People & Partners
Kristine Elliott
Founder & Director
Born in Oakland, CA, Kristine received her formative ballet training from Richard Gibson. Her professional career began with the Stuttgart Ballet where she danced leading roles in ballets by artistic director and choreographer John Cranko and toured extensively to Japan, Israel, Europe, and Scandinavia, as well as to Russia and in the United States. After five years with the Stuttgart Ballet, Kristine joined American Ballet Theatre as a soloist and worked closely with director Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Following her performing career, Kristine now teaches and coaches ballet nationally and internationally. She works with American Ballet Theatre as a guest teacher for the company and for summer intensive programs.
In the academic world, Kristine Elliott taught at Stanford University for 18 years as lecturer in the Dance Division. Kristine received her BA from St Mary’s College and currently serves on the LEAP program faculty at St. Mary’s College of California.
Kristine is the founding director of the Gugulethu Ballet Project where she teaches ballet in townships around Cape Town and Johannesburg using ballet as a means of social change and to support diversity on the ballet stage. In 2022, Kristine was honored as an extraordinary dance educator, winning the prestigious Dance Teacher Award for her work with Gugulethu Ballet Project.
Nathan Bartman & Ciara Baldwin
Artistic Partners
Nathan Bartman and Ciara Baldwin started their company MANACAN in 2017 and since then have performed, taught and choreographed in countries and cities such as, South Africa, San Fransisco, Las Vegas, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Belgium, England, Ireland and New York where they were awarded the Next @ Martha Graham Choreographic award.
NATHAN DORIAN BARTMAN
At the age of 16 Nathan started dancing with a local Hip Hop crew in Eersterivier, Cape Town, South Africa. In 2011, following 3 years of training in that genre, Nathan received a dance scholarship for a senior bridging programme during which he received 2 years’ formal classical dance training under the direction of Phillip Boyd and Christopher Kindo.
In 2013 Nathan was awarded a scholarship to study performing arts at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts under the direction of Debbie Turner. There he was trained in multiple performing arts disciplines and took advantage of the great opportunity to learn and perform the repertoire of the Cape Dance Company (CDC). Nathan completed three years of studies and graduated with a Senior Diploma with Distinction in 2015.
Nathan has worked with companies including:
Ballet Nimba, Wales
Magic Beans Theatre Company, Botswana
Ace Dance and Music, UK
MUDA Africa, Tanzania
Cape Dance Company (CDC), South Africa
HereManje Productions, South Africa/USA
Mzansi Cymru, Wales/South Africa
Tshwane DanceTheatre, South Africa
MNET Glo-Caf Awards, Nigeria
Waterfront Film Studios, South Africa
Alonzo King Lines Summer School, USA
Protein Dance, UK
Gecko Theatre Company, UK
Gugulethu Ballet Project, USA/SA
Award winning Choreographer and Performer for Next@Martha Graham Competition, NYC
Award Winning Choreography for JazzArt Dance Company, South Africa
CIARA SOUAD CÉZANNE BALDWIN
Ciara discovered her passion for dance and performance in at a very early age and, as a result, received extramural dance tuition throughout her schooldays.
Ciara completed her Diploma in Modern Jazz Dance Teaching in 2012 with the Association of International Dance Teachers, Cape Town. She went on to do a 3-year performing arts course at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA), Cape Town, graduating with a Diploma with Distinction in Performing Arts, majoring in Dance, in 2015.
Ciara has worked with companies including:
The Cape Dance Company (CDC), South Africa
Ace Dance and Music, UK
MUDA Africa, Tanzania
Magic Beans Theatre Company, Botswana
HereManje Productions, South Africa/USA
KB Theatre Productions, South Africa
Stanza Dance Company, South Africa
MNET Glo-Caf awards, Nigeria
Gugulethu Ballet Project, USA/SA
Award winning Choreographer and Performer for Next@Martha Graham Competition, NYC
Award Winning Choreography for JazzArt Dance Company, South Africa
Partners in the South Africa
First Step Ballet
McGregor, South Africa
Providing children with a creative, structured after-school programme to direct their focus and give them a sense of purpose in their lives.
Dance for All
Cape Town, South Africa
Gives children in the townships of Cape Town the opportunity to experience the joy of movement while receiving a high standard of dance training.
Dancescape
Zolani, South Africa
Taking kids off our historically disadvantaged townships streets and into dance classes, giving them something to do which is good for mind, body and spirit.
