CCM Chamber Choir welcomes Cincinnati Ballet guest artists in Oct. 29 concert

Taylor Carrasco, choreographer 
Cincinnati Ballet Corps de Ballet member

“When I was three, my sister was six and in ballet like every other little girl. My parents would bring me to her classes and I would try to dance with them from the hallway. They assumed I’d like it, enrolled me in class and I never stopped,” says Taylor Carrasco of his ballet beginnings. Carrasco trained with the School of American Ballet and New Mexico Ballet Company and has taken summer intensives with Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Ballet Chicago. He joined Cincinnati Ballet Second Company – CB2 in the 2014-2015 Season and was promoted to Apprentice for the 2015-2016 Season. Carrasco was then promoted to Corps de Ballet for the 2017-2018 Season. He has had three of his ballets performed by the main company of Cincinnati Ballet, with two of them being created for the The Kaplan New Works Series in 2018 and 2019. Carrasco’s favorite dancing memories thus far are tied to dancing with his sister. He says that “sharing the stage with family is the best experience.” 

Nicolas Bierwagen 
Cincinnati Ballet CB2 Dancer

Nicolas Bierwagen is from Spokane, Washington and began dancing with Arts and Communication Magnet Academy at the age of 12 in Portland, Oregon. While attending ACMA, he also received training at Northwest Dance Project and The Portland Ballet. Nic also attended summer intensives programs at Atlanta Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Boston Ballet. In 2018, he joined Boston Ballet School and later attended their trainee program. He is thrilled to join Cincinnati Ballet’s Second Company for the 2021-2022 Season.

Erin Blair
Cincinnati Ballet CB2 Dancer

Erin Blair was born in Laguna Niguel, California and trained at The Maple Conservatory of Dance. While at Maple Conservatory, she had the opportunity to perform roles such as Dream Clara and the Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title role in Cinderella. She competed in The Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight awards where she was a Semi-Finalist in both Classical and Non-Classical Dance. She also participated in YoungArts where she was awarded Honorable Mention in Non-Classical Dance. After graduating high school, she joined Cincinnati Ballet’s Professional Training Division for the 2019-2020 season. She had the opportunity to perform in Septime Webre’s Wizard of Oz, Victoria Morgan’s The Nutcracker, and Kirk Peterson’s Swan Lake. She is looking forward to dancing with Cincinnati Ballet 2 for the upcoming season.

Julia Gundzik
Cincinnati Ballet CB2 Dancer

Born in Oxford, Ohio, Julia Gundzik began her dance training at Ballet Tech of Ohio and Ballet Center of Houston. She attended the Nutmeg Conservatory to begin her full-time dance training before joining the Washington Ballet’s Professional Training Program, where she performed corps de ballet roles in many company productions. Julia joined Cincinnati Ballet as a member of the Professional Training Division in 2019 and began teaching classes in the Cincinnati Ballet Otto M. Budig Academy in 2020. She is excited to join Cincinnati Ballet’s Second Company this year.

Anderson Da Silva
Cincinnati Ballet CB2 Dancer

 Anderson Da Silva is from Tampa, Florida and began training at America’s Ballet School at the age of 12. While there, Da Silva performed multiple roles in classical ballets including Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia, and Alice in Wonderland. Upon high school graduation, Anderson attended Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music ballet program. During his time at Indiana University, he performed several lead and corps de ballet roles in including works from George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Jerome Robbins, and Mark Morris. A few of these works were Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and La Source, Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), Robbins’ N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and The Concert, and Morris’ Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes.