+ Stephanie Frances | Artistic Director
Stephanie Frances began her training in Jacksonville, Florida under Mark Spivak. She then continued her tutelage with Beth Marks where she studied ballet, jazz, and modern. She joined Jacksonville Ballet Theatre at the age of 15 where she studied under Dulce Anaya. Shortly after moving to Birmingham, Alabama to attend Samford University, she began her professional career by joining Birmingham Ballet Repertory Company, under direction of Cindy Free and Alfonso Figueroa. While with the company she performed notable roles including Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Arabian Coffee in The Nutcracker, and the lead in Alfonso Figueroa’s Hues. The Birmingham News referred to the performance in Hues by Rangel and her partner, Cole Companion, as the “highlight” of the ballet. She joined Arova Contemporary Ballet in 2012, under the direction of Alison Page and ballet mistress Therese Laeger. She performed the role of Sorceress in the original ballet, The Snow Queen. Rangel has been teaching ballet, jazz, and contemporary to students of all ages since 2007. After she was married in 2016, she moved to the country of Panamá with her husband David, and taught ballet for Crossroads Bible Church and the Metropolitan School of Panama. She also choreographed and assisted with an annual Christmastime production called “Cantada” that involved over 150 singers, dancers, and actors. After returning to the states, she continued to teach at local dance studios in Florida. She has the honor of serving on the board of directors for the Community Nutcracker of Jacksonville. She is currently the Artistic Director and a founder of the Magic City Nutcracker and serves as the President for Magic City Performing Arts. She has a passion for creating opportunities for student and pre-professional dancers while enriching the local dance community. She is committed to creating a safe, loving, and kind environment for anyone who wants to dance and believes everyone is made in the image of God, and that creates the foundation for her teaching method.
+ Jamie Grimes | Company Manager
Jamie Grimes is honored to serve her seventh year as with the Magic City Nutcracker. She began her dance training in Huntsville, Alabama, and has been teaching and choreographing for the past twenty years throughout Alabama. In 2004, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in dance and a minor in theatre from the University of Alabama. At UA, she was a member of the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre and Dance Alabama where she performed soloist roles in the ballets Paquita and Raymonda. She also earned scholarships for five American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives, the SFA Dance/Theatre Gift Scholarship, and the Dancer Award for excellence. In 2004, Jamie had the honor of performing at the "Sharing the Legacy" concert held at Hunter College in New York City where she performed choreography by Isadora Duncan and Anna Sokolow. Theatre credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story, Ragtime, and 42nd Street. From 2007-2009, Jamie served as the Director of Dance for the Shades Valley Theatre Academy where she created numerous pieces of award-winning original choreography under the direction of Roy Hudson. Her choreography was presented at the Fringe Festival in Edinburg, Scotland in the summer of 2009. In 2015, Jamie furthered her study of anatomy and injury prevention to become a certified barre fitness instructor. She has been on staff with Vestavia Dance as a ballet instructor since 2016 and recently completed training with Youth Protection Advocates in Dance. Jamie currently lives in Vestavia Hills with her husband, Charley, and their three sons.
+ Kelly Avery | Director Emerita
Kelly Avery began her dancing career at Vestavia Dance at the age of six as a student in the program. From there, she went on to further her instruction with Mira Popovich at Birmingham-Southern College. Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts degree from BSC with a major in Dance. She has studied in New York with the New York School of Classical Dance and has taken classes under David Howard, The Alvin Ailey School, The Joffery Ballet, The American Ballet Theatre, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center. Kelly came to Vestavia Dance as a teacher in 1996 and accepted the director’s position in 2001. She is a founding director of the Magic City Nutcracker.
+ Jamie Kilgore Foust | Ballet Mistress
Jamie Kilgore Foust is a founding company member and ballet mistress of the AROVA Contemporary Ballet. Jamie has been featured in works by international choreographers, such as Thor Sutowski and Jorden Morris, in AROVA productions of Pointe / Counterpointe, Signature Blend, and Star-Crossed. She began her ballet training under the guidance of Margaret Galloway. Later she continued to train at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) under Dame Sonia Arova, Thor Sutowski and Therese Laeger. As a student, Jamie had the opportunity to work professionally with the Alabama Ballet in productions of the Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. She also performed with the Alabama Dance Theatre as a soloist in La Bayadere, Cinderella, and Crystal Edge. She graduated from ASFA with the Prix D’Excellence de Danse Award in 1998 and immediately joined the San Diego Ballet. There she was best known for her role as lead Arabian in the Nutcracker and as a soloist in many of Javier Velasco’s contemporary works. Jamie is an adjunct faculty member of the ASFA Dance Department, and she teaches for ASFA’s Preparatory Dance Program. Photo by Fred Jemison.
+ Allison Lowery | Operations Director
Allison Lowery has been a part of the Magic City Nutcracker as a proud parent to a dancer since its first year of production. In 2020, Allison became the Parent and Communication Coordinator and Producer for the Magic City Nutcracker film to help keep the show alive during the trying times of Covid. She is proud to support the momentum of this special community organization in her volunteer role as we build Magic City Performing Arts’ reach and scope. Allison is mom to 2 daughters, Gradie and Beatrice, and wife to Wade Lowery, a dedicated dance and theatre dad. She has worked in food media her entire career and is currently VP, Content Studios, for Dotdash Meredith where she oversees test kitchens and photo studios in Birmingham and Des Moines, IA. Allison works with an amazing team of test kitchen chefs, photographers, and stylists who create content for the country’s finest lifestyle brands, including Southern Living, Real Simple, Food & Wine, People, Eating Well, and more. She thrives in creative environments in both her personal and professional life.
