Principals | Arizona Youth Ballet

Bella

Bella began dancing at the age of 5 and has been a member of AZYB since 2020. Bella will be performing in her 4th Nutcracker this year. Over the years she has played the roles of Marzipan, Snow Soloist, Gingersnap Soloist, and Russian. This year will be her first year as a Principal dancer and her first pas de deux. She will play the roles of Maid, Flower Soloist and Lead Spanish this year.

Bella is also involved in other disciplines of dance, currently training at CanDance Studio and is a member of the Varsity Pom team at Basha High School. Bella is very thankful to Christina Hampton and the entire staff at AZYB for providing excellent training and a supportive environment for which to continue her ballet training.

Charlie

Charlie started dancing at the age of 4 and has been dancing for 12 years now. Seven of those have been with Arizona Youth Ballet. Some of Charlie’s most memorable roles are The Dew Drop Fairy, Anastasia from Cinderella and this year as the Snow Queen. Charlie has always loved dance and is going to continue it throughout her high school career. After she graduates Charlie intends to pursue a career in Physical Therapy with plans to remain close to the dance community.

Zachary

Zachary is 14 years old and began dancing at the age of 4. He started to do competitive dancing at the age of 8 at CanDance Studios. He has been a member of AZYB since 2021 and just became a principal last spring. This is Zac’s second year doing the Nutcracker and he is honored to be given the role of Nutcracker for a second time. Zac’s dream is to be a part of the Joffrey ballet school or join the Juilliard company. He has been training in ballet for almost half of his life. One thing Zac looks forward to for this year’s performance of The Nutcracker is being on that stage and performing his heart out. Zac can’t wait for the many wonderful opportunities that await him.

Claire

Claire has been dancing since she was 3 years old and joined AZYB in 2014. Some of her favorite roles have been Cinderella, Marie, Harlequin Doll, Bashful the Dwarf, and the Magic Mirror from Snow White. Claire also trains in different styles of dance at school. Ballet is her focus. She hopes to fulfil her dream of becoming a professional
ballet dancer, with help from the teachers she looks up to the most – Christina, Scott, and Sara. She is super excited to be Lead Marzipan this year and can’t wait for you to watch.

Sophia

Sophia began dancing ballet at the age of 6 and immediately fell in love with the art. She is currently in her fifth season with Arizona Youth Ballet and also dances competitively with her home studio, NuEvolution Dance Studio and is a member of Abstraction Dance Company. Sophia has attended summer intensives at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School NYC, and Joffrey RED in Los Angeles. She is looking forward to continuing her ballet training after high school and plans to audition with various ballet companies and attend another intensive this coming summer. When she is not dancing, she enjoys reading, writing, traveling and watching movies. This is Sophia’s senior year and final year with her dance companies. She is grateful for all the many memories she has made with her dance family over the years and all the amazing roles and choreography she has been given. Sophia is overjoyed to be able to dance the role of Sugar Plum this year and hopes you feel her love of dance and the magic of The Nutcracker on stage!

Olivia

Olivia has been dancing for 11 years, 10 of which have been with NuEvolution Dance Studio, where she is an assistant dance teacher.
She has been dancing competitively since the age of 10, receiving scholarships for her solos. This is Olivia’s 7 th year with AZYB where she has performed many roles, including Snow Soloist, Flower Soloist, Gingersnap, Flower Corps, Snow Corps, Chinese, Marzipan, Party Mom, Little Bo Peep, and Spring Fairy. Olivia is ecstatic for her promotion to Principal. Olivia has attended summer intensives at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet & Joffrey Ballet in New York. Olivia is a Junior at Queen Creek High School. Her other passions include American Sign Language and Health Sciences. Olivia’s aspirations for her future are to become a Pediatric Travel Nurse.

Scarlett

Scarlett fell in love with ballet long before she walked into a ballet class. She was drawn to the movements and begged to take ballet in addition to the other dance classes she was taking. She has been with AZYB since 2017 and is so very honored to be a principal dancer. Her
favorite role to date has been the role of Drisella in Cinderella.
Scarlett spent the summer of 2022 at Joffrey Ballet in New York City. A freshman at Benjamin Franklin High School, Scarlett also dances contemporary, jazz and hip hop with Nuevolution and is on varsity pom. She has loved her years at Arizona Youth Ballet and is grateful for her mentors, teachers, and fellow dancers.