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Samantha Dunster
(Director of Artistic Operations)

began her ballet training with Cristina Pora in Toronto, Ontario. Then, at age 17, she traveled to Havana to train with the National Ballet of Cuba. She continued dancing with the company of Centro Pro-Danza, under the direction of Laura Alonso, where she also worked as Regisseur and Ballet Mistress. In 1996, Dunster accepted the position of Artistic Director and Principal Dancer of Bale da Ilha in Brazil, where she staged numerous full-length ballets. By 2000, she became Ballet Mistress of Orlando Ballet, where, under the direction of the late Fernando Bujones, she re-choreographed La Fille Mal Gardée for the company. In 2004, she was commissioned by Orlando Ballet to create a world-premiere production of Camelot, the success of which broke ticket sales records. In 2007, she accepted the role of Assistant to the Artistic Director of Orlando Ballet, under the direction of Bruce Marks. In 2011, Dunster accepted the position of Chair and Artistic Director of the Hartt School Community Division Dance Department at the University of Hartford. During that time, she created and choreographed two new full-length ballets: Snow White and Peter Pan. She also founded the pre-professional company HarttWorks as well as created the summer ballet intensive program “From Studio to Stage.” In 2003 and 2009, she set her staging of La Fille Mal Gardée for the National Ballet of Korea and the NBA Ballet Company in Tokyo, respectively, and in 2010, she served as the Canadian judge for the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. Dunster began her tenure as Ballet Mistress with Philadelphia Ballet (formally Pennsylvania Ballet) in November 2014 and was appointed Assistant Artistic Director in November 2015. During her time there, she choreographed Snow White, Prince Charming, and Fairy Rhymes for Philadelphia Ballet II and staged Peter Pan for the School of Philadelphia Ballet.