Biographies

Mattea Beckstead’s undergraduate training took place at Utah Valley University in pursuit of her Bachelor’s degree in Dance. During her time at UVU, Mattea was offered many opportunities to perform with professional dance companies Utah Metropolitan Ballet and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. Mattea was a member of the Repertory Ballet Ensemble at UVU under the direction of Mark Borchelt and Jamie Johnson. After being awarded the award of Merit in Ballet and graduating from Utah Valley University, Mattea began her professional career as a dancer for Utah Metropolitan Ballet. At UMB, Mattea performed the soloist role Arabian pas de deux in The Nutcracker, as well as artist roles in Snow White, Legend of Timpanogos, and George Balanchine’s Serenade.

 

Martha Graham (1894-1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. Founded in 1926 (the same year as Graham's professional dance company), the Martha Graham School is the oldest school of dance in the United States.

 

Jamie A. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Dance at UVU. After earning a BFA in Ballet and a BA in English, Johnson danced professionally with numerous companies throughout the United States. Career highlights include performing as a principal dancer with Boulder Ballet and touring internationally with MOMIX. An in-demand teacher and choreographer, Ms. Johnson’s work has been presented by Interlochen Center for the Arts, St. Paul Ballet, Utah Metropolitan Ballet, and West Texas A & M University. She holds a MFA in Dance from the University of Washington with additional certifications in Autism Movement Therapy and Yoga.

 

Martina Jorgensen is a recent graduate of the UVU Dance Department where she earned her BFA with an emphasis in Modern Dance performance. Upon graduating, she has begun teaching for RDT’s Dance Center, choreographing for schools and companies throughout the state of Utah, and is excited to be back home at UVU teaching Hip Hop technique. Martina has begun building and directing a new Hip Hop performance company, Esprit d.c., with support from encouraging faculty members and incredibly talented company members. Martina and Esprit d.c. hope to bring joy and appreciation of Hip Hop culture to their community.

 

Wilson Mendieta is a graduate of the University of Washington with an M.F.A. degree in Dance and a Nonprofit Management Certificate from the Evans School of Public Affairs. He also received a B.F.A. degree in Acting and B.A. minor in Dance from Montclair State University. His performing credits include television and radio spots, commercials, concert dance companies and Off-Broadway and Broadway musicals. His choreography has been seen throughout the States including The Kennedy Center in D.C. and has been invited to festivals in Venezuela and Australia. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Dance at Chapman University.

 

Dorothy Daniels Lister (1934-2021) a Pensacola native trained in New York at the Swoboda School, (later known as the Ballet Russe School), under the guiding hand of Madame Swoboda. Dorothy when on to dance professionally with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and worked with such renowned stars as Alicia Alonso, Maria Tallchief, Nina Novak, Alexandra Danilova, Igor Youskevitch, Frederick Franklin, Leon Danelian and Leonide Massine.

 

After her time with the Ballets Russes, Dorothy joined the teaching staff of the American Ballet Center, the official school of the Robert Joffrey Ballet Company. For 25 years, she not only headed the Children’s Department, but also taught technique and variations classes to the advanced and trainee levels. In 1997 Dorothy moved back to her hometown and was the Ballet Mistress for the Northwest Florida Ballet until her passing in October 2021.

 

Christa St. John recently joined the faculty of Utah Valley University as an Assistant Professor of Dance and Co-Artistic Director of Repertory Ballet Ensemble. Christa spent her professional ballet career dancing with Ballet Austin, Louisville Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Atlantic City Ballet, and Northwest Florida Ballet. Throughout her career she had the opportunity to work with renowned national and international artists and perform diverse contemporary and classical ballet repertoire. Christa is also a Dance for Parkinson's Disease instructor with teacher training through the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a MFA in Dance from the University of Oklahoma.

 

Amber Tutwiler is an artist from South Florida whose hybrid practice expands on figurative oil painting to describe our relationship to digital spaces. She attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design for Painting, received her BA in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University, and received her MFA in Visual Art from Florida Atlantic University (2017). Amber has a background in dance and has collaborated frequently with Ballet Florida. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Utah Valley University teaching across Foundations, Painting, and Drawing.

 

 

Special Thanks to Ballet Faculty Nichole Ortega, Stefan Zubal, Corrine Wallentine, and Rachelle Brooks.