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2023/2024 CORE FACULTY
About Our Core Faculty
Evergreen City Ballet’s core faculty consists of the Artistic Director, School Principal, and a select group of instructors who are committed and dedicated to providing the highest quality dance education to all of our students. Each instructor is passionate about instilling ECB’s core values of excellence, integrity, discipline, respect, inclusiveness, professionalism, and teamwork. ECB’s unique dance curriculum offers a rigorous, well-rounded, and holistic approach to learning and development.
Core Faculty instructors may periodically rotate within their designated levels, at the discretion of the Artistic Director and School Principal, to ensure that ECB delivers a comprehensive and dynamic learning experience. Each instructor is available for one-hour coaching or private session to work with a student one-on-one and help advance their technique and artistry. At ECB, our goal is to help each student learn, grow, and thrive.
NATHAN COOK
School Principal
principal@evergreencityballet.org
Nathan Cook began his ballet training at Washington Contemporary Ballet in Tacoma, WA, where he studied classical and contemporary ballet under the direction of Kay Englert. He received further training from Spectrum Dance Theatre and Pacific Northwest Ballet, where he spent four summers dancing on a merit scholarship. Over the years, Mr. Nathan has studied with many notable directors and instructors including Peter Boal, Vikki Pulkinen, Eva Stone, Sonja Dawkins, Donald Byrd, Bruce Wells, Timothy Lynch, and Stephanie Wood.
As a professional dancer, Mr. Cook has had the privilege of touring both domestically and internationally to places such as Germany, France, India, South Korea, and more. He has worked with esteemed choreographers such as Adam Miller, Julie Tobiason, Jennifer Porter, Sayoko Knode, Jessie Jeanne Stinnett, and Cyrus Khambatta.
From 2015-2018, Mr. Cook served as the Director of Washington Contemporary Ballet. He currently dances with Khambatta Dance Company and is the School Principal of Evergreen City Ballet.
DENALI WEYER
Programs & Rehearsal Coordinator
Ballet & Pointe
rehearsal@evergreencityballet.org
Former alumni, Denali Weyer, grew up dancing classical ballet with additional training in jazz, contemporary, and modern at a small studio in Enumclaw, WA under the tutelage of Sandra and Glen Hasstedt who were former dancers with San Fransisco Ballet. After deciding that she wanted to pursue dance as a career, she joined Evergreen City Ballet in 2009 where she received training from Kevin Kaiser, Louise Nadeau, Deborah Kenner, Julie Tobiason, Jeffery Stanton, Danielle Wilkens, as well as many guest artists from Pacific Northwest Ballet.
During the summers, Ms. Weyer trained at Ballet Arizona with Ib Andersen and Carlos Valcarcel, Ballet Chicago with Daniel Duell and Patricia Blair as well as two summers at the American Academy of Ballet in New York with Mignon Furman. She continued dancing after high school in Ballet Arizona’s pre-professional program for two years and then moved to Portland where she danced for another two years with Oregon Ballet Theatre’s school and then a year in their pre-professional program.
Ms. Weyer currently works at Evergreen City Ballet in Renton as the Rehearsal and Programs Coordinator and teaches ages 5 through adults. She has had the opportunity to teach at several other studios up and down the Puget Sound area. She went to school for massage therapy and has loved working with dancers as well as other athletes and would eventually love to continue her studies in pre-medicine.
MARGARITA ARMAS
Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary & Jazz
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Margarita Armas began her ballet training at Artistic Dance Center and Miami City Ballet School. In 2014, Margarita took a brief break from her ballet training to explore Modern and Contemporary Techniques with Marie-Louise Gaschler. She attended summer programs in Miami City Ballet School, American Ballet Theater, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. At age 15, Margarita was selected by Miami City Ballet to perform with the company’s 2015-2016 Season & MCB Tour to New York City and Chicago.
Margarita was featured in the second season of the Teen Vogue’s Strictly Ballet Series. She was also the recipient of the Silver Award in the 2018 Young Arts Ballet Category. Margarita began to explore choreography for Miami City Ballet School’s Student Choreography Showcase.
