Classical Ballet of Mobile Faculty

Jacqueline Stepan

Director

Jacqueline Bodet Stepan trained under Winthrop Corey and Ann Duke for over a dozen years, performing as a company member with Mobile Ballet. She was a featured performer in such classic full-length productions as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Corey’s original Dracula. Under Corey’s artistic direction, Jacqueline performed George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie for Wes Chapman’s Alabama Ballet in Birmingham, Ala. and Corey’s Carmen Suite at the renowned Piccolo Spoleto festival in Charleston, SC. Undergraduate studies included Vaganova training and performance with Loyola Ballet under Laura Zambrano. Throughout her career, she trained with American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, New Orleans Ballet Theatre, Saint Louis Ballet, and Ballet Magnificat.

Retiring from New Orleans Ballet Theatre in 2017, Jacqueline holds her Master’s in Corporate Communication and Leadership from Gonzaga University and her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Loyola University New Orleans. Her professional career spans integrated marketing work in healthcare and advertising management for such well-known brands as AT&T, Energizer battery, and The Hartford Insurance.  

Jacqueline is President of Camellia Communication Consulting and is humbled to champion the mission of Winthrop Corey and Pamela Thompson in nurturing dancers of character through the foundation of classical ballet.

VIDEO: Meet Mrs. Jacqueline

Jeff Cain

Jeff Cain has danced throughout the United States and abroad, and as a soloist for Garden State Ballet, where he studied extensively with Fred and Steve Danielli. Jeff also studied with Brooks Jackson. Both, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Danielli having been with the first company of the New York City Ballet.

Other training of note was with David Howard of David Howard Studios, and with Wilheim Burmann and Bobby Blankshine - Steps Studio, New York. Studies of Jazz and Theater Dance: Frank Hatchett and Gregory Hines of Broadway Dance, Anne Reinking, Ronnie DeMarco, and Cecilia Marta, to highlight a few. He has judged dance competitions for companies such as "Showstoppers" throughout the 90s and has taught in New York and Los Angeles, as well as Master Classes throughout his travels. Jeff has had roles in Daytime Television, guest-starring roles in primetime and film, and has appeared in many commercials. He has many theatrical credits, including originating the role of "Chester," in the South African production of "A Little Life Like This." He is an award-winning writer and producer, currently shopping scripts in Hollywood. Jeff grew up in Fairhope and is happy to return to the area, and share some of his experience.

Anna Fargarson

Anna Fargarson grew up in Birmingham, Alabama where she began dancing at four years old. She received most of her technical training from Briarwood Ballet under the teaching of instructors including Barbra Barker, Kenneth Tolle, and Brittany Bischoff. She spent her summers attending classes and intensives at Briarwood Ballet and learning many variations under the instruction of Jim Eaton and others. During her senior year of high school, Anna was invited to join Ballet Exaltation, Briarwood Ballet's pre-professional touring company. During her time as a member with Ballet Exaltation, she had many performing opportunities including Project Dance in Kansas City. She, also, organized and taught ballet classes for Agape Academy Homeschool. 

Anna moved to Syracuse, New York in August of 2014 to join Light of the World Ballet's trainee program. As a trainee she traveled with the Company to Myanmar (Burma) and Peru, and was promoted to Apprentice in 2017. Ms. Fargarson was on the LWB teaching staff and served as a guest teacher for River City Dance in Lewiston, Idaho. In 2018, Anna returned to Birmingham, AL where she focused on teaching at Dawson Ballet and Briarwood Ballet. Anna was invited to join Suzhou Arts Collective in the summer of 2019. She taught and performed as staff of the Arts Collective until January of 2020.

Guest Faculty

Kelley Ann Mitchell began her training at age 4 under Pamela Thompson at Mobile Ballet and later joined the company under Winthrop Corey.  She has spent summers training at Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center, Miami City Ballet, CPYB, Charlotte Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, and City Ballet of San Diego. After joining the Mobile Ballet company and falling in love with performing, she ultimately decided that this was what she wanted to do with her life. In 2013, she moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to train at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) under the late Marcia Dale Weary. She trained there for two years, and later joined Charlotte Ballet as a trainee. While in Charlotte, she was able to have Patricia McBride as one of her main teachers and was able to learn many Balanchine variations taught by Ms. McBride herself. After a year in Charlotte, she moved to Las Vegas to join Nevada Ballet Theatre, where she was able to perform in A Choreographer’s Showcase and work closely with the artists from Cirque du Soleil. She later joined City Ballet of San Diego for two seasons and was able to perform in many ballets by Elizabeth Wistrich including Giselle, Firebird, and Mozart Concerto, among others. She also fulfilled a career long dream of dancing in the full length Serenade by George Balanchine.

Kelley Ann is currently a company member with Ballet Palm Beach under Artistic Director Colleen Smith. 

Guest Faculty

Katherine Thompson, a native of Mobile, danced professionally with Cincinnati Ballet and Alabama Ballet, and has guested with New Orleans Ballet Theater, Neglia Ballet in Buffalo, NY, The Patrick Notaro Dance Project in Cape Cod, MA, and Mobile Ballet. Katherine began her ballet training with Carol Graham, and continued her formal ballet training under the direction of Winthrop Corey and Ann Duke. She danced the role of Lucy in Mr. Corey’s widely acclaimed world premiere of Dracula in 1998.

While in high school, she attended summer intensives in New York City at The School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Joffrey Ballet School.  Katherine was also Mobile County’s Junior Miss 1999 and an Azalea Trail Maid.

Upon graduating from St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Katherine attended the Indiana University School of Music's Ballet Department on the Dean's Scholarship. Katherine graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a BA in Communication Management.

She resides in Birmingham with her two boys, and is on faculty at Briarwood Ballet and on the Board of Shelby County’s Distinguished Young Women.

Guest Faculty

Brennan Smith began dancing at the age of three at the Gwinnett Ballet Theater where she performed in The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland. When she moved to Mobile, she began dancing at Mobile Ballet under the direction of Winthrop Corey and Pamela Thompson. She was accepted into the company and moved up in ranks to become a Senior Company member. During this time, she performed lead roles in ballets including Dracula, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Swan Lake. She trained at other programs including Saratoga Springs Dance Intensive, New Orleans Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, and The Suzanne Farrell Workshop. She has also been privately instructed by prominent teachers including Mary McCarthy and Daniel Ulbricht.

For the past five years, she has taught ballet to dancers aged 3-18. She has choregraphed dances for her students such as Baby Mice, Spanish, and Dolls in The Nutcracker. She graduated from McGill-Toolen Catholic High School and Spring Hill College with a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences. She is currently attending the University of South Alabama’s College of Medicine.