Embody.Cultivate.Inspire

Bonnie Pickard Schofield was a Principal Dancer with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet where Ms. Farrell featured Ms. Pickard Schofield in a wide variety of Balanchine’s ballets.

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Bonnie Pickard was a Principal Dancer with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet where Ms. Farrell featured Ms. Pickard in a wide variety of Balanchine’s ballets. Her principal roles include Chaconne, Scotch Symphony, Mozartiana, Liebesleder Walzer, Meditation, Episodes, Serenade, Bugaku, Brahms—Schoenberg Quartet, Ballade, La Source, Variations for Orchestra, Apollo, Divertimento No. 15, La Sonnambula, Divertimento Brillante, Tempo di Valse and Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux, as well as Bejart’s Romeo and Juliet Pas de Deux. She also served as a Rehearsal Assistant for Ms. Farrell after her retirement from the stage.

Ms. Pickard received her training at the Dayton Ballet School in Ohio under the tutelage of Barbara Pontecorvo and then began her professional career with Chautauqua Dance Company, going on to dance for North Carolina Dance Theatre, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Montgomery Ballet, BalletNY, Chamber Dance Project, Configurations and appearing with Peter Boal & Company and as a guest artist for Ballet Philippines. Her repertoire ranged from additional Balanchine ballets to contemporary works by choreographers such as William Forsythe, Thaddeus Davis, Victor Quijada, Peter Quanz and Bam Damian.

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Upon retiring from performing, she began guest teaching and coaching in Manila with Ballet Philippines while she lived there. She has since taught at The Kennedy Center’s Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell and at Maryland Youth Ballet as well as served as a panelist for the Kennedy Center Masterclass series and for the National Society for Arts and Letters Ballet Competition. Her biggest role however, is that of mother to her young daughters, Penelope and Josette.

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Photos provided by Bonnie

Learn more about Ballet Embody's Artistic Director here.

Ryan Bailey is a dancer and choreographer based in the DMV & NYC. Upon graduating with a BA in dance from UMBC in 2016, Ryan was granted outstanding senior in choreography and dance after he was awarded an American College Dance Association Gala Finalist. He then furthered his education by attending training programs with dance companies in Chicago, NYC, LA, Portland, and Tel Aviv. In 2017, Ryan premiered his company Pacing Bodies first evening length show funded by Earl and Darielle Linehan which premiered at UMBC. Ryan was featured on national television on season 14 of So You Think You Can Dance that same year. Ryan has danced professionally for MADBOOTS DANCE company on various projects and performances at Gibney Dance, New York Live Arts, and at the Joyce Theater in NYC. He has also had the opportunity to dance for Project 44 Dance Company, performing at the Jack Crystal Theater in NYC. Ryan has performed with Priore Dance directed by Robert Priore based in D.C. Ryan was also a background dancer for the music video “Moons” by Micah McLaurin. Currently, Ryan teaches and choreographs dance at various studios, conservatories, and universities. Recently Ryan set work for Peabody Dance Conservatory and Howard County Dance Company. In 2024, Ryan danced in a second evening length work for Haus of Pvmnt Dance Company in NYC at Abrons Art Center. Choreographically he presented a work in progress evening length piece for Baltimore Dance Project and ASCEND summer intensive at UMBC this past year.

Erik Hoffman was born in Hagerstown, MD, and trained for a decade with the West Virginia Youth Ballet, under the artistic direction of Carolou Brown Russell. Following high school graduation, Erik moved to New York City, to train for an additional two years before transitioning into a trainee program with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, and subsequently, with Ballet West, in Salt Lake City. He had the opportunity to perform with both companies, in productions such as Lar Lubovitch’s Othello, Gerald Arpino’s The Nutcracker, and Adam Sklute’s The Sleeping Beauty.

Erik spent his summers training at American Ballet Theater, Ballet Austin, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Orlando Ballet. He also studied under New York City Ballet’s legendary ballerina, Suzanne Farrell, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Erik danced with St. Louis Ballet from 2011-2016, and danced notable roles in a variety of ballets choreographed by George Balanchine (Chaconne, Divertimento No. 15, Serenade, Western Symphony), Christopher D’Amboise, Brian Enos, Emery Lecrone, Adam Sage, Pam Tanowitz, Michael Uthoff, and former New York City Ballet principal, and St. Louis Ballet artistic director, Gen Horiuchi. 

In 2018, Erik graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, from Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, on the campus of Washington University Medical Center, in St. Louis, Missouri. He’s worked as a Registered Nurse at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and currently, with Children’s National Hospital, in Washington D.C. Erik is studying to be a pediatric nurse practitioner and working toward a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from Johns Hopkins University.