Faculty and Staff

Charmaine Hunter began her formal dance training at the Hartford Ballet School under the leadership of then Artistic Director Michael Uthoff and teacher Truman Finney. Through the support of Michael Uthoff, Charmaine moved to New York City to study with Arthur Mitchell, Artistic Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem while continuing her formal education at the Professional Children’s School. Dance Theatre of Harlem attracted some of the world’s finest dance educators. She had the opportunity to study under teachers such as Karel Shook co-founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Frederick Franklin, Suzanne Farrell, Tanaquil LeClerque, Geoffrey Holder, Mary Hinkson, Alvin Ailey, and Founder Arthur Mitchell just to name a few.

She rose through the ranks quickly from corps-de-ballet eventually becoming one of the company’s leading ballerinas and finally as the company’s Ballet Mistress.

She electrified audiences with her performances in a broad spectrum of roles. She is best known for her role as The Firebird choreographed by John Taras (Ballet Master with American Ballet Theater) and Medea, choreographed by Michael Smuin (former Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet.) Additional ballets include Fall River Legend by Agnes De Mille, Billie the Kid, Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, and a long list of Balanchine ballets just to name a few.

During her 27-year career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, she had opportunities to affect the arts in the U.S. and abroad launching programs specifically for young people with little to no access to the arts. The now famous Dancing Through Barriers, DTH’s outreach program had its start in Johannesburg, South Africa. Charmaine served as principal dance educator on the launch of this highly acclaimed educational initiative.

In 1988, Dance Theatre of Harlem was invited to perform in the former Soviet Union as part of the United States Cultural Exchange Initiative in which Ms. Hunter led this educational initiative as spokesperson, principal teacher and representative from the US.

In November 2000, Charmaine traveled to China conducting extensive outreach and educational activities as teaching artist and principal dancer. She was invited to instruct master classes at various schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

During her tenure at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miss Hunter was invited to serve as Ballet Mistress and principal teacher at the Jones-Haywood School of Dance in Washington D.C. the country’s first ballet school founded by two African American women, Doris Jones, and Claire Haywood.  Although the school was founded to bridge the gap and open doors for young African Americans to learn the artform of classical ballet, it was open to everyone. The two women were the pioneers in creating a platform for people of color to train and compete on an international level.

In January 2001, Ms. Hunter was invited to Canada by Mirvish Productions the Toronto based Production Company to direct the resident show Disney’s The Lion King at the Princess of Wales Theater. She held this position for 3.5 years until the production moved to Amsterdam Holland.

Ms. Hunter then moved to Macau China to oversee the implementation of the Sands Corporation entertainment at the new Venetian Macau, one of the Sands Corp largest properties in the world with 20 performance venues.

Three years later, Ms. Hunter relocated to Las Vegas Nevada after being offered the position of Casting director and talent scout with the Cirque du Soleil. She served as the company’s talent scout for dance as well as Dance Master for the artists in the productions on the Las Vegas Strip. She was also overseeing the classes and training of dance artists on the production of ‘A New Day’ at the Coliseum in Caesars Palace which featured Celine Dion.

Charmaine then Co- founded the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater with fellow dancer Bernard Gaddis formerly of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. LVCDT is a multi-cultural institution that attracts professional dancers and students from around the world.

After the launch of Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater (LVCDT), Ms. Hunter was appointed the position as teaching artist with Disney Musicals in Schools with Disney Theatricals and Wolf-trap Early Childhood Education through the arts with The Smith Center of Performing Arts. She traveled nationally training classroom teachers on various methods used to incorporate dance in early childhood curriculum and expanding on the STEAM programs. Her position as a teaching artist led to many other opportunities which carved another path in directing and management.

Charmaine has returned to the professional concert dance world after accepting a full-time faculty position as Upper School Principal and co-director with Texas Ballet Theater under the guidance and leadership of Ben Stevenson O.B.E. Director Emeritus of Houston Ballet.

Ms. Hunter then moved home to Orlando Florida to be with her family. She accepted a position with the Orlando Ballet as Director of Community Engagement. She serves as the organization’s Director of Community Engagement where she will coordinate and oversee all arts in education and community programs. Over the past 7 years, Ms. Hunter has worked feverishly to grow the footprint of the educational initiatives in Central Florida. Now in 7 counties, the Orlando Ballet Community Enrichment programs host classes at 140 different locations for children ages 3 – 103. The RISE program was created to give young dancers in high school access to scholarships with celebrated universities, professional training programs, employment with distinguished organizations around the country. 

Her efforts garnered her recognition by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Central Florida for Community Impact and Onyx Magazine for Global Impact as A Woman on the Move.

Charmaine now serves on the faculty at The Sarasota Ballet, as Director of Community Engagement, bridging the community and the ballet and teaching various levels in the Academy training the dancers of tomorrow. She is thrilled to be with this world-renowned organization and looks forward to a bright future with The Sarasota Ballet.

