Nikki Trerise White
I grew up in a very artistic family, in a very small town in Montana. My parents performed on the stage together, and their love for the arts carried into the lives of my siblings and I. When I was young I studied the piano, the clarinet, sang in the choir, performed in musicals, took theatre & art classes, and trained in jazz and tap with my mother at her studio.
I began training in ballet when I was 12, and soon after accepted full scholarships to summer courses at both Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada. After attending Pacific Northwest Ballet’s pre-professional program I accepted a job with Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. I stayed with the company for 6 years, and got to perform as well as create many wonderful roles with Michael Smuin. Since then I have worked with companies such as Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Diablo Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s im’ij-re, and SallyAnn Mulcahy’s Artisan Dance.
Ethan and I met in San Francisco 8 years ago, and we have been dancing together ever since. Soon after we began dating we co-created a multi-disciplinary non-profit arts organization called Urban Art Farm. Through Urban Art Farm we created Black Rock City Ballet, Burning Man’s first professional ballet company, and Making Dance Matter, an outreach program educating children about the importance of dance and art. Our most recent creation is White Tree Fine Art, our collaboration in performance, choreography, and visual art.
Ethan and I were very excited to have recently been a part of Paula Abdul's show on CBS 'Live to Dance'. We were the only ballet dancers that made it far in the competition, and we wound up winning third place out of thousands of contestants. The main draw that the show had for us was the opportunity to dance together, to present our own work, and show everybody our unique and diverse abilities. The amount of support that we got from fellow dancers and friends was amazing. The
amount of respect and interest we received from people we've never met or who have never even seen ballet was overwhelming. When I found out how moved people were with our performances it gave me so much inspiration to want to continue bringing ballet to mainstream audiences.
Along with being a dancer, I have years of experience as a teacher. I started helping teach with my mom while I was young, and have taught dance classes ranging from hip-hop, jazz, and tap, to ballet, pointe, and variations. Ethan and I are certified yoga instructors, and I also really enjoy working as a ballet mistress. I have set choreography on several schools and companies, and I am currently the ballet mistress for Urban Art Farm.
I have recently written the first 5 books in a series of children's books that will teach kids the importance and joy of dancing. The books follow a young girl as she learns movement and dance from everyday chores and household items to ballet teachers and people in other places and countries. I want the books to be utilized by everyone. Kids can read it and play the games with their friends, parents can learn how to dance and interact with their children, and teachers can use the books as a guide for their pre-ballet, creative movement, or even pre-school classes. For more information about Prima, please visit www.primatheballerina.com I am also available to come to your school or event to teach and/or perform. I would love to meet you in person, and show you, your teachers, and your parents the books in action. For more information about guesting and teaching, e-mail bookings@primatheballerina.com
My mother was barely pregnant with me when she performed the role of Dainty June in Gypsy, and I think it must have been then that I decided that I would pursue a life of performing. I have performed thousands of times, ranging from giant theatre’s in Italy, to small studios with only one other person in the room. And I have gotten to perform roles from Alice in Ron Cunningham’s Alice in Wonderland, to the Toy Maker in the game Dollhouse that I play with my 5 year olds in pre-ballet. I believe that when you find something that makes you happy, makes you feel alive, that is the very thing that you are meant to do.
From wearing a panda outfit in my first dance recital, to wearing the Sugar Plum Fairy tutu with Ethan as my cavalier, dancing is a road I am blessed to travel, and I hope to see you along the way.
"Did you see Nikki White dance? Some of those moves were unbelievable." Post by: CNN.com associate producer Henry Hanks
Follow Nikki on her new blog, a Q&A type format for young dancers to seek advice and information! Nikki's Blog
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Ethan White
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to the mountains of Colorado after my father took his first trip west, fell in love with the mountains and courageously decided to move the family to Colorado and become an artist. This move had an enormous effect on me, which I didn’t fully realize until much later in life. Not only was I living in a kid’s fantasy playground with the rivers to run and rocks to climb but I also learned a valuable lesson by the example my father had set. I learned that you really could create the life you want. Growing up in the mountains working as a raft guide and rock-climbing instructor I developed a very healthy sense of adventure and deep appreciation for and connection to the wilderness.
In 1999 I received a BS in Psychology and Anatomy/Neurobiology from Colorado State University, with the thought that I would go to med school or grad school to study cognitive neuroscience. During my sophomore year I took my first ballet class to improve my rock climbing, and also because the rugby coach had suggested we take ballet to improve our agility. After that first class I began studying ballet in the evenings after my regular classes. When I graduated and it was time to take the MCAT or GRE, I wasn’t finished dancing yet, so I auditioned and was hired as an apprentice with Ballet Austin.
While with Ballet Austin I also designed curriculum for their outreach program, and developed a program for an emergency children’s shelter to teach appropriate non-violent physical interaction utilizing contact improvisation and ballet. After leaving Ballet Austin I danced for two years with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet where I worked with some of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary choreographers, toured extensively, and developed a love for contemporary European choreography.
Next I joined Oakland Ballet as a principal dancer gaining experience and performing a varied and diverse repertoire from Ninjinsky’s ‘Afternoon of a Faun’ and Ron Guidi’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to works by Dwight Rhoden and Robert Moses. I then joined Smuin Ballet, under the direction of the late great Michael Smuin, and performed the most accessible and entertaining work of my career. During this time I grew to really recognize the value of creating work that is a genuine expression of the artists voice while still being entertaining and accessible to a more general audience.
While still dancing for Smuin, I co-founded a multi-disciplinary arts organization “Urban Art Farm” with my wife, Nikki. The “Farm” acts as an umbrella under which other organizations and projects can flourish, providing space for the creation of dance, visual art, music, and hosting of informal performances, fundraisers and community gatherings. Some of the projects already created under UAF include Black Rock City Ballet, Burning Man’s first professional ballet company, and Making Dance Matter, an outreach program educating children about the importance of dance and art.
Recently Nikki and I were finalists and got to be on every episode of Paula Abdul's CBS show 'Live to Dance'. That experience was right in line with our mission to bring ballet to the more general, mainstream audience. I was very grateful to have been given the opportunity to open people's eyes to the beauty and power of dance, and look forward to continuing to reach out to a broader dance audience. The children's book series that we are creating gives us an opportunity to share our passion for young children's dance and movement education, and influence future generations of dancers and dance appreciators.
Throughout my dance career I have always been sculpting and painting, knowing that one day I would transition from dancer to visual artist. My visual art is currently focused on transferring my study of form movement and expression onto metal, whether it is in the form of a bronze sculpture or onto the stainless steel and copper canvases that I etch and then paint with translucent patinas.
My newest adventure, White Tree Fine Art, was created to utilize the combination of our talents as choreographers, performers, and visual artists. This collaborative process has created the most rewarding and satisfying work of my career, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.
"Ethan White has a fine musicality, strong technique, and a delicate physique – which he deployed to gorgeous effect." By Paul Parish, danceviewtimes.com
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