OUR HISTORY

The Roxey Ballet began in 1995 as the Hunterdon Youth Ballet when professional dancers, Mark and Melissa Roxey, brought world-class professional dance training and performance opportunities to Hunterdon County, New Jersey and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Mark and Melissa both had distinguished careers with American dance companies including The Joffrey Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, and Dayton Ballet, among others.

As the regional youth ballet company began to grow, the trustees of the Hunterdon County Youth Ballet changed its name to The Roxey Ballet Company, Inc to reflect its clear direction and development into an outstanding touring professional dance company with a superb roster of internationally recognized artists from all over the world. Today audiences enjoy more than 70 repertory works and a wide range of full-length ballets.

The company has performed extensively around the country including New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington DC for the 2008 Inauguration of President Obama. The company is currently experiencing a major transition in its life cycle and is committed to procuring high-quality artists and original repertory works from emerging and established choreographers.

The Roxey Ballet's typical season includes performances from September through June of each year, including a Fall main-stage concert, the holiday classic production of The Nutcracker, a Winter event, and Children's Classic Stories spring productions. The remainder of the season is spent conducting a variety of services and concerts, from educational performances, workshops, and residencies, to master classes and touring.

The Mill Ballet School is the official school of Roxey Ballet.

LEADERSHIP

Board of Trustees

Mark Roxey - Executive & Artistic Director

Michele Engelhart- President & Chair

Benjamin Roxey - Vice President

Austin Jarboe - Treasurer

Lees Hummel - Secretary

Judith Arnold - Board Member

Solana Hoffman-Carter - Board Member

Jean Hyatt - Board Member

Rebecca Taggart - Board Member

Dina Erickson - Board Member

Derek Sollosi - Board Member

Darryl Dixon - Board Member

Melissa Roxey - Co-Founder Board Member

Honorary Trustees

Misty Carlson, William J. Casey III, Gregory E. Danese, Esq,

Christene Garafola, Donald Geiszler, Richard Jarboe, Karen Jarrett,

Judith Leviton, Mark Rosenthal, Lyn Sanders, David Sanzalone,

J. Michael Seymour

ADA Advisory Committee

Committee Charge: “The Roxey Ballet Company shall make every good faith effort to be totally accessible physically and programmatically. It shall be mindful at all times of maintaining diversity in its artist roster, management and staffing, and in shaping the membership of its Board of Trustees. It shall ensure that all volunteers and staff are fully trained and sensitive to the needs of its patrons and shall seek to secure performance and rehearsal facilities that are completely accessible to both artists and audiences. Further, it shall maintain programs that welcome and train artists with disabilities, and, as far as it is able, to proactively provide performance and choreographic venues for their greater fulfillment and experience.”

Khristina Criqui: Seated Dancer, Alumni
Rick Criqui: Business Owner, Parent of Seated Dancer
Lees Hummel: ADA Coordinator, Education and Outreach
Mollie Greene: Assistant Commissioner for the Children's System of Care
Andrea Romano: Sussex County Education Services Commission
Mark and Melissa Roxey: Founders and Directors of Roxey Ballet
Tara Jarboe: Microbiology and Immunology at New York Medical College
Rebecca Taggert: Seated Dancer and Board Member
Jean Hyatt: Kindergarten Teacher Hunterdon County, Stage Manager & Board Member
Hailey Gould: CBIS Certified Brain Injury Specialist & Structured Day Program Coordinator
Emma Alparone: Director of Special Services High Bridge School District

DEIA Policy

Founding and Artistic Director: Mark Roxey

As Roxey Ballet’s Founder and Artistic Director, Mark Roxey has created a humanistic organization where accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are the core principles. His company mission is to include people of all abilities with differing viewpoints, experiences, and resources in training, exhibition, staffing, artists, and the board of directors.

As a Latino living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn during his youth, Mark used breakdancing as a means of expression and education against racism and social inequality. Breakdancing evolved into concert dance as a means of communication and exploration of ideas for understanding, and to create transformational ways of thinking about Roxey Ballet’s core principles. Mark is continually looking for a people-centered approach; how to best exchange ideas or make a significant difference in the community and express equity and inclusion through the art of dance. For 30 years, Mark Roxey has been transforming communities through interactive programs that communicate human, civil, and disability rights, women's health initiatives, bullying, and the cultural condition.

Mark’s professional career began at a young age as a b-bop, hip-hop dancer in movies and commercials with a group called Fresh Kids from Coney Island. He then received a full scholarship to Joffrey Ballet, beginning his career at the Joffrey Ballet Company II under the direction of Gage Bush and Richard England, and later at The Joffrey Ballet under the direction of the late Robert Joffrey. From there he joined American Repertory Ballet and Dayton Ballet as a principal dancer under the direction of Dermot Burke and Marjorie Mussman.

During his professional dance career, Mark performed in works by legendary choreographers George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Robert Joffrey, Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, John Cranko, John Butler, Maurice Petipa, and August Bournonville, appearing in companies around the world as a principal artist with his partner and wife, Melissa Roxey.

With 28 years of tenure at Roxey Ballet Company and Mill Ballet School, Mark has taught thousands of dancers and created hundreds of works of choreography. He teaches with skill, creativity, and heart, motivating students of all levels and encouraging them to reach their fullest potential. Mark has directed annual performances of Nutcracker and a Children’s Classic Stories series, Dracula, C-Word: Stories of Triumph Over Breast Cancer, Journey Back to the 80s, Carmen, Frida, and many more. He has also directed sensory-friendly adaptations of the most popular works.

