Meet the Faculty
GUEST ARTIST GINA PATTERSON has been hailed as a choreographer of “startling originality” by Backstage Magazine and Dance Magazine said of her work “Patterson has a voice, that ever-elusive thing, and whatever the future of ballet may be, choreographers like her will always have a place in it.” Ms. Patterson has created over 100 original works, including 13 full-evening productions, winning international acclaim and such honors as the Choo San Goh Award, a nomination for an Isadora Duncan Award, the Hubbard Street 2 National Choreographic Competition, New Choreographers on Pointe, and the National Choreographic Initiative. Her work encompasses concept and direction, collaborating across disciplines with lighting, set, projection, and costume designers; as well as musicians, composers, actors, and visual artists. Her works appear in the repertoire of more than 20 companies including VOICE, Nashville Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Richmond Ballet, Dayton Ballet, BalletMet, and DanceWorks Chicago and have been presented internationally in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Spain. Read more...
KATIE ELIASON, originally from Manchester, CT, began her dance training at Hartford Ballet under the direction of Susan Brooker and Franco De Vita. While at Hartford Ballet, she was in Kirk Peterson’s American Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. She also was the inaugural recipient of the Francine Goldfarb Scholarship in 2005. Eliason spent her summers furthering her training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts and Walnut Hill, among others. Eliason danced with BalletMet Columbus and Atlanta Ballet as a trainee prior to joining NB2 in 2010. While at Atlanta Ballet, she danced in John McFall’s Peter Pan and Lauri Stalling’s Big. In her three years as a member of Nashville Ballet second company, Eliason had the pleasure of performing in many Community Engagement productions across Tennessee as well as participating in W.I.P. (Works In Progress), a project to benefit local animal shelters. She has been featured as The Cat in Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling’s Peter and the Wolf and a soloist in Kelsey Bartman’s Sonata Representativa. Eliason has had the opportunity to dance with the company in such performances as Vasterling’s Carmina Burana, Peter Pan and The Ben Folds Project. Eliason was also in Gina Patterson’s …but the flowers have yet to come, Dominic Walsh’s The Whistling and Christopher Bruce's Moonshine. When not dancing, Eliason is an avid reader, a budding chef and loves exploring all Nashville has to offer.
NOMALANGA ENIAFE teaches movements based upon traditional African dance forms. Her style and class regime is designed to bring forth new life and new energy through the power of rhythm and dance. Her students develop a new consciousness about themselves and traditional African culture. Nomalanga has traveled to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky to teach and perform her art.
KARI GREGG has studied dance her entire life and the art of moving is something she constantly craves. She began her passion of dance at the age of 4 at a studio in central Indiana. Soon, she was accepted at an early age into Butler University’s early admittance program in Indianapolis to focus more on her classical ballet training. Kari continued with Butler University and received her Bachelor of Science in dance and arts administration. She also spent a summer studying with four distinguished teachers at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kari launched her professional dance career both domestically and abroad. For the past 15 years, she has performed in cities all across the United States including 10 years with the Radio City Rockettes. Kari recognized early on the benefits of practicing Pilates as a way of cross training for her professional dance career and took it with her throughout her travels. She was immediately drawn to the disciplined traditional method of Pilates, and thus became certified by the New York Pilates Studio® Teacher Certification Program. Her continuing education includes but is not limited to an additional certificate through the Pilates Youth Organization, ABT National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and Functional Anatomy & Kinesiology for Dance Education through Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in New York City.
CARLY HILL is a dance educator and choreographer in Nashville, TN. She is trained primarily in classical ballet and has also studied modern, jazz, and contemporary dance. Carly received her BFA in Dance Education from The University of Tennessee at Martin and her MA in Ballet Pedagogy from New York University in partnership with American Ballet Theatre. She is fully certified in ABT’s National Training Curriculum.
EMMA MORRISON, before beginning her dance education, trained as a rhythmic gymnast from 2004-2008 and competed in the Junior Olympics. Gymnastics introduced her to ballet, in term introducing her to everything the dance world has to offer. In 2009 she began taking ballet, modern, and jazz at the Franklin School of Performing Arts in Franklin, TN. In the summer of 2009 and 2010 she received a scholarship to BalletMET's summer intensive in Columbus, OH. In the fall of 2011 she was awarded the Kitty Sharp Scholarship from the Tennessee Association of Dance. That same fall, she was awarded Student of the Year at her home studio, FSPA. In the summer of 2011, she went to the UNCSA 4 week intensive as a contemporary major, where she received training from Trish Casey, Dianne Markham, and Juel Lane. In the fall of 2012, she had the honor being invited by FSPA to teach beginner modern, ballet, and creative movement, which sparked her love for teaching. In 2013, she spent six weeks in North Carolina at Duke University for the American Dance Festival's 80th Anniversary Season where she had the opportunity to train with teachers and choreographers that included Jesse Zarritt, Pamela Pietro, Michelle Gibson, and Twyla Tharp. After that incredibly enriching summer, she came back home to Nashville where she began training weekly with Banning Bouldin and is currently a part of her company New Dialect. She is excited to be a part of the growth of the company, and also to be a part of the growing dance community in Nashville!
