Tea For Two Performers

Katina Kumar was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, where she began her training with Berks Ballet Theatre. She remained a company performer with them through her senior year in high school, receiving lead roles in the conservatory’s classical and contemporary performances; and, she was awarded scholarships of excellence in contemporary and classical performance at Regional Dance America. After graduating Valedictorian of her high school class, Katina went on to receive her B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Adelphi University in New York. At Adelphi, Katina trained closely under Frank Augustyn in classical ballet and many styles of modern. Katina was privileged to perform in a variety of repertoire including, solos from "La Esmeralda," "Napoli," and "Don Quixote," Martha Graham repertoire, original choreography of Adelheid B. Strelick, William Briscoe, and many more! Throughout her collegiate years, Katina danced professionally with companies such as Eglevsky Ballet and was a principal guest artist with American Theater Dance Workshop and Glen Cove Ballet. In 2017, upon graduating summa cum laude, Katina became a founding company artist with Magnum Opus located in Madison, Wisconsin. While dancing with the company, Katina trained to become a licensed Progressing Ballet Technique instructor and in the Leap ‘n’ Learn curriculum. During Summer 2018, she became certified in Adaptive Dance through Boston Ballet. As a teacher of over 11 years and having experience working with the special needs, elderly and infirmed, as well as underprivileged communities, Katina’s priority is to inspire and encourage each and every one of her students. Katina was named Director of Ballet at HappyFeet Dance School and Performance located in Plano, Texas, where she teaches ballet, pointe, variations, lyrical, contemporary, and more to students of all ages from toddler through adult. Katina has choreographed and directed several full length ballets with HappyFeet, including her premieres of "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz". She also does private coaching and choreography along with yoga, barre, and Pilates. While in Texas, Katina has had the wonderful opportunity to guest as a soloist with HappyFeet Dance School, Festival Ballet of North Texas, and Toby’s School of Dance. Formerly, she was a founding company member of Ballet North Texas and a company member with imPULSE dance project, 6 O’Clock Dance Theatre, and performed as a professional artist with Zion Dance Project: Summer and Winter Series. Katina Kumar is humbled to be founder, owner, Artistic Director, Co-Executive Director as well as company dancer of Ballet Papillon based out of DFW Texas. By beginning her own nonprofit professional ballet company, Katina is able to share her passion for the art of movement, the beauty of expression, and the gift of community and compassion with her dancers, staff, and audience members alike!

Travis Morrison PT, DPT, FAAOMPT received his ballet training starting at age three at the Tuzer Dance Center, under the instruction of Tanju Tuzer, Patricia Tuzer, and Linda Brown. After graduating high school, Morrison attended SUNY Purchase College and was taught by Ted Kivitt and Richard Cooke. He is also a 2006 graduate of the Miami City Ballet Pre-Professional Program where he trained under Truman Finney, Edward Villella and Geta Constantinescu, among others. From 2006 to 2012, Morrison was a member of the Colorado Ballet and had the privilege of working with noted choreographers Michael Pink, John Gardner, Amanda McKerrow, Lila York, and Septime Webre. He especially enjoyed performing in the ballets by modern choreographers Brian Reeder (“Eventually”) and Amy Seiwert (“Things Left Unsaid”). In addition to these contemporary roles, Morrison has also danced a wide range of classical roles in “Swan Lake,” “Don Quixote,” and “Romeo and Juliet”. In 2009, he was a competitor in the New York International Ballet Competition; and, in 2011, Morrison had the pleasure of performing with Amy Seiwert’s company, Im’ij-re, in San Francisco. This also gave him the opportunity to work with contemporary choreographers Matthew Neenan and Adam Hougland. Morrison graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas in May of 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology. In August of 2018, he graduated with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from UT Medical Branch in Galveston. Most recently, he has completed his fellowship training with Manual Therapy Institute to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists.

Born in Coppell, Texas, Courtlyn Hanson began her training, age three, at the Ballet Academy of Texas. In 2013, Courtlyn received her American Ballet Theatre Studio Company contract after placing in the top 5 at the YAGP NYC Finals at Lincoln Center. She became a member of ABT’s corps de ballet shortly after turning 17. Her repertoire includes roles in all of the Company's full-length ballets as well as soloist roles performed at The Metropolitan Opera House and various theatres on tour all around the world. In 2020, Courtlyn returned home to Dallas where she went on to dance with Zion Dance Project and Pegasus Contemporary Ballet.

Growing up in West Texas, Jordan began dancing at Bingham Dance Center in Midland, Texas, with Joy Swift. After 5 years, she began her Classical Ballet training at Coleman Academy under the direction of Judy Coleman and Susan Clark. She was invited to join Midland Festival Ballet’s performing company from 2003-2007. While with Midland Festival Ballet, Jordan performed in “Swan Lake,” “Peter and The Wolf,” “Cinderella,” and “Raymonda”. She also danced numerous roles in “The Nutcracker” including the role of Clara. She attended Regional Dance America Southwest Festival wherein she had the opportunity to work with John Magnus, George de la Peña, and Elaine Bauer. Jordan began dancing at the San Angelo Civic Ballet (Ballet San Angelo) with director Meghann Bridgeman. While at San Angelo Civic Ballet, she performed numerous roles in the “Nutcracker,” including ‘Dew Drop Fairy’ and ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’, as well as lead roles in the Evening of Dance production and the Student Spring Showcase. In the summer of 2017, she continued her training at Ballet San Angelo under the direction of Sandra Miller. Jordan has taught all forms of dance for over 12 years and continues to teach throughout DFW. She is thrilled to be joining Ballet Papillon!

