Meet the Artists of Utah Ballet

Melissa Bobick 
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Melissa Bobick graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in ballet and nutrition from Indiana University in Bloomington and received her Master of Fine Arts degree in choreography from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance in New York. Melissa is also an ABT®Certified Teacher and earned the status of Affiliate Teacher while teaching in New York City. As a performer, Melissa danced for six seasons with The Eugene Ballet Company and Ballet Idaho where she was featured in many classical roles and numerous contemporary works. After moving to New York City, Melissa performed for the National Choreographer’s Initiative and was one of four dancers engaged by New York City Opera for their new production of Massenet’s Cendrillon. As a choreographer, Melissa was commissioned to choreograph three new works for Ballet Idaho, receiving grants from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in support of these projects. She worked as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mercyhurst University from 2012 to 2016.Melissa is currently working at the University of Utah, School of Dance as an Assistant Professor, Lecturer and is the Ballet Program Head. There, she has choreographed two original works for the Utah Ballet, Legacyand 135. Recently, Melissa was named a Choreographic Development Resident at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Also, she was named a finalist for the McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival.  

Christine McMillan
Christine McMillan danced professionally for 27 years including 6 years with Richmond Ballet and 19 years with The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Favorite soloist roles with Richmond Ballet include Jose Limon’s The Moor’s Pavane, John Butler’s Carmina Burana, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, and originating roles in works by William Soleau, Val Caniparoli, and Colin Connor. Performing in over 45 productions at the Metropolitan Opera, she has worked with renowned choreographers and directors including Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Mark Morris, Benjamin Millipied, Doug Varone, Graciella Daniele, Mark Dendy,and Julie Taymor.  With the Met Christine has appeared on PBS and in live international HD broadcasts. Her soloist roles included the operasAida,La Traviata, Les Troyens, Sly, and the balletParadeperforming with guest Damian Woetzel.  In New York, Christine has also performed with Ben Munisteri Dance Projects, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Trebien Pollard, Poppo & the GoGo Boys, Rebecca Kelly Ballet, White Wave Dance, and as a guest artist in many Nutcracker productions.

Recognized for her versatility in both ballet and modern dance, Christine was awarded a Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) in 2004. Christine’s choreography has been presented at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, Dancemakers, American College Dance Association, and the International Conference on Teaching Somatics-Based Dance.

Christine received a B.S. in Ballet & Psychology from Indiana University and an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. 

Victoria Stocki-Kim
Victoria is originally from Michigan where as a teenager she was honored to perform as the Sugar Plum alongside the American ballerinas of Cynthia Harvey, Evelyn Cisneros, and Kyra Nichols in Detroit’s Nutcracker, which inspired her towards a professional career in ballet. She pursued her training and graduated with honors on full scholarship from the Professional Program of the Kirov Academy of Ballet. During this time, she trained under Alla Sizova, Ludmila Sakharova, and Nikolai Morozov and was honored to perform the lead role, Mashafrom the Nutcracker, with the Kirov Ballet on their North American tour. She also graduated with honors on full scholarship and diploma from the Interlochen Arts Academy and received additional training from the School of American Ballet, Chicago City Ballet (now Ballet Chicago), Pennsylvania Ballet (now The Rock School), and Briansky Ballet.

Her professional career includes dancing for a span of 14 years as a Soloist with Universal Ballet Company of Seoul, Korea, under the direction of Oleg Vinogradov, Bruce Steivel, Roy Tobias, and Julia Moon across 14 countries, dancing on the major stages of the world in America, Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland. She also danced in the states with Tulsa Ballet Theatre under the direction of Marcello Angelini and Roman Jasinskiand Dayton Ballet Theatre under the direction of Dermot Burke. She performed a repertoire of over 70 ballets including 19 classical full lengths, 27 ballets, 15 contemporary ballets, and 10 Balanchine ballets.

