Dancers' Biographies

"When Ballet Hispanico's dancers take the stage, watch out. No one struts, kicks, spins, leaps and gyrates the way they do. Their joy is infectious." (New York Newsday)

JESSICA BATTEN trained with New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble under Nancy Turano and graduated Cum Laude in 2005 from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance. Ms. Batten has danced professionally with NJDTE, Cedar Lake II, Connecticut Ballet and has performed with the Kirov Ballet and on the Amici Television show in Rome. This is her fourth season with Ballet Hispanico.

DONALD BORROR, a native of Columbus, Ohio, began his serious ballet training at Ballet Met Columbus before attending and graduating from Walnut Hill School in 2006. Upon graduation he was accepted into The Juilliard School and received a BFA as a member of the dance class of 2010. His choreography has been seen in Juilliard’s Senior Production and the Choreographers and Composers Concert as well as with Columbia Ballet Collaborative.

ANGELICA BURGOS Angelica is of Dominican - Armenian heritage. She has danced with Joffrey II, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Sacramento Ballet for five seasons, and Thomas/Ortiz. Burgos was a principle in Ron Cunningham’s Carmina Burana, Carmen and The Rite of Spring. Angelica danced Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Concerto Borocco, Allegro Brillante, Scotch Symphony, Theme and Variation, and Western Symphony. She has worked with artists such as Pedro Ruiz, Margo Sapinton, Ramón Oller, John Clifford, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Val Caniparoli, Trey McIntyre, Septime Webre,Dwight Rhoden, Graciela Daniele, and Sergio Trujillo. Miss Burgos is in her sixth season with the company. She dedicates this season to new beginnings, new ways, and to Alivia.

MARINA FABILA comes to Ballet Hispanico from Southern California. She began her professional dance training at the age of 7 at the Inland Pacific Ballet School. She later graduated from The Orange County High School of the Arts in 2007 and stared working as a featured character at The Disneyland Resort in California. Marina was given the honorable mention award in the 2007 spotlight awards competition. She has performed with the Inland Pacific Ballet Company as the youngest company member in 2004, performing many Ballets under the direction of Victoria Keoing. Marina made her move to New York when she received full scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School and The Steps Repertory Ensemble. Marina has danced works by Arturo Fernandez, Marie De La Palme, Debbie Allen, Nathan Trice, Warren Adams, Karen Gayle, Ron De Jesús, Andrea Miller, Pedro Ruiz, Ramón Oller and Vicente Nebrada. She has worked as dancer/model for the shoes SKECHERS and was cast in a principle role in the musical Brothers of the Knight, directed and performed by Debbie Allen. Commercial and Film credits include 17 again, Fired Up, Spread, Play the Game and The Goods. She would like to thank her family for their love and support. This is Marina's first season with Ballet Hispanico.

ALEXANDRA GONZALEZ started her ballet training at the age of three in Miami, Florida. At the age of seven she continued her ballet training in Colombia with the Ana Pavlova Ballet Academy. At the age of 15 she received a full scholarship to join the San Francisco Ballet School where she was featured in Dance Magazine and in her second year was invited to join San Francisco Ballet Company under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. She also danced for the Metropolitan Opera and Thomas/Ortiz Dance. This will be Alexandra’s second season with Ballet Hispanico.

RODNEY HAMILTON, a native of St. Louis, started his dance training at the age of ten with Carr Lane, COCA, Alexandra School of Ballet and Katherine Dunham. In 1996, at the age of 14, Mr. Hamilton joined the adult dance chorus at The Muny of St. Louis. He graduated from The Juilliard School and is now in his eighth season with Ballet Hispanico.

