h DIRECTORS
Valerie Shelton-Tabor, Co-Founder & Artistic Director Mrs. Tabor co-founded Contemporary Ballet Dallas in 2000,
and has since served as one of the company's choreographers and now, Artistic Director. She received her early dance training
from Ballet Midland, Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet Theatre. She has performed in works by choreographers Isadora
Duncan, Helen Tamaris, George Balanchine and Martha Graham. As a Dallas native, Valerie attended Southern Methodist University,
earning both a BFA in Dance and a BA in Sociology, graduating cum laude. Throughout her training, Mrs. Tabor had the privilege
to work with renowned artists such as Ann Reinking, Suzanne Farrell, Heather Watts, Jillana, Gregory Hines, Timothy Curry,
Anthony Ferro, Martin Viscount, Treat Williams, Savion Glover, and vocal coach Seth Riggs. Some of her honors include scholarships
to study with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Hartford Ballet and Ann Reinking's Musical Theatre Project. Mrs.
Tabor’s performance experience is extensive and well-rounded, including Cinderella - as the lead, Pas de
Quatre, Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine’s Jewels and Serenade, & Graham’s Diversion
of Angels, as well as musicals, including Hello Dolly!, Grease, and King & I. Mrs. Tabor
later graduated law school from the University of Oklahoma, earning a Juris Doctorate. She is a former Assistant District
Attorney for Dallas County and was later in private practice, focusing on CPS and juvenile delinquency. She now serves as
an Assistant Public Defender for Dallas County. Mrs. Tabor also currently sits as the President of the Board of Directors
of the Dance Council of North Texas and teaches pre-pointe and pointe levels at the School of CBD. She is married with
two intelligent, imaginative & loving sons. Contact her at valerie@contemporaryballetdallas.com.
Lindsay D. Bowman, School & Rehearsal Director
Mrs. Bowman has been
the Assistant Artistic Director for four years where her responsibilities include running the daily activities of The School
of Contemporary Ballet Dallas, assisting in, or running company rehearsals, and choreographing. She began her training under
Joyce Seaborne Bader, A.R.A.D., and Lyndette Bader Galen of Dallas Dance Academy where she studied the Royal Academy of Dancing
syllabus. She received the honors of highest marks on Grades 2-8 and Majors Exams, Elementary and Intermediate. Upon graduating
high school from Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Lindsay went on to earn a BFA in Dance, graduating cum laude from Southern Methodist
University. While at SMU, her performance credits included Danny Buraczeski’s debut, Cortege, for The Algur
H. Meadows Award Ceremony honoring jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. In addition, Lindsay performed in numerous SMU mainstage
and student productions, with roles ranging in ballet, modern, and jazz. Professionally, Mrs. Bowman has performed as Dance
Captain at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg in This is Oktoberfest, The Frontera Festival in Austin, Sweet Charity
with Austin Musical Theatre, West Side Story with Casa Manana, and four seasons with CBD! Lindsay has performed several
lead roles with CBD, such as "Gerda" and "Snow Queen" in The Snow Queen, "The Addict"
in Out of the Zone, "Mrs. Peacock" in Not a Clue!, and "The Hostess" in Feast of
Friends. Over the years, Lindsay has grown to love teaching and working with children of all ages. She enjoys developing
young, intelligent dancers for the future. Contact her at lindsay@schoolofcbd.com. 
2009-2010 Dancers~
Jeana
Rebers Mosher Ms. Mosher graduated from Southern Methodist
University earning her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance. She received additional training from the School of Minnesota
Ballet, the Royal Winnepeg Ballet School, the Princeton Ballet School, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and
the Radio City Rockettes. She has performed across the country and overseas, including Walt
Disney World, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland & China. Locally, she has performed in the Crystal
Charity Ball, the Nieman Marcus Adolphus children’s parade and several high-fashion industrial shows. She
also serves as a professional adjudicator for International Dance Challenge. Jeana is thrilled to
have returned to CBD this year for her fifth season with the company. 
