New Season, New Faces!

Joseph Hetzer (Main Company)

Joseph Hetzer started his classical training at South Bay Ballet in Torrance, California before becoming a member of the inaugural class at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. While in school, Hetzer worked closely with Jodie Gates and William Forsythe, diving into different genres and movement styles.

Hetzer joined Oklahoma City Ballet in 2019 and was promoted to soloist in 2023. During his time in OKC, he has performed featured roles including: Mad Hatter/Lewis Carroll in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Gaston/Baron in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Hilarion in Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s Giselle, and Von Rothbart in Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye’s Swan Lake. Hetzer has also been featured in works by Jerome Robbins, Jessica Lang, Twyla Tharp, Stephanie Martinez, Alexander Ekman, Nicolo Fonte, and George Balanchine. During his off season, Joseph was chosen to participate in the National Choreographers initiative from 2022-2024.

Outside of ballet, Hetzer is a Lululemon Ambassador and is pursuing his MBA. In 2022 he was a recipient of Oklahoma’s “Next Generation Under 30” for the Arts. He is very much looking forward to dancing with Charlotte Ballet for the 2025-2026 season.

Clay Houston (Promotion to Main Company!)

Charlotte native Clay Houston began competing in dance at the age of four. He trained at Charlotte Ballet Academy and was offered a trainee position in the Academy’s pre-professional division. Following high school, he moved to New York to study contemporary dance forms at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was a member of GibneyPRO’s inaugural professional cohort. His additional training includes studies at The School at Jacob’s Pillow, The Juilliard School, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, LINES Ballet, and Houston Ballet.

Clay initially joined Charlotte Ballet II for the 2023/2024 season. Throughout his career, he has performed works by Aszure Barton, Rena Butler and Maleek Washington, Sonya Tayeh and Jenn Freeman, Alejandro Cerrudo, Laja Field, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and George Balanchine. He is thrilled to join Charlotte Ballet I as an emerging artist.

Andre McGregor II (Second Company)

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Andre McGregor II joined the middle school dance program at Esther F. Garrison School for the Art and, by age twelve, made the decision to pursue dance as a career. Andre has earned scholarships to multiple summer Intensive programs at prestigious ballet institutions including Atlanta Ballet, Juilliard School, Bolshoi Ballet Academy New York Summer Intensive, and American Ballet Theatre. Andre graduated high school as a dance major at the Savannah Arts Academy in May 2020, and has appeared in local productions as a guest artist for productions of The Wizard of Oz, Stars and Stripes, and The Nutcracker, in which he danced title roles.

Andre was invited to compete in the Youth America Grand Prix’s 2021 Finals in Tampa, Florida, where he was awarded a full tuition scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet Trainee Program in Chicago for their 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons. There, he performed the works of: Gerald Arpino, Kenneth MacMillan, Yuri Possokhov, John Neumeier, Mike Tyus, Amy Hall Garner, Kameron Saunders, Edson Barbosa and more. Andre went on to join the second company at Ballet West in Salt Lake City for their 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons, where he performed the works of: Gerald Arpino, Val Caniparoli, Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Pamela Robinson. He is excited to join Charlotte Ballet II this season. Andre would like to thank his mother, family, Ms. Shannon Kelly, David and Sasha Greenberg, and dance teachers for his accomplishments; for he would not be where he is today without them.

Elliott Mumm (Second Company)

Elliott Mumm was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he began breaking classes out of a love for dance and hip-hop music. At age 8, he started ballet training at the Ballet West Academy and later advanced to the Professional Training Division, studying under Jeff Rogers and Christopher Sellars. In 2022, Elliott began training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with Ilya Kozadayev, Misha Tchoupakov, and Emily Nicolau. While there, he performed lead roles in Serenade, The Nutcracker, and The Firebird. For the 2024–25 season, Elliott joined the Richmond Ballet Studio Company, performing works by Val Caniparoli, Ma Cong, and Ben Stevenson. He’s now looking forward to his first season with Charlotte Ballet II.

Roberto Nicolau (Second Company)

David Anthony Scheuerman-Saucedo (Second Company)

David Anthony Scheuerman-Saucedo began training at Midwest Regional Ballet and spent summers dancing with Tulsa Ballet, Texas Ballet, and Hubbard Street, before joining Hubbard Street’s Professional Program. Dancing in HSPro, David Anthony worked with Jonathan Alsberry, Rena Butler, and Robyn Mineko Williams. He has performed with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Artistic Director Wilfredo Rivera, in works by Shannon Alvis, Katlin Michael Bourgeois, Monique Haley, and Stephanie Martinez. In his third season with DanceWorks Chicago, Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa, he has had the privilege of performing works from Robert Battle, Greg Blackmon, and Demis Volpi while touring both nationally and internationally. Scheuerman-Saucedo has recently finished working with Visceral Dance Chicago, under direction of Nick Pupillo in their twelfth season, performing works by Kevin O’Day, Marco Palomino, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Mònica Cervantes Rodriguez. Now joining Charlotte Ballet II, he awaits the exciting possibilities to come.