art that moves

artistic director Erich Yetter
academy director Rebekah von Rathonyi

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in El Paso, Texas, Erich Yetter began ballet after a football injury in high school. Mr. Yetter danced with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, the touring company Dance for Everyone in London, England, and later, as a principal dancer with the Irish National Ballet in Cork, Ireland. Returning to the United States, Yetter completed his Bachelor of Music degree and graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at El Paso. From 1988 to 2000 he danced and choreographed for Ballet Memphis in Tennessee. A principal with that company, he was well known to audiences for riveting characterizations in such ballets as Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. Among his most notable accomplishments in choreography for Ballet Memphis are the contemporary ballet setting of Prodigal Son, the romantic Lady of the Camellias, and a full-length Cinderella. In 1998 he received the Tennessee Arts Commission Fellowship for Choreography and in the summer of 1999 he participated in the International American Choreographer’s Showcase in Guatemala. In April 2000 Yetter worked with Sherril Milnes in Opera Memphis’ production of Aida.

Yetter became the Artistic Director of Peoria Ballet in the summer of 2000. Since then he has choreographed numerous new works including Copland Songs, BB3, Le Grand Tango, Dracula, Allegretto, Gloria and Capriol Suite and has staged the larger works of Nutcracker, Giselle, Les Sylphides, The Sleeping Beauty Act III, The Firebird, Don Quixote Act I and a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yetter also continues to present Peoria audiences with the choreography of world renowned artists George Balanchine, Trey McIntyre, Kent Stowell, Michael Smuin, Alonzo King, Vasili Sullich and August Bournonville among others. Yetter increased the company’s season from one to three main stage performances at the 2200 seat Peoria Civic Center Theater with additional performances at the renovated Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. He moved the Peoria Ballet Academy to a renovated 10,000 square foot warehouse facility, which augmented the enrollment from 75 students to over 330. He acquired the rights from the George Balanchine Trust to perform Valse Fantaisie, instituted a popular in-house choreography project called INSCAPES and toured the company to Ohio Northern University for two performances of Peoria Ballet’s acclaimed production of Giselle. Yetter has been honored to sit on the Illinois Arts Council Grant Review Panel for Dance from 2002 through 2004 and currently reviews applications for the IAC’s Artstour. Yetter has choreographed over 50 works for ballet, opera, and theatre and is sought after as a guest speaker and lecturer. He has addressed schools, service clubs, community groups and given seminars at University of Memphis, Ohio Northern University, Bradley University and Illinois Central College. Yetter lives in North Peoria with his wife Mary Ragna Yetter, and their three children, Evan, Clara and Jacob.

Academy Director, Rebekah von Rathonyi, began her early ballet training in Rochester, NY with Maria Moglivesky and Luba Gulyeava. Later she joined Compania Nacional de Danza in Mexico City, Mexico under the direction of Artistic Director Fernando Alonzo Reneri. As a corps de ballet member she performed in the Nutcracker, Coppelia, and Giselle. In 1994 she was accepted into the year round trainee program at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet where she performed in productions of Nutcracker, Giselle and Paquita. Ms. von Rathonyi later joined Rochester City Ballet as a principal dancer. Recently she danced with the USA Ballet, performing many lead and soloist. In 2002, Ms. von Rathonyi took her position as the Academy Director at Peoria Ballet. She has raised the caliber of dance instruction and has also implemented a pre-professional program for the serious student who will one day strive for a professional career in dance.