In 2019, during her second year as a Professional Student with Pacific Northwest Ballet, she choreographed at the Guggenheim in New York City for a collaboration with Dance Lab New York and the Joyce for "Female Choreographers of Color in Ballet.” In 2021, during her last year as a Professional Division student at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, She choreographed for PNB’s Rep 4 Bonus Content for their 2020/2021 season. Margarita is now pursuing a career as a freelance dancer and choreographer.
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THERESA DEGENNARO
Creative Movement
My love for dance education began at age 16 when I interned at The Creative Dance Center under the direction of Anne Green Gilbert. This experience immersed me in the world of Brain Compatible Dance education where I began developing my current pedagogy. My lessons implement the Brain Dance, dance concepts, anatomy and physiology, and social emotional skills. I find fulfillment in cultivating a safe space where my students are able to be themselves; allowing students to meet their greatest potential. When I'm not teaching, you can find me in my garden, working on fiber arts, or hanging with my family and dog Brutus! I am currently pursuing a degree in mental health counseling.
JULIA JAMES
Ballet
Julia danced as an apprentice with New York City Ballet from 2000 to 2002 after training year-round at the School of American Ballet from 15 to 17. She attended summer sessions on full scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School and, before moving to New York, studied at the Ballet West Conservatory and as a concurrent student at the University of Utah. She earned a bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental sciences and a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford and now works full-time for the university in institutional communications.
As an apprentice with New York City Ballet, Julia performed in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Richard Tanner and Eliot Feld. In workshop performances at the School of American Ballet, she appeared in “Stars and Stripes,” “Danses Concertantes,” “Konservatoriet,” and the world premier of Chris Wheeldon’s “Scènes de Ballet.”
Her former teachers include Suki Schorer, Susie Pilarre, Kay Mazzo, Antonina Tumkovsky, Jock Soto, Peter Boal, Andre Kramerevsky, Victoria Pulkkinen, Flemming Halby, Abbie Siegel, Louise Nadeau, Phillip Otto, Marjorie Thompson, Francia Russell, Gloria Govrin, Jorge Esquivel, Sandra Jennings, Bené Arnold, and Conrad Ludlow.
Julia taught advanced pointe and technique at the Pacific Ballet Academy, in Mountain View, California, between 2005 and 2016. When not in a studio, she can most often be found on a field, playing ultimate frisbee. She lives in Seattle’s Hillman City neighborhood with her husband and two kids – now students at ECB!
JENNIFER PORTER
Ballet & Pointe
Jennifer Porter grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. She trained with Ballet West and First Chamber Dance Company and attended high school at the prestigious North Carolina School of the Arts. She began her professional career dancing with The Washington Ballet in Washington, DC, and then with Pacific Northwest Ballet where she performed works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Kent Stowell, Jerome Robbins, Nacho Duato, and many others.
Ms. Jennifer was the Artistic Director of Ballet Bellevue for three years where she created two original full-length ballets, The Snowman and Firebird. She has also created other contemporary works including With Remorse, Velvet Romance, Disconnected, Duet, and Childish Things. She has also created works for The Katy Hagelin Dance Project, Inception Dance Theater, and Burmer Music. Her choreographic works have been praised and recognized nationally and internationally. Ms. Jennifer's work for Burmer Music titled Sacred and Profane was highly acclaimed and her piece Vim was recently performed in Croatia.
In February of 2017, she won 1st Prize at The Rocky Mountain Choreography Festival in Utah for her piece Duet. She was invited to return and present a full evening of her choreographic works. In October of 2017, she brought with her ten dancers to perform her original choreography, including a selection of shorter works and Firebird, her modern-day ballet interpretation of the Russian fairy tale of the same name. Her dances and dancers were well received by an enthusiastic audience at Peery's Egyptian Theater, an 800-seat theater in Ogden, Utah.
In addition to choreography, Ms. Jennifer has been teaching for 20 years and has enjoyed working with not only professional dancers, but students and non-dancers. She has taught all over the state choreographing musicals, graduation dances, and the occasional flash mob. Ms. Jennifer loves coaching, mentoring, and nurturing in her students the passion for dance, which she has celebrated her whole life.