top of page
DSC_0381_EDIT.jpg

MEET THE COMPANY

Founders

Thao, Aaron.jpg

HO-SHIA AARON THAO

Co-President & Founder, Hudson Ballet Theatre, Inc.
Artistic Director, Hudson Ballet
Co-President & Founder, Hudson Ballet Theatre, Inc.
Artistic Director, Hudson Ballet

Ho-Shia Aaron Thao was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received his bachelors in Human Biology with a focus on Medical Anthropology from Brown University, and began his dance training Minneapolis while pursuing a degree in medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Ho-Shia continued his dance training throughout New York City, where he danced professionally with various ballet and theater companies. In 2015, Ho-Shia co-founded a youth ballet program for Westchester County, which would later become known as Hudson Ballet Theatre where he currently serves as Co-President and Artistic Director. In 2016, he curated Voices Transposed:  The Refugee Crisis, a two evening benefit performance showcasing local artists in New York City in collaboration with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Ho-Shia was featured in the July 2014 issue of Minnesota Medicine and is a recipient of the Fisch Arts Award. He is dedicated to honoring the art of storytelling through dance.

Aaron

DEBRA KING

Co-President & Founder, Hudson Ballet Theatre, Inc.
Artistic Director, Hudson Youth Ballet

Born and raised in New Jersey, Debra trained at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio under ABT's Susan Jaffe and Dayton Ballet's Risa Gary Kaplowitz. She attended summer intensives including The Julliard School, American Ballet Theater and Kaatsbann. She continued her dance training and education at SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance, graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance in 2012. While at Purchase, she performed works by prominent choreographers including George Balanchine, Stephen Petronio and Susan Jaffe. Debra has danced professionally in New York City with XAOC Contemporary Ballet, mishiDance, Mook Dance Company, and Exit 12 Dance Company. In 2016 she joined Ho-Shia Aaron Thao in creating Hudson Ballet Theater and currently heads HBT’s youth division, Hudson Youth Ballet. Debra is also a dance educator and loves sharing her passion for dance with young dancers. She has taught at schools including New York Dance, Princeton Dance and Theater Studio, and City Center Dance.

King, Debra.jpg
Debra

Dancers

Clark, Hayley.jpg
HAYLEY CLARK

Hayley Clark, born and raised in New York City, began her dance training at the School of American Ballet and then Ballet Academy East, with teachers including Darla Hoover, Cheryl Yeager, and Peter Frame. Her training also included San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, BalletX, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and the Jacob's Pillow Contemporary Ballet Program. Hayley graduated Cum Laude from SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance with a BFA in Dance, Ballet Concentration. While at SUNY Purchase she performed principal roles in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments and Concerto Barocco, as well as Talsik by Norbert De La Cruz III, Stagioni by Stuart Loungway, and others. She has also performed in works by Brian Enos and Bettijane Sills. Hayley is proud to have worked with Fukiko Takase of Studio Wayne McGregor to perform a solo from Wayne McGregor’s Atomos for her senior project at SUNY Purchase. 

 

Hayley has performed professionally with Dances Patrelle, the Eryc Taylor New Choreographer Grant Showcase with Melanie Ramos, StylePointe for NYC Fashion Week with Michelle Ulrich-Thompson, and Neville Dance Theater.  Hayley is excited to be in her first season with Hudson Ballet Theatre!

​

Hiss, Jacob.jpg
JACOB HISS

Jacob started studying ballet at the age of 10 at Studio Maestro, and has also trained with Manhattan Youth Ballet, French Academie of Ballet, and Premiere Division under the tutelage of Francois Perron and Nadege Hottier.  He has performed with Exit 12 Dance Company and Hudson Ballet Theatre.

Horner, Julia.jpg
JULIA HORNER

Julia Hallissey Horner (she/her) was raised in Cleveland, Ohio and lives now in New York City. She attended the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program where she graduated with a double major in Dance and Women/Gender Studies. While at the Ailey School, Julia performed works by Alvin Ailey, Hope Boykin, Sasha Soreff, Andre Tyson, Steffanie Batten Bland, Claudia Schreier, Rena Butler, Jae Man Joo, and Christopher Huggins. Working as a freelance dancer, she has performed various pieces and full length shows with Mook Dance Company & Antonio Brown Dance across New York State and New Jersey. Julia has worked extensively with JUNTOS Collective, a dance non-profit, working as a dance performer, dance educator, and currently as the Communications Director, traveling in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Colombia. Through JUNTOS she has studied and performed many styles of dance including Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, as well as Mexican and Nicaraguan Folkloric styles. Julia is now studying at Union Theological Seminary for her Masters of Divinity while she dances at Hudson Ballet Theatre for her first season. 