Sarah Lamb is an internationally acclaimed Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.  She joined the company in 2004 as a first soloist and was promoted to principal after eighteen months. She previously danced at Boston Ballet, becoming a principal dancer in 2003.

Sarah’s roots lead back to Massachusetts. She was born in Boston and trained with Madame Tatiana Nicolaevna Legat at the Boston Ballet School. She was awarded a Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton when she was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and performed Sleeping Beauty Act III at the Kennedy Center in 1998. Coached by Tatiana Nicolaevna, she went on to win silver medals at the international Ballet Competition in Nagoya, Japan 1999, and highest medal at the NYC IBC in 2000.

She has danced all over the world in ballets created for her by Sir Wayne McGregor (Chroma, Limen, Raven Girl, Carbon Life, Multiverse, Tetractys, Woolf Works, Yugen, and Beatrice in Dante). The role of Perdita in The Winter’s Tale was created for her by Christopher Wheeldon. She has performed all the major roles of the ballet repertoire, as well as the masterpieces of Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth McMillan. Her breathtaking performances of Juliet, Manon and Mayerling were recorded for DVD.

Sarah has performed at the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo in 2015, 2018, and 2024, and is known by audiences across the globe. In 2023 Sarah received the Postiano Award for Best Female Dancer.

Kyra Nichols is Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet and professor of music in ballet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. 

She began her early training in Berkeley, California, with her mother, Sally Streets, a former member of New York City Ballet (NYCB). By age 13, Nichols started spending her summers in New York at the School of American Ballet. She performed with Alan Howard’s San Francisco-based Pacific Ballet before moving to New York full time when she was 15 years old. 

Nichols became an apprentice to NYCB in 1974 and quickly became a member of the corps de ballet. She was promoted to soloist in 1978 and in 1979 was promoted by George Balanchine to principal dancer. Her early years in the company were enlivened by the presence of Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, both of whom were choreographing on the company. She danced numerous leading roles in the company repertory, ranging from pyrotechnic displays of bravura skill in ballets such as “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto Number 2” and “Stars and Stripes” to more lyrical and dramatic roles such as those in “Liebeslieder Walzer” and Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze.”

In addition to her work with Balanchine and Robbins, Nichols has worked with an extensive list of choreographers, including William Forsythe, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Martins, Jacques D’Amboise, Robert La Fosse, and Robert Garland. 

During her performing career, Nichols toured extensively. In 1981, she joined a small group led by Robbins that performed in mainland China as part of a U.S. Information Agency effort to bring American culture to China. She has performed all over the world, including in Great Britain, Japan, France, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel, and Italy. She appeared as a guest artist in various productions, including Franco Zeffirelli’s “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera. By special invitation, she performed in Cuba as a guest of Alicia Alonso. With NYCB dancer Gen Horiuchi, Nichols led a group of dancers for a three-week series of performances in Tokyo. Her touring included sites all over the United States, from high school gymnasiums in Alabama to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. 

Nichols appeared on national television in Balanchine’s “Vienna Waltzes” in A Lincoln Center Special: A New York City Ballet Tribute to George Balanchine, in Balanchine’s “Serenade” for a Dance in America program, and in Peter Martins’ “Beethoven Romance” for the Dance in America program Ballerinas, Dances by Peter Martins. She also appeared in the twentieth-anniversary broadcast of the PBS series Great Performances, in Martins’ “Not My Girl.” She danced the featured role of Dewdrop in the film version of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, released in November 1993 by Warner Brothers. 

Nichols retired from New York City Ballet in June 2007, after 33 years with the company, the longest-serving ballerina in the company’s history. Since retiring from NYCB, she has been teaching and setting ballets. In 2015, she became a ballet mistress with Pennsylvania Ballet. 

Ashley Bouder was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary. After attending the School of American ballet for one summer session and the 1999/2000 school year, Ms. Bouder joined the New York City Ballet. She was promoted to principal dancer in 2005 and has remained with the company to present day.  

Ms. Bouder has danced in ballet galas around the world and guest starred in companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, and the Mariinsky Ballet. She has been awarded Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise at the School of American Ballet as a student. As a professional her awards include the Janice Levin Honoree from the New York City Ballet, the Miss Expressivity for 2011 and the Miss Virtuosity for 2013 from the Dance Open Gala, the 2019 Benois de la Danse, and the Award for Artistic Excellence from the Borough of Manhattan Community College for her work in promoting gender equality in the ballet world.   

As the founder and artistic director of the arts collaborative Ashley Bouder Project, Ms. Bouder works to promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion in creative leadership roles within the dance world. Her previous choreographic work has been presented at the School of American Ballet Choreographic Workshop, the New York City Ballet, Peter Norton Symphony Space, Bryant Park Presents, and the Joyce Theater. 

Ms. Bouder holds a B.A. in Organizational Leadership and Political Science from Fordham University. And she is currently a master’s student at Harvard University.