2026 CRB Dancers: P.J. Spagnoletti

PJ began ballet training at the age of 16, following a background as a competitive gymnast. He studied primarily at Princeton Dance and Theater in New Jersey, under the direction of Risa Kaplowitz, and affiliated with the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. After 3 years of training, he joined The Sarasota Ballet as a trainee, where he performed excerpts from “Magnificat” at the Sarasota Opera House in 2021.

Following some injuries, he shifted his focus to academics, earning a degree in Marketing from The College of New Jersey’s School of Business. During his time in college, he explored choreography, presenting work at Flair Dance Festival and Roxey Ballet Company’s River Dance Festival in 2024. His piece “Extraterrestrial” was awarded Best Choreography at Flair Dance Company’s 5th Anniversary Festival this past summer. He has also performed as a featured guest artist, performing principal roles with Princeton Youth Ballet in 2023 and 2024.

Career highlights include performing works choreographed by Ricardo Graziano, Arcadian Broad, Martin Douglas, Matt Williams, Risa Kaplowitz & Joey Vélas. He is thrilled to return to professional dance and to fulfill his dream of performing at a professional level. He looks forward to exploring the city of Chicago and performing on stage once again.

2026 CRB Dancer: Rachel Schmidt

Rachel Schmidt was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA and received her early dance training from Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher of Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. After graduating from Butler University with a degree in Dance she joined the Alonzo King LINES Ballet training program and danced as a company member of dawsondanceSF in San Francisco, CA. She later joined Brooklyn Ballet and Visions Contemporary Ballet in New York, NY and performed at the Guggenheim Museum during Dance Lab NY’s Alchemy Lab Cycle. She has performed in works by Alonzo King, Maurya Kerr, Sidra Bell, Gregory Dawson, Wade Schaaf, Brian Enos, Mike Tyus and Kia Smith. She is currently in her fourth season with Chicago Repertory Ballet.

2026 CRB Dancers: Sarah Price

Originally from Elgin, Illinois, Sarah began her artistic journey in theater, where she spent much of her youth. She initially took ballet classes to improve her stage presence and secure better roles but soon fell in love with the elegance and discipline of ballet, which quickly became her passion. Sarah received extensive training under Kaleigh Schock Tyton, who played a pivotal role in her development as a dancer. She further honed her skills by attending the prestigious Ellison Ballet Summer Intensive on a partial scholarship in 2021 and 2022. Following her training, Sarah was offered a position in Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Second Company. During her time in Las Vegas, Sarah performed in numerous Corps de Ballet roles, including Dracula’s Brides Corps in Dracula, Snow and Flowers Corps in James Canfield’s The Nutcracker (2022 and 2023), Corps and Aspirin Ladies in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and Peasant, Czardas, and Swan Corps in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake. Among all the ballets she has participated in, her favorite experience was performing as a Munchkin in Septime Webre’s The Wizard of Oz. She is excited to be back in Chicago and excited to begin her first season with CRB!

2026 CRB Dancers: Miriam-Rose LeDuc

​​Miriam-Rose is a multi-passionate creative focused on ballet, music, and business. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts and Business from Indiana University, she launched her dance career in Chicago. Ms. LeDuc has performed numerous featured roles with Chicago Repertory Ballet, including Lady Macbeth in Wade Schaaf’s Macbeth, The Chieftess in The Rite of Spring, and Winter from The Four Seasons.  She’s grateful to have danced in additional works by Shannon Alvis, Taylor Mitchell, Mariana Oliviera, and Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye.
Ms. LeDuc made her choreographic debut with the creation of Morning Song in 2017 and has since produced works for Chicago Repertory Ballet and Project 606. When she's not pursuing art, she supports purpose-driven entrepreneurs through marketing and operations services and enjoys time with her husband and busy toddler.

2026 CRB Dancers: Molly Gemerchak

Molly began her training at Illinois Ballet Theater under the direction of Susan Snider. At 16, she left Iowa to attend boarding school, first at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Dean Ethan Stiefel, and later at Interlochen Arts Academy under Director Cameron Basden. She went on to earn her BFA in Dance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the direction of Jiang Qi.

During her senior year, Gemerchak completed a co-op in Boston, dancing with BoSoma Dance Company (Katherine Hooper), City Ballet Boston (Tony Williams), and SunDanceX (David Sun). After graduating, she continued performing while cultivating her passion for teaching, joining the faculty at Boston College and Tony Williams Dance Center.

