Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet

Ms. Fairchild was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and began her dance training at the age of four, studying with Judy Levitre and Kaelynne Oliphant at Dance Concepts in Sandy, Utah, and at the Ballet West Conservatory in Salt Lake City with Sharee Lane, Deborah Dobson, and Maureen Laird.

While at the Ballet West Conservatory, Ms. Fairchild was also a Ballet West trainee. Ms. Fairchild entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 2000.

In November 2001, Ms. Fairchild became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in October 2002 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.

Ms. Fairchild was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, she was promoted to principal dancer.

Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet

Emilie Gerrity was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and began her dance training at the age of five at Betty Jean's Dance Studio in Wappingers Falls, New York before studying at the New Paltz School of Ballet.

Ms. Gerrity attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, during the summers of 2004, 2005, and 2006, before enrolling as a full-time student in winter 2006.

While at SAB, she performed George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco as part of Protégés II at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in June 2008. Ms. Gerrity was named as an apprentice in 2009 and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in September 2010.

Ms. Gerrity was promoted to the rank of soloist dancer in February 2017, and to principal dancer February 2023.

Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary, Choreography

Kristina Desjardins began her dance training at The Adams School of Dance in Vermont. She then joined The Vermont Chamber Ballet, where she danced leading roles such as Clara, Dew Drop Fairy, and Sugar Plum Fairy. She performed with New York City Ballet’s summer seasons at Saratoga Performing Arts Center and studied at Boston Ballet for their summer intensives. After graduating from Rutland High she moved to New York City to study Musical Theater at American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Since then she’s joined New York City based companies such as ELSCO Dance, GIG(Get it Good), Metaphors&similiesDance, and Enzo Celli’s VIVOBallet. She has worked for Dublin Worldwide Spirit Productions in numerous shows all over the USA. Kristina’s been fortunate to work as a dancer and choreographer in music videos shot in L.A., New York, and London. Locally she’s choreographed musical theater shows at Merchants Hall and Castleton State College. Kristina is the Artistic Director of ENTITYDANCE and has presented her own works at Dixon Place, Junction Dance Festival, Beacon Bonfire, and Manchester Library. She is focused on bringing more dance to Vermont.

Contemporary, Choreography

Sage is the founder/director of Sage Horsey + Company, a collective of artists committed to manifesting community through shared experiences. Sage has been dancing for the last 25 years, training in classical ballet, contemporary ballet, modern, hip hop, breaking, and jazz. She has studied with the Alvin Ailey School, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet BFA, Rubberband Dance Company, Sidra Bell, and many other talented contemporaries. In addition to teaching various movement styles, Sage received her 200HR Yoga Teaching Certification under the instruction of Djuna Mascall and Sienna Smith in 2014. She has been passionately and intelligently teaching yoga around the country ever since. Sage brings a sense of warmth, authenticity, and love to any classroom or studio.

Aerial Silks, Lyra, Trapeze

Maia grew up in western Massachusetts, and found her love for aerials at the New England Center for Circus Arts. As a teenager she toured with the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour, and she is now an aerial coach for Smirkus Camp during the summers. She was the president of the Columbia Circus Collective from 2021-2022 where she instructed, directed, and performed in shows at Columbia University. Maia has performed with the New York Circus Project, Cirque Us, Catamount Arts, Muse ABCirque, and more! Lyra is Maia’s aerial apparatus of choice, but she has a warm place in her heart for silks and trapeze. She is so excited to bring more aerial opportunities to Burlington, VT!

Modern

Mary Carter (she/her) is a dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where she studied ballet under Robyn Hartley and apprenticed for the St. Louis Ballet Company where she had the opportunity to perform in the ballets, Serenade and Giselle. She spent summers at American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and The Ailey School. She then furthered her training at The Ailey School on Fellowship, performing works by Judith Jamison, Take Ueyama, and Francesca Harper and later attended Matthew Corozine Studio Theater for acting. Among her many collaborations in NYC as a freelance performing artist, highlights include dancing for The Francesca Harper Project, Touch Performance Art, Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto), Amy Wan Man Cheung (Chashama Art Gallery), Willy Laury and most recently interdisciplinary artist Janet Biggs - performing works at The New Museum and Fridman Gallery in NYC.