Eryn Michlitsch - Artistic Director
Eryn began her 24 years of dance experience with Kay Englert, founder of Washington Contemporary Ballet, as the youngest member of the company at 12. In 1994, after auditioning, she was accepted to many professional summer programs: Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Kirov Ballet Academy, North Carolina School of the Arts, Houston Ballet Academy, Hartford Ballet School, Oregon Ballet Academy, Pennsylvania Rock School of Ballet, and at that time chose to attend Pacific Northwest Ballet. She continued with Pacific Northwest Ballet until deciding to attend San Francisco Ballet School. Eryn has also received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, with a Concentration in Marketing from Bethany Lutheran College. After 12 years of teaching experience her instruction places a large emphasis on the history, terminology, and structure of true classical ballet.

Sophia Barrett - Ballet Mistress
A native of New Mexico, Sophia Barrett brings with her over 23 years of dance experience. She studied ballet intensively at the Santa Fe Dance Foundation/Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet School under the tutelage of Gisela Genschow until age 15, when she moved with her family to Stockholm, Sweden, where she continued her studies at the Royal Swedish Ballet School (Kungliga Svenska Balettskolan). Before attending college, Sophia spent her summers attending various pre-professional intensive programs with ballet companies that include Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet Austin, Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet, and the Royal Swedish Ballet. The training at these institutions was overseen by masters of the Vaganova, Bournonville, and Royal Academy of Dance techniques, and Sophia loves incorporating the best of these teaching styles in her classes. She currently takes ballet classes at Minnesota Dance Theatre and Dance Institute in Minneapolis. After returning to the United States from Sweden, Ms. Barrett attended Macalester College, studying psychology and neuroscience. The daughter of a concert pianist, she also plays the violin, and is adamant that instilling a good sense of musicality in dance students is critical in laying the foundation for developing a greater love and understanding of their art form. Sophia is excited to begin her second year teaching ballet at Mankato Ballet Company.

Carla Bode
Our newest addition to the staff is Ms. Carla Bode as our new Modern and Jazz instructor. She carries with her an extensive background in dance and dance education. Previously she has served as dance adjunct faculty for Minnesota State University-Mankato and was the dance specialist for the Buffalo Arts Magnet High School. She has her degrees in Dance Education (K-12) from Minnesota State University-Mankato and Communication Arts and Literature Education from Winona State University. Carla is the co-founder of Rural Route Dance Company and also teaches for the Waconia Performing Arts Center.

Bailey Zallek
Bailey Zallek is from Saint Peter, Minnesota and began dancing forMankato Ballet Company at the age of four. Her passion for dance hascontinued to increase year after year, and she’s explored many realmsof dance, including modern, jazz, tap, and Middle Easternbelly-dancing. Her primary focus has always been classical ballet, andshe has studied under multiple highly acclaimed ballet instructorsaround Southern Minnesota, including Eryn Michlitsch, Sue Gunnes, AllenShannon, Annmarie Carlson-Drake and many others. She’s performed in a variety of classicalballets, such as The Nutcracker, La Boutique Fantasque, and variationsfrom Swan Lake. At the present time, Bailey plans to double-major inDance and English in college.