Upon retirement, she served as the Academy Director of Nevada Ballet Theatre where she led 600 students and a faculty of 16. She established and directed the Nevada Ballet Theatre Youth Company consisting of 90 dancers who participated in over 42 community performances, worked with Nevada Ballet Theatre trainees, and implemented a Vaganova pre-professional ballet program of levels 1 to 8, a Ballet Training program of levels 1-8, a Children’s program, a Dance program, an Adult program, and a Boys program with great success. She also served as ballet faculty at Universal Ballet Academy in Korea and D.C., and as Ballet Director of the Art Ballet Center in Korea, Metropolitan Ballet Academy and Theatre in Michigan, and the Rock Center for Dance in Nevada.

In Utah, she served as Assistant Professor Lecturer and Associate Director of Utah Ballet in the Department of Ballet at the University of Utah, Ballet Director at Park City Performing Arts Academy (now Ballet West Academy), and ballet faculty at Salt Lake City Ballet, Creative Arts Academy, and Barlow Arts Conservatory.

Victoria is an American Ballet Theatre® Certified Teacher in the full ABT® National Training Curriculum Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering. She is also a Certified Yoga Instructor who has completed comprehensive training in Yoga asana, pranayama, philosophy and the art of teaching at the White Lotus Yoga Foundation in Santa Barbara, California.


Dr. Vedrana Subotic
Over the course of her vibrant and multi-faceted musical career, Dr. Vedrana Subotic has distinguished herself as an internationally acclaimed concert artist, pedagogue, chamber musician, concert producer, and administrator. Her 2018 schedule numbers more than 60 engagements in North and South Americas, Europe, and Asia. Vedrana has been lauded by critics and audiences for her “fierce playing,” and “impressive chops” (Salt Lake Tribune), and her “nuanced and expressive playing, beautifully phrased lines, and a wonderfully light touch.” (Deseret News). Vedrana is an Associate Professor-Lecturer at the University of Utah, where she teaches piano students in the Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral programs and oversees degree recitals, Masters Thesis, and Doctoral Dissertations. At the University of Utah, she has created the Guest Artist Piano Masterclasses Series for piano performance majors (2009-present) in collaboration with the Utah Symphony and the Gina Bachauer Foundation, the Teacher Development Seminars (2015-present), a collaboration with the Preparatory Piano program, and Live@Libby> (2015-present), the live-streamed faculty concert series. Vedrana has also produced the piano area’s annual fundraising concert for the last 10 years (Monsterconcert) which is an on-campus event featuring collaborative performances of nearly 200 pianists from the community and the University programs. Vedrana’s University of Utah college students have won numerous competitions, performed as soloists and chamber musicians in such distinguished venues as Carnegie Hall in NY, and have been accepted and awarded scholarships to prestigious international piano programs at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, the Royal College of Music in London, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Yale University, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the University of Michigan, Piano Texas International Academy and Festival (in collaboration with the Van Cliburn Competition), and the Interharmony International Music Festival. In addition to her University of Utah activities, Vedrana serves as the newly appointed President of the World Piano Teachers Association USA, Executive Director of the WPTAUSA Chapter Conference, Visiting Professor at the University of Chile, and as the Music Director (2002-present) of INTERMEZZO, a popular concert series based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Michele Wiles
Michele Wiles, founded New York City based BalletNext in 2011 with the vision to pair classically trained dancers with performing artists from diverse backgrounds and interpretations.  BalletNext creates new work in a collaborative setting that encourages risk taking and a focus on process.  Wiles was Born in Baltimore, Maryland, and at age 10 moved to Washington D.C. to train at the Kirov Academy on full scholarship. She was a Gold Medal winner at the 18th International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria a Bronze Medal winner in Nagoya, Japan and a finalist at the Paris International Dance Competition. She was a Princess Grace Foundation – U.S.A. Dance Fellowship recipient for 1999–2000 and won the Erik Bruhn Prize in 2002.  She joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in 1997 and joined American Ballet Theatre in 1998.  She was promoted to soloist in 2000 and to principal in 2005. In 2011, she left that position to start BalletNext.  Michele has been choreographing on BalletNext dancers since 2011 and has premiered several new works to critical acclaim including Ushuaia to music by Heinrich Biber,Apogee in 3 in collaboration with legendary jazz trumpeter Tom Harrell,  Don’t Blink in collaboration Flex Master JayDonn.