Choreographers
Reka Gyulai
Reka Gyulai received her professional training at the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest, Hungary. She was a finalist at the International Ballet Competition in Vienna in 2004. In 2006, she received the prestigious Elvira Vecsei Prize and a Scholarship of the Republic from the Hungarian Ministry of Education.
Gyulai has performed with the Hungarian National Ballet, Columbia Classic Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, New Jersey Ballet Company, International Ballet Company, Dance Alive National Ballet in Florida, and California Ballet Company in San Diego. She toured extensively with these companies to Russia, Transylvania, Brazil, and throughout the United States. Her repertoire includes principal roles in Cinderella, Wizard of Oz, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Walpurgis Night, Swan Lake, Phantom of the Opera, and others, as well as contemporary works by Adam Hougland, Edwaard Liang, Ashley Page, Marcello Angelini, Ma Cong, Kevin Jenkins, Jared Nelson, and Septime Webre.
Reka is currently a freelancer and choreographer based in San Diego, CA. Her work Off Beat premiered at Pointeworks' inaugural performance in June 2024 at the Conrad Theater in La Jolla, and is set to make its NYC debut in March 2025. She is also preparing for her second new commission with Pointeworks for their Season 2.
dAYOUNG JUNG
DaYoung Jung, from South Korea, trained at Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy, graduating with honors with masters degree in Ballet Pedagogy. She was a semifinalist in the Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition held in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2006. Jung joined Oklahoma City Ballet in 2012, was promoted to soloist in 2014, and to principal in 2017.
Throughout her career, Jung has performed the title roles of many of the great classics, such as Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, The Firebird, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as works by George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Septime Webre, Toni Pimble, Twyla Tharp, Michael Pink, Robert Mills, and many others. Her vast repertoire made her an accomplished dancer and also gave her a springboard to find her voice as a choreographer, launching her into a new branch of her career.
Jung gave her final performance with Oklahoma City Ballet as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty in May 2022 after 10 years with the company.
Transitioning away from the stage, Jung became a rehearsal director at Oklahoma City Ballet. She is also a dance educator who has been invited as a panelist by Ballet Des Moines to speak on moving arts and dances and has lent her expertise as a judge at ADC/IBC final in 2023. She has already established herself behind the scenes of the ballet, and also as an award-winning choreographer.
Her choreographic works have graced stages across the nation. She was invited to present her work Dissipation at The Five Moons Dance Festival in August 2021. The following year, she presented her work, Composition. In 2022, Vignettes was chosen as the audience’s favorite of the Milwaukee Ballet’s competition, Genesis: International Choreographic Competition. Most recently, in 2024 She was invited to participate in the National Choreographers Initiative in Southern California.
laine habony
Laine Habony is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. Born in Dallas, Texas, she began her dance training at the age of 8 and has trained with renowned legends from around the world. She joined the company as an apprentice in November of 2013 and became a corps member the following year. As a student in Texas, she was a Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) winner, and at the School of American Ballet, she participated in numerous lecture demonstrations led by former NYCB soloists Katrina Killian and Jennifer Tinsley-Williams.
Laine choreographed her first ballet when she was 15 at the Chautauqua Dance Festival summer program under the direction of Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. Additionally, she was a student choreographer for the Choreographic Program at the School of American Ballet (SAB).
Ms. Habony has continued exploring movement and music, choreographing in NYCB’s First Steps Program for the 2020 and 2022 sessions, the SABxNYCB Toulmin Female Choreography Workshop, Ballet Sun Valley Dance Festival, and REVOLVE Dance Project in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2023, Ms. Habony was commissioned to create a 2024 YAGP award-winning ensemble piece for a top pre-professional ballet company in Texas. She is currently creating a new work for Pointeworks, which will be performed at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater during their Season 2 NYC tour. This new work involves an original score made in collaboration with Katie Jenkins, an acclaimed NYC composer, and features a mixed cast of Pointeworks artists.
Caili Quan
Caili Quan is a New York-based choreographer who danced with BalletX from 2013 to 2020. She has created works for BalletX, Vail Dance Festival, The Juilliard School, USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, American Repertory Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Stars of American Ballet, Asbury Park Dance Festival, School of American Ballet, Flight Path Dance Project, Oakland Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and Ballet Academy East. She served as an Artistic Partnership Initiative Fellow and a Toulmin Creator at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. With BalletX she performed new works by Matthew Neenan, Nicolo Fonte, Gabrielle Lamb, Penny Saunders, Trey McIntyre, and danced at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Belgrade Dance Festival, and DEMO by Damian Woetzel at the Kennedy Center. Mahålang, a short documentary that wove familial conversations of her Chamorro Filipino upbringing on Guam with scenes from BalletX's Love Letter, was shown at the Hawai’i International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. She also participated in New York Choreographic Institute’s 2022 Fall Session under the direction of Adrian Danchig-Waring. Caili was a 2022 Artist-in-Residence at the Vail Dance Festival, a 2023 Artist in Residence at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, and an Arnhold Creative Associate at The Juilliard School.
