BALLET AUSTIN TWO
Endowed by Sarah and Ernest Butler through the Ballet Austin Foundation
Ballet Austin TWO, established in 1999, is Ballet Austin’s second company, with dancers also serving as apprentices to the main company. Currently, more than half of Ballet Austin’s main company positions are filled with Ballet Austin TWO graduates.
Ballet Austin TWO dancers are selected through a nationwide audition process and make Austin their home to participate in this unique training opportunity. With over 40 performances per season, they dance with the main company for larger productions and present their own extensive roster of work in Austin and on tour across the state.
Dancers range in age from 18-23 and are employed for a 32-week season. They are contracted with Ballet Austin TWO for up to two years, during which time they receive artistic guidance, career management counseling, and job placement assistance. Each spring Ballet Austin brings artistic directors from across the nation to observe and audition Ballet Austin TWO dancers in class and rehearsal. Ballet Austin TWO members take company class, augmented by their own classes and rehearsals conducted by Ballet Austin’s artistic staff.
To date, 109 graduates of Ballet Austin TWO and the Butler Fellowship Program have secured contracts with more than 42 companies across the nation, including Ballet Austin, Dayton Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Nevada Ballet Theater, Sacramento Ballet, Ballet Pensacola, Nai-Ni Chen, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Spectrum/Donald Byrd, Wideman/Davis Dance, Alabama Ballet, Thang Dao Dance, Northwest Dance Project, DanceWorks Chicago, and Louisville Ballet.
Ballet Austin provides rehearsal and performance shoes, onsite physical therapy, as well as the option to participate in a group health insurance plan. Additionally, through a partnership with PeletonU, Ballet Austin TWO dancers may pursue a college degree. The competency-based structure of this online program allows dancers to complete a two-year Associates Degree in as few as nine months and includes access to tutors and advisors at PeletonU’s local campuses.
Recruitment
Ballet Austin TWO dancers are recruited through the Butler Fellowship Program, Ballet Austin’s Summer Intensive Program and partnerships with select training institutions across the country. Dancers age 18 and older may also follow the Company Audition process for consideration.
For more information about Ballet Austin TWO please visit our video gallery. You may also email Eugene Alvarez or call 512-476-9151 with any additional questions.
DANIELA BENNETTI
Butler Fellow: 2020-2021 | Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2021
Born in Tampa, Fla., Daniela began her training at Patel Conservatory Youth Ballet. At the age of 13, she joined Next Generation Ballet as a trainee. Under the direction of Philip Neal, Daniela has performed in numerous productions including Cinderella, Le Corsaire, Maria Konrad’s Portraits, and George Balanchine’s Western Symphony. She has also performed featured roles such as Clara, Chocolate Lead, and Tea Lead in Next Generation Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. In 2020, Daniela joined Ballet Austin’s Butler Fellowship Program and in October 2021, she was promoted to Ballet Austin TWO, where she has performed in main company performances such as Stephen Mills’ The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Swan Lake, and a contemporary piece choreographed by Jennifer Archibald in Ballet Austin’s production, Her Stories. Daniela has also appeared in LOLA Austin’s performance, Lardo Weeping.
LEXI EICHER
Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2021
Born in Fort Wayne, IN, Alexis began her pre-professional ballet training during the sixth grade at Project Ballet under the instruction of Beth McLeish. She spent seven weeks at the Chautauqua Summer Intensive where she worked closely with Patricia McBride and performed in George Balanchine’s Rubies with the Charlotte Ballet. She graduated from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in 2021 with a BS in Ballet Performance & Psychology. At IU, she performed in Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), Jerome Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz & The Concert, Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels, and George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante.
RHYS HUDSON
Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Rhys is from Houston, Texas. He trained at Vitacca Dance Project before attending Boston Ballet School for 3 seasons, and then joined BalletMet’s second company for 2 seasons. At Boston Ballet he performed in Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, Ashton’s Cinderella, Balanchine’s Coppélia, Petipa’s Giselle, and Boston Ballet School’s Next Generation performances. At BalletMet Rhys performed in BalletMet’s Unlocked, Gerard Charles’s The Nutcracker, Liang’s Cinderella, Giselle, and Seasons. Over the summers Rhys has trained at Finnish National Ballet School, Orsalina 28, The Royal Ballet School, European School of Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and many more.
MEG KATAOKA
Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Meg was born in New York but grew up in Tokyo, Japan. She started her training at Tomoka Dance Studio. At YAGP 2014, Meg received an offer to join the summer intensive at The Washington School of Ballet. In 2016, she was accepted to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School where she performed lead roles in Marius Petipa’s Paquita and David Linchine’s Graduation Ball. Meg was accepted to Boston Ballet School through their summer intensive 2018. At BBS, she performed Miko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker and learned Balanchine’s Four Temperaments. In 2020, Meg joined Kansas City Ballet’s second company where she performed Balanchine’s Serenade, Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz, Parrish Maynard’s Vectors, and many works by Devon Carney and Christopher Ruud.
MURRAY McCORMACK
Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Murray is from Macon, Georgia, where she received training at Dance Arts Studio from Jean Weaver and Alice Sheridan. Later, she supplemented her training with teachers Rebecca Metzger and Jessica Saund in Atlanta. From 2018 to 2022, she danced at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where she performed repertoire such as Twyla Tharp’s Deuce Coupe and Justin Peck’s In Creases. She graduated from IU with a BS in Ballet Performance and International Studies with a Minor in French. Throughout her training, Murray attended several summer intensives including The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet.
ISABELLA SALAS
Butler Fellow: 2021-2022 | Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Isabella first trained at Ballet Chelsea under Wendi Dubois before earning a scholarship to Miami City Ballet’s pre-professional program. There she had the opportunity to perform in Balanchine’s Serenade as Russian Demi and as one of the six Friends in Coppélia. Isabella continued her development as a trainee for Cincinnati Ballet where she danced in numerous company productions including the roles of Snow and Flowers in The Nutcracker and Swan corps in Swan Lake.
JULIUS TAIBER
Butler Fellow: 2020-2022 | Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Born in Munich, Germany and raised in Greenville, SC, Julius began his early dance training at the International Ballet Academy at the age of 9. From 2014-2017, he trained at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts and then with the Next Generation Ballet from 2017 – 2018. He then attended Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Claudio Munoz where he was given the opportunity to perform in Stanton Welch’s Bruiser and The Nutcracker, as well as Ben Stevenson’s Sleeping Beauty. He has attended summer programs at Next Generation Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ellison Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Houston Ballet.
DAISY YE
Joined Ballet Austin TWO in 2022
Daisy Ye began her training in Boulder, Colorado at the Colorado Conservatory of Dance. In 2022, she graduated with high distinction from Indiana University with a double major of a BSOF in Ballet and Economics and a BS in Informatics. At IU, she has performed Justin Peck’s In Creases, Sasha Janes’ Chaconne, George Balanchine’s Agon Pas de Trois, August Bournonville’s Pas de Sept (A Folktale) and Mark Morris’ Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes. Other performance credits include Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and the Don Quixote Wedding Pas de Deux.