Steffani Kitayama
Steffani Kitayama, a native of Colorado, began her early ballet training under Amy Stoddart and Christina Noel-Adcock. While pursuing her degrees and professional life as a violinist, she continued her ballet training in Cincinnati with Suzette Boyer Webb, Chicago with LauraWade, D.C. with Roberta Stiehm and Michigan with Wendi DuBois.Since moving to Michigan, Steffani has performed as a professional company member at Ballet Chelsea in roles such as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Giselle in Giselle.As a violinist, Steffani performs, teaches, and lectures across the country. Her quartet, the Bayberry String Quartet, just released analbum of Mozart quartets titled Only Mozarts in the Building. Steffani also works with her husband operating Education for Happiness, a programs based organization dedicated to warmhearted,compassionate education. She is thrilled to be a part of Plymouth Canton Ballet Company’s 40th Anniversary Nutcracker.
Simon pawlak
Simon Pawlak is from the small town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. He is an honors graduate from Butler University. While at Butler he had the opportunity to perform many roles including the Nutcracker Prince, and the Snow King in The Nutcracker, Puss in Boots in The Sleeping Beauty,and Benno in Swan Lake. Additionally, he has had soloist roles created for him in original works by Derek Reid, and Stephan Laurent. After graduation, Simon spent a season dancing with Oklahoma City Ballet under artistic director Robert Mills, where he performed inproductions of Rodeo, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty. He then spent three seasons dancing with Ballet Theatre of Indiana; his repertoire with the company included Jonathan Harker in Sterling Matheson’s Dracula, The Sugar Plum Cavalier in the Nutcracker, and Hilarion in Giselle.