In 2018, Gemerchak returned to the Midwest, performing with Joel Hall Dancers (Jacki Sinclair) and Esoteric Dance Project (Brenna and Christopher Tucker). She joined Chicago Repertory Ballet in 2019 as an apprentice and was promoted to company artist in 2021.

Career highlights include touring Spring Waters, guesting with the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble, choreographing a 14 minute ballet (Effacé, 2024), teaching for North West Ballet Academy and Logan Square Pilates, and performing works by Kevin Jenkins, Lindsey Leduc, Gino DiMarco, Mariana Oliveira, Mike Tyus, Brian Enos, Taylor Mitchell, Braeden Barnes, and Wade Schaaf.

2026 CRB Dancers: Tessa Castellano

Born in Atlanta, Tessa started dancing at the age of two, and at nine began training with The Atlanta Ballet. During high school she studied the RAD syllabus and passed all vocational exams with the highest honor of Distinction, qualifying her for the Adeline Genée International Ballet Competition (now Margot Fonteyn) where she was a semi-finalist. In 2015 Tessa launched her professional career with The Georgia Ballet and quickly progressed to principal roles by 2018. She then joined Eugene Ballet in Oregon and toured the Pacific Northwest performing corps de ballet and demi-soloist roles in The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, as well as in original productions by former Artistic Director Toni Pimble and Resident Choreographer Suzanne Haag. Tessa possesses a decade of teaching experience in various styles, and in 2021 moved to South Carolina to become Gracefully Fierce Dance Company’s Ballet and Pointe Director, in addition to choreographing award winning competition pieces. After moving to Chicago, Tessa joined CRB in 2025 and has performed principal roles in Founder and Artistic Director Wade Schaaf’s World Premieres of The Capulets and Pulse ILTJ1101.

2026 CRB Dancers: Haley Baker

Haley Baker is originally from Enola, Pennsylvania and has been dancing since the age of three. She began her classical ballet training at Pennsylvania Regional Ballet in 2010 under the direction of Sandra Carlino. She also attended Ribbon Mill Ballet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with individual coaching from Leslie Hench. She has attended summer programs at Pennsylvania Ballet, Miami City Ballet, the USA/IBC Dance School, and Joffrey Ballet Chicago. Baker went on to attend Indiana University and graduated from the Jacobs School of Music in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet and an Outside Field in Psychology. In her time at Indiana University, Baker performed in a wide variety of works from choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Penny Saunders, and Mark Morris. In her senior year, Baker performed as Sugar Plum in Michael Vernon’s The Nutcracker and was working with Sasha Janes on the role of Cinderella in his new production of the full length classic. After graduation, she joined Grand Rapids Ballet where she danced for two seasons, performing in works such as George Balanchine’s Serenade and Christopher Stowell’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Baker is currently in her third season with Chicago Repertory Ballet and on faculty at Chicago Ballet Center.

Vibrant Variations Performance Photos

Audiences loved CRB’s recent performance of Vibrant Variations at the Studebaker Theater for the diverse works presented. The staff and dancers were pushed artistically, and they rose to the challenge! Check out these performance photos by KT Miller.

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Board Member Spotlight: Donna Spagnola

Gwen here! I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with our Treasurer, Donna Spagnola, and ask some questions about her service to Chicago Repertory Ballet. And if you went to The Ballet Bash, you may remember her receiving our Director’s Award for all the things she has done for the CRB!

What is your involvement and for how long have you been involved in CRB?

I have been Company Treasurer since fall 2018 and a patron of CRB for longer than that.

As a Pilates student of Wade’s, I know what a talented professional they are and was

therefore happy to get involved in CRB in a more meaningful way and help support and grow

the Company to a level I felt they were deserving of.

Why is donating to CRB important to you?

It was not until I became the Treasurer that I recognized the ongoing support needed by

donors to keep Theater and Arts organizations like CRB alive and thriving. Above all, it has

made me feel so good personally to support performances done so incredibly well with limited

resources.

What is your favorite thing about watching a CRB performance?

Having no artistic talent of my own, I am in awe of the talent, dedication and physicality

necessary to put together a top notch performance and to do it consistently the way CRB has

done for ten + years now.

Thank you, Donna, for all you do to support Chicago Repertory Ballet!

Gwyn
CRB Board Member & End of Year Giving Chair

THE BALLET BASH 2022, CRB's Annual Gala

Thanks to all that could join us in person and virtually for THE BALLET BASH, CRB’s Annual Gala in support of upcoming season 11. Such a fun night!