Peggy Dolkas
Born in Auburn, California, Ms. Dolkas received her early dance training at the Auburn Academy of Dance under the instruction of Sheila Humphreys, former Soloist with The Royal Ballet as well as Ballet Mistress with Ballet Met, The Joffrey Ballet and The Royal Ballet. At the age of 14, Ms. Dolkas was accepted into The National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada, where she was awarded the Peter Dwyer Scholarship and the Christopher Ondaatjie Ballet Prize. She graduated four years later in 2000.
After a two year apprenticeship with The National Ballet of Canada, Ms. Dolkas was chosen to represent Canada’s “Excellence in the Arts” where she performed for His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. In 2003, she joined Ballet West as a corps de ballet member under the direction of Jonas Kage. Two years later, she was promoted to the rank of Soloist.
During her varied career, Ms. Dolkas danced numerous principal roles including “Juliet” in the premiere of Jonas Kage’s production of Romeo and Juliet, “Odette/Odile” in Swan Lake; “Aurora” in The Sleeping Beauty; "Giselle" in Jonas Kage's adaptation of Giselle, “Fairy Godmother” in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella and “Suzuki” in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly in addition to performing in John Butler’s Carmina Burana, Andre Prokovsky’s Vespri and The Three Musketeer’s among many others. She has performed principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine including Who Cares? and Western Symphony.
Ms. Dolkas was named “Top 25 To Watch” in the 2007 issue of Dance Magazine as well as “Best Choreographer” for Salt Lake City’s City Weekly’s Artys Awards (2009). Her work “Requiem” earned her an award for “Most Outstanding Choreography” at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2010.
Ms. Dolkas’ choreographic credits include Yes, but how did you get there? (Ballet West 2009), The Imprisoned Soul (Ballet West Academy 2011) in addition to ten new contemporary works for the Youth America Grand Prix performed by students of the Ballet West Academy. She recently co-choreographed a full-length version of The Little Mermaid for Ballet West’s Family Series in 2012 and a full-length production of Aladdin in April 2013 with Ballet West’s Principal Ballet Mistress, Pamela Robinson-Harris.
Born in Auburn, California, Ms. Dolkas received her early dance training at the Auburn Academy of Dance under the instruction of Sheila Humphreys, former Soloist with The Royal Ballet as well as Ballet Mistress with Ballet Met, The Joffrey Ballet and The Royal Ballet. At the age of 14, Ms. Dolkas was accepted into The National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada, where she was awarded the Peter Dwyer Scholarship and the Christopher Ondaatjie Ballet Prize. She graduated four years later in 2000.
After a two year apprenticeship with The National Ballet of Canada, Ms. Dolkas was chosen to represent Canada’s “Excellence in the Arts” where she performed for His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales. In 2003, she joined Ballet West as a corps de ballet member under the direction of Jonas Kage. Two years later, she was promoted to the rank of Soloist.
During her varied career, Ms. Dolkas danced numerous principal roles including “Juliet” in the premiere of Jonas Kage’s production of Romeo and Juliet, “Odette/Odile” in Swan Lake; “Aurora” in The Sleeping Beauty; "Giselle" in Jonas Kage's adaptation of Giselle, “Fairy Godmother” in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella and “Suzuki” in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly in addition to performing in John Butler’s Carmina Burana, Andre Prokovsky’s Vespri and The Three Musketeer’s among many others. She has performed principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine including Who Cares? and Western Symphony.
Ms. Dolkas was named “Top 25 To Watch” in the 2007 issue of Dance Magazine as well as “Best Choreographer” for Salt Lake City’s City Weekly’s Artys Awards (2009). Her work “Requiem” earned her an award for “Most Outstanding Choreography” at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2010.
Ms. Dolkas’ choreographic credits include Yes, but how did you get there? (Ballet West 2009), The Imprisoned Soul (Ballet West Academy 2011) in addition to ten new contemporary works for the Youth America Grand Prix performed by students of the Ballet West Academy. She recently co-choreographed a full-length version of The Little Mermaid for Ballet West’s Family Series in 2012 and a full-length production of Aladdin in April 2013 with Ballet West’s Principal Ballet Mistress, Pamela Robinson-Harris.