Meet Our Dancers | borderlands-ballet

Meet the Artists
(2022-2023 Season)

John Pohl

BBC Company since 2021
Principal Dancer 2022

JP (as he prefers to be called) studied ballet in Florida. He spent two years on scholarship at the School of American Ballet’s Summer Intensive as well as the Rock School Summer Intensive. He currently teaches at Las Cruces High.

JP has performed in BBC's productions of The Nutcracker (Nutcracker/Cavalier) and Cinderella (Dumpy).

Janelle Hernandez

BBC Company since 2021
Principal Dancer 2022

Janelle Hernandez has been dancing for over 17 years, primarily under the direction of Monique Foster. She currently teaches ballet and jazz classes at the Las Cruces School of Dance & Music and manages The Bean de Mesilla. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, with a supplemental major in Law & Society from New Mexico State University. Janelle performed last year in The Nutcracker (Dew Drop) and Cinderella (The Fairy Godmother). Janelle was privileged to be selected for the 2022 Arts Lab Desert Peaks pre-professional/professional workshop hosted by Dark Circles Contemporary Dance.

Rachel Breck

BBC Apprentice 2016
BBC Company since 2022

Rachel has been studying with the Las Cruces School of Dance and Music since 2012. Rachel holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from NMSU and is working on her Master's degree in education. Last year she performed the lead role in BBC's production of Cinderella.

Saddie Hilburn

BBC Company since 2022

Saddie has been dancing for over 14 years. She started her career with Dalí Dance Company and The Ruidoso Academy of Ballet and Dance. She has also studied with American Ballet Theatre (New York) as well as The Orlando Ballet. Saddie greatly enjoys being able to teach Dance to others! Key roles have included Sugar Plum and Dew Drop from The Nutcracker, Kitri from Don Quixote, Paquita from Paquita, and Two Swans from Swan Lake. She plans to continue to focus on her professional career as a dancer.

Daniel Lindsay

BBC Company since 2016

Daniel has studied ballet for the last 10 years at both the Academy of Ballet and the Las Cruces School of Dance & Music.

Daniel played the lead male role, Jake Marlowe, in the BBC's original production of Cafe Noir. Of his many performances with the Academy of Ballet and the Las Cruces School of Dance & Music, Daniel has played The Nutcracker Prince and Cavalier (The Nutcracker), The Beast (Beauty and the Beast), Billy the Kid (Billy the Kid), and most memorably one of the Ugly Stepsisters (Cinderella).

Joshua Godman

BBC Company since 2016

Josh has danced at the Las Cruces School of Dance & Music for seven years. played the detective Ethan Stone in Café Noir (2017), Erebus Grimely in The Persistence of Air (2018), and Don José in Carmen (2019).

In addition, he has performed as the Beast (Beauty & the Beast), the Snow King (The Nutcracker), Sheriff Pat Garrett (Billy the Kid), and numerous roles in the Nutcracker (Nutcracker/Cavalier, Rat King, Snow King, Arabian). He is currently an Aerospace Engineering major at NMSU.

Olivia Leon

BBC Company since 2021

Olivia began dancing at 3 and has trained at Las Cruces School of Dance and Music since age 7. She has participated in workshops and/or performances with State Street Ballet, Dance Across America, and the Moscow Ballet’s The Great Russian Nutcracker. Olivia made her solo debut as Clara in The Nutcracker (2019). In 2021, she danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Olivia is a junior at Las Cruces High School and active in Student Government (former Sophomore Class President, current Student Body Vice-President, NM State Secretary, and Region VI Student Representative). She is also a member of National Honor Society, MESA, Science Olympiad, and Bulldawg Broadcast.

Allene Barton

BBC Apprentice 2017
BBC Company since 2022

Ally began her dance training at the age of three -- taking ballet, tap, jazz, character, and modern dance. After studying the RAD program for seven years, she began her training with Monique Foster at LCSDM in 2017. She recently performed as a guest artist in El Paso Ballet Theatre’s production of Les Sylphides and The Nutcracker. Some of her favorite performances include: Billy the Kid, Carmen, Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. She also originated the role of Air in BBC’s production of The Persistence of Air. In her personal life she enjoys volunteering at church, working with kids, and baking.

Ryleigh Wellborn

BBC Company since 2021

Ryleigh Wellborn has been dancing for 13 years and this is her 6th year dancing at the Las Cruces School of Dance & Music. She also attended the Joffrey Ballet Company Summer Intensive in 2018 and 2019. In 2022, Ryleigh performed the Arabian Variation in The Nutcracker. Ryleigh hopes to one day travel the world and experience all the different cultures and food.

BBC Apprentices

Juliana Garcia

Tara Gandy

Brooke Gonzales

Meet the Artists (2022-2023 Season)

BBC Apprentices

Meet the Artists
(2022-2023 Season)