Company Members

Emily Edwards grew up in Rockville Centre, New York where she started dancing at the age of two. In May of 2020, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance under the mentorship of Frank Augustyn. Following graduation, Emily began her professional career dancing with Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet in Connecticut and then went on to De La Dance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. While at De LA, she performed soloist roles in La Bayadere, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Nutcracker Jazzed Up, and a world premiere piece Bizet. While at Adelphi, she performed works by Frank Augustyn, Christopher Fleming, Paul Taylor, Juan Rodriguez, Orion Duckstein, Rasta Thomas, Mia Michaels, and others. Emily’s other performance credentials at Adelphi include principal roles in Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, Cloven Kingdom, Ballet Russe, and Play Ball! She spent her summers training at various intensives including BalletX, Orlando Ballet, Dance Italia in Lucca, Italy, American Ballet Theatre, and Joffrey Ballet School.

Mariana Alonso was Born in Guadalajara Jal. México. She is a Professional ballet dancer and teacher, graduated in Psychology and is bilingual in English and Spanish. Mariana has performed professionally in different companies: Compañia de Danza Classical and Neoclassical de Jalisco (CDCNJ), Ballet de Jalisco (BJ), and Ardentia Compañía de Danza in México City, Ventana Ballet and Metamorphosis Dance in Austin Tx. 

She has played several ballets and galas some of her favorite roles have been: Medora from Corsair pas de deux, Sugar Plum Fairy from Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Queen of Hearts of Alice in Wonderland. Mariana is so excited to start this season with Ballet Texas.

Morgan began dancing at 7 years old when she received a scholarship to the Cincinnati Ballet Academy. She continued to train with Cincinnati Ballet for 10 years and performed in company productions of “The Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Bolero,” and “Beauty and the Beast” as well as academy productions of “La Bayadere,” “Don Quixote,” and Balanchine’s “Walpurgisnacht.” She has also attended summer intensive programs at Kansas City Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Louisville Ballet and Nashville Ballet. She then joined DE LA Dance Company in 2018 where she performed corps de ballet roles such as Snow and Flowers in “The Nutcracker Jazzed Up,” Friends in “Coppelia,” Shades corps in “La Bayadere,” and Sylphs corps in “La Sylphide.” She has also performed larger roles as a Shades soloist in “La Bayadere,” Prayer in “Coppelia” and as the White Cat in “Sleeping Beauty.” Morgan is excited to be joining Ballet Texas for their inaugural season!

Sydney began her dance training at the International Ballet Academy in Cary, NC, under the direction of Rossana Gahagan and Roberto Muñoz. Upon graduation, Sydney joined Orlando Ballet as a Trainee and was promoted to their Second Company in the following season. She then spent a season in Kansas City, as a KCBII with Kansas City Ballet. Sydney later joined Texas Ballet Theater’s STC program, where she trained and performed for two seasons. Some of her favorite performances on stage have included Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella as a Fairy and Courtier, Ben Stevenson’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tim O’Keefe’s Violin Concerto in D, and George Balanchine’s Serenade. Sydney could not be more excited for the upcoming season with Ballet Texas!

Tristan Thompson was introduced to ballet when he started dancing at a very small dance school, run out of the basement studio of the director. There, he was introduced to many forms of dance, but ballet was the form that had a lasting effect on him. After that introduction to the art form, he went on to train seriously under former Royal Ballet School teachers German and Valentina Zamuel at Zamuel Ballet School in Colorado Springs. Since then, he has had the privilege to be instructed and mentored by Princess Grace Award recipient Jeffrey Rogers at the Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City, as well as the rest of the Academy’s fantastic faculty. Following his time at Ballet West, Tristan was invited to join the Oklahoma City Ballet’s Trainee Programme, where he trained until he joined Ballet Texas in 2023. He has also had the opportunity to train, during his summers, under many accomplished teachers and dancers at the Royal Danish Ballet and the Dutch National Ballet.

 Urara was born in Japan. She began her ballet journey at the age of 4 at M,Uchigasaki Ecole de Ballet in Miyagi, and from the age of 7, she honed her skills at Claire Ballet Atelier. She received scholarships to attend summer intensives at American ballet schools such as Milwaukee Ballet and Kirov Ballet Academy. She achieved top placements in numerous ballet competitions in Japan, and in 2016, she won the D.A.T.E. All Japan Competition, earning her a recommendation to the Italy, Bari International Competition. In 2017, she placed 3rd in the same competition, leading to an apprenticeship recommendation at Buryat Opera Theater in Russia and an offer from the Cairo Opera House. In August 2018, she joined the Cairo Opera House as a corps de ballet and went on to participate in numerous performances. She joined some tours as represented Egypt and performed at United Nations Headquarters, Dubai summit, and in front of dignitaries. In 2021, she was promoted to the position of First Soloist. She has a strong affinity for technically demanding roles and characters with distinctive traits. Notable highlights from her repertoire include Pas de Trois, csárdás, Spanish from Swan Lake, Gypsy in Zorba, Carmen, The Queen of the Dryads, Mercedes from Don Quixote, Diana and Actaeon, Nephthys from The Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris, Rosaline from Romeo and Juliet, and many others. 

Cheyenne is originally from Lubbock, TX and began her pre-professional training at Ballet Lubbock under Yvonne Racz-Key at the age of 9. In 2008, she was invited to attend the year around program at Bossov Ballet Theater in Pittsfield, Maine. While at BBT, she trained under Andrei Bossov and Natalya Getman and had the opportunity to perform original works at the Dance Open Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Cheyenne graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in Advertising and while there, she was a member of Texas Pom. In 2022, she joined Metamorphosis Dance and performed soloist roles in The Nutcracker and The Red Shoes. Cheyenne loves spending time with her husband and 2 children, and is so excited to join Ballet Texas.

Roberto is a 23-year-old professional dancer from Mexico. He began his dance studies in 2016 and graduated in 2021 with a degree in Classical Dance from Pro del Talento Veracruzano PROVER, under the direction of teacher Martha Sahagún Morales in Córdoba, Veracruz. Thanks to this solid foundation, Roberto has had the opportunity to perform in prestigious theaters and festivals across Mexico, including the National Classical Dance Competition, where he participated as part of a dance ensemble at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. In the past two years, Cantú has danced with the State of Mexico Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Master Jasmany Hernández. He has worked alongside renowned figures such as Yazmín Barragán, teacher and choreographer of both the National Dance Company and the Dance Company of the State of Mexico. During this time, he has performed in works including El Despertar de las Maquetas, Romeo y Julieta, Casta Diva, and Primer Sueño, among others. He has been featured both as a soloist and as a member of the corps de ballet in several choreographic works.