Photo Credit - Christopher Duggan, Vail Dance Festival
Andrea Yorita
Andrea Yorita is a stager for Caili Quan’s ballets.
Andrea Yorita is from Irvine California, where she received her classical ballet training at Academy of Dance, under the direction of Merle Sepel, Rebecca Tsivkin, and Mignon Furman. In 2012, she graduated as a Gillespie Scholar with a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied under Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, and Donald McKayle. Originally trained under the R.A.D. syllabus, Andrea has completed all Vocational R.A.D. exams with Distinction, as well as received the Solo Seal Award. In 2008, Andrea competed as a finalist in the Genee International Ballet Competition in Toronto, Canada. She has participated in the National Choreographers Initiative, as an apprentice, and the Traverse City Dance Project. Andrea was a 2016 Dance Finalist for the Clive Barnes Award. She joined BalletX in 2012 and spent 11 seasons with the company, touring nationally and internationally while working with a multitude of choreographers. She is now an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the Arts and freelance artist.
Yorita came to Pointeworks in June to stage Caili Quan's thrilling work, "Press Play".
Nicole Von Enck
Nicole Von Enck, an emerging choreographer and seasoned principal dancer in her 13th season with Texas Ballet Theater, brings her premiere Familiar Reflections to Pointeworks’ stage. Her new take on a classical romantic pas de deux weaves together the beauty of Debussy’s music with the nuances of her melodic movement. Familiar Reflections premiered at Pointeworks' inaugural performance in June 2024 in La Jolla and is set to make its NYC debut in March 2025.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Von Enck began her professional training with Joanne Hughes Morscher at the Royal School of Ballet. In 2008, she joined North Carolina Dance Theatre for two years, and in 2010 embarked on her career with Texas Ballet Theater. Her career highlights include featured roles curated by Ben Stevenson in 3 Preludes, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Esmeralda, Dracula, leads in Balanchine’s Rubies, Serenade, Who Cares?, the Prima Ballerina in Études by Harald Lander, Third Pas de Deux in Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV©: Danse à Grande Vitesse, and Petite Mort by Jiri Kylian.
Heather Nichols
Heather Nichols began her training at West End Academy of Dance in Richmond, Virginia. In 2009, Nichols joined the Richmond Ballet. From 2011 to 2015, she attended Butler University and received her BS in Dance Pedagogy and Pre-Physical Therapy. After graduating, she accepted a contract with Ballet San Antonio. In 2019, Nichols joined Kansas City Ballet, followed by Ballet RI in 2021. In 2022, she danced with the National Choreographers Initiative. Her featured roles have included works by Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Devon Carney, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Edwaard Liang, Helen Pickett, Michael Pink, Willy Shives, Ben Stevenson, Bruce Wells, Yury Yanowsky, among others.
Heather's choreographic works include Meraki for Kansas City Ballet and Eau d’Effervescence for Ballet RI. Meraki, which made its west coast premiere at Pointeworks' inaugural performance in June 2024 in La Jolla, is set to make its NYC debut in March 2025. This poetic pas de deux connects all facets of dance—the dancers, the music, and the rich choreography.
Gabriel Speiller
Gabriel Speiller, a native New Yorker raised in Queens, is a freelance choreographer currently based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. He holds a BFA from Belhaven University and an MFA from The University of Arizona, where he received the Outstanding Graduate Award from both the School of Dance and the College of Fine Arts. Speiller has performed with prestigious companies such as Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, Paul Taylor 2, and Ad Deum Dance Company, touring nationally and internationally.
Recently, Speiller was selected as one of eight choreographers worldwide for the Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow. He has served as a visiting professor at Texas Christian University's School of Classical and Contemporary Dance, and his choreography has been commissioned and performed by numerous companies and institutions, including Dallas Black Dance Theater, Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, Ballet North Texas, Zion Dance Project, and Texas Christian University, among others.
