Faculty & Staff | PEGGY BERGMANN PARK CITY CAMPUS

Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy

EVELYN CISNEROS-LEGATE

DIRECTOR, BALLET WEST ACADEMY

Evelyn Cisneros-Legate was Prima-Ballerina of The San Francisco Ballet for many years beginning under Lew Christensen (brother of Ballet West founder Willam Christensen) and continuing under its current Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson. Ms. Cisneros-Legate holds an honorary doctorate from both Mills College and the University of California at Monterey Bay. Considered one of America's leading ballerinas and the first Mexican-American principal ballerina, Ms. Cisneros-Legate is a renowned dance educator who has taught at some of the most prestigious dance schools in the world, a former Principal at The Boston Ballet School, she is a sought-after adjudicator and speaker. 

ALLISON DEBONA

PRINCIPAL, PEGGY BERGMANN PARK CITY CAMPUS

Allison DeBona is the Owner and Artistic Director of artÉmotion. She is a former First Soloist with Ballet West and danced with the company from 2007-2022. She was a featured cast member on seasons 1 & 2 of the CW docu-series, ‘Breaking Pointe.’ She has been featured in issues of Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, Pointe Magazine, and Dance Track Magazine. She shared the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine, February 2018, with Rex Tilton. She was also the model for the Fall/Winter 2013 and August 2015 Grishko Pointe shoe ad featured in Pointe Magazine. In August 2016 was featured in an eight page editorial for Vogue Italia. Additional accolades include producing the ‘I Am Your Friend’ Benefit Dance Performance alongside Rex Tilton, June 2015, to benefit the non-profit organization Fahodie for Friends.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ballet from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she trained under former New York City ballet acclaimed Principal Ballerina, Violette Verdy. In 2020 she was named a Nikolay Brand Ambassador and Zarely Role Model. Additional training includes American Ballet Theatre’s New York Summer Intensive and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate program. She grew up under the artistic direction of Jean Gedeon at Pittsburgh Youth Ballet and Debbie Parou at the former Parou Ballet Company.

In August 2021, Allison DeBona was appointed Principal of the Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy Peggy Bergman Park City Campus. She is also an Associate Instructor for the University of Utah's School of Dance. DeBona is a co-founder of “Dancers and Motherhood,” an initiative to support mothers within the dance community.

REX TILTON

INSTRUCTOR AT PEGGY BERGMANN PARK CITY CAMPUS | Ballet

Rex Tilton is the Artistic Director of artÉmotion. He is a former Principal dancer with Ballet West and danced with the company from 2008-2022. He was a featured cast member on seasons 1 & 2 of the CW Docu-series Breaking Pointe. He has been featured in issues of Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine, and Pointe Magazine.. He shared the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine, February 2018, with Allison DeBona. He was also the model for the August 2015 Grishko Pointe shoe ad featured in Pointe Magazine. Additional accolades include producing the ‘I Am Your Friend’ Benefit Dance Performance alongside Allison DeBona, June 2015, to benefit the non-profit organization Fahodie for Friends.  He attended the Pacific Northwest Ballet Professional Division program on scholarship, one year, before getting his job at Ballet West. Additional training includes School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. He grew up under the artistic direction of former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal, Ben Houk, and Pacific Northwest Ballet Soloist, Lauri-Michelle Houk, at San Elijo Dance and Music Academy. In 2020, he was named a Nikolay Brand Ambassador.

Rex Tilton is currently an Associate Instructor for the University of Utah's School of Dance. He acted as interim principal of the campus from September-December 2023 while Allison DeBona was on maternity leave, and was operations manager for the 22-23 season.

JORDAN DEBONA

SENIOR MANAGER OF STUDENT LIFE AND SUMMER INTENSIVE COORDINATOR

INSTRUCTOR AT PARK CITY | Musical Theatre, Jazz and Conditioning

MARY ANN SCHAEFER

INSTRUCTOR AT PARK CITY | Ballet

Born in Memphis, TN, Mary Ann Shaefer took her first ballet classes at the Allegro Ballet Academy with instructor Norah Curran. After moving to Indianapolis, IN at age 12, she studied at the Clara R. Noyes Academy of Ballet Internationale until its closing in 2005, and then continued her training under the instruction of Alyona Yakovleva, Tatiana Pali, and Sergey Sergiev at the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana.

In 2007 she won first place in the classical division at the Youth America Grand Prix competition, and in 2010, she competed at the World Ballet Competition, where she received a Jury Award and full scholarship to Ballet West’s summer program and year round trainee program in Salt Lake City, UT. In 2012, Artistic Director Adam Sklute asked Ms. Shaefer to join Ballet West II, where she performed in their productions for two seasons and then stayed on as a supplemental artist for their 2014-2015 season. Beginning in 2015, Ms. Shaefer performed Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” for two seasons under Artistic Director Tom Mossbrucker, and was also a member of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet for two seasons, where she had the honor of performing numerous Balanchine ballets on tour and at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

In 2017, Ms. Shaefer returned to Indianapolis, IN as a founding company member of the Indianapolis Ballet. Over her four seasons there she performed numerous soloist roles, including “Dark Angel” in Serenade; “Tall Girl” in Rubies; “Katerina” in Firebird; and “Dew Drop” & “Arabian” in The Nutcracker. Ms. Shaefer is currently a faculty member at Ballet West’s Park City campus.Find her @schaef.ma on Instagram.

HEIDI SLAGLE

INSTRUCTOR AT PARK CITY | Voice and Piano