Artistic Team & Staff

Margaret Mullin is from Tucson, Arizona and trained at the School of Ballet Tucson on full scholarship. She was formerly a Soloist dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, where she danced for fourteen seasons. There she performed leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Victor Quijada, and more. During her time at Pacific Northwest Ballet she had the opportunity to perform in Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles (Celebrate Forsythe festival), and Paris, in addition to performing numerous times at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Vail International Dance Festival.

In 2011, she was the recipient of a prestigious Dance Fellowship Award from the Princess Grace Foundation USA, for her talent as a dancer and her potential to impact the field. She was the fourth artist selected to be an Artist Curator for the foundation’s #gratitudeandtonic initiative in July 2020. She is also the recipient of a 2018 CityArtist Award from the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. As a student she was the recipient of a Thurber Scholarship Award in 2003 and 2004, and the 2006 Founding Director Award from Angela Whitehill of Burklyn Ballet Theatre. Ms. Mullin appeared as a guest speaker at the Dance USA national conference in June 2017. In 2022, she was selected by REfashioned Magazine as one of their top 10 Women Change Makers.

In 2021, she received her Nonprofit Leadership and Management certificate from the University of Arizona Eller Executive Education. Margaret is a graduate of Tucson Young Professionals’ Nonprofit Leadership Academy and the Dean Street Society Entrepreneur Mastermind program. She is a member of Tucson Young Professionals and serves on their Nonprofit/Public Sector and Arts and Culture Teams.

Ms. Mullin has choreographed works for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Ballet Arts and Ballet Tucson. She has served as an instructor for Ballet in the City, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Evergreen City Ballet, Ballet Tucson, Ballet Arts , and Ballet Together. She has also been a stager of the choreographic works of Ian Horvath, Kiyon Ross, and Price Suddarth. Margaret is the director and producer of the documentary dance film No Dominion: The Ian Horvath Story, which celebrates the life of late dance champion and AIDS awareness advocate Ian Horvath. She was also the host of the notable dance podcast Beyond the Barre.

Margaret has been featured by Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, Dance Informa, Seattle Magazine, EmpowHer New York, We are Minding the Gap, Dance Lifestyle, Balancing Pointe podcast, Tucson Young Professionals, Radically Distinct Podcast and Discount Dance Supply as a representative. Ms. Mullin was also a return guest on Seattle morning show New Day Northwest. She has served as a brand ambassador for Five12 Athletic Apparel, Nuun Hydration, RubiaWear and Zeyba Apparel in addition to being a social media influencer for Vermouth App, Enchant Seattle, and the Seattle International Film Festival.

Chieko Imada is a native of Japan where she danced professionally as a Soloist with Inoue Ballet of Tokyo and also served as Ballet Mistress there. She has worked closely with many of the past and current noted figures of classical ballet, having performed in Europe, Korea, the Philippines, Australia and the South Pacific. Since coming to the United States, she has been a member of Arizona Dance Theatre, Ballet Arizona, and a former Principal Dancer for Ballet Tucson. She also appeared regularly with Orts Theatre of Dance and Tenth St. Danceworks modern troupes in Tucson.

Over the years, she has been responsible for staging many classical ballets and has also created numerous original contemporary works on Ballet Tucson, enriching the company’s repertoire. A talented choreographer, Ms. Imada has been nominated for the Buffalo Exchange Arts Award and the Governor’s Art Award. She continues to be sought after as a guest teacher and choreographer. For the company’s 30th anniversary season, she created an original steampunk version of Jekyll & Hyde and in 2018 a world premiere Dia de Los Muertos ballet Spirit Garden in collaboration with renowned artist Lawrence Lee and Founding Artistic Director Mary Beth Cabana. In addition, she is the Director of Educational Outreach for Ballet Tucson implementing “Putting Your Best Foot Forward with Ballet Tucson” in Tucson Title 1 schools.

Brik was born and raised in Fair Oaks, California and trained at Deane Dance Center under the direction of Barbara Crockett. During her training, she was fortunate to work with teachers trained in various methods of technique, which helped her adapt easily throughout her career.

From the age of 5, Brik performed children’s roles in The Sacramento Ballet’s productions and became a company Trainee while in High School. At the age of 17, Brik was offered an Apprenticeship with the company and two years later, a Company contract where she performed for 7 years professionally. While in the Sacramento Ballet, the company toured to Beijing and Shanghai, China where she performed Ron Cunningham’s ‘Etosha’ and George Balanchine’s ‘Western Symphony’ and ‘Concerto Barocco.’ Being a member of The Sacramento Ballet, under the direction of Ron and Carinne Cunningham, allowed Brik the great honor of dancing a diverse repertory filled with many Balanchine ballets and works by Ron Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Lila York, Matthew Neenan and Darrell Grand Moultrie.

In 2011, Brik relocated to San Diego, began teaching and joined the California Ballet Company in 2013. She performed many roles with the company including Myrtha in ‘Giselle,’ Jordan in Septime Weber’s ‘The Great Gatsby,’ and Big Swan in ‘Swan Lake.’ While still performing, Brik was asked to return to The Sacramento Ballet as Ballet Mistress. She would return to Sacramento, numerous times a year, to assist in the production of works by Ron Cunningham, Jodie Gates, Ma Cong, Septime Webre, KT Nelson, Robert Kelley, Molly Lynch, Melissa Barak and Parrish Maynard. After the birth of her daughter in July of 2018, Brik became full time Ballet Master with the California Ballet Company under the direction of Jared Nelson. In the summer of 2021, Brik and her family made the decision to move to Tucson to be closer to family.