in shaping young ballet students. She created the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond, she was the Ballet Mistress of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet (now known as Texas Ballet Theater), she served as Adjudicator for several Festivals and was instrumental in helping The Ballet Alliance specify its technical and artistic standards. She most recently taught for Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet and Mid-Columbia Ballet and served as a Guest Teacher and Ambassador for The Ballet Alliance. Deborah Hadley passed away peacefully on April 22, 2023.

MCB Staff

Susan Presti, Lily Wutzke, Rebecca Rogo, Willow Busselman, Debra Rogo, Allie Yates, Torrie Mower, Baleigh Bierman, Veronica Andersen

Artistic Director

Debra Pearse Rogo

Administrator

Gaye Wutzke

Artistic Assistant

Torrie Mower

Artistic Assistant & INCLUDE Dir.

Rebecca Rogo

Wardrobe Supervisor

Allie Yates

Outreach Coordinator

Susan Presti

Social Media

Willow Busselman

Administrative Consultant

Renée Kolman

Artistic Intern

Baleigh Bierman

Artistic Intern

Lily Wutzke

Debra Pearse Rogo, Artistic Director

Debra grew up in Melbourne, Australia where she trained in the Cecchetti (Italian) Method of Ballet passing all exams, including her teaching certification, with Honors. She also received teaching and performing opportunities with the National Theatre and Ballet Victoria. After finishing her schooling, she performed with the Sydney City Ballet for three years before moving to the United States where she was the Assistant Director and then Artistic Director of Ballet Omaha, a professional company with its own school. In 1987, Debra and her husband, Joel, moved to Washington State to buy a small ballet school; the Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet. After more than 30 years it is now the Tri-Cities Academy of Ballet and Music and includes a Performing Arts Pre-School.

Debra has served as Chairman of Regional Dance America/Pacific, President of Regional Dance America, on the Honorary Committee for the USA International Ballet Competition and as Executive Director of Regional Dance America’s Craft of Choreography Conference. Debra has been a guest teacher at many US schools and universities, the National Dance Foundation of Bermuda, the 2013 Australian Cecchetti Conference, the 2014 USA International Cecchetti Conference and the 2016 Cecchetti USA Summer School. In recognition of her work in the Tri-Cities, Ms. Rogo received the City of Richland 2014 Contribution to the Arts Award.

MCB Board of Directors

MCB Guild

Guild Officers and Committee Chairs

Chair

Dawn Cryan

Vice-Chair

Ashley Lowry

Treasurer

Neil Henson

Secretary

Jen Chamberlain

Apparel

Angie Scherer & Lesley Paslean

Ballet Café

Bouchra Oummani & Aimee Kovis

Flowers

Pam Campbell & Lot Deray

Mementos

Travers Bracy & Brandie Bracy

Photos/DVDs

Christina Stout

Poinsettias

Kay Nguyen & Emily Maloney

Restaurant Fundraisers

Aimee Kovis

Cooklies & Water

Sandra Cortez & Shawna Ekstrom

Raffle

Jen & Travis Chamberlain

Online Store

Jason Paslean

Front of House

Ashley Lowry & Nicole Wiser

Greenroom

Shevaun Martin

Makeup

Kelly Bright & Lauri Whitney

Security

Jody & Ron Longwell

Ushers

Naoko Schiffern

The mission of the Guild is to support and promote the Mid-Columbia Ballet in their commitment to providing high quality performing arts to our community. The Guild assumes responsibility for organizing volunteers to support MCB productions such as The Nutcracker. Guild funds help MCB with production costs such as theatre rental, costumes, guest artists, and outreach. Volunteers organize a series of various events throughout the year to raise funds for MCB.

The Guild welcomes any new members who wish to ensure that the Tri-Cities will always have an opportunity to enjoy the cultural experiences of ballet. To learn more about the Guild and how to become a member visit our Guild page.

2022-2023 Season Guild Members

Ryan & Melany Bickford

Delphine & Alain Bonneville

Travers & Brandie Bracy

Paul & Tina Branson

JoAnn & John Brehm

Bradley & Talena Bricker

Amanda & Brandon Brown

Pamela & Dale Campbell

Travis & Jen Chamberlain

Robert & Svitlana Chmura

Rosey Chu

Sandra Cortez

Tim & Katie Croyle

Dawn & Mike Cryan

Brett & Stephanie Dahl

Rob & AmyLynne Darling

Amber Davis

Michelle Dearlove

Jeremy & Annie Debban

Arnulfo & Lot Deray

Jonathan & Erin Dickey

Karen Nguyen & Gene Dorendorf

Brett & Shawna Ekstrom

Caleb & Michelle Engler

Martin Family

Aaron & Kelly Fergusson

Anita Petra & Horacio Gonzalez

Rick Graff

Kim & Mark Hattrup

Kriste & Neil Henson

Ron & Jody Longwell

Ashley Lowry

Chris & Scott Lowry

Jill Lunde

Craig & Emily Maloney

Byron & Nancy Martin

Anitha & Srinivas Mascal

Sean & Kirsten McNeil

Harry & Terri Miley

Sara & Ty Mulholland

Katherine & Loc Nguyen

Fenton Norman

Jeremy & Esther Ogden

Bouchra Oummani

Lesley & Jason Paslean

Larry & Jennifer Peterson

Thomas & Kelly Precechtel Bright

Susan Presti

Sarah & Jeremiah Robinson

John & Kerrilynn Robinson

Joel & Debra Rogo

Blake & Angie Scherer

John & Naoko Schiffern

Christina & Ryan Stout

Victoria Suryan

Krista Thurston

Katherine Torelli

Christina & Mario Viera

Ethan & Ashley Walters

Al & Jan Wells

Mark & Signe White

Gerry & Lauri Whitney

Molly & JJ Williams

Cole & Jamie Willis

Matt & Nicole Wiser

Michael & Gaye Wutzke

The Mid-Columbia Ballet (MCB) is incorporated in Washington State as a non-profit corporation and is exempt from federal taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information on MCB’s finances, including funding spent on programs, do a charity search at https://ccfs.sos.wa.gov.

Join those mentioned below by giving a gift that will help MCB sustain our efforts to provide artistic excellence in our productions and community outreach programs.

Please patronize the local businesses and other arts groups that support MCB