Our Team
Allison Jones Gustafson, Director
After receiving her BA in Foreign Languages from Southern Methodist University, Ms. Gustafson earned her MA in Sociology from the University of Arizona. Her strong belief that a dance studio should provide a healthy environment where both learning and personal growth can occur stems from her academic research concerning the connection between the environment of the dance studio and a dancer’s self-esteem. Ms. Gustafson has many years experience teaching ballet to all levels of children and adults. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National training Curriculum. Ms. Gustafson continues her work as a college level professor of Sociology. In addition, she is a both a Founding Director on the State Street Ballet Board of Directors, as well as a Director on The Ballet Alliance Board of Directors.
Cecily MacDougall, Director
Cecily MacDougall is from Santa Barbara, CA and is also the Founder and Director of Library Dances, part of State Street Ballet’s educational outreach program. She danced professionally with New York Theatre Ballet, Allegro Theatre Company, Richmond Ballet, and State Street Ballet. Cecily has choreographed numerous pieces for State Street Ballet, as well as for The Bartered Bride, produced by Music Academy of the West, and El amor brujo, in collaboration with Opera Santa Barbara. She received the Indy Award for Anne’s Window in 2015, and in 2020 earned the Apogee Award for her successful arts outreach initiatives. Cecily graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Performing Arts from St. Mary’s College and is an ABT Certified Teacher. She has taught dance for over a decade and currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of State Street Ballet.
Teaching Artists
Marina Fliagina
Marina Fliagina was born in Russia, and graduated with distinction from Perm State College of Choreography in Russia. In 1990, she was admitted to the Moscow State Theatre Kremlin Ballet where she worked with the renowned Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova. She has performed roles in all of the famous classical ballets and has toured internationally with the Russian Imperial Ballet, Moscow Classical Ballet, and the Moscow Festival Ballet. Fliagina joined State Street Ballet as a dancer in 1998, and was promoted to Rehearsal Director in 2000. In addition to her duties as Rehearsal Director, she continues to appear in character roles such as the Stepmother in Cinderella and the Nurse Maid in Romeo and Juliet.
Megan Phillipp
Megan Philipp joined the staff of State Street Ballet in 2013. She created, launched, and directs the Professional Track Program, which serves as the trainee program for the company. She became a company rehearsal director in 2018 as well as co-director of our annual Summer Intensive. In addition, she has been invited to choreograph for a variety of productions, including the Nutcracker, Jungle Book, and Sleeping Beauty. Prior to coming to State Street Ballet, Megan spent four years at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She was a faculty member and then promoted to Faculty and Curriculum Coordinator. She worked closely with the directors to create a curriculum for the newly opened Academy, taught for all levels of the school and trainee program, and ran their Los Angeles Summer Intensive. Mrs. Philipp has her Master’s in Dance Education from New York University where she studied classical ballet pedagogy at American Ballet Theater and worked in administration for the organization. She spent eight years in New York City as a performing artist, teacher, and choreographer before completing her masters and moving to Chicago. She also has a BA in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University and is certified in the Simonson Jazz Technique.
Noam Tsivkin
Noam Tsivkin, from New York City, received his dance training from Merle Sepel and his mother, Rebecca Tsivkin. He continued his training at the School of American Ballet where he performed with New York City Ballet in productions of The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. He received further training from the Alvin Ailey School, French Academie of Ballet, and State Street Ballet’s Professional Track program before joining State Street Ballet in 2016.
Julia Kamilos
Julia Kamilos, from Sacramento, CA, trained at The Sacramento Ballet School and Texas Christian University where she graduated cum laude with a BFA in Ballet. While at TCU, Julia performed principal and soloist roles and worked with renowned choreographers. After graduation, Julia became a member of SSB’s Professional Track Trainee Program where she toured with the company in The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. She joined State Street Ballet as an apprentice in 2020 and was promoted to full company member in 2021.
Amara Galloway
Amara Galloway, from Fairfax, VA, trained at BalletNova Center for Dance, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, and Ballet Arizona. During her training she was a three-time semi-finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix and had the opportunity to perform choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and Jeffrey Cirio. Since joining State Street Ballet in 2017 Amara has performed lead and soloist roles in Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, and most notably as Clara in The Nutcracker. She has been featured in solos created by Autumn Eckman, and in works by William Soleau, Kevin Jenkins, Kassandra Taylor Newberry, Edgar Zendejas, and Laurie Eisenhower.
Fenna Roukema
Fenna Roukema, from Santa Barbara, CA, trained with State Street Ballet Academy and SSBYD, performing in roles such as Snow and Princesses in The Nutcracker, and dancing in works by Kassandra Taylor Newberry, Kevin Jenkins, and Autumn Eckman. She went on to study at Santa Barbara City College and received her Associates of Arts in Dance there in 2022. She continues to dance, as well as choreograph with the SBCC Modern Dance Company, under the Direction of Tracy Kofford, setting three student works thus far. She has also set two modern works on SSBYD. She loves teaching and is so happy to be a part of the staff at the studio where she grew up. She began teaching at SSBA in 2022.
