Professional Dancers
RICK CALLENDER
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Rick is from Miami, Florida and began his training with Marta Mahr School of Ballet and New World School of the Arts. He then moved to Seattle to study at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He later took a position with the Washington Ballet in Washington, DC. After working at the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet (Texas Ballet Theatre) for five seasons, he moved to Philadelphia. Rick has also danced with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X, Miro Dance, Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and many others in the Philadelphia area. He has gotten to perform many wonderful roles and has enjoyed performing around the world. Rick has been guesting with Brandywine since 2008, and has been a full-season member since 2014. Some of his highlights with the Company include The Beast in Beauty & The Beast, Jonathan in Dracula, Carmina Burana, and Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty.
TIM EARLY
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Tim is celebrating his 32nd consecutive season with Brandywine Ballet as a Principal Dancer. In addition to performing, Tim has choreographed for the Company, and has been on faculty at The Dance Center, the official school of the Brandywine Ballet. Beginning in 2018, Tim also began a position as the Production Manager with Brandywine Ballet, working to coordinate all of the company's performance efforts. Highlights with the Company have been his performances in Nancy Page’s Dracula, Ronen Koresh’s Beyond the Steps, Balanchine’s Serenade, and Eddy Touissant’s Souvenance. Together with Donna L. Muzio, Mr. Early founded Brandywine Contemporary, the modern-based arm of Brandywine Ballet. He is co-director of the Philadelphia-based modern company Opus I Contemporary. He has choreographed for Lafayette College, Moravian College, and West Chester University. In addition, Mr. Early has headed the dance department at Wyoming Seminary Summer Arts Program in Wilkes-Barre, PA, for the past 20 years.
THOMAS GANT, JR.
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Thomas is a graduate of Southern New Jersey Academy of Performing Arts under the direction of David Kloss. He has also studied with Ronen Koresh and Melissa Rector of Koresh Dance Company, as well as with Delphine Del Bello, David Kloss, Nancy Page, and Christopher Fleming, among others. Mr. Gant works as a freelance artist, balancing dancing, teaching, and choreography. He has danced with Opus 1 Contemporary Company, Dance Del Bello, BalletFleming, and Brandywine Ballet. He has developed an international relationship choreographing and teaching for Tainan City Ballet as well as Chung Hwa Arts High School in Taiwan. Mr. Gant has also been appointed the regisseur of David Kloss’s repertoire. He returned to Brandywine Ballet in 2019 and is please to continue dancing with the company.
MICAH GEYER
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Micah is from Durham, North Caroline where he started dance at a young age with NinaWheeler from Nina’s School of Dance. During that time, he also spent his weekends in Chapel Hill training with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble under the direction of Gene Medler. With that company, he was fortunate enough to travel and perform throughout America and Europe. A couple highlights of these years were headlining “Tap City” at the Joyce in New York City and performing with Savion Glover in “Rhythm and Blue” in Greenville, South Carolina. Micah then attended college at East Carolina University, receiving a BFA in Dance Performance and a BA in Psychology. After graduation, Micah moved to Philadelphia and was hired by the Koresh Dance Company where he has been for the last fifteen years. During his time with Koresh, he was able to work with many renowned choreographers and traveled extensively with the company. The Brandywine Ballet is pleased to add Mr. Geyer to their roster of professional dancers.
GENEVIEVE JACOBY
Brandywine Contemporary
Genevieve is a graduate of West Chester University, where she studied dance and earned a degree in Political Science. Genevieve served on the executive board for the West Chester University Dance Company. There, she had many opportunities to choreograph and perform for the company, including the Professors’ Devised Work for the West Chester University’s Department of Theatre and Dance entitled Carnival of Ruin. Genevieve has been performing with Brandywine Contemporary since 2023. During this time, she has performed in My First, My Last, My Everything, Walkin’ After Midnight, and The Nutcracker. Ms. Jacoby is currently on faculty with The Dance Center.
KIRSTEN MOHL
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Kirsten is a graduate of West Chester University with a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology and the Certificate in Ballet with Brandywine Ballet. Having grown up in Chester County, she received her professional training at The Dance Center, under Donna L. Muzio. She became a member of Brandywine Ballet Company in 2012 and was promoted to Brandywine Ballet Theatre in 2016. During her time with the ballet company, Kirsten has danced for numerous choreographers and has perform several featured roles, such as Snow Queen, Arabian, and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and Lucy in Nancy Page’s Dracula. Kirsten has also been a member of Brandywine Contemporary since 2014; and with the company, has performed an extensive repertoire of contemporary pieces at various venues in West Chester and Philadelphia. Ms. Mohl is excited to continue her dance career with Brandywine Ballet while pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy.
ANDREA OLAZAGASTI
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Andrea began her dance training at Delaware Dance Company at the age of nine. Before graduating, she spent her final year studying at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Ms. Olazagasti went on to dance for the Louisville Ballet and Festival Ballet Providence where she had the privilege working with choreographers such as Lila York, Viktor Plotnikov and others. From 2010-2015 Ms. Olazagasti danced with First State Ballet Theatre under the direction of Pasha Kambalov. There she danced soloist and leading roles such as, Myrta and Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle, Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, Blue Bird from The Sleeping Beauty and Cupid from Don Quixote. Ms. Olazagasti also had works created on her including Helena from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Evil StepSister from Cinderella. In the 2013 Valentina Kazlova IBC, Ms. Olazagasti and her partner were awarded with best interpretation of the compulsory contemporary piece by Paolo Arrias of Boston Ballet. Since joining the Brandywine Ballet Ms. Olazagasti has had the honor of dancing many roles choreographed by resident choreographer Nancy Page. Ms. Olazagasti is excited to return to stage with Brandywine Ballet to perform in their 2024 production of The Nutcracker.
TIMOTHY SLOAN
Brandywine Ballet Theatre
Timothy is from Mantua, New Jersey. He began his dance training at the Tricia Sloan Dance Center. Tim continued his training at the Rock School for Dance Education on a full scholarship, where he had the opportunity to perform numerous works at the Academy of Music, The Kimmel Center, The Merriam Theater and the Mann Music Center. Subsequently, he attended the Orlando Ballet School Summer Program and performed as a guest dancer with the Ballet Etudes Company in Miami, Florida. He went on to dance with Ballet Fleming in Philadelphia, as well as to guest dance for the Boca Ballet Theatre, Charleston Ballet and Brandywine Ballet. Most recently Tim worked for Disney Cruise Line on the Disney Magic Ship in their entertainment department. Currently Mr. Sloan teaches at his family’s dance studio while continuing to perform in their ballet productions as well as other ballet productions as a guest dancer. Mr. Sloan returned to Brandywine Ballet in 2022 and he is delighted to continue performing with the company.