As a person with a disability, Mark, and his wife, Melissa, founded and directed the dance and choreography Arts Access Program at Mathany Medical Center in Peapack, New Jersey from 1995 through 2007. They designed, staffed, and fulfilled a unique arts training program for persons with severe disabilities, working alongside disabled artists for over a decade to create an avenue for them to participate in the creative process.

Mark has served on the faculty of Princeton Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Wright State University, Trotwood Madison City Schools, Northeast Youth Ballet, and Raritan Valley Community College. He has also worked as the dance program coordinator for the Hunterdon County Teen Arts Dance Festival, program developer for the Mercer County YMCA network, and adjudicator for the State Teen Arts Festival.

Mark was voted the Voted # 1 Move & Shaker in Hunterdon County, NJ in 2015 and is the former President of Dance NJ. He is an active member and board member of Dance USA, IPAY, APAP, Arts Presenters, the National Arts Access Task Force, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Disability Justice Advisory Committee. In 2006, Mark was honored by VSA New Jersey with the NJ Governor's Award, the highest honor in New Jersey, recognizing the outstanding creative achievement of art educators and leaders.

Mark Roxey
Founder
Executive/Artistic Director
info@roxeyballet.org

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Co-Founder:
Melissa Roxey

Melissa Roxey began her studies with The Royal Academy of Dance at five years of age. Before beginning her professional career at age 17, she trained at The School of American Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, The Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and with renowned teacher Maggie Black. Melissa danced with American Repertory Ballet as a soloist, then as a principal with Dayton Ballet Company.

Melissa has danced the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Odile in Swan Lake. She has worked with such prominent choreographers as Septime Webre, Marjorie Mussman, Dermot Burke, Bill Craty, Suki Schorer, Christian Holder, Patricia McBride, and Mark Diamond. She has also served on the faculty of many ballet schools around the country.

Melissa is co-founder and former dance director of Wheels in Motion, which was part of the Arts Access Program of Matheny Medical and Educational Center, Peapack. In addition, for more than 16 years she has worked with Artists in Residence, bringing the art of dance to area schools. Her extensive experience makes her an effective instructor in the Wheels and Bodies in Motion program. She is also the Director of Roxey Ballet's official school, The Mill Ballet School.

Melissa Roxey
Co-Founder
Director of the Mill Ballet School
info@millballetschool.com

Nilda Roxey
Costume Designer

Affectionately known to many as “Grandma Roxey,” Nilda Roxey-Jones is an artist, cosmetologist, and fashion designer who has been devoted to creating a variety of costumes for Roxey Ballet productions since the company's inception in 1994. She has partnered with Alicia Worden since 2002. Retired from a career in Special Education, Early Intervention, K-6, Nilda is at present a freelance fashion designer who designs the private wardrobe for entertainer singer Kimberly Nichole. Nilda also enjoys activities with the senior population in her Brooklyn neighborhood. She is the proud mother of Mark and Ronald Roxey, a caring mother-in-law, and devoted grandma to Benjamin and Mirabel Roxey. She and her husband, Champlin Jones, have an extended family including three children and six grandchildren. Nilda looks forward to the next 20 years of Roxey Ballet creations!

ROXEY BALLET STAFF

Mark Roxey
Founder
Executive/Artistic Director
info@roxeyballet.org

Melissa Roxey
Co-Founder
Director of the Mill Ballet School
info@millballetschool.com

Skylar Fry
Funfillment, Education and Outreach

Giovanni Ravelo
Ballet Master

Veronica Higgins
Community Engagement Associate

Lees Hummel
Director of Outreach and Grants

Nilda Roxey
Costume Designer

River Signs
Graphic Designer

Lindsay Osten

Marketing Director

Christina D'Astoli
Administrative/Production Manager

Andy Gordanier
Lighting Designer

Richard Jarboe
Resident Composer

Alicia Worden
Costume Designer

Devon Nicole Austin

Wardrobe Supervisor

Amanda Sanford

Costume Supervisor

Accessibility

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT:

At the Roxey Ballet Company, we are committed to being accessible both physically and programmatically. We strive to ensure diversity in our artist roster, management, staffing, and Board of Trustees.

We prioritize training for all volunteers and staff to be attentive to the needs of our patrons. Our goal is to secure performance and rehearsal spaces that are fully accessible to everyone, including both artists and audiences.

We are dedicated to supporting and training artists with disabilities and aim to provide accessible performance and choreographic opportunities to enhance their experience and fulfillment.

Enjoy world-class dance performances at Roxey Ballet with peace of mind. Our home and performance spaces are fully wheelchair accessible.

PERFORMANCE VENUE ACCESSIBILITY
We strive to make our performances accessible to everyone. Here’s what we offer at all our performance sites:

Accessible Restrooms: Available at all locations.
Parking for Vehicles with Handicapped Placards: Available at all locations on a first-come, first-served basis.
Wheelchair-Accessible Seating: Available upon request.
- Seating charts include wheelchair-accessible options.
- For reservations, please contact us prior to performances.
Assistive Listening Devices: Available upon request, two weeks prior to the performance.
Large Print Programs: Available at the box office.
- For large groups or Braille programs, please contact us three weeks in advance.
Additional Accessibility Features:
- Storyboards, visits outside public hours, and our meet-a-seat program are available upon request.
- Contact us two weeks ahead to arrange these options.
Discounted Tickets:
- Available for people with disabilities and their companions.
Educational Dance Program:
- Ask about our "Wheels and Bodies in Motion" program.