Meet Rachel | Dancer of the Year Nominee
Meet Rachel
Dancer of the Year Nominee
RVA Dance Awards
In the 2018/2019 year I will have had the pleasure of dancing and performing for the local modern company RVA Dance Collective, Richmond’s newest professional ballet company the Stavna Ballet, the Virginia Repertory Theatre in the production of ‘The Wiz’ as one of their leading dancers, and in December of 2019 I will be joining the Oakland Ballet in California for their Nutcracker season. I have participated in the Dominion Energy 10th Anniversary Performance, Virginia Dance Festival and Richmond Dance Festival as well as several outreach performances and events throughout the city.
My most memorable and notable roles from this last year include Main Tornado in ‘The Wiz’, Lilac Fairy in the ‘Sleeping Beauty’, Glinda in ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Sugar Plum in ‘The Nutcracker’, Mina in the ballet ‘Dracula’, and the protagonist in Gavin and Vanessa Stewart’s ‘To Know You’. Growing up, I began dancing in Los Angeles at the age of 10, later setting focus in ballet with opportunities to train in schools around the country including Pacific Northwest Ballet, LINES Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Chicago, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and the Richmond Ballet. I am ecstatic to have been nominated for the Dancer of the Year RVA Dance Award, and really owe this nomination to my many mentors and supporters, Shannon Hunter McConville, Nicole Mickey Shaver, Madison Ellis Ellington, Lisa Rumbauskas, and of course to my many beautiful and talented dance students at the West End Academy of Dance who I love so dearly. My fun fact is that my favorite activities outside of ballet are tap dancing, water aerobics, hanging out with Bretta (my cat) and crying over episodes of the Great British Baking Show.
