DEBRA AUSTIN was born in Brooklyn and prior to accepting an SAB scholarship, she received her initial ballet training from former NYCB soloist Barbara Walczak. At sixteen, she was selected by George Balanchine to join the NYCB, officially becoming the company's first African-American female dancer. At NYCB Ms. Austin went on to dance principal roles in Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Divertimento No.15, and Jerome Robbins’ Four Seasons, Chansons Madecasses, and Interplay. In 1980 she left NYCB to further her career at the Zurich Ballet, where she was promoted to soloist. In 1982 Robert Weiss enlisted Ms. Austin as a principal dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet, making her the first African-American female principal of a major American ballet company. She was known for her remarkable jumps and buoyancy, appearing in many principal roles, notably Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Giselle and Myrtha in Giselle, the Sylph in La Sylphide, and many others. Ms. Austin retired from dancing in 1990 to devote time to teaching students and professionals. In 2023-24 she served as Principal Guest Teacher at SAB. She is Ballet Master at Carolina Ballet and a full-time teacher for the School of Carolina Ballet. Ms. Austin is the recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation from the Governor of North Carolina, an Extraordinary Achievement in the Arts award from the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, and Philadelphia Ballet’s David H. Hoffman Award for Artistic Excellence.

BONITA BORNE, born and raised in Los Angeles, California began her formal training with Irina Kosmovska and David and Tania Lichine. In 1969 she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to SAB and was asked to join NYCB in 1970. During her tenure she performed in many ballets, working with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, John Taras, Jacques D’Amboise, Richard Tanner, Lorca Massine, and in the revival of Apollo with Mikhail Baryshnikov. From 1982 -1983 she performed with the Zurich Ballet under the direction of Patricia Neary, and from 1983 - 1985 she served as Assistant to Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux at the Chautaqua Dance department. She joined the San Francisco Ballet from 1985 - 1996 as Ballet Mistress and Assistant to the Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson where she taught company and school classes, staged and rehearsed many ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Glen Tetley, Helgi Tomasson and more. In 1994 she staged Helgi Tomasson’s Sleeping Beauty for the Royal Danish Ballet. In 1996 she relocated to Sedona, Arizona with her family continuing to teach, coach, and stage Balanchine ballets.

STEPHANIE SALAND was born in Brooklyn and entered the School of American Ballet just before her 15th birthday. Three years later she was invited by George Balanchine to join NYCB for the remarkable Stravinsky Festival. In a 21-year career with the company, Ms. Saland was showcased in leading roles under Balanchine’s direction including Serenade, Divertimento #15, Apollo, Coppélia, "Emeralds" from Jewels, Vienna Waltzes, Episodes, Four Temperaments, Liebeslieder Walzer, and Davidsbündlertänze. For the past thirty years she has been teaching ballet and movement in Seattle. With Adam Luders, Ms. Saland coached the Rosenkavalier Section of Vienna Waltzes for the Interpreters Archives.

SHERYL WARE was born in San Mateo, California. At age 7 she began her ballet training, and from age 10 through 15 Ms. Ware developed the foundation of her ballet technique with Richard Gibson. Her professional advancement began at age 15 when she was invited to attend the summer course at SAB, after which she was invited to stay fulltime. At age 17 she was invited by George Balanchine to join NYCB where she performed in his extraordinary repertory between 1970-1980, including soloist and principal roles as well as originating roles. She returned to SAB in 1996 to serve on the faculty of the Children's Division until her retirement in 2023. She continues to remain involved in the arts through her family’s foundation, Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation. She is thrilled to be contributing to the Video Archives Ballo Della Reginadocumentation project.

OLIVIA BELL was born in Fort Worth, Texas and at the age of two she began studying dance locally. She continued her training in Arlington, TX with Paul Mejia and Maria T. Balogh. Ms. Bell attended summer programs at SAB before enrolling full-time in 2018. She received additional training at summer programs at The Ailey School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the Chautauqua School of Dance, and privately with Debra Austin and Michele Gifford. Ms. Bell became an apprentice with NYCB in 2022, and joined its corps de ballet in 2023.

MEAGHAN DUTTON-O’HARA is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. She was born in New York City. Ms. Dutton-O’Hara began studying at SAB during the 2007 summer course and enrolled as a full-time student that fall. In August 2011, Ms. Dutton-O’Hara became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet the following August.

BAILY JONES first trained at the Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2011, she began training at SAB and joined NYCB’s corps de ballet in 2015. Some of the lead roles she has performed include in the third movement of Symphony in C, Tarantella, the Pas de Trois in Emeralds, Dewdrop and Marzipan in The Nutcracker and the soloist role in La Source. Ms. Jones has previously contributed to two Video Archive recordings, Swan Lake and Emeralds.

MARY THOMAS MACKINNON was born in Mobile, Alabama and began her dance training at the age of 3 at the Mobile Ballet. Ms. MacKinnon enrolled as a full-time student at SAB in 2014. She became an apprentice with NYCB in 2017 and joined its corps de ballet one year later. Ms. MacKinnon was promoted to soloist in October 2025. Her repertory includes Agon, Ballo della Regina, Chaconne, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Symphony in Three Movements.

FAYE ARTHURS is a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, where she danced featured roles in the works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Martins, Albert Evans, Robert LaFosse, and Lynn Taylor-Corbett. She chronicled her time as a professional dancer in her blog, Thoughts from the Paint. While dancing, Arthurs graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Fordham University. She now writes about dance for Fjord Review, Air Mail, and Dance Magazine. Ms. Arthurs has interviewed coaches for the Video Archives recordings of Valse Fantaisie, Who Cares?, and most recently Robert Weiss for his roles in Ballo della Regina and Divertimento No. 15.

NANCY REYNOLDS is the founding director of the George Balanchine Video Archives. She is a former dancer with New York City Ballet and has been Director of Research for The George Balanchine Foundation since 1994, when she conceived the Video Archives program. Among her books are Repertory in Review: Forty Years of the New York City Ballet; No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century (with Malcolm McCormick); and Remembering Lincoln. In 2013 she received a “Bessie” award for “outstanding service to the field of dance.”

PAUL BOOS, Director of the Video Archives since 2021, is a former dancer with NYCB and répétiteur for the George Balanchine Trust. His work for the Trust has been presented at several theaters, including the Maryinsky, Bolshoi, Paris Opera, La Scala, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Boston Ballet. He is the director of Rye Ballet Conservatory’s pre-pro division as well as a guest teacher abroad and locally.