Jennifer
Obeney Jennifer Obeney is happy to be returning to CBD
having appeared last year as the Ghost of Christmas Future in Boogie Woogie Christmas Carol. She is a graduate
of Otterbein College with a BA in Music Business and a Minor in Dance. She has also danced with Commedia
Ballet Theater in their productions of Forbidden Fruit: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Scrooge, and Corpse Bride and Alaska
Dance Theater in Anchorage. She is, in addition to dancing with CBD, an actor, having recently appeared
with Level Ground Arts in Tempest, and Julius Ceasar. She has performed with WaterTower Theater, Garland
Summer Musicals, Teatro Delle Muse, The Hub ‘Fringe Fest’, Runway Theater, and Artisan Center Theater.
She is the Co-Founder/Managing Director of Forum Theatre Company, a new company in Fort Worth that recently closed
a well received run of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ in mid-November.
k Melissa Nagel Melissa is an honor graduate of Ohio State University
where she majored in Dance Choreography. She trained with Chamberlain Ballet School and attended summer
programs at School of American Ballet (SAB) and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Upon graduation,
Ms. Nagel danced as a trainee for Ballet Magnificat and toured the west coast with Sidewalk Productions (a professional
dance group formed by Youth with a Mission. She then earned her associates degree in dance at Collin County
Community College under the instruction of Tiffanee Arnold. While at CCCC, she student taught, choreographed
for several shows, attended American College Dance festival, and performed with Tiffanee’s, "Collin Dance Ensemble."
Melissa then transferred to Ohio State University were she studied choreography, music,
digital video editing (for media related works), kinesiology, yoga, pilates, lighting, and production. She’s
taken technique classes from many teachers with styles in Taylor technique, Graham, Tricia
Brown, Ailey, Chinese Opera, Royal Ballet, Cunningham, and Mark Morris. Ms. Nagel is the co-founder of
Epiphany Dance Theatre and is in her second season with CBD. k Victoria Dolph Victoria began dancing at the age of two. She started her classical ballet training
at five with Mme. Nathalie Krassovska. She later studied at Ballet Dallas and was taught by Thom Clower and Anna Donovan.
Under the direction of Mme. Krassovska, she learned the art of romantic classical style. Ms. Dolph
received the Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat scholarship to the Russian Ballet Society in Scotland. Other awarded
scholarships include; The Ballet Magnificat summer intensive, Austin Ballet summer intensive, Ballet Concerto and also the
Natalie Skelton Scholarship for the Glenda Brown Choreographers Conference in Austin. This
past summer Ms. Dolph attended the Rockette Summer intensive in NYC and danced at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square
Garden. Victoria has danced professionally with Krassovska’s Ballet Jeunesse, Irving Ballet Company,
Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, and Ballet Foundation of the XXI Century. Ms. Dolph has enjoyed performing many
ballets such as Paquita, Les Sylphides, Chopiniana, La Bayadere, Giselle, Raymonda, Nutcracker, Mid- Summer Nights Dream,
Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Carmen, and Pas de Quatre. Ms. Dolph joins CBD season for her first
season and is teaching classical ballet to students in the DFW metroplex. k Courtney Beacham Courtney
has studied dance for over 15 years. He began his training at the Dallas Ballet Center. After
10 years with Dallas Ballet Center, he began training in modern with the Collin County Community College dance department.
