Midland Festival Ballet

Marize Fumero was born in Havana, Cuba and trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba. Upon graduation in 2009, she entered Ballet Nacional de Cuba, where her many roles included Queen of the Willis in Giselle, Swanhilda in Coppélia, Nikiya in La Bayadère, and Queen of the Dryads, and Kitri’s Friend in Don Quixote. She also danced the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake.  

In 2012, Fumero joined the English National Ballet, where she danced as Aurora’s Friend and performed a Jewels Variation in Kenneth MacMillan’s The Sleeping Beauty. She was also one of the three Odalisques in Le Corsaire, staged by Anna-Marie Holmes. Additionally, she appeared in Jií Kylián’s Petite Mort and George Williamson’s Firebird, as well as Derek Deane’s Swan Lake (Pas de Quatre) and Romeo & Juliet at Royal Albert Hall.  

Fumero joined Milwaukee Ballet in 2014 and was promoted to Leading Artist in 2015. She has been featured as Musetta in Michael Pink’s La Bohème, Claudia in Mirror Mirror, Odile in Swan Lake, and Esmeralda in Hunchback of Notre Dame. She also performed principal roles in Pink's Dracula, Giselle, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Dorian Gray. In addition, she danced the principal roles of the Queen of Hearts in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland) and the title character in Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade.  

Fumero is a principal guest artist with Hispanic Classical Ballet, where she has performed in Le Corsaire, Giselle, Don Quixote, and Romeo & Juliet. She has also appeared as a guest artist with Georgia Ballet, where she danced as Swanhilda in Coppélia and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.   

She frequently performs in ballet festivals around the world, including dancing variations from Swan Lake at Italy’s Ravello Festival, Carmen at the International Ballet Festival of Miami, and Le Corsaire and a pas de deux from Michael Pink’s La Bohème at the International Ballet Festival in Cuba. She was also invited to dance with the Salzburger Landestheater Ballet in Austria.  

Fumero received a Miami Life Award nomination as Best Female Classical Dancer in 2017. 

A New York City native, Mr. Brasser-Vos received his foundational training at American Ballet Theatre’s prestigious Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School, where he was personally coached by legendary artists Edward Ellison, Lupe Serrano, and Susan Jaffe. During his formative residency at the JKO School, he created leading roles in Jessica Lang’s Inspired By, Kirk Peterson’s Renaissance Suite, and Leslie Browne’s Breakthrough and Doubleplay.

As a Principal Dancer with Milwaukee Ballet, Mr. Brasser-Vos has commanded the stage in a vast repertoire of full-length classical masterpieces and world-premiere story ballets. Notable roles include Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince Désiré (The Sleeping Beauty), the Prince (Cinderella), Franz (Coppélia), Quasimodo and Captain Phoebus (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Prince Gustav (Mirror Mirror), and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast). He has been featured in seminal works by esteemed global choreographers, including Trey McIntyre’s A Day in the Life, Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland) as the White Rabbit, Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream as King Oberon, Val Caniparoli’s Lambarena, Alejandro Cerrudo’s Extremely Close, Marc Godden's Carmen, and the title role in Mariana Oliveira’s Pagliacci. Further collaborations include featured roles in Price Suddarth’s Strangeland, Danielle Rowe’s Chaminade, and Dayoung Jung’s Vignettes.

Currently, Mr. Brasser-Vos operates as a National Guest Artist and has had the honor of being recognized consecutively in Pointe Magazine's "Reader's Choice Standout Performances" for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025

Lindsey Donnell is an artist with Dance Theatre of Harlem based in New York City. She was born and raised right here in Midland, Texas where she studied ballet under Susan Clark and the late Judy Coleman, followed by her time at Butler University, earning degrees in Dance-Arts Administration and Journalism. She began her professional career with Nashville Ballet until moving to New York City to join DTH for its celebrated return and inaugural year under Virginia Johnson. During her time with the company, she has had the honor of performing in almost all 50 states and for audiences around the world, including Italy, Honduras, Israel, Turkey, Poland, and Brazil and at the White House for former First Lady Michelle Obama. Advocating for the power of art to change communities led Lindsey to speak at TEDx Broadway 2016 and be a featured artist at the opening of One World Trade Center. Some performance highlights for Lindsey include the 2017 & 2022 Kennedy Center Honors, Jacobs Pillow, Veil Dance Festival, and the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America. In her repertoire are works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Alvin Ailey, Robert Garland, Geoffrey Holder, Dianne McIntyre & Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa. Lindsey is ever grateful for her family & friends, her mentor Charla Genn, and to be back home with Midland Festival Ballet!

Derek Brockington is from Holland Michigan, he trained at the Grand Rapids Ballet School, finished high school at Interlochen Arts Academy and attended summers intensives at Ballet West, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. He then danced with Grand Rapids Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet II before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2018. Brockington has danced works by George Balanchine, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Stanton Welch, William Forsythe, Claudia Scherier, and Robert Garland.

Michael began his dance instruction in South Texas learning Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop and Modern techniques. He also traveled around Texas working with different Master Teachers, including Joe Tremaine, Gus Giordano, Laurie Johnson, and many others. Finally he began his Ballet training at the age of 14. He worked with numerous instructors including Prima Ballerina Absolut Galina Mezentseva of the Kirov Ballet, Alex Ossadnick of Ballet Bordeaux (current Ballet Master of Ballet Idaho), Michael and Olga Wise of Moscow Classical, and Willie Shives of Joffrey Ballet. He then performed and toured across Texas with The Rio Grande Valley Ballet. It was with the RGVB that he shared the stage with principals of the Joffrey Ballet as well as partner in Carnival of the Animals with Prima Ballerina Absolut Galina Mezantseva. He decided to try out teaching at age of 15 with students ranging from 4-50 years of age in classes of Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Modern. Choreographing for both local performances and competitions such as YAGP, Co Dance, Dance Masters of America and Tremaine, he has received many awards including Best Choreography and Most Original Choreography. He has also worked with local artists in TX on music videos, live concerts, musicals and plays. Relocating to Charleston, SC in 2009, Michael continued his training with the late Robert Ivey at the Robert Ivey Ballet. He became a soloist for the company including roles in Hunchback of Notre Dame, Romeo & Juliet, and Scheherazade. As an instructor for the school, Michael worked with dancers of all ages in Modern and Ballet technique along with becoming a rehearsal master for the company. It was in 2012 that Michael met with Jill Eathorne Bahr at the Charleston Ballet Theatre, and became a regular in her productions including Alice in Wonderland, Nutcracker, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Happily Ever After, and Chim Chim Cheree. Michael continues to travel as a guest artist, and has become an instructor in both Charleston Ballet’s and Coastal Ballet USA’s pre-professional program, school and summer intensives. He is also a sought-out instructor and adjudicator for Dance Masters of America National and its affiliated chapters.

Jason Cox began his ballet training with Ms. Judith Gani in San Antonio where he performed with many schools and theaters within the city.  He began his professional career with Ballet San Antonio in 2013. His most notable roles were as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Bossy Stepsister and Tybalt  in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. Mr. Cox has been Drosselmeyer in Midland Festival Ballet’s The Nutcracker since 2014, including the film adaptation, The Nutcracker Reimagined.