Jazzarts Dance Theatre
Cape Town, South Africa
Training young people in contemporary dance with a philosophy firmly rooted in a social justice framework.
Zama Dance School
Gugulethu, South Africa
Training young dancers, choreographers and teachers whilst equipping them with a sense of pride, self-discipline and achievement.
Eersterivier Arts and Culture Focus School
Eersterivier, South Africa
One of ten arts and culture schools created in 2006 by the Western Cape Education Department
Dirk Badenhorst
Johannesburg, South Africa
CEO & Director of SA Ballet Competition and Mzansi Ballet, imagining diverse classical ballet opportunities and performances in Johannesburg and worldwide.
Igugu-Lethu Arts and Leadership Project
Gugulethu, South Africa
A dynamic organization using the language of dance to develop artistic skills, while advocating and promoting education.
Partners in the United States
ODC Dance Commons
San Francisco, CA
Aims to inspire audiences, cultivate artists, engage community, and foster diversity and inclusion through dance.
American Ballet Theatre
New York, NY
Creating, presenting, preserving, and sharing the great repertoire of classical dancing.
Alonzo King’s LINES Dance Center
San Francisco, CA
Embracing a spirit of inquiry and openness to change combined with a reverence for legacy and history.
Saint Mary’s College LEAP Program
Moranga, CA
Delivering a comprehensive liberal arts education to professional dancers and performing artists.
Kaatsbaan International Dance Center
Tivoli, NY
A place for innovation and excellence in dance. Taking art outside and beyond the traditional and be revolutionary in its thinking and actions.
Academy of Ballet San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Offers training preparing students for professional careers.
Houston Ballet Academy
Houston, TX
Since its founding in 1955, providing the highest quality ballet training for those enrolled.
Manhattan Youth Ballet
New York, NY
The European classical ballet pedagogy tradition honoring precision, artistry and discipline, combined with the American ethos celebrating individuality and versatility.
The New Ballet School
San Jose, CA
Elevates the art of ballet in San Jose with artists who are devoted to the pursuit of excellence and thrive in an environment of inclusivity and creativity.
Board Members
Jeffrey Egeberg
Jeffrey is a native Northern Californian and holds a BS and MS in structural engineering from UC Berkeley. He has held engineering management positions in both the private and public sector for over 40 years. Jeff is a ballet fan and for years has held season tickets to San Francisco Ballet and has frequently attended performances of American Ballet Theater and other dance troupes. In 2019 he and his wife traveled to South Africa and received a “guided tour” in Gugulethu and Kheyalitsha by Nqaba Mafilika recipient of Gugulethu Ballet funding. For GBP and other service organizations and nonprofits, Jeff continues to use his project management and computer skills to help fulfill their missions.
Dana Sittler
Dana studied the intersection of consumers, content, and technology at Stanford as an undergraduate. Since then, she spent the majority of her career at Facebook as a Product Manager building products in that intersection. While there, she grew a team of 3 Product Managers that drove the video consumption experience, defined integrity guidelines, and topical discovery. Since 2018, she has been a Product Manager at Netflix driving innovation at the intersection of Content and Product, with a focus on members and content in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Outside of the office, Dana has a great passion for dance. She has done ballet since she was 3, and studied at studios across the country from Boca Ballet Theatre in Florida to American Ballet Theatre in New York. While at Stanford, she studied with Kristine and got to learn a Pantsula with Nqaba on his visit! She is so excited to help support the mission of Gugulethu Ballet Project.
Alli Folk
Alli completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford in Product Design, her MBA at Wharton, and has professional experience as a strategy consultant and venture capital investor. Alli works at Valor Equity Partners as an investor focused on seed and Series A investments in the food, retail, and sustainability sectors. She is a board member at several early stage companies, where she primarily advises founding teams on go-to-market strategy. Outside of work, Alli is a lifelong ballet dancer and has trained at Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Conservatory of Dance, and Stanford (with Kristine!) and now primarily trains at Steps on Broadway. In addition to her dance training, Alli has worked with the executive teams at San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Dance/USA on a range of strategy topics. Finally, Alli has deep family ties to South Africa: her dad was born in Zambia and she has relatives in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Alli is thrilled to support the Gugulethu Ballet Project mission.
Special Thanks
Our most sincere thanks to these individuals and organizations whose generosity, time, and energy have made the work we do possible.
