The Firebird & Unearthed at Freeport Performing Arts Center

Adrienne Pelletier

Adrienne Pelletier is a national award-winning choreographer and skilled teacher that has been a part of the Maine dance community since she started her training at the age of four years old. Adrienne trained intensely in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theatre, and contemporary and has received her Teacher Certification in Acrobatic Arts instruction. She became a company member with the Maine State Ballet at the young age of 16 and worked her way through the ranks to become a principal ballerina with the company by age 22. Dancing/Performance Background Adrienne began performing featured roles (including the Porcelain Doll in The Nutcracker, Cupid in Don Quixote, and Lead Coquette Can Can Parisian) when she was a young student with the Maine State Ballet. From there, she went on to perform many leading roles which include but are not limited to Clara, The Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Arabian Princess in The Nutcracker; Cinderella in Cinderella; the Can Can Doll in The Magic Toy Shop; and Swanhilda in Coppelia. However, her artistic reach goes beyond that of ballet. Adrienne was recognized as a student for her strong tap and musical theater abilities when she received the Peggy Etter Tap scholarship. Her training background in that realm includes close mentorship from icons such as Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge), Clyde Alves (Anything Goes), Andrei Chagas (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Leigh-Ann Esty (Carousel), Sara Esty (An American in Paris), Solange Sandy (Chicago), and Roberto Forleo (Trockadero). This led Adrienne into her pursuit of musical theatre experience where she performed three leading roles in local productions as Kathy in Singin’ in the Rain, Brenda in Catch Me If you Can, and Natalie in All Shook Up. Adrienne continues to be one of Maine’s premier professional dancers as a principal dancer with the Maine State Ballet.

Rhiannon Pelletier-Guerrette

Rhiannon has been classically trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theater, and contemporary with companies such as Boston Ballet and the American Academy of Ballet, with much of her training coming directly from her director and mentor, Linda MacArthur Miele of Maine State Ballet (a former pupil of dance legend, George Balanchine). Miele describes her by saying: “She’s lovely. She’s just a hard worker. She has a natural strength and ability... She is always upping her performance” (Portland Press Herald). At Boston Ballet, she shared classes and became friends with notable artists of today such as Lex Ishimoto, Daniel R. Durrett, Misha Culver, Tanner Blee, and Maia Charanis. She trained with esteemed instructors like Lia and Jeffrey Cirio, Tai Jimenez, Tamara King, Igor Burlak, Tara Gragg, and Alla Nikitina. At age sixteen, Rhiannon was invited to Boston Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program at Walnut Hill (a feeder program to their company) with recommendations from Boston Ballet’s director, Margaret Tracy. After searching her soul, Rhiannon ultimately declined the opportunity at Boston Ballet to continue her career at Maine State Ballet and build her life in her home state. ​ To this date, she has expanded her repertoire with MSB to include just about every leading role in the Maine State Ballet repertoire including: "Aurora" in Sleeping Beauty, "Swanhilda" in Coppelia, "Kitri" in Don Quixote, the title roles in The Firebird and Cinderella, a soloist in Balanchine’s Serenade, "Odette/Odile" in Swan Lake, and of course, "Sugar Plum" and "Dew Drop" in The Nutcracker, the latter of which has earned Rhiannon critical acclaim – her performance said by one reviewer to rival that of even New York City Ballet’s artists. Some of her highest praises from multiple New England publications are quoted below. Throughout her career, Rhiannon has collaborated on many projects with other choreographers, photographers, and videographers across New England including “The Messenger,” a short film by Roger McCord published on The Maine Monitor that featured her life and perseverance as an arts entrepreneur through a pandemic; the music video for “December,” by Roseview (Tragic Hero Records); projects with Maine-based contemporary ballet company, Ballet Bloom; and various modelling calls. ​ With her strong technical background and expertise in the performing arts, Rhiannon naturally transitioned into the realm of choreography, receiving awards from regional and national competitions for her work. She also produced and directed her own version of The Firebird with Maine Dance Theatre’s students in 2016. Her artistic reach goes beyond that of ballet, being recognized as a student for her strong tap and musical theater abilities with the Peggy Etter Tap scholarship. Her training background in that realm includes close mentorship from icons such as Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge), Clyde Alves (Anything Goes), Andrei Chagas (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Leigh-Ann Esty (Carousel), Sara Esty (An American in Paris), Solange Sandy (Chicago), and Roberto Forleo (Trockadero).

Madison Mitchell

Kristin Farwell

Zoe Derosby

Shannon Dunbar

Hannah Ranco

Nathaniel Dombek

Marie-Claire Owens

Kelsie Pappalardo

Jessica Bartlett

Emma Parslow

Emma Dyer

Cookie Harrist

Courtney Joy

Dylan Jackson

Elizabeth Chadbourne

Emily Gagne

Emily Murray

Mackenzie Lewis

Mackenzie Sutter

Olivia Bartlett

Rayne Chase

Valeria Santangelo

Luke Tucker

Adrienne Pelletier

Beth Pelletier