Arianna Hartanov
Arianna Hartanov is currently a professional company dancer with State Street Ballet, where she has performed soloist and lead roles in ballets like The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty. She trained in Denver, CO in various styles of dance, and has traveled to train with other companies such as Pacific Northwest Ballet and Houston Ballet. After recently working with choreographers and companies in New York, Italy, and Amsterdam, Arianna has learned her own way to approach dancing and teaching. She loves to seek the joy of movement in her classes.
Nathaniel Tyson
Nathaniel Tyson is originally from Valley Forge, PA. He began his formal ballet training at the Greater York Center for Dance Education in York, PA, before attending Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, where he graduated cum laude with his BA in Dance-Pedagogy. In 2020, Nathaniel joined the State Street Ballet Professional Track Program before becoming an apprentice in 2021 and a full company member in 2022. While at State Street, he has performed Soloist and Principal roles in Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, Appalachian Spring, and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as featured roles in works by Kassandra Taylor Newberry, Laurie Eisenhower, and William Soleau. He has a background in musical theatre as well, his most recent production being the Broadway production of Kismet under the direction of Lonny Price. His teaching experience includes teaching at both universities and orphanages in Panama City, Panama.
Marika Kobayashi
Marika Kobayashi was born in Japan and received her early training at Epris Ballet Studio. She continued her training at Elmhurst School for Dance in the United Kingdom where she won the “Grand Prix” and “Most Promising Female” awards in school competition. Marika then studied at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s graduate program on full scholarship before joining State Street Ballet in 2015. Since joining SSB she has performed the leading roles of Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She has performed roles of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, title role of the Firebird as a guest principal dancer at Fresno Ballet Theatre.
Mei-Ling Murray
Mei-Ling Murray is a classically trained dancer from Northern California. She spent summers training at American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona. She has performed works by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, Robert Moses, Alex Ketley, and Maurice Causey. A career in dance diplomacy brought her to Panama and India, working with U.S. embassies to develop international dance programs through the non-profit organization Movement Exchange. She danced professionally with Project B. Dance company in San Francisco, where she also served as a teaching artist for the SF Unified School District. She most recently moved to SB from New Orleans, where she was a company dancer with New Orleans Ballet Theatre for four seasons.
Avery Wallace
Avery Wallace, from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, trained at the Hilton Head Dance Theatre from ages 4-18. Under the direction of former ABT principal, Karena Brock, she had the opportunity to perform lead roles in The Nutcracker and Études. Alongside classical ballet, under the direction of former dance captain of Company of Fosse, Kathleen Watkins, she spent 4 years training in the Fosse jazz style. Throughout her training, Avery attended 6 Summer Intensives with the American Ballet Theatre. She joined State Street Ballet’s Professional Track in 2022; now in her second year, she is beyond excited to join the SSBA family!
Anna Nader
Anna Nader, from Fort Wayne IN, trained with Project Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Richmond Ballet. She has performed a variety of roles, her favorite being a soloist in George Balanchine’s “Who Cares?”. Anna joined State Street Ballet’s Professional Track in 2021, and toured with the company for The Nutcracker. She was promoted to apprentice in 2022, and is dancing her second season with the company.
Cassidy Broderick
Cassidy Broderick has been studying dance for 14 years-including Ballet, Jazz and Tap. In addition to studying and performing with State Street Ballet, she has studied and performed in over a dozen musical theater productions, and was a part of the SSBYD Emerging choreography Program this past spring. She has been a member of SSBYD for 4 years and will be a senior at BDHS this Fall.
Madelyne Herbert
Madelyne Herbert was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California and began dancing with SSBA when she was 2 years old. Madelyne danced many roles with SSBA, and SSBYD including Rudolph, Clara, and the Queen of Hearts, and in the past, Madelyne’s choreography has been performed at The Ballet Alliance Festival. Madelyne has been teaching at SSBA in the summer for the past 3 years, and she is excited to be teaching more this school year! After being a member of SSBYD for 6 years, Madelyne will be joining State Street Ballet’s professional track program this year.
Susan Manchak
Susan Manchak was born in Madrid, Spain. She lived for six years in Singapore and Malaysia studying under the Royal Academy of Dancing. Following her studies with Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France and Richard Collins in London, England, she performed with the Frankfurt Ballet, Washington Ballet, and as a principal with the Colorado Ballet and with the Kansas City Ballet. She performed in a wide range of styles, including the classics, (Odette in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker); Balanchine (The Sleepwalker, Serenade, The Four Temperaments, The Siren in The Prodigal Son; Bolender (The Stillpoint), Tudor (Lilac Garden), and Ailey (The River).
Ms. Manchak was Interim School Director for the Springfield Ballet where she also choreographed a children’s ballet. For the Ballet Arts of Minnesota she set The Stillpoint and gave master classes. She performed her pas de deux “Duo Danza” at the Ballet Builders Showcase in New York city. According to the New York Times, her pas de deux was “a high point of the evening.”
Locally she has choreographed several works for the Santa Barbara Chamber Ballet ,Los Olivos Dance Gallery and Class Act Dance in Paso Robles, including The Nutcracker for Class Act Dance. Her work has been shown at the Regional Dance Festival, Santa Barbara Dance Alliance and the Fountain Theater in Hollywood, California. She has given workshops and master classes throughout the country and is presently teaching ballet in several studios in Santa Barbara including Gustafson Dance, The Dance Hub, Parks & Rec and Starlight Dance Academy in Ojai. She also coaches privately.