A Dallas, Texas native, Madeline started dance, age 3, at Royale Ballet Dance Academy under the direction of Angela Sham. She learned numerous styles of dance including ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, contemporary, flamenco, and hip hop. At age 9, she added competitive hip hop with Fenton Fulgham into her schedule and excelled in a way she did not expect. Making captain of the team her first year was a huge accomplishment along with winning national competitions 3 years in a row. Madeline has performed and starred in ballets including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. She also performed the “Blue Bird” solo in the 2020 YAGP competition. Madeline has taught ballet, contemporary, and hip hop classes since the age of 16 at various studios across DFW; and, she is also RAD trained and has completed and passed all exams leading up to Advanced One. Madeline discovered her love of dance at a very young age and wants to share that love with anyone who crosses her path. Her mentors include Angela Sham, Hailey Von Schlehenried, and Kaley Jensen. She is so blessed and excited to be joining Ballet Papillon as an Apprentice for the remainder of the 2023-2024 season!

Adam Rech is a dancer/ choreographer based in Dallas, Texas. He received his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from Sam Houston State University in 2019. During his undergraduate work, Rech was awarded the Benjamin A Gilman Scholarship to aid in his studies in Israel with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. He has performed and choreographed for local groups including 6 O’Clock Dance Theater (under the direction of Zach Ingram) and Over The Bridge Arts (founded by Lori Guiren). Rech has also had the pleasure of performing works by Rami Be’er, Robert Battle, Shen Wei, Joshua Peugh, Joshua Manculich, and Flock (Florian Lochner and Alice Klock). Currently, Rech is entering his third year of teaching the Modern/ Contemporary program at Tuzer Dance School in Richardson. He looks forward to continuing in sharing his love of storytelling, improvisation, and movement language to the DFW area and abroad.

Amy grew up in Cambridge, MA, and attended José Mateo Ballet Theatre from age 3-18 in the Young Dancers Program where she performed in José Mateo’s production of The Nutcracker. With numerous performing opportunities through YouthWorks and summer intensives, Amy’s passion for dance grew and she pursued her training and education at the University of South Carolina. While there, she had the opportunity to perform in original faculty and student choreography works including Olivia Waldrop's Becoming of Swans, Jennifer Deckert's Frontiers, and was coached by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner in Antony Tudor's Fandango. She earned a BA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. Upon graduation, she danced with New England Ballet Theatre for a season and performed in various ballets including Rachael Gnatowski's The Fantastic Toyshop, Cinderella, and B-Side. Amy also danced a lead role in Sarah Grace's In Her Image, in collaboration with Connecticut's Poet Laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell, at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre.

Isabella Ginter is originally from Chicago, Illinois, where she studied classical ballet and modern at The Academy of Movement and Music. Isabella graduated, Summa Cum Laude, from TCU’s School for Classical & Contemporary Dance where she earned her BFA in Ballet with a Teaching Certificate in Pilates. Isabella has performed with TCU SCCDance in several new works choreographed by Elizabeth Gillaspy, Joy Bollinger, Jenelle Figgins, and Peter Pucci and in 2022 played the role of Aurora in the second act of Sleeping Beauty. Isabella has had the privilege of setting several original choreographic works for TCU’s SCCDance, Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, and Dance Connection in Fort Worth, TX. Most recently, she choreographed and directed Un Sospiro, An Aggregate Solo, and Salt d’ amor. Isabella danced in Ballet Concerto’s Summer Dance Concert in 2021 and 2022 where she performed in several classical and contemporary ballet works including, Bolero, Les Sylphides, Hyden Quartet, and Goyescas. In 2021, she performed as a guest artist at the AT&T Performing Arts Center with Elevator Project’s A Lily Among Thorns. Currently, Isabella dances as a company member with Ballet Ariel [Denver, CO] and enjoys teaching Pilates.

Quentin began his dance training in a small town called Paola, Kansas, under the tutelage of Miss Lacy at The Dance Studio, now Miami County Dance Movement. There he trained in ballet, jazz, and contemporary while also taking the occasional hip hop class. He also partook in competitive cheer and was a collegiate cheerleader with The University of Missouri-Kansas City before moving to Colorado. He has received degrees in both Dance and International Relations from Colorado State University and The University of Northern Colorado, respectively. He is an Artistic Associate with Canyon Concert Ballet in Fort Collins, Colorado. With Canyon Concert Ballet, he has performed various roles including Arabian in The Nutcracker and Van Helsing in Dracula. In addition to dance, Quentin is also a cosplayer and model. He has modeled for shows such as Thailand Fashion Week, LA Fashion Week, and Denver Fashion Week. Beyond that, he creates cosplays and props, attends conventions, and plans to begin competing in cosplay competitions. In his free time he creates said cosplays and props, plays Dungeons & Dragons, listens to K-pop, watches anime and K-dramas, and bakes!