KATIE ELIASON, originally from Manchester, CT, began her dance training at Hartford Ballet under the direction of Susan Brooker and Franco De Vita. While at Hartford Ballet, she was in Kirk Peterson’s American Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. She also was the inaugural recipient of the Francine Goldfarb Scholarship in 2005. Eliason spent her summers furthering her training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts and Walnut Hill, among others. Eliason danced with BalletMet Columbus and Atlanta Ballet as a trainee prior to joining NB2 in 2010. While at Atlanta Ballet, she danced in John McFall’s Peter Pan and Lauri Stalling’s Big. In her three years as a member of Nashville Ballet second company, Eliason had the pleasure of performing in many Community Engagement productions across Tennessee as well as participating in W.I.P. (Works In Progress), a project to benefit local animal shelters. She has been featured as The Cat in Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling’s Peter and the Wolf and a soloist in Kelsey Bartman’s Sonata Representativa. Eliason has had the opportunity to dance with the company in such performances as Vasterling’s Carmina Burana, Peter Pan and The Ben Folds Project. Eliason was also in Gina Patterson’s …but the flowers have yet to come, Dominic Walsh’s The Whistling and Christopher Bruce's Moonshine. When not dancing, Eliason is an avid reader, a budding chef and loves exploring all Nashville has to offer.
NOMALANGA ENIAFE teaches movements based upon traditional African dance forms. Her style and class regime is designed to bring forth new life and new energy through the power of rhythm and dance. Her students develop a new consciousness about themselves and traditional African culture. Nomalanga has traveled to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky to teach and perform her art.
KARI GREGG has studied dance her entire life and the art of moving is something she constantly craves. She began her passion of dance at the age of 4 at a studio in central Indiana. Soon, she was accepted at an early age into Butler University’s early admittance program in Indianapolis to focus more on her classical ballet training. Kari continued with Butler University and received her Bachelor of Science in dance and arts administration. She also spent a summer studying with four distinguished teachers at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kari launched her professional dance career both domestically and abroad. For the past 15 years, she has performed in cities all across the United States including 10 years with the Radio City Rockettes. Kari recognized early on the benefits of practicing Pilates as a way of cross training for her professional dance career and took it with her throughout her travels. She was immediately drawn to the disciplined traditional method of Pilates, and thus became certified by the New York Pilates Studio® Teacher Certification Program. Her continuing education includes but is not limited to an additional certificate through the Pilates Youth Organization, ABT National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and Functional Anatomy & Kinesiology for Dance Education through Harkness Center for Dance Injuries in New York City.
CARLY HILL is a dance educator and choreographer in Nashville, TN. She is trained primarily in classical ballet and has also studied modern, jazz, and contemporary dance. Carly received her BFA in Dance Education from The University of Tennessee at Martin and her MA in Ballet Pedagogy from New York University in partnership with American Ballet Theatre. She is fully certified in ABT’s National Training Curriculum.
EMMA MORRISON, before beginning her dance education, trained as a rhythmic gymnast from 2004-2008 and competed in the Junior Olympics. Gymnastics introduced her to ballet, in term introducing her to everything the dance world has to offer. In 2009 she began taking ballet, modern, and jazz at the Franklin School of Performing Arts in Franklin, TN. In the summer of 2009 and 2010 she received a scholarship to BalletMET's summer intensive in Columbus, OH. In the fall of 2011 she was awarded the Kitty Sharp Scholarship from the Tennessee Association of Dance. That same fall, she was awarded Student of the Year at her home studio, FSPA. In the summer of 2011, she went to the UNCSA 4 week intensive as a contemporary major, where she received training from Trish Casey, Dianne Markham, and Juel Lane. In the fall of 2012, she had the honor being invited by FSPA to teach beginner modern, ballet, and creative movement, which sparked her love for teaching. In 2013, she spent six weeks in North Carolina at Duke University for the American Dance Festival's 80th Anniversary Season where she had the opportunity to train with teachers and choreographers that included Jesse Zarritt, Pamela Pietro, Michelle Gibson, and Twyla Tharp. After that incredibly enriching summer, she came back home to Nashville where she began training weekly with Banning Bouldin and is currently a part of her company New Dialect. She is excited to be a part of the growth of the company, and also to be a part of the growing dance community in Nashville!