John Farr

John Farr Lighting Design, returns to Erie as Lighting Director for the 53rd Annual Nutcracker. John grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. In his youth, John did quite a bit of traveling while touring with national music acts; among those was a two-year stint with "The Super Freak" Rick James, as well as ZZ Top, Gladys Knight & Luther Vandross. 

In 1988, after several years of touring, John became a nationally registered paramedic with the Washington, DC Fire & Emergency Medical Services Department. John advanced to the position of Lieutenant and was part of the security detail that protects the President Of The United States.

In 1999 John created John Farr Lighting Design as a second income to his paramedic skills.

In 2003 the company expanded at such a rate that John left the DC Fire Department to return full time to lighting production. John Farr Lighting Design has a multitude of clients including The White House, Bloomingdales, CNBC, Fox News, Frostburg State University, Georgetown University, L'Oreal USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Southwest Airlines, The Ocean Conservancy, The World Bank, Turner Sports, Inc., Virginia Tech and many more.

John currently lives in Maryland with his dog "Sinatra" where he tries his best to balance his love of driving 170+ MPH in a dragster with not losing too much at the card tables.

Gina lllingworth

Gina Illingworth, returns to Lake Erie Ballet as Artistic Advisor. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Ms. lllingworth has danced with the Oakland Ballet and the National Ballet of Norway for five years. She was also principal dancer with the Cleveland Ballet and permanent guest artist/teacher with Ballet Tucson. Principal ballet roles include; Kitri in Nureyev's Don Quixote, Swanhilda in Coppelia, the Sylph in La Sylphide, Cinderella, Carmen, Giselle, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. She has performed leading roles in many Balanchine ballets including Apollo, Donizetti Variations and Serenade. Other lead roles include works by choreographers such as Glen Tetley, Alvin Ailey, Rudi Van Danzig, Jiri Kylian and Agnes De Mille.

Patrick Rocheleau

Patrick Rocheleau is the Assistant Director of the Rockefeller Arts Center at the State University of New York in Fredonia. He started his formal training at the University of Vermont in the Costume Design area where he designed for the University as well as for local community theatres. He also ventured into graphic design and advertising. He transferred to SUNY Fredonia to study scenic design and completed his undergraduate degree.

Following his work at Fisher Price as a design/soft goods developer, he returned to the theatre and attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. While attending Tisch he worked commercially in New York as a staff member of Parson-Mears Costumes building costumes for productions like Phantom of the Opera, Cats and many other productions appearing on Broadway and in national tours. His commercial costume designs include Generations, an industrial production for the Ford Motor Company, as well as designs for Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions.

Patrick polished his business expertise when he became Assistant Director of Rockefeller Arts Center. His portfolio includes Marketing, Customer and Public Relations, and Programming. Patrick has been a consultant for marketing and developmental arts organizations in New York and Pennsylvania. In addition to his professional commitments, Patrick has taught Theatre Business and Administration along with Introduction to the Performing Art at SUNY Fredonia.

Adaptive Arts of PA

Kristie Reagle-Falkenhagen RN, BSN, BS, BA
Adaptive Arts of PA Instructor & Founder
LEB Administrative Assistant

Kristie Reagle-Falkenhagen is the founder of Adaptive Arts of Pennsylvania's Dance Studio. Adaptive Arts of PA strives to provide dance experience to those with developmental disabilities.

She has been dancing since the age of 5, training in her hometown of Punxsutawney, until moving on to study dance at Mercyhurst College under Mary Price Boday and Tauna Hunter. She has trained at Dafmark Dance Theatre (under Shelly Barnard-Walker, Dafna Rathouse-Baier, and Jean Marc Baier) and at Connie's Ballroom Dance Studio.

While studying dance at Mercyhurst College she completed her Bachelor of Science Degree. Simultaneously, completing her nursing classes at Gannon University for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Kristie has worked extensively as a caregiver to the mentally and physically disabled for over 15 years. Working for Erie Homes for Children and Adults, Great Lakes Home Health Care, and Bayada Nurses.

Kristie knew, somehow, there was a way to combine her passion for dance with her passion as a caregiver. In 2002, she returned to Mercyhurst College, completing her degree in Art Therapy with a focus in Dance/ Creative Movement Therapy.

In May of 2006, Kristie was invited to have her students perform at Partners in Dance V: A Grande Ball. Capitalizing on the interest in the hit TV show, "Dancing with the Stars", her clients jumped at the chance to learn the Fox Trot.

Prior to this success, Ms. Falkenhagen worked in dance/movement exercises with Erie Homes for Children and Adults. Her work there encompassed dance and movement, as well as art exercises. Kristie worked alongside Shelly Barnard-Walker, previous Company Manager of Dafmark Dance Studio, assistant teaching the dance classes, designing and constructing all of the costumes and props for the culminating performance, Partners in Dance IV: Mother Nature, Mother Muse.

Kristie understands her students' physical, cognitive, and emotional needs. She knows that the most important need of any individual is emotional expression. Dance is a voice to those who cannot speak. Dance is understood in any language or culture. It transcends the need to speak! Kristie is sharing dance, as a means of expression, with her students'. She believes everyone wants to find their "dancer within".

Ashlyn Duke Photography

Ashlyn Duke began photographing in December of 2009 when her younger sister, Olivia, was Clara in the 51st annual Nutcracker. She says that she 'inherited the knack' (of photography) from her mother Nancy, who used to take wedding photos. With a great interest in photography and a great support system from everyone at the Ballet, she continued her interest in capturing special moments.

Since 2009, Ashlyn has photographed many performances and fundraisers for The Lake Erie Ballet. She has contributed photos of The Nutcracker (2009 & 2010), LEB's collaboration with the Erie Art Museum for Art Moves (2010), Celebrate Erie (2010), Ballet on the Beach (2010 & 2011), and LEB's most recent production of The Little Mermaid (2011). The majority of Lake Erie Ballet's program photos for The Nutcracker (2010), Art Moves, and The Little Mermaid have been taken by Ashlyn Duke and her mother Nancy.

Ashlyn Duke is nineteen years old and a native of Erie, PA. She graduated from Northwestern Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy in June 2011 with a grade rank of Magna Cum Lade. She is now attending Penn State Erie, The Behrend College with plans to major in English. Ashlyn is also grateful to be an instructor and choreographer at the Ballet since January 2010.

As of now, Ashlyn Duke Photography is based on locational shoots only. If there is a need for a photographer for any occasion (family/self portraits, sports, events, parties, weddings, and special occasions) please feel free to email or look up her Facebook Page for more information and a taste of her photos.