+ Virginia Jones | Resident Photographer
Birmingham photographer Virginia Kelser Jones is a former teacher, community volunteer, photoblogger, and grandmother to five delightful grandchildren. She credits her first trip to Paris in 2007 as the inspiration for what has become a new career in photography. Upon retirement in 2008, she created Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo blog. Later that year after a second trip to Paris, a new photo blog, Paris Through My Lens was born. She posted a photo a day for both cities until 2020.
She enjoys presenting phototalks on a variety of subjects featuring her images of Birmingham and Paris. Having just made her 17th trip to Paris last March, her Travel to Paris talks, featuring her travel tips and favorite places are always well attended. From Snapshots to Creative Photographs, her photography class series,was specifically designed for amateurs who want to improve their photographs.
Virginia’s images have been featured in B-Metro, Vestavia Living, Luxury Ohio, Belle Inspiration and Romantic Paris magazines. She has contributed to Girl’s Guide to Paris, My French Life, and Bonjour Paris websites.
Virginia is a member of Independent Presbyterian Church where she is a member of the Guild and lead photographer for the church. She is a photographic contributor for STAIR Birmingham, i3Academy, BuildUP, and the Magic City Nutcracker.
Prints are available on Etsy:https://www.etsy.com/people/Virginiajones For special orders contact: virginia@virginiajonesphotography.com Website: www.virginiajonesphotography.com
+ Kathryn Gebler Spitzer | Choreographer
Originally from Vestal, New York. Kathryn was a principal dancer with the Alabama Ballet from 1999-2011. She joined the Alabama Ballet, under the artistic direction of Wes Chapman, after graduating from the Boston Ballet School in 1999. She received her early training from Tina Christina-Price in Binghamton, New York; Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. Kathryn’s featured roles include the principal roles of Kitri in Don Quixote, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Lucy in Dracula as well as Le Corsaire, Spring Waters, Flames of Paris, and Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs. She has also performed many principal roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Tarantella, Donizetti Variations, Stars and Stripes, and Serenade. Kathryn was a member of the Gotham’s Bluff Residency and on faculty of the Alabama Ballet School from 2006-2011. She was a guest artist with the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers from 2006-2011 and served as Artistic Director from 2012-2016. Kathryn is currently on the artistic faculty at Mt Laurel Ballet and Magic City Performing Arts.
Kathryn has certifications from the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) and Revolutionary Principles of Movement (RPM).
+ Katie Kimbrough | Production Coordinator
Katie Kimbrough began her dance training at Vestavia Dance at 4 years old and continued for another 15 years. During this time, Katie was a member of Pizitz Middle School dance team for 2 years, and Vestavia High School Rebelettes for 4 years. Katie was also a cast member of the first ever Magic City Nutcracker in 2013. Since then, Katie has been a performer, rehearsal assistant, and choreographer for Magic City Performing Arts. After graduating from Auburn University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a minor in Psychology, Katie attends Samford University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy school and plans to graduate in May of 2023. Katie hopes to one day serve her community as a PT by helping its members optimize their movement and stay strong and healthy. Katie currently lives in Birmingham with her husband, Hardie and their dog, Roux.
+ Claire Kendrick | Choreographer
Claire Kendrick is a Birmingham, AL native that has spent the last four years in New York City studying and professionally dancing. In May of this year, she will receive her BFA from Marymount Manhattan College’s Conservatory Dance Program in New York, New York. Claire has trained in ballet, contemporary, modern, lyrical, jazz, pointe, tap, acro, and many other styles for the past twenty years. Some of her honors and awards include being named Dance Masters of America Miss Dance Chapter 33 in 2017 and Dance Masters of America National Miss Dance 1st Runner-up in 2017, as well as Dance Makers Inc. Regional Solo Star Maker Winner and National Solo Star Maker Top 5. Claire was also named Shelby County’s Distinguished Young Woman in 2017 and went on to be named Alabama’s Distinguished Young Woman in 2017. Claire is actively apart of Stacey Tookey’s Protege Program, and has assisted on convention for many years under choreographers such as Robert Roldan, Kathryn McCormick, Erica Sobol, Channing Cooke, Jason Parsons, Hayden Frederick, Emily Greenwell, Tommy Alexander, Keith Clifton, Melissa Emrico, Barry Youngblood, and many more. Claire has won numerous solo awards, honors, and scholarships both regionally and nationally, with her recent performance credits including an array of New York debuts with numerous choreographers at the Theresa Lang Theater, Arts on Site, The Peridance Gala, Alchemical Theater Lab, The Peridance Apex Showcase, Broadway Dance Center, InKubate Dance Festival, Steps on Broadway, and the Capezio Ace Awards.
Claire has since returned to Birmingham to pursue medicine, and is excited to give-back and share her knowledge and love of dance with young dancers and aspiring professionals.
+ Rachel Gates
Rachel Gates is delighted to return to the Magic City Nutcracker! A native of Columbus, Georgia and a graduate of the University of Utah, she has been fortunate enough to enjoy the arts community in Birmingham through dance. During her time in Birmingham, she has worn many costumes - as a dancer, teacher, administrator, and more. Her interests have led her to complete trainings in Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique®, Revolutionary Principles of Movement, Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, and she has been lucky enough to work for the Alabama Dance Council, Alabama Ballet, NS Dance Studio, Beverly's Dance Unlimited, and AROVA Contemporary Ballet. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet and a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies. She and her husband have forged adventures as parents to pets, plants, and now a wild human baby.