Donate in Honor of Michael Fothergill, Executive and Artistic Director

Michael was introduced to dance at the young age of 7 while attending the Betty Hill Dance Studios in Des Moines, Iowa. He furthered his training with Robert Thomas and Miyoko Kato of the Harkness and Joffrey Ballets at the Robert Thomas Dancenter. He was a full scholarship recipient of the Milwaukee Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet and completed his training with American Ballet Theatre following an early graduation from high school,

Michael's 20-year's career as a dancer took him across the United States, Europe, and Asia. He performed leading roles in the classics and in prominent works by Ashton, Balanchine, Baryshnikov, De Mille, Dow, Duato, Fokine, Fosse, Gamonet, KyliÃÆ'Æ'Æ'ÃÆ'ââ'¬ 'ÃÆ'Æ'ââ'¬ 'ÃÆ'Æ'Æ''ÃÆ'Æ''ÃÆ''Ã'Ã'¡n, Massine, MacMillan, Nureyev, Prokovsky, Robbins, Tharp, Tudor, Van Fleteren, and others. Michael graced stages from Milwaukee to Tokyo until his retirement as a principal dancer and choreographer with the Alabama Ballet in 2017. Succeeding Michael Bearden, Michael was named Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas in the same year, and appointed Executive and Artistic Director in 2018.

Since that time, Michael has transformed the organization's vision, image, and programming, eliminated its debt, and doubled its gross operating budget to exceed 1M USD. Ballet Arkansas now presents a vibrant repertory of the classics, celebrated works of American dance, and premieres by some of the world's most daring dancemakers.

Donate in Honor of Catherine Fothergill, Associate Artistic Director

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Catherine trained at the Alabama Dance Academy and Alabama Ballet Center for Dance before completing her studies at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under Marcia Dale Weary. Catherine joined the Louisville Ballet, and thereafter, the Alabama Ballet, where she danced as a principal ballerina for more than a decade. Catherine danced leading roles in the classics and in works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Agnes De Mille, Domy Reiter-Soffer, Brandon Ragland, Andree Howard, Alan Hineline, David Lichine, Frank Staff, Jiri Kylian, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, and Roger Van Fleteren. While dancing, Catherine simultaneously earned degrees in sociology and international studies and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Following her final performances with the Alabama Ballet, Catherine joined Ballet Arkansas as the Associate Artistic Director in the summer of 2017.

At Ballet Arkansas, Catherine is the chief caretaker of the organization's repertory, the curator of its education programs and community outreach initiatives, and the architect of its marketing strategies. Since her appointment, Ballet Arkansas' repertory has diversified, its education program enrollment has tripled, and its bold marketing strategies have attributed to audience growth of more than 60%. In honor of these achievements, Arkansas Money & Politics Magazine named Catherine one of its Power Women, class of 2020. Under Catherine's oversight, Ballet Arkansas was named one of the Top 100 Ballet Companies in America by the Dance Data Project.

Donate in honor of Colin J. Neel, Production Manager.

Colin J. Neel was born in Birmingham, Alabama and started dancing at The Alabama School of Fine Arts at the age of 12. He moved to The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, HARID Conservatory, and Bossov Ballet Theatre over the course of his High School Seasons, and attended The International Dance Open in St. Petersburg, Russia in a postgraduate season. After, Colin returned home to dance with The Alabama Ballet as a Company Dancer and Resident Company Character Actor. Performing in Professional Bills such as: Romeo and Juliet, Agnes DeMille's Rodeo and Fall River Legend, Coppelia, Derek Rocas' Bagyo, Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Dracula, Jekyll & Hyde, and Cinderella. After 4 seasons, he moved on to get his College Degree at Birmingham-Southern College, where he found his love of Theatre Lighting Design and Stage Management and graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Production Design in December, 2020. His Bills at BSC include: Fiddler on The Roof, Noises Off, A Sunday in The Park with George, Silent Sky, These Shining Lives, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), Made in America, TickTick BOOM!, Pippin, Trojan Women, Shakespeare's Tempest, Falsettos and Emotional Creature: The Secret Lives of Women from Around The World.

Donate in honor of Stephanie Ong, Costume Director!

Stephanie is excited to be back with Ballet Arkansas as their costume director. She is a graduate of UA Little Rock with a degree in theatre arts. Stephanie has been a seamstress/wardrobe mistress for local theatre's such as The Rep, Wildwood Park for the Arts, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, and The Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas as well as a summer season in Florida. She was a 2007-2008 education intern at The Actor's Theatre of Louisville, is on the Arkansas Arts Council Arts in Education roster, and is currently a Montessori elementary teacher.