Artistic director and Judges

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In 2004, Mason created IBT and in 2005, he organized The School of Imagine Ballet Theatre and became the artistic director. In 2006, Mason received the Ogden Mayor’s Award in the Arts for Dance and the Utah Best of State Award as Choreographer. Under his direction, IBT has received numerous awards and recognitions. In 2006, they received the Judy G Mayer Small Group Award at the “Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival” in Palm Desert, CA; and in 2005, they received the Utah Best of State award in the category of Best Children’s Performing Group.
 

Mason received a 2004 Utah Best of State Award for Individual Dancer. For 2007, IBT received a Utah Performing Arts Touring Grant from the Utah Arts Council. Mason also received a Utah Arts Council Individual Artist Project grant in 2005. In addition, he is an independent choreographer, guest artist, and master teacher. In 2004, IBT was invited to perform Mason's ballet Luminescent at the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, CA, at the "Dance Under the Stars" Choreography Festival. His work has been staged on Ballet Pacifica, Ballet GranDiva, Ballet Etudes, and Lone Star Ballet, as well as numerous regional ballet companies, universities, art festivals, showcases, and other ballet companies. His works have been performed at Ballet Builders “New Choreographers on Pointe” in NYC, and his ballet Moonlight was filmed by the Lloyd Rigler Foundation for the Classic Arts Showcase. In 2005, he choreographed The Secret Garden with an original score written by composer Kurt Bestor. In 2007, he choreographed his own story of The Nutcracker, which was received by the Ogden dance community with standing ovations. In 2009, he created Alice: Adventures in Wonderland, and in 2012, he created The Fairy Doll and Peter and the Wolf. He has choreographed several ballets for Ballet West including Seasons, Desert as a Rose, Lord Byron, and others. As a principal artist with Ballet West, Mason danced many of the leading roles in such ballets as: Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Gisele, Rosalinda, Anna Karenina, Ophelia, and White Mourning, as well as many other ballets. He has performed on some of the most prestigious theatres in America, including Wolf Trap and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. As a guest artist, he performed with The Stars of the San Franciso Ballet in Marseilles, France. As a dancer, he has toured in Japan, China, Canada, Europe, and throughout the United States.
 

Mason holds a BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah.

MS. Kerstin grew up in Switzerland and trained in Europe under legendary teachers Boris Kniasef, Lucette Darsonval and Victor Gsovsky. She was a soloist with the San Francisco Pacific and Milwaukee Ballet companies and had numerous engagements in musical theater and classical productions in the USA and abroad. From 1980 to 1992, she served as a School Director for the Milwaukee Ballet where she originated the nationally-recognized “Identify Youth for Dance” program and was awarded a “State Senate Citation” for her development of dance in Wisconsin. For the Florentine Opera ahs choreographed numerous productions including Il Trovatore, Faust and Don Giovanni.

In 1992, Ms. Kerstin was engaged to manage the Bolshoi Ballet Academy at Vail, Colorado. During her tenure there, she initiated and developed the world-class Vail International Dance Festival. As Producing Artistic Director for over 15 years she introduced dynamic educational programs and created exclusive productions that brought international recognition to the Vail Festival. She produces dance teacher seminars, annual International Galas with the ballet world’s most illustrious stars and original ballroom productions. Ms. Kerstin choreographed Merlin for the Walden Family Playhouse in Denver and Disney television episodes of Out of the Box in New York. Guest teaching has included engagements with the Ballet du Nord in France, University of Arizona and Milwaukee Ballet. She produces Teacher Seminars with international ballet pedagogues such as Dinna Bjorn (Bournonville, Lynn Wallis (Artistic Dir. Royal Academy of Dance) and Gilbert Mayer (Paris Opera Ballet).

Eric began his ballet training in Biarritz, France. At age 14, he won the first prize at the Concours de la Scène Francaise in Paris, directed by Serge Lifar, and achieved jury recognition in character dance. Thereafter he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Dance in Paris where he completed his ballet education. He also studied with Maitre yves Brieux. Upon graduation he joined the Ballet du Rhin and in 1984 was engaged at the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, where he was promoted to Principal Dancer after two years. In 2003, he received the French Diploma for teaching classical ballet. He has served as guest teacher with many ballet companies including for the Aspirant classes at The Royal Danish Ballet (2003-2008). He was a member of the faculty for the Bournonville summer seminars in Tokyo, Japan and in France for Bournonville á Biarritz. Eric’s 'official title' now is "resident balletmaster at The European School of Ballet, directed by Jean-Yves Esquerre".

Born in Denmark, Henning Albrechtsen was engaged as dancer at Royal Danish Ballet in 1985. Since 1997, he has been on the faculty at the Royal Danish Ballet School. In his career as a professional dancer he has danced a variety of soloist and principal roles in classical and neo-classical repertoire ranging from Bournonville to Balanchine.

From 2000 to 2007, he was the Deputy Artistic Director of Royal Danish Ballet. In 2007, he enrolled in the Teachers Training Program for former professional dancers at the National Ballet School of Canada where he completed the one-year educational program and in 2008 was invited back to the Royal Danish Ballet School as a full-time member of the faculty. Henning Albrechtsen has taught at various schools throughout the world including, among others, the National Ballet School of Cuba and the National Ballet School of Canada. In addition, he has taught the Bournonville technique in Australia, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, and Spain.

Natalie Desch, a BFA graduate of the Juilliard School and an MFA graduate of the University of

Washington, performed for five seasons with the Limón Dance Company and eleven seasons with

Doug Varone and Dancers in NYC. She additionally danced in various productions at the

Metropolitan Opera and other regional opera companies–Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Palm Beach Opera, Longleaf Opera (NC), Lincoln Center Institute (NYC). From 2005-2012 she taught at Hunter College (City University of New York) and has also been a visiting faculty member at Weber State University (UT), University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Beijing Dance Academy. Additionally, she has taught for the following summer festivals: Doug Varone and

Dancers, the Limón Dance Company, UNCSA, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the Bates Dance Festival, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theater, among others. Natalie has restaged the works of José Limón, Doug Varone, Jirí Kylián, and Daniel Charon on performing groups around the world, and her choreography has been presented at venues throughout the US. In 2014 Natalie relocated to Salt Lake City, UT, and began teaching at Ballet West Academy, Westminster College, Utah Valley University, and Salt Lake Community College. Natalie joined the University of Utah’s School of Dance as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2019.