JEFFERY HOVER received his early training from Guilderland Ballet as well as Northeast Ballet in Upstate New York. After high school, he attended Butler University, from which he graduated summa cum laude, receiving a BFA in Dance Performance with Departmental Honors. Prior to joining Ballet Hispanico, he enjoyed dancing with New Jersey Ballet, performing in works such as Marietta’s Song, Rodeo, Valse Fantasie, and Canciernos and Discovery amongst many others. Mr. Hover has also performed with Dance Kaleidoscope, Ajkun Ballet Theater, Ballet International and The Muny in St. Louis, where he worked closely with Paul Sutherland, Gemze de Lappe and Norman Walker. Since joining Ballet Hispanico, Mr. Hover has had the privilege to perform the world premiere Locked Up Laura, choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, as well as other works including Tres Bailes, Nací, and Club Havana to name a few. Mr. Hover is delighted to be in his third season with Ballet Hispanico and wishes to thank everyone who has helped him make it this far.

MIN-TZU LI, a native of Taiwan, enjoyed her education at The Boston Conservatory and gained many diverse experiences working with their faculty and students. She received a scholarship to the Contemporary Dance Program from The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Ms. Li has been fortunate to perform works by such masters as José Limón, Thomas/Ortiz, Martha Graham, Sergio Trujillo, Graciela Daniele and Murray Louis, as well as creating her own works. Ms. Li teaches traditional Chinese dance to children through an educational program in Boston. This is her third season with Ballet Hispanico.

VANESSA VALECILLOS, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, joined Ballet Nacional de Caracas under the renowned director Vicente Nebrada at age fifteen. With Ballet Nacional de Caracas, she performed in Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quijote, The Firebird, Concerto Barroco, La Mer, Pentimento, among others, and toured in South America, North America and Europe. Vanessa continued her dance training in the United States where she earned a B.F.A. from The North Carolina School of the Arts. After graduating, she joined Southern Ballet Theater. She relocated to Chicago in 1997, where she has performed with the Lyric Opera in 14 of its productions, including principal roles in La Traviata, Samson e Dalilah and Midsummer Marriage. She has performed in Ruth Page’s Nutcracker, Dance for Life, and as a guest principal artist with the Civic Ballet of Chicago, The Chicago Festival Ballet, and Dance West. She has also performed in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular musical in Chicago. Prior to joining Ballet Hispanico, Vanessa danced with Luna Negra Dance Theater where she was a founding member. She would like to thank her family and Puma for their unconditional love and support and for making life more beautiful than it already is. She dedicates her dancing to her beloved grandparents, Enry and Don Mario. This is her first season with Ballet Hispanico.

NICHOLAS VILLENEUVE A native from Montreal, was raised in Kingston, Jamaica. An alumnus of The Alvin Ailey School and The Juilliard in New York City, Nicholas has worked with Hans van Manen of Nederlands dans Theatre and has been privy to performing works by modern master choreographers such as Agnes de Mille, Jose Limon and Talley Beatty among many others. His concert credits include Cortez and Company Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Hernando Cortez formerly of The Paul Taylor Company, The Company Dance Theatre- Kingston, Jamaica and has been featured on Broadway in the AIDS benefit A Few Good Men Dancin’ as well as the Toronto production of The Lion King, where he held the title of Dance Captain/ Swing for four years. He has performed with greats like Patti Labelle, Pamela Anderson and Antonio Bandera’s and been featured on CBS and PBS. He has been on faculty at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp for six years in Steamboat Springs, Colorado as the Assistant to the Artistic Director Linda Kent where he teaches Repertory, Contemporary Partnering and Modern Jazz. In 2004 he was added to the guest faculty of Cawthra Park Secondary School in Toronto, Canada where he creates a new work every year. Mr. Villeneuve is now proud to be in his fifth season with Ballet Hispanico of New York and occasionally guest teaches and choreographs for The Juilliard School.

JESSICA ALEJANDRA WYATT trained at The School of Oregon Ballet Theater where she received classical training from Cuban teacher Haydee Gutierrez, as well as her mother Elena Carter, who was a principal dancer with Ballet Nacional de Danza in Mexico and Dance Theater of Harlem. After 3 years of dancing as a trainee with Oregon Ballet Theater, she joined The Joffrey Ballet as an apprentice for their 2002-03 season. She later became a company member of Luna Negra Dance Theater where she danced for 5 years. This is her first season with Ballet Hispanico and she dedicates each and every step to her beautiful mother.