He has performed with Ft. Worth/Dallas Ballet, as well as the Bolshoi Ballet. Courtney has also
trained in hip-hop with Rhythm Nation, wherein he performed with Josh of SYTYCD fame. Courtney is in his
second year with CBD and will be appearing in Boogie Woogie Christmas Carol. He is thrilled to be on-stage
with his loving sister, Gina, again, and to be working with Epiphany Dance Theatre, as well. k Lisa LaGravinese Lisa is originally from Massapequa,
NY on Long Island. She trained at the Marianne Anderson School of Dance and attended Long Island High School
of Arts. After graduating high school she journeyed to Dallas, TX on an artistic scholarship to attend
SMU as a dance major. There, she received her BFA in Dance Performance. Lisa enjoyed
performing the works by choreographers such as Martha Graham, Balanchine, Sabrina Madison-Cannon and Max Stone, as well, working
with such renowned instructors as Karen Kriete, Jeremy Blanton, Myra Woodruff and Nathan Montoya. She ventured
back to NY where she continued training at the Graham School and Broadway Dance Center. She is thrilled
to have returned to Dallas. She currently teaches at the School of CBD, and dances with DekaDance and is
in her second season with CBD. k Jorge Fuentes Mr. Fuentes is a native of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Dance first sparked his interest while in
middle school when he attended a Folklorico class on a whim. His teachers quickly noticed his talent and directed him to pursue
professional ballet and Folklorico training. Jorge attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual
Arts (BTWHSPVA) where he performed the works of renowned choreographers Robert Battle, Adam Hougland, and Jessica Lang. He
graduated, with honors, and also received honorable mention in choreography, Folklorico, and modern by the National Foundation
for Advancement in the Arts. Since graduation, Mr. Fuentes has performed as a guest artist throughout the
Dallas Metroplex. He currently resides in New York City, and has danced for New York Baroque Dance Society
, Alegre Ballet Folklorico, Akjun Ballet Theatre and Calpulli Danza Mexicana. k Darrell
Cleveland Darrell received a BA in Accounting from Morehouse College and received his early dance training
from Harrison Dance Studio of Atlanta, Georgia. His professional dance experience includes Dallas Black
Dance Theatre for nine seasons and the Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Theatre in Los Angeles.
Darrell has also worked with renowned artists such as En Vogue, Toni Braxton & Monica. He has
also performed in stage productions, including Nickelodeon Children's Kids Choice Awards, Soul Train, Showtime at the Apollo,
& Centennial Olympic Park Festival; as well as appeared in commercials for the Texas Lottery. He has
also performed in various industrial events such as Mary Kay Cosmetics. k Gina Beacham Gina began
her training at the Dallas Ballet Center, where she performed in many classical ballets, such as Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote,
Coppelia, and The Nutcracker. After spending over ten years with DBC she joined the Collin County Dance Ensemble apprenticed
with Contemporary Ballet Dallas in 2002. Gina also trained with Ballet Magnificat, a Christian dance company in Jackson Mississippi.
Gina recently graduated of Southern Methodist University, earning a BFA in Dance Performance and a BA in English. While
analyzing and interpreting literature, Gina enjoyed performing and choreographing for SMU’s annual Brown Bag show, and
performing in new and classical works for mainstage productions. During her time at SMU she also studied production and labanotation,
as well as received intensive training in Graham & classical ballet, including Balanchine and Horton. k Lea Essmyer Lea Essmyer
is from northern New Jersey. She received most of her ballet training from the renowned Master Gabriella Darvash, as well
as the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Most recently, she danced with the Dayton Ballet under the direction of Dermot
Burke. She has also danced with the Roxey Ballet and Repertory Dance Theatre in New Jersey. She teaches dance in Arlington
and is also a company member of Metropolitan Classical Ballet. Lea is pleased to be dancing her first season
with Contemporary Ballet Dallas. k Taylor Stewart Taylor received 10 years of classical training from Hugh Nini of Denton Ballet
Academy. During this time, she had the privilege of traveling to the south of France for a 3 week
ballet intensive with Mme. Villers of the Paris Opera Ballet. She attended college at SMU and received
her BFA in Dance Performance in 2008 where she studied vernacular jazz, Martha Graham, and Balanchine techniques.
She has performed professionally with The Festival Ballet of North Central Texas and is dancing her first season with
CBD. k Emilie Rupp Emilie was born and raised in Houston,
Texas, training with the Houston Repertoire & Company for 6 years. She was accepted into and attended
summer dance-intensive programs at Joffery Ballet, Pennsylvania Youth Ballet & Ballet Austin. She graduated
University of North Texas in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in French & an Art History Minor. She is
currently working at the Dallas International School and is happy to be dancing with CBD for her second season.
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