Kellner, Bethany.jpg
BETHANY KELLNER

Bethany Kellner began her dance training at the age of two in Buffalo, NY. To further her training, Bethany studied at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2018 with a BFA in Dance Performance and a Minor in Arts Management. While at Purchase, Bethany had the opportunity to study abroad in Asia at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Bethany has trained with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, BalletX, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, and Ballet Hispanico to name a few. She has performed the works of Dexandro Montalvo, Brian Enos, Iratxe Ansa, George Balanchine, David Fernandez, Michelle Thompson Ulercich and Stuart Loungway among others. Bethany currently lives in NYC dancing professionally with Core Dance Contemporary, and Encounters Dance, in addition to Hudson Ballet Theatre. This is Bethany’s third season with Hudson Ballet Theatre.

Marra, Kyle.jpg
KYLE MARRA

Kyle Marra (he/him) is a New York City based dancer and actor. Originally from Upstate New York, Kyle received his dance training from the School of the Arts at the National Museum of Dance. Kyle is a proud alumnus of SUNY New Paltz where he graduated summa cum laude studying History and Theatre Arts. He has been dancing with Hudson Ballet Theatre since 2018. Select acting credits include: Regional: A Chorus Line (Bobby); Nantucket! the Musical (Ens/Dance Captain); Mary Poppins (Valentine). Off-Broadway: Beauty and the Beast (Maurice); Cinderella (Francois/Dance Captain). @kylemarra

Mazzola, Juliet.jpg
JULIET MAZZOLA

Juliet Mazzola is originally from Bennington, Vermont, where she began her ballet training at the Berkshire Dance Theater. She has spent summers studying at the Boston Ballet School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet School, Colorado Ballet, and BalletX. She also spent a year as a Trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. In 2018, Juliet graduated from The Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College with a BFA in Dance and a Concentration in Ballet. While studying at Purchase she spent a semester abroad at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She has performed many works by various renowned artists including George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Silas Farley, Stephen Pier, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, Bettijane Sills, Iratxe Ansa and Taryn Russell. Juliet began her professional career in 2018 as a Company Artist with Ballet Hartford. For the 2019 season Juliet and seven other professional dancers co-founded and co-directed their own company, New England Ballet Collective, where she was Company Artist and President. Juliet is currently a Company Artist with Hudson Ballet Theatre.

Roberts, Sarah.jpg
SARAH ROBERTS

Sarah Danelle Roberts, born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, began her dance training at the Sharon Davis School of Dance. Roberts performed with The Tallahassee Ballet Company from age nine until 2012. She then moved to New York, where she graduated from The Alvin Ailey Dance School's Certificate program in 2015. She has performed numerous works by choreographers including Matthew Rushing, Ray Merced, Amy Halland, Pedro Ruiz. Roberts was a featured dancer in Deep Love Opera, a Broadway show in the 2015 New York Musical Festival. Roberts danced with Mook Dance Company from 2017-2019. This is Roberts’ 4th season with Hudson Ballet. 

Tosto, Barbara.jpg
BARBARA TOSTO

Barbara Tosto is originally from Sicily, Italy. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance of
London in 2012 and after that she moved to the United States. In New York she attended the
Joffrey Ballet School where she graduated in 2018. In the meanwhile, she had the opportunity to
dance with the Bellini Junior Ballet Company in the prestigious Greek Amphitheatre of Taormina,
Italy and with the JSLN Dance Company in Germany. She also danced with New York Dance
Project. Throughout the years she had the opportunity to perform works by George Balanchine,
Gerald Arpino, Robert Battle, Earl Mosley and many others. She has been part of Hudson Ballet Theatre
since 2019.

Yamada, Caroline.jpg
CAROLINE YAMADA

Caroline Yamada grew up in Portland, Oregon, and trained at The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre and The Portland Ballet. Upon graduating, she moved to New York City to attend The Ailey School’s Certificate program and had the opportunity to work with Matthew Rushing, Sylvia Waters, Renee Robinson, and more. After graduating from The Ailey School in 2016, she has professional worked with various choreographers and is most recently dancing with Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company and Lydia Johnson Dance.

 

Caroline also has a passion for teaching and is a First Steps teacher at The Ailey School’s Creative Movement program and a ballet teacher for the Vanderbilt YMCA. She is also working on obtaining her teaching certificate in the Isadora Duncan technique for children.

Sarah R
Barbara

Board of Directors

Debra King & Aaron Thao, Co-Presidents

Lynn Roer, Vice President

Kezia Spence, Secretary

Susan Bona, Treasurer

Oluakemi Adegoke, Board Member

Susannah Gillette, Board Member

James McCory, Board Member

Jenna Harris, Board Member

Julen Harris, Board Member

Kelly Smith, Board Member

bottom of page