Danielle Ricci received her BFA in dance from University of California, Irvine in 2006. She has studied at the Ailey School in New York City as part of their certificate program and has danced professionally in California, Minnesota, and Texas. She has performed with members of Loretta Livingston and Dancers, Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, and Minnesota Dance Theatre. Danielle now resides in Austin. Her choreography has been featured in musical theatre productions such as the world premiere stage production of "The Blues Brothers," Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," and "Pirates of Penzance." Her piece, "Awaiting Fate," was recognized as one of the "Best of Fest" in Austin's Frontera Festival in 2009.

Danielle Ricci is the founder and Artistic Director of Borealis Dance.

Laura Avery grew up dancing in Austin with Judy Thompson-Price at the Dance Center. Since then, her love of dance has spread from ballet and jazz to musical theatre, modern, and tap. Laura has spent most of her recent summers dancing and sweating in the outdoor Zilker Summer Musicals including "Crazy For You," "The Secret Garden," "Annie Get Your Gun," "My Favorite Year," and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." She has also enjoyed dancing with Austin Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble in various modern pieces and ballets including, "A Black and White Affair," "Gaîté Parisienne," The Firebird," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Most recently she has had the pleasure to perform with Borealis Dance during their first season. When Laura is not dancing, she likes to scuba dive, travel, and is enjoying her recent transition from working as a mechanical engineer to being a mom of a beautiful baby girl.

Chris Barfield has been dancing since the age of 10.  Starting off at Stephanie’s Dance Studio One in Katy, Texas, he moved to Austin and started dancing at Joyce Willet’s School of Dance.  He has been under Quinton Weathers’ direction studying ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, and hip hop at The Dance Spot for the last two years.  Chris was a guest artist with the Austin Classical Ballet in their 2009 season.  He has worked with Arletta Howard-Logan as Mowgli in  “The Jungle Book” ballet and as a featured dancer in Randal Marks’ “Jazz and Tango."     He has also been an active member in theatre productions including “Seussical,” “Les Miserables,”  “The Boyfriend,” “The Fisherman and the Mermaid,” “Pinocchio,” and a new work for UT Connections, “Teen Drama.”  Chris is currently attending the Art Institute of Austin and is working towards a career in filmmaking as a director/editor/producer.  This is Chris' first season with Borealis Dance.

Morgan is proud to join Borealis Dance in their 2011-2012 season. She has a great love of dance and a passion to keep growing. Studying ballet under the direction of Danielle Ricci for the past 3 years, she has become a strong, mature dancer who draws you into her world. Morgan also shows her school spirit by being apart of the First Lady's Drill Team at LBJ High School where she is a Sophomore.

Rae has performed with Victoria Ballet Theatre, Austin Contemporary Ballet, Incarnate Word and Texas State. Rae holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Tampa.

Adele Jones joins Borealis Dance for their first season after graduating from Texas Women’s University with a BA in Dance. A Texas native, Adele began dancing at the age of 3. Since then she has received training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Horton, Graham, Hawkins, Gymnastics and African. She has performed with local company Ballet East for the past 4 seasons, Southern Premiere Performance Company, TWU International Dance Co.  DanceLab, and Sweet Charity. She has created such works as Fleeting Sirens and Season’s Rusting. Adele was selected for soloist work while at TWU and the liturgical dances choreographed by Anne Schley Duggan for the National Dance Association Heritage Awards Ceremony. Adele currently teaches dance at Austin Dance Company where she enjoys inspiring young children and sharing her love and passion for the art of dance.

Wakelyn Malitz started dancing at a young age. Her grandmother's love for the art inspired her to grow as a dancer and teacher over the years. In 2002 she graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas with a Bachelors of Science in Dance. While performing in college, she worked with "New Dance Ensemble" from 2000-2002 and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Wakelyn moved to Austin four and half years ago in hopes to stay in touch with her passion and be involved with the arts in any way possible. It’s an honor to be dancing with talented artists that have come together to share their love for dance. She proudly calls Borealis her dance family.

Jaimie Schieve received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the University of North Texas in 2010 and was a member of the dance honors society Chi Tau Epsilon. Jamie attended the American Dance Festival January Intensive in New York City in 2010 where she had the opportunity to study under people such as Ishmael Houston-Jones, John Jasperse, and Bill Evans. She is thrilled to be joining Borealis Dance and to help share the love of this wonderful art form with the Austin community.

Ellen is a recent graduate of Sam Houston State University where she studied dance and Spanish. While in college she studied under Kista Tucker, Andy Noble and Dionne Sparkmen Noble.

Jennifer has a B.A. of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. She has danced with Ballet East since moving to Austin. She is studying Thai boxing and wushu/kung fu and has recently placed first at Golden State Wushu Championships for traditional straight sword (jian shu).