His dance films have been featured in festivals such as the PNB Dance Film Festival, Red Rock Screen Dance Festival, and the Dance Studies Association Conference in Vancouver. As a creator, Speiller is driven by an exploration of diverse human experiences, seeking to evoke visceral responses from both performers and audiences alike.
Melody mennite
A native of Santa Cruz, California, Melody Mennite trained at Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre under Robert Kelley and Diane McLarty, and at Pacific Northwest Ballet. She attended summer programs with Suzanne Farrell and participated in three consecutive intensives at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy, starting at the age of 13. After spending one year in Houston Ballet II on full scholarship and stipend, she also won a scholarship award from Regional Dance America/Pacific. She joined the Houston Ballet at the age of 17, quickly rising through the ranks and achieving Principal dancer status in 2008. In June 2024, she concludes her 22nd season with Houston Ballet.
In Houston, and on tours nationally and internationally, Melody has originated many roles (designated by an asterisk) and performed all of the leading classical roles in the company’s repertoire, including Ben Stevenson’s Giselle, Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, John Cranko’s Onegin and Taming of the Shrew, Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, Stanton Welch’s Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Marie,* Cinderella, The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara*), Sylvia (Psyche*), Madame Butterfly (Cio-Cio San and Kate), Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan, and John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her neoclassical and contemporary repertoire includes principal roles in ballets by Jirí Kylián, George Balanchine, Justin Peck, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Christopher Bruce, Aszure Barton, Christopher Wheeldon, Cathy Marston, Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, Paul Taylor, Jorma Elo, James Kudelka, Mark Morris, Wayne McGregor, David Bintley, Edward Liang, Stanton Welch, and others. Mennite has originated numerous roles with these choreographers.
In 2015, Mennite co-founded and directed REACH—a choreographic project that curates evenings of world premieres by emerging choreographers, with all proceeds designated for arts education programs in underserved schools. Following the success of REACH, Mennite and her colleagues were invited to collaboratively create a world premiere for a theatre-in-the-round at the George R. Brown Convention Center for Houston Ballet.
As a choreographer, Mennite has created 16 commissioned works, including Ana for Ballet Arkansas, Next of Kin for Houston Ballet Academy, Own commissioned for Kingwood Dance Theatre, which won a Regional Dance America award, The 64 and 91 for Kansas City Ballet, We All Are for Contingent Ballet in 2020, Nostalgia de los Montañas for Houston Chamber Orchestra Festival, and You and Me and the Waves for Houston Ballet, among others. Her work Floreciente made its west coast premiere at Pointeworks' inaugural performance in June 2024. She was also the choreographer, lead actor, and dancer in the award-winning film Self Sabotage, the short film category winner for the Festivus Film Festival in 2012. Melody frequently appears as a guest artist in galas and with companies nationally and internationally, as well as a teacher and coach in both ballet technique and somatic experiencing practices in movement for holistic wellness.
LEILAND CHARLES
LEILAND CHARLES, a dancer and choreographer rapidly gaining new acclaim, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He first stepped into a dance studio at the age of three with the Howard County Ballet in Ellicott City under the direction of Kathi Ferguson. Leiland furthered his artistic training at The Juilliard School under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, graduating with a BFA in 2014. While at Juilliard, he performed works by Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexander Ekman, and many others.
Upon graduation, Leiland joined Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Canada for three seasons, where he danced roles such as Benvolio in Jean Grand-Maître’s Romeo and Juliet and Red Couple in Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land. In his six seasons at BalletMet, Leiland has enjoyed performing numerous works including In Creases by Justin Peck and Cacti by Alexander Ekman.
Leiland’s original choreography includes Passages for Alberta Ballet, Togetherness for BalletMet 2, Figurines & Decisions, Decisions for BalletMet, and The Tides, created for the 2022 National Choreographer’s Initiative and later set for Pointeworks. The Tides was presented digitally by Pointeworks on the platform Marquee TV and at film festivals across the world. The short film, featuring Leiland's original choreography, was a finalist in the International Fine Arts Film Festival, a nominee in the Wyoming Dance Film Festival, and selected for Rethink Dance Festival, Utah Dance Film Festival 2024, Women in Film and Television - Cyprus (WIFT CYPRUS), and Style, Experimental, Fashion Film Festival.
Leiland’s choreographic approach involves tailoring musically inspired movement to individual strengths. Rapport with the artists is instrumental to Leiland’s process, building a studio atmosphere of supportive collaboration that results in rich connections appearing onstage. Leiland continues to perform with BalletMet while choreographing